RIP Monty Young

"We are extremely sad to announce that Monty Young passed away peacefully today, 20 July 2018, having reached the age of 88 on Sunday," says a statement on the website of Condor Cycles of London. 

"He had suffered with Alzheimer’s for a number of years, which sadly worsened in recent months. But in true Monty style, he remained characteristically strong until the very end."

Young started what would become one of London’s iconic bike shops in 1948. The first premises was across the road from the current store on Grays Inn Road, close to KIngs Cross. In the cellar beneath the shop, Young built bicycles and wheels.

He was a talented wheel builder and, in the 1950s, convinced the Council for Industrial Design to test and examine his wheels. The Council published a report that a hand-built Condor wheel weighing less than two pounds had sustained an axle load of 1200lbs before distorting. The report brought cyclists flocking to Condor for a ‘Monty Young’-built race wheel. The shop reports that staff still hear remarks from customers that a pair of wheels "built by Monty" back in the day are, to this day, running straight and true.

Young became involved in racing and from the mid-fifties onwards he was out most weekends with the Condor van, helping at road races around London. His neutral service support would take him around Britain and as far as East Germany, supporting the Milk Race.

Young set up the Condor Mackeson team, which would go on to support Hugh Porter’s successful World Championship title in the 1960s. Young’s shop was key supporter of champions including Dave Bonner, Colin Lewis, John Herety, and, later, Bradley Wiggins.

Young’s son, Grant, and grandson, Sebastian, continue to run Condor as a family business.