Frasier is a cyclist

Bikebiz.co.uk plugged the show in advance but, as with many of these ‘cycling is going to feature’ plugs, the reality is rarely as good as the hype.

Not so with last night’s episode of the hit US sitcom: it was awash with bikes. There was even a long scene in a slat-walled bike shop.

Even though Frasier dumped his Cannondale hybrid in the trash-can at the end of the episode, the tone of the show was very upbeat for bikes.

The show featured an AIDS-charity benefitting bike-a-thon organised by Frasier’s radio station, KACL-AM. Roz ("she pedals her ass all over town") and her daughter Alice took part in the ride, as did Frasier, Daphne and Niles.

The basic plot was that neither Niles or Frasier could ride bikes, something Daphe’s mother, played by Millicent Martin, thought incredible. "Who doesn’t ride a bike?" she asked. ‘Who?"

Niles and Frasier did their usual disfunctional shtick as they bought bikes in an IBD and then practised riding them, in a rare outdoors scene, in a Seattle park. The screen brothers wore helmets, elbow- and knee-pads.

Niles: "[On a bicycle] there’s nothing between you and the ground, but the ground."

Whilst Niles rode an ancient, Chopper-like contraption – a Schwinn no doubt – Frasier clearly rode a Cannondale, the ‘C’ logo being plainly visible in many shots.