Got a Roberts? Send us your thoughts (and a picture) to: submit@robertscycles.com and we'll start posting them… This is Tom B's new Roberts, getting its first taste of serious action in the mountains. He seems to like the colour red and has an interesting set up of Shimano Dura Ace STI levers and cut-down upside-down road bars for the "cowhorn" effect. With slick tyres, this bike is an animal on asphalt too, he says. But let's get Tom to tell us about the Psyclo ("a new concept in transport for the pscyclically insane") in his own words: Chas Roberts is a patient man. Given good reason, he's prepared to satisfy even his most deranged customers' desires. My request certainly went beyond the conventional. I wanted a bike designed to travel from W1 to K2, or at least from the smooth blacktop to a rocky mountain top.  The Psyclo is the result. It mixes tried and trusted road components with premium off-road kit, without worrying about what should and shouldn't go together. The frame is a Roberts-style custom built mix of Reynolds 853 and Columbus tubing. Light and comfortable, yet responsive and durable, it's also stiff enough to take loaded panniers without shimmying or swaying. For touring, Chas recommended the Tubus Fly rear rack (not shown in this pic, but you can see one here), a superb and stylish aero design which can take a week's worth of kit, but weighs next to nothing. The cockpit is a courier's dream. Shimano 105 STI dual-control levers (they're less prone to scratches than the more upmarket versions) on low-profile handlebars (a reversed and sawn-off tandem bar) provide instant access to brakes and gears, several hand positions and something reassuringly solid to squeeze during gravity-defying off-road descents. Shimano Ultegra derailleurs and a Dura-Ace cassette keep the weight down while a Sugino Compact chainset provides plenty of choices for on- and off-road gearing. The brakes are XTR cantilevers which work well with road-style brake levers, but they need a cable hanger/brake booster to work with suspension forks (not so easy to find when everyone thinks you've got to have v-brakes!). The Marzocchi Superfly front fork is a lightweight cross-country design which smooths out the potholes in town, yet takes ruts, rocks and roots in its stride. All I have to swap is the tyres - slicks for town and lightweight XC knobbies for off-road. The colour coordination - frame, stem, forks, rims, bolts, spacers, rack - is pure indulgence. It looks good too. The weight with slick tyres is 23.5 lbs.