About Geoff Apps
Cleland Cycles was set up by illustrator, designer and cycling enthusiast Geoff Apps in the early 1980's. It was though this company that he manufactured & sold off–road bicycles of a highly unusual design - the Aventura & the Range Rider. The design for the bikes was developed over a number of years while Geoff was living in a village near the town of Wendover. The finished bicycles were uniquely suited to the off–road conditions found in the south–east of England – in particular the terrain of the Chiltern Hills.
Geoff with a Cleland
Coincidentally, Geoff was working on his designs at the same time as Gary Fisher, Charlie Kelly, Tom Richey et al, were developing Mountain bikes in Fairfax, California. Just as mountain bikes were suited to the local dry, open conditions, so Geoff's designs differed to cope with the Chilterns. These hills are chalk, extensively covered with mature beech and oak woodland. The valleys are narrow and filled with clay, and tracks are tight, winding, steep and muddy. This mud, whether chalk, clay, or a mixture of both, can often have the consistency of deep half–set concrete, combined with finest axle grease. These factors led to the creation of these unique bikes.
In addition to manufacturing bikes, geoff is also reputed to have imported the first mountain bike into Britain.
Geoff went on to be a co-founder, and regular contributor to Making Tracks, before moving to Scotland to work on New Cyclist. He also published a cycle maintainance guide and co-wrote an beginners guide to off-road cycling with Jim Mcgurn.
Geoff is a highly accomplished illustrator and draftsman, his work having appeared in many publications including Mike Burrow's "Bicycle Design".
In 2003, in recognition of role as a pioneer of off-road cycling and mountain biking, Geoff was nominated for induction, but sadly not inducted, into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame in Crested Butte, Colorado.
Read more about the history of Cleland Cycles.