Velominati Community Profile Archive

Velominatus: El Segundo

Order: Level 3 Velominatus

Location: South Australia

@El Segundo's activity:

The Keepers

Cycling is a mighty sport with a rich and complex history. Every company, racer, piece of kit, and component has a legend, a story behind it; in many cases it also has a personal and nostalgic connection to our lives.  While this particular sport is steeped in tradition, it is also fiercely modern, a fact that serves only to deepen its complexity...

@El Segundo's posts:

  1. @zipper Your turn. »

The Bikes

The Bike. It is the central tool in pursuit of our craft. A Velominatus meticulously maintains their bicycles and adorns them with the essential, yet minimal, accoutrement. The Rules specify the principles of good taste in configuration and setup of our machines, but within those principles lies almost infinite room for personal taste.It seems in s...

@El Segundo's posts:

  1. Seeing as I’ve offered my opinion on other’s bikes I thought it only fair to prove I can take criticism as well as dish it out. I’ve just finished the update to my 25 year old steel beast and it feels like a new bike, which is no surprise given all the n… »

The Works

La Vie Velominatus. It is the life we, as Velominati, lead.  It is life as a disciple of cycling, of the greater meaning the bike holds and the lessons it teaches us. Along the path, one of our great duties is the wholesale consumption of the great Works related to our sport. From periodicals to books to films, herin lies the list of works consi...

@El Segundo's posts:

  1. @itburns @Buck Rogers Thanks for the recommendations. At the moment I’m restricted to what I can find on iBooks store so last night I started on Slaying The Badger. I’ve had no luck finding the others, so will have to try some bricks-and-mortar bookstor… »

  2. I’d like to offer my thanks to the Frank and The V community for providing me with the information and inspiration I needed to begin on the path of a Velominatus after a life of riding bikes but being largely indifferent to and ignorant of the world of se… »

The Keepers

Cycling is a mighty sport with a rich and complex history. Every company, racer, piece of kit, and component has a legend, a story behind it; in many cases it also has a personal and nostalgic connection to our lives.  While this particular sport is steeped in tradition, it is also fiercely modern, a fact that serves only to deepen its complexity...

@El Segundo's posts:

  1. @Geezer Seeing as you asked, I have to agree with Buck Rogers and Dr. C here, the gold tape looks crook. All brass, no class. »

Velominati Super Prestige: Paris-Roubaix 2013

It looks so easy on the television. Well, no, actually it looks pretty bloody hard. We think we have some understanding of how they suffer, how their bodies can take the continual beating. But we don’t really know. Not even by riding these abominations they call roads twice in the space of a few days can we understand the scale of the thing...

@El Segundo's posts:

  1. @frank Fucking sweet Frank. »

  2. VSP PICKS: 1. Cancellara 2. Sylvain Chavanel 3. Boasson Hagen 4. Roelandts 5. Haussler »

Velominati Super Prestige: Ronde van Vlaanderen

Ok, ok, settle down now people. Take your seats please. You’re all a little bit on edge, like some cycling Gamblers Anonymous group that’s been let out for the weekend with a pocket full of bills and the name of the nearest bookie. But in your excitement, you managed to crash our server, delaying the fix you so desperately crave.But wai...

@El Segundo's posts:

  1. @xyxax Fucking awesome video that. I’m still grinning. Thanks for the link. »

Velominati Super Prestige: Ronde van Vlaanderen 2013

Imagine a world without the little things we take for granted; a house without a roof, a pub with no beer, a Keepers Tour without any clothes. The last one is a reality for me at the moment, five days in and still no trace of where the hell between Wellington and Paris my bag (filled with V-Kit, shoes, helmet, everything) is. The other thing that h...

@El Segundo's posts:

  1. @El Segundo ARSE! I didn’t realise this pick was submitted, wanted Cancellara then Sagan. »

The Rides

The Ride. It is the cathedral of our sport, where we worship at the altar of the Man with the Hammer. It is the end to our means. Indeed, The Bike may be the central tool to our sport, but to turn the pedals is to experience the sensation of freedom, of flight. It is all for The Ride.The world is overflowing with small, twisty roads that capture ou...

@El Segundo's posts:

  1. @ChrisO Sounds like a very Good Friday and a fine way to end a good season. Chapeau. »

Velominati Super Prestige: Ronde van Vlaanderen 2013

Imagine a world without the little things we take for granted; a house without a roof, a pub with no beer, a Keepers Tour without any clothes. The last one is a reality for me at the moment, five days in and still no trace of where the hell between Wellington and Paris my bag (filled with V-Kit, shoes, helmet, everything) is. The other thing that h...

@El Segundo's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Cancellara 2. Sagan 3. Haussler 4. Chavanel 5. Boonen »

  2. VSP PICKS: 1. Sagan 2. Cancellara 3. Haussler 4. Chavanel 5. Boonen »

Defining Moments: Hood Position

If I spent half a summer riding with one hand on the tops and one on the hoods, I spent the other half riding with each hand deliberately gripping the hoods differently. As any young Cyclist growing up in the United States in the late 80s, I had a major thing for Greg LeMond.I imagined Greg to be the perfect Cyclist, as youth often does of their...

@El Segundo's posts:

  1. @Simon And with his flagrant violation of the Three-Point System he could sell advertising space on his forehead. »

Anatomy of a Photo: Phil Anderson

In honor of the first Australian to win KBK it seems appropriate to give a Chapeau to our mates down under.  Congrats to perhaps the greatest up and coming cycling nation on earth and to Chris Sutton for a show of strength in what was a free-for-all to the finish in Kuurne today.Lest our mates get too cocky though, have a look at the egregious att...

@El Segundo's posts:

  1. @sthilzy I dare say you were more disappointed than I, me being just a kid and a casual observer in Phil’s day. He was still a hero to me though. In retrospect my interest was purely nationalistic, and I never raced, I just liked riding my bike. The same… »

The Rides

The Ride. It is the cathedral of our sport, where we worship at the altar of the Man with the Hammer. It is the end to our means. Indeed, The Bike may be the central tool to our sport, but to turn the pedals is to experience the sensation of freedom, of flight. It is all for The Ride.The world is overflowing with small, twisty roads that capture ou...

@El Segundo's posts:

  1. @piwakawaka  Great name, I love fantails too, along with willy wagtails, blue wrens, flycatchers etc. but I love the Maori bird names even more, same with fish. Pukeko has to be my fave, so much cooler than swamp hen. And no I’m not a birdo, just a bit … »

Velominati Super Prestige: Ronde Van Drenthe 2013

Ok, so you guys and gals don’t miss a trick, but sometimes we do. In fact, we kind of specialize in it. @Bianchi Denti just texted me to point out, as others have done on site, that we have almost missed the next stop on the VVomen’s VSP calendar, the Ronde Van Drenthe. On International Women’s Day, of all things.All I can tell yo...

@El Segundo's posts:

Guest Article: Bike #2

I don’t have to tell anyone around here that @Cyclops is weird guy; most of you have already figured that out, and if you haven’t figured it out, you will soon enough. But weird doesn’t have any negative meaning, if you ask me. In fact, I’d say we’re all weird which makes normal more suspect. Several years ago, long be...

@El Segundo's posts:

  1. +1 on the Chapeau to @Cyclops, living the dream. »

Anatomy of a Photo: Phil Anderson

In honor of the first Australian to win KBK it seems appropriate to give a Chapeau to our mates down under.  Congrats to perhaps the greatest up and coming cycling nation on earth and to Chris Sutton for a show of strength in what was a free-for-all to the finish in Kuurne today.Lest our mates get too cocky though, have a look at the egregious att...

@El Segundo's posts:

  1. Sorry to drag things down this route, but I saw Anderson interviewed on Aust. TV recently where it was alleged he was present in the hotel room when the then 21 year old COTHO bribed ($50K) a couple of Italian riders to help him take the $1M prize for cro… »

Cobbled Classics 2013 Forecast: Hardman’s Valmanac

As many of you know, one of my specialties is examining events, imagining trends in them, and then predicting future events by painting with broad strokes based on those findings. I find this approach particularly effective when it pertains to topics of which I know less than nothing. In many ways, this is the same thing meteorologists do, so in...

@El Segundo's posts:

  1. @Barracuda @Barracuda Yes indeedy »

  2. @Mikael Liddy Thanks for the tip Mikael, it seemed too good to be true. I’m in SA (Victor) so looks like I’ll be burning up my data allowance. Still, it’ll be worth it. »

  3. @Deakus Praise be to Merckx, SBS in Aus. will be televising all the spring classics in their entirety. I’ll have to delve deep into “the suitcase of caffeine”. Can’t wait. »

Handlebar V-Cufflinks (Bar plugs)

Details are what separate the Velominatus from the Cyclist; we don’t just pay attention to them – we devour them. Our bicycles are carefully curated with every part sourced to meet our personal specifications, requirements, or whim.And just as fine cufflinks round out a finely tailored suit, the Velominati V-Cog bar plugs dubbed the Han...

@El Segundo's posts:

  1. @ChrisO Thanks.  It came good. 2 sets of V cufflinks heading my way. Jesus weep no more, Frank curse no more. »

  2. I should add that the zwarte cufflinks are for my reincarnating 80′s steel machine, a humble (Tange 900) Ricardo Elite, manufactured in my home town (back when we actually made stuff in Australia), and bought new by me as an 18 year old in 1987. I knew b… »

  3. Hi Velominati. Been lurking for a while but when I tried to buy these I got the “your cart is empty” message. I figured the shop is for registered folks only, so here I am, registered at last, but still no joy with the cart. What am I doing wrong? Tha… »