Feats of Boardman & O'Bree

Battle of the Bikes and On Yer Bike : videos. Bromley Video 2007. Double DVD set, 230 minutes total. £22.99. From Bromley Video Entertainment.

We have here two quite different disks. The first shows two professionally-made films made to the highest production values, one on the mid-90s rivalry between Boardman and Obree, the second a portrait of the Scotsman. For a snapper-up of unconsidered trifles like myself it's the odd moments that strike – Obree welding in his workshop, Boardman arriving at the Eureka Café, the off-the-bike stuff in the track centre, Obree's close relationship with his brother, a hundred curious details captured by camera and microphone. The great head-to-head at Newtonards, combined with the ‘50' Champs on the other disk, emphasise the strange and unique quality of British time-trialling, especially when set against the GP des Nations, in which both competed.

There's an element of the Coppi – Bartali situation in their rivalry, and it's tempting to see it as something artificially created by the media – the great calculating machine versus the force of nature – but there's little doubt that the two men really do come from different planets. It's our good fortune that we were around to see their close encounters, and that we can buy this record of the event.

The second disk in the package is more variable. The tape of Obree's British Hour Record at Herne Hill – an astonishing achievement on this track – and the pursuit final at Leicester (doesn't a 333-metre track look huge now?) are good stuff, the RTTC ‘50' title gets going when Graeme gets off the bike, and Doug Dailey is worth listening to; Obree talking about a film of his life is less gripping, and I'd prefer to hear Phil O'Connor talking about photography than about his visit to Hamar, most of which any of us could have said. But because of his personality – open, completely lacking in vanity, and his astounding achievements – anything involving Obree is likely to be interesting and intriguing. As usual with Bromley, everything is produced to the highest standards. Enjoy.