A proper review of my vintage Raleigh Caprice

First I should mention that this review is not for the hideous new version of Caprice you can buy in Halfords or somewhere. This is for a old school model, that you can get on e-bay or gumtree.

Caprice is beautiful. As I've already mentioned. She's the perfect bicycle to sail about on looking like a lady. The loop frame and chain guard mean that you can wear what you like - I've attended two interviews using her as my trusty steed, and I even got one of the jobs, so clearly I didn't smell badly, or get chain grease all over my trousers.

She's extremely comfortable. Even men find her delightful - my boyfriend, my dad and my ex-housemate-who-hates-bikes have all ridden her and were reluctant to hand her back, despite looking like idiots on a flowery bike with a basket.

She's ideal for picnics, casually swooping down cycle paths, ringing your bell with a tinkly ding-a-ling, and receiving complements from whoever sees her.

She's great when you cycle on the roads. Her upright position means traffic sees you, the basket means they're enchanted by you, and the patterned sundress you'll be wearing (not included) mean they'd rather crash headlong into traffic than come within six foot of crashing into you.

When you ride Caprice, you're clearly not a knob on a fixie, or a Lycra clad racer. You are a lady, a symbol of a simpler time, an elegant sign that says "Look! Riding a bike is something you can do! And you'll look much nicer than when you're clad in half a tonne of metal."

Drivers will see you and envy you, and then get onto e-bay to replicate you, and suddenly you've done much more for cycling than any amount of naked bike rides.

However, she isn't perfect.

If you're intending to go up lots of steep hills, think again. Hills are a nightmare. She's not designed for that sort of nonsense. Don't get me wrong, you can go up anything to a pretty steep incline, but you won't enjoy it. And there will be a hill you'll have to get off and walk on, covered in sweat, which ruins the effect of the sundress and the pretty bike.

She's not light. I don't know how heavy she is, that's something you should definitely not ask a lady, but when you factor in the basket full of cupcakes, and the mudguards, and the rack for carrying your picnic blankets, she ends up weighing as much as a small elephant. I hope she doesn't mind me saying this, but if you're looking for something to heave up and down stairs, you should be prepared to either get yet another work out or get a strong man to help you. Actually, this bicycle attracts them like flies to a muck heap, so that's a surprisingly viable plan.

Saying that, I am small, and I cycle up hills and lug her up stairs and on and off of trains, and I am 5"4' and about eight stone. So it's definitely viable.

It just depends how much hard work you're willing to put in to into looking glorious. And my goodness, will you look glorious.