An often (OK, occasionally. OK, someone asked us once) question received at Bikemagic Global Command is, “What happens to all the test bikes?” Usually the answer is a rather prosaic one – we just borrow them for a couple of weeks and then whoever made them has them back. Quite often a bike’ll do the rounds of the magazines – it’s a good idea to get in first… Sometimes, though, things are different. Take the Dialled Bikes 853 Prince Albert, for example. Dialled sent us a bare frame, we built it up with a pile of bits we keep to one side for just that purpose and tested the result (you can read it here). And then we took it all apart again and asked Dialled where to send the frame to. “Oh, we don’t need it back,” said Dialled supremo Mike, “Just give it away or something.”

So that’s what we’re doing. The prize is the exact same 853 PA frame used for the BM test, complete with some free bits of mud and grit in hard-to-reach corners and the odd cable scuff. No chainslap damage, though. It’s a Large frame, so you’ll need to be at least 6ft tall to be happy on it. There aren’t any other sizes to be won, so don’t ask – it’s just this one particular frame. If it won’t fit you, don’t enter…

To be in with a chance of owning this tough-as-nails, fast-handling frame (retail price £380), you need to answer the following question:

Q This is the front end of Dialled Bikes’s original Prince Albert frame from which the 853 model was evolved. That extra tube is a trademark feature of the PA, but why is it there?

No multiple choice, that’d be too easy. Email your answer to [email protected] with the subject header “853PA COMPETITION”. You’re sending your answer to the designer, so there’ll be no quibbling about whether it’s right or wrong… Closing date is, ooh, let’s say Friday 25 November.