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 some ways like a kind of Stockholm Syndrome, the way we honor our machines. We love them to a point that lies well beyond obsession. Upon these machines upon we endure endless suffering, but also find an unending pleasure. The rhythm, the harmony between rider and machine, the outdoors, the wind in our faces and air in our lungs.
The Bikes is devoted entirely to our machines. Ours, The Keepers, and yours, the Community. It features articles devoted to our bikes, and proves a forum for uploading photos of your own machines for discussion. We will be harsh, but fair; this is a place to enforce and enhance our observation of The Rules.
If you’d like to submit an article about your own beloved bike, please feel free to send it to us and we’ll do our best to work with you to include it.
- Rule #12 and the Cascade Effect
That is a very reasonable opening salvo for the Rule about bike ownership. Three is good and certainly a minimum, and we are talking road bikes here, if there was any doubt. They naturally become ordered: the #1 is ichi-ban, top dog, go-to bike for every and all rides. #2 was the old #1, ... - Guest Article: Black Is Not The New Black@kogalover is singing my song here. Bikes are beautiful. ’nuff said. VLVV, Gianni With all those posts on riding in winter and being visible, either by putting Eyes of Sauron or other car melting devices on one’s steed, or by even considering a YJA instead of donning plain black kit, it was about time to finally get ...
- Dialing in the StableThis was going to be an article about Rule #45. It is amazing how much time is wasted and matches burned when professionals stop for that second bike change to get back on their #1. With all the jigs available to team mechanics it would seem they could set up five bikes exactly the same. And ...
- Matching the drapes to the rugAs a longtime titanium bike owner, I’ve always been jealous of a beautiful painted frame but Ti and carbon frames don’t need paint like a steel frame needs paint. But I want some painted beauty. It’s like buying a white car; I can’t do white, need some color. So between a Ti frame and a ...
- Festum Prophetae: Waiting for the HourEveryone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. – Mike Tyson The one thing everyone should always plan for is that however well-conceived a program might be, things will never go to plan. The high level plan for my Festum Prophetae Hour Ride was as follows: Have a custom Hour Bike built by Don Walker. Because reasons. Reasons like custom ...
@wilburrox
There’s nothing wrong with the stock pulleys. Just pointing out that since the shifty bits to their job so wonderfully in the last two gens of 105, the only actual performance difference is rotating friction: In this case, DA and Ultegra get marginally better-rolling pulleys. The ultimate Budgetatus racer bike would be a 105 with a $20 pulley upgrade and semi-aero alloy wheels…
My job includes some crank testing, and the lab results are clear: 105 and Ultegra are superbly stiff cranks, and DA is so stiff it’s ridiculous.
@tessar
I had my LBS adjust it, since I couldn’t make heads or tails of it (or any other derailleur, front or back, for that matter). But it has not needed any readjustment since, so that seems all right to me. I can do most bike maintenance related things quite well but derailleurs always end up worse tuned than before.
@Quasar
I have found that it is always best to start from scratch when tuning the rear mech. Disconnect the cable and set the stop on the small sprocket to run clean when on on the big dog up front. Screw in the adjuster and then reconnect the cable and tension. Then go up (well down in gear) 3 or 4 clicks and set the appropriate sprocket to run clean and quiet.
If you try to tune when things are a bit out of kilter it’s easy to end up adjusting a whole gear out up or down and things then just become a ‘mare trying to work out where it’s all gone wrong.
@tessar
By pulleys do you mean jockey wheels?
Do they really make that much difference?
@RobSandy
By ‘jockey wheels’, do you mean pulleys?
And yes, they do make that much of a difference, as far as I know. (Insert friendly-smiley emoticon here – if such were allowed…)
SYMBOL PACK JUST ARRIVED! I’d assumed they would arrive together with the V jersey. No matter.
Also just went ahead and ordered some upgrade wheels – Ribble had a great deal on some Fulcrum Racing Quattros. I’ll go ‘budget upgrade’ and invest in some properly nice racing wheels in the future.
Also, the freehub on the wheels the bike came with has just been diagnosed as ‘fucked’ (technical term), so the urgency of new wheels increased.
Excited
@tessar
@ErikdR
So you think it would be worthwhile to switch my 105 jockey wheels/pulleys for Ultegra? They are £15, which is about £20.
Otherwise, my bike is getting pretty close to the budget racer Tessar described…
So sad to say I’m letting go of my EMX-5 that is full Campy Chorus 11 so I can make room for a new Tommasini that I’m building up…lots of pics available. If anyone in the Portland area wants to give it a new home, hit me up.
I
In terms of size its a 50cm with an effective top tube of 53.3cm…..just saying….
@Quasar
Actually,if you follow the great Lennard Zinn’s instructions on Yaw set up they are a diddle to set up.I find the new Shimano FD’s a pain in the ass however….
Doddle!
@RobSandy
Yes, I think it would be worth it. There’s an article on BikeForum written by a guy (‘somegeek’) who did just that. If you Google “Will Ultegra pullleys work in a 105 derailleur?”, it should pop up.
@GalleySlave
On Shimano’s FD…I’m with ya on that. I think it all comes down to getting the cable threaded around the fixing bolt correctly for the specific installation/bike. And that strange little guide tool? And convertor? Meh… But, done correctly – thru trial and error in my case – just works really well.
@ErikdR
I will think on it.
Also, is there a word for the first time you upgrade the wheels on your bike? My new wheels are in the post and I am ultra excited.
@RobSandy
Ex-hub-erance, perhaps? Or ‘hoopjoy’?
Or one could argue that your present state of mind can be defined as ‘hoophappy’.
Congrats in advance on the upgrade, in any case. Keep us posted
@ErikdR
*applause*
@RobSandy
Why, thank you, kind sir! *Bows*
Strange that I hadn’t thought of this next variety before, but here’s one for the lexicon, perhaps:
“Hoopiness” = a pleasant sense of anticipation experienced while eagerly awaiting the arrival of a new wheelset.
@ErikdR
And its counterpart ‘unhoopiness’, which is when your new wheelset arrives (looking awesome) while your bike is with the mechanic having the shifting sorted out after it wasn’t done properly the first time, so you can’t fit said wheelset with tyres or put them on the bike or ride them, and when you’re working in a different office where yahoo mail is blocked so you can’t even check to see if your bike is ready yet.
Quite a specific definition, I know. Argh.
@RobSandy
Urgh… bummer.
‘Unhoopiness’ does have a ring to it. Could, perhaps, also be used to define a more general state of disgruntlement with the quality of one’s present wheelset? (As in: “My new factory bike is an OK machine as such, but the factory stock wheels are a constant source of unhoopiness. Gotta upgrade soon… etc…”
But congrats on the arrival of the new set! Cycling bliss beckons, surely.
@ErikdR
Allow me to present my hotrodded Budgetatus ride.
Felt F75 £639 (I’ve bought it on a bike-to-work scheme so will actually pay about £450)
52/36 crankset £80
Fulcrum Racing Quattro Wheelset £170
I was a bit disappointed the wheels didn’t make going fast feel really easy straight away, then I remembered my fanatical adherence to Rule #10. Checking Strava shows a bunch of PRs.
I think I might start describing the bike as an F7V instead of F75…
That looks pretty damn sweet!
It’s quite possible that the wheels need ‘breaking in’ to a certain degree. As I recall, some months ago, there was a discussion in these hallowed halls about the fact that many Dura Ace wheels, in particular, require to be ridden for a couple of hundred km before they really ‘open up’ – and I’ve had exactly that experience with the DA C24’s on my #1. The first few rides were a tad underwhelming, but for every ride I did, they felt a tad more awesome – and they ended up at the very top of the smoovness-scale. Fingers crossed – and congrats! Very nice ride.
Curious about the Fulcrums: I have a very old pair of these – and they are nice, but very noisy. Do yours make a fairly loud, clacking noise when you freewheel? And what kind of saddle is that, by the way?
PS: for the next photo, align the right crank with the seat tube, perhaps? Just a thought.
Finally got the opportunity to take a decent pic of the bike.
She might not be the flashiest, and she might be the epitome of my budgetatus status, but she’s been my trusty steed for over 10,000km now. Road rides, commutes, beer runs, this one does it all for me.
@ErikdR
Interesting to hear that the wheels change over time. I’ll let you know how I go.
The hub is pretty noisy, in a clickety-click sort of way. I don’t freewheel much so it wont be a problem. Winky smiley.
The saddle is just the stock Felt one the bike came with. It hasn’t caused me any problems so I’m in no hurry to change it. The only other change I have in the pipeline is new bar tape. In white. Obviously.
I didn’t take ages posing the photo, which is also why my bars look weird.
Should I take the decals with the orange ‘warning’ labels off the wheels. I picked at one and it was pretty firmly attached. I tried to pick one off the original Felt wheels and didn’t realise it was attached to the main Mavic decal. Doh.
Off to the track tomorrow, threw my Look Keo Blades on the ModPista, had this hanging on my wall, now it’s going to hang out at the ‘drome.
Greetings all,
New to the site. Fully embracing the way of V. Thought I would submit my most prized possession for the scrutiny of the keepers and fellow velominati. Would appreciate comments relating to rules compliance and so forth.
Since the photo was taken I have adjusted the bars so that the drops are more level, however my preference is for them to be perpendicular to the head tube.
Looking forward to hearing your opinions/input.
Cheers
@Davy Moore
Welcome, that is a stunning machine!
Level the saddle out and keep the ‘bars where they are in the photo and I reckon you’re golden.
@Davy Moore
I’ll chime in with Oli here. There’s a touch of flexibility with the tilt of the bars; not many here would take issue with how you’ve got them set up as pictured. Likewise, saddle tilt is personal, but if you haven’t tried the Flite tilted up some, I’d recommend it. You’re meant to put a book or board on top of the saddle and then level that plane. It will look “nose-up” in comparison, but the part you actually sit on, in the back, will be closer to level.
Otherwise, cheers to lugged steel, low-profile rims with tanwalls, and 7400. Classics never go out of style.
@Davy Moore
Nice, very nice! Love some chrome on a frame!
Reporting as promised, I can’t ‘feel’ much difference but going by Str*va, I’m getting PR’s in spades. Suggesting I’m going faster. Which, as we all know, is all that counts.
Question for the class – I run 10spd, but the wheels have an 11spd freehub. They came with a space, which I have inserted. The new Ultegra cassette I fitted also came with what looks like a space, albeit a thinner one. I’ve got both on currently, do I need them both?
I ask because my drive train is being very chattery noisy and I’m trying to diagnose and fix. I fitted some new jockey wheels too, and initially got them the wrong way around. I’ve resolved this but there’s still a lot of noise.
@Oli
Thanks Oli! Thought I had it roughly level but I guess I was wrong! Will put that right post haste.
@cognition
Thanks for the tip! I’m going to try that out right away. Will let you know how it goes. I haven’t been 100% happy with my position on this machine if I’m honest, so hopefully that will help dial it in!
@sthilzy
Thanks sthilzy, this chrome is in need of a good polishing. It’s looking a bit cloudy close up. Will take care of that over winter.
@piwakawaka
Pika – question please – Are the Look Keo Blades the newer models? Have you used them before and do they squeak / creak?
Reason I ask is mine are driving me insane, no matter how clean they are, new or older cleats I get an annoying creak or squeak, not all the time but a lot of the time and it is not a click. Grease on pedal threads, grease on cleat bolts, nothing fixes it.
And the fact that they do not hang like Looks of old annoys me as well.
Am just about ready to switch across to Shimano, only held out this long ( 15 years on Looks ) as have to buy 3 sets of pedals for bikes and ergo. And this is on a bike with Campy, that’s how desperate it has become.
@anotherdownunder
I use Look Keo and have 3 sets with 1 being the newer carbon. None squeak.
Though I would say that for me the Red carbon plate on the new carbons is way too strong on release. I have the yellow plate on order. Bit of a pain that the plate sets the tension and that they are not adjustable – coz replacing the plate, cheap, is not.
@DavyMoore
Davy, concur to comments made before re saddle position. One more topic, but I cannot really see it properly from the pic you posted, is the position of the front and rear skewer which should be according to Rule #41: “Quick release angle on the front skewer shall be an upward angle which tightens just aft of the fork and the rear quick release shall tighten at an angle that bisects angle between the seat and chain stays.”
I would think your front skewer is before the fork and the rear skewer is angled a bit too upwards, so try to bisect the angle a bit better.
Nice pic though, beautiful old skool steel steed
@KogaLover
In defense of @DavyMoore and the front QR. On old skool with Campag QRs the offset of the lever combined with the rake of the fork makes it pretty near impossible to put the lever behind the fork unless you put it below horizontal. You certainly cannot tuck it nicely behind like a modern Fork/QR.
@Teocalli
@KogaLover
Illustrates my point exactly – “aft” is clockwise – i.e. even more aero. Any more forwards and the lovely curvature of the campag level hits the fork. With a vintage curved fork this is even more so than what appears to be a modern(ish) straight carbon fork in the photo.
So I find the best visual is in front of the fork.
I’ll take some pics later.
@KogaLover
Thanks for pointing out the skewer lever issue with regards to Rule #41. I had completely overlooked them. Their positions in the photo are the positions I would normally have them. A careful balance of practicality and aesthetics, in my opinion. My preference is for the near vertical, however, I am open to suggestion and will do some experimentation in the coming days.
@Teocalli
Thanks for coming to my defense. You are absolutely correct in that my DA7400 QR levers to not sit neatly just aft of the fork blade, unless of course they were on the wrong side (i.e. the drive side). That would be an even worse offense! Not sure if there is a rule for that, but there ought to be! I have agreed to try an aft position, but I have a feeling I will be forced to revert to previous.
@anotherdownunder
Mine are a couple of years old, never had squeak issues, just carbon splitting! I ride speedplays nowadays, I put these on my track bike because they were sitting around with a spare set of shoes, no squeak on the track.
@RobSandy
To the best of my knowledge, you should only need the one spacer (i.e. the one that was supplied with the new wheels), inserted behind the largest cog of the 10-spd freewheel. That should do it. (But I don’t speak from experience here, and more wrench-savvy Velominati may chime in any time and debunk my theory).
By the way: well done on those PR’s – keep up the good work!
@piwakawaka
What a beauty
@DavyMoore
Welcome Davy. That’s a very pretty bike.
@ErikdR
No, you need both. The 11 speed hub is marginally wider than the 10 speed hub, which also accommodated 9 speed, which was slightly wider than 10 speed which doesn’t leave you wondering AT ALL why they could make 11 speed fit on the same hub, but that’s old and it makes me angry so I’ll stop. There are a few 10 speed only hubs out there that didn’t need the 10sp spacer, but they weren’t of Shimano make to my knowledge – I think some of the zipps did? Certainly, my 10 speed 7900 and 6700 hubs both require the 10sp spacer.
@Simon
OK, cheers! Re 9-10-11: I suppose ‘merely’ re-using – or adapting – technology that had already been developed, would have been too easy? (And it might have upset the marketing boffins, perhaps…)
@RobSandy: there, you see? Sooner or later, a wise(r) one will chip in to set matters straight. That’s one of the reasons why I like this site so much, in fact: people know their shit and I often learn something new.
@ErikdR
@Simon
Cheers, although, I took the scientific approach; I have the old wheels with a 10sp cassette on (which I assume are 10spd hubs) which I use for turbo trainer and track sessions. I measured carefully the distance between the mech hanger and the first sprocket on the cassette and compared this to the same measurement on my new wheels with 11spd hub and 10spd cassette;
With the extra little ring the sprocket was around a millimetre closer to the mech on my new wheels. I took it out and now it seems as if both cassettes are in the same position relative to the deraillieur. I think this is what matters if I want to swap wheels in and out without adjusting the derailleur.
On the stand, the drive chain seemed less noisy and was shifting more smoothly, too. I’m riding tomorrow morning so hopefully I will find the problem solved and can rejoice.
@RobSandy
I think you are always supposed to have that 1mm spacer with 10 speed hubs. Every one I have ever taken apart has it, so I always keep it. But at the same time every hub I have taken them off are 9/10/11 speed. So??
@AJ
Cheers, although I can report the shifting is fine now.
My drive train is still very noisy though – I replaced the jockey wheels and I can’t help wondering if that’s something to do with it. Don’t know how wrong you can get that? I’ve checked they are the right way around and greased up all the moving bits.
It’s Alive!! And it is the sweetest ride ever!
-Eddie