It was a short and in places cold winter, but mostly just dreary. Although us hardy triallers just kept on riding some of our road bikes were laid up for the duration. But now this year’s road riding season is really underway and you may be trying to slide back into some old favourite leathers that have probably grown with you over the years. Oh that feeling of pleasure as the soft, smooth leather slides effortlessly over……… sorry, I got carried away for a moment.

Some of you will be breaking out those fashionable, sleek and squeaky clean leathers you bought towards the end of last year in a final autumnal flourish of retail therapy with an optimistic outlook on the effectiveness of the Weight Watchers 1 2 3 diet. Oh that lovely fresh leather smell, the creak of virgin hide, the lubrication of saddle soap as it slides effortlessly over………. sorry, there I go again. What about those lovely Christmas presents bought for you with the kindest of thoughts but perhaps without the help of a tape measure?

So there you are trying to put on these leathers but you just can’t get all of you into the one item of clothing, bits keep popping out! Zips won’t slide to the top? Velcro straps burst open? Stitching straining to its breaking point? How can something in storage for just a few weeks have shrunk so much!

So, do you go on a crash diet for 3 months, and if you do will it work, and what to wear in the meanwhile? And if it’s a gift what to say to the loved one that won’t immediately alienate them? A way out is to throw them in the bin and forget them. You could try to flog them to someone or give them to a deserving cause. Whatever you do you are still going to need a replacement. Never fear, the answer is at hand, well in 83a Brighton Road, Redhill, in the form of "Knee-Down". This is a bikers shop, run by bikers, for bikers, with bikers in mind, where boy and girl bikers are welcome, with or without their bikes, I just don’t understand why its called "Knee-Down".

A friend I know, but I can’t name him, found his leather jeans were a little too tight a few weeks ago. Off he went to Knee Down with his jeans over his arm. The beautiful Kim, phone number 01 737 780 190, took them off him and put them up for sale in the shop, where it turns out they are fully insured against fire, theft and damage, for a mere 25% commission on the sale price. As luck would have it my friend was then able to pick myself out a used pair just a tad larger, for the same sale price as my own jeans. They look so very similar to the originals that it would be hard for someone who might have given them to me to prove I had swapped them. Total cost of the swap? Just the 25% commission.

So if you find yourself struggling to get your knees in then get down to Knee-Down.

Steve Whitmore