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 ...
@DVMR
@Teocalli
How many times have my wife and I enjoyed that movie? Jaysus, so great. I actually bought and read the book back in the early 80s, purchased in some god forsaken coastal town in Oregon on some god forsaken field trip. One of those few times where the movie is better than the book and the book was great.
@Teocalli
@Gianni
Watching the full extended version in total darkness is a rite of passage in my house.
Awesome film,watched this with my dad years ago when the Beeb showed the full version(think it was over two nights.It was also interesting watching it with him as he was in the Royal Navy in WW2 and did a couple of Atlantic convoys,was attached to merchantmen too,he actually had some sympathy for the u-boat crews.
He thought they did a good job of showing how bad the Atlantic could be,he remembered one day on watch when one moment you were looking down at the sea and then it was above you.
Never said much about the actual hostilities,only things I can remember are him mentioning being Stukered(might have been at Salerno landings though) and trying to fire at a mine without success!Sounded like he had a good time in the States though,a few days in NYC and then a train ride down to San Diego to pick up the return convoy.
@Oli
Yep, using the photo icon top right to select from Photo Library, which inserts a “?” icon but no image. I can also copy and paste the image, which displays it only until I hit “submit post”. Not that you’re missing much from me anyway, but others may have worthwhile pictures they can’t share…
@osbk67
Top Right?
@Gianni
I love you for posting that, Gianni.
Will email you the pic.
Damn, it uploaded it to the site but is not displaying it. Must get chief code breaker to fix it.
@DVMR
Late to the discussion but we watched the 5 hour extended version with all the older kids and my wife and I prior to “shipping out” to Germany this summer. So fucking amazingly awesome. Such a film! One that really really stays with you. Just love it. So powerful.
Robin William’s collection of bikes at auction
n+1 when money is no object ? Perhaps. But probably more to it than that. Really some cool bikes in the collection. And it’s the Stingray that get’s my eye ! RIP Mr. Williams.
@Randy C
Yes just saw that – he obviously loved his bikes. This was the first time in my life I ever wished I was 10cm shorter, I couldn’t even begin to imagine what it would have been like spending a few hours with him showing you his collection
@GogglesPizano
Holy crap! That is a mighty fine collection of bicycles. Mighty fine.
@DVMR
Lance just shared this on his FB page – auction site is crashing, bids will begin to really heat up. Great article here: http://www.wsj.com/articles/robin-williamss-kaleidoscope-on-two-wheels-1476380770
What!?!…..doesn’t everyone have a DShK Heavy Machine Gun Bike Stand in their neighborhoods?
@Dean C
I guess Dean will NOT be posting pictures here tonight…..Frank, please feel free to delete these three posts to make useful room for others.
Ride safe everone
Mr. Williams had good taste. I have a Casati and a De Bernardi as well!
@GogglesPizano
Do the winning bidders get the EPMSs too? I wonder what one might find in there?
I don’t like this, especially if it becomes a trend: Louis Vuitton set to buy Pinarello.
What could possibly go wrong here?
@Rick
an EPMS in LV livery!! No… nothing can go wrong. But seriously, LV owns watch co’s that you’d never really have known is owned by them as ex. Sounds like Pinarello family doing some estate planning ?? Who knows? And could we guess they can move some LV branded bikes in China ?
@Randy C
I have seen this too many times. The large corporation buys out the artisan while promising complete autonomy. Then the bean counters come in and cut here, cut there and soon the finished product is unrecognizable from its predecessor. I can see it now: “If we used cheaper carbon we could save two cents per frame. Also, let’s use the 105 Group San, which is much cheaper than the Dura Ace.”
At least LVMH understands luxury brands so it could be worse. However, dilution of the Pinarello product under a corporate umbrella is inevitable.
@Ron
Am having difficulties seeing all the bikes. While Robin knew about bikes, the photographer should look more in tol #26. Keep it in the big ring, pedals not horizontal, EPMS and more failures.
Officially chuffed, like becoming a father of a newborn again. First picture of my new Koga “nemo” trackbike. It’s still at the LBS, hence Rule #26 violations are not my fault. So cheer on with me!
Sorry lads and lassies! Tried to post the picture twice but to no avail…
@KogaLover
Damnit, and I really wanted to see it too!
Can I hijack your failed photo posting to ask a track bike question?
I went to fit a lockring to my bike last night, but couldn’t get the thing to screw on. Might there be different thread sizes for lockrings (mine is 15 years old or so)?
Also, the lockring thread looked somewhat fucked (the technical term).
Is there anything I can do about this? Can I ride safely at the track with no lockring?
@RobSandy
No, you can’t safely ride at the track with no lock-ring.
@Oli
Bumsticks. Are there different sort of threads for lockrings, or may it just be that the thread is a bit damaged?
And if so, is there anything I could do about this?
@RobSandy
It’s a left thread, were you aware? It’s like your left pedal, turn counterclockwise to tighten.
@KogaLover
Yep, I discovered that recently and took the sprocket off to check. So I’m turning the lockring the right way it’s just not screwing on. Either I’ve somehow got an incompatible thread or it’s that the thread on the hub is damaged. Don’t want to force it…
The bloke who had the bike before me rode it on the track a lot and never fitted a lockring so the issue never arose for him.
@KogaLover
And from a quick search for lockring on http://www.velodromeshop.net/index.php?p=product&id=930
you can see there are 3 different types of threads: English, Italian and French.
No San? No Bro?
@KogaLover
Ah, now the plot grows thicker. I wonder what I ordered. My wheels/hubs are Ambrosio – Italian?
@RobSandy
Oops. Can we just pretend this conversation never happened please?
@RobSandy
No idea, but very likely yes.
@RobSandy
That’s the beauty of @frank‘s no edit policy. No.
I know the VSP has finished but how about a bit of CSP?
The boy has grown again and is now too long for either of the bike in the stable with cross tyres. As part of the n+1 process I may have mentioned that he would need the same size bike as me and that I’d take the opportunity to race as well. n+1 is approved and a suitable bike has been identified on ebay but the claim that I would also race was met with mild skepticism.
There are nine races left in our local series, two of which I definitely cannot do so I think racing in five will present a decent challenge. Not finishing last will be a huge challenge…
There’s different locking threads, there are campy lockings and Japanese. If it’s an Italian wheel, it’ll have an Italian thread and you will need a Miche or a Campy locking, if it’s an Asian wheel a Shimano/generic locking will do.
Okay, who can school me on this issue…
Trying to mount some low-end Shimano v-brakes onto a generic fork, building a new commuter. However, the brake arm won’t seat on the fork post…it hangs up maybe 5 mm out from seating. Bolt won’t push/pull it on, have tried mounting both brakes on the front, neither will seat, got one to mount in the rear.
Is this just some oddity? Does Shimano have strange v-brakes? Don’t think I can swap out this part of the arm. Any ideas?
@Ron
Might need some photos………oh damn………@FFRRRRAAAANNNNKKKK
@Ron
Try sanding the brake mounting post – most likely there’s paint or glue or something increasing the diameter enough to foul the brake.
Hi Oli. Hadn’t thought of this, good suggestion! It’s a new fork and not a high end one, so likely never had any brakes (cantis or v’s) installed. Might be just enough extra paint. At first I thought the spring pin wasn’t lining up with the holes, or too wide, but my better half spotted that the entire arm wasn’t even seating.
Thank you! I’ll give it a try tonight.
@Ron
If the peg is painted that could be it. I don’t think you’d expect the peg to be painted as it will inevitably come off anyway and impair the brake. I’d suspect the peg would be a bulk stock part machined to be the correct size without paint and the fork manufacturer simply inserts the peg. A bit like dropouts where most frame/fork makers buy in stock pieces.
Photo attempt… will assume won’t work in advance but wanted to share if possible. A Bianchi SL3 Lite Alloy Reparto Corse showed up today on our am ride. The cat riding it was from Germany and recalls Jan Ullrich racing for Bianchi and this model bike being what he was on. I snapped a few photos as this being the first time I’ve seen the celeste, yellow gold and black color way scheme live and thinking dang, this is so cool. Had a wacked geometric design on the top and bottom tubes. Bottom tube in black with celeste lettering. Seat tube and rear stays in celeste. And a slash of yellow gold across the top tube, seat tube and chain stays. Along with a carbon fork. Man did I dig that bike. When I grow up I’m gonna get me an electric guit… I mean Bianchi. Cheers all.
Thanks for the suggestions, lads. My favorite mechanic sorted it out! The posts were the wrong size for the brakes. I didn’t even realize the post were removable! We carefully removed them, put on new ones, brakes on, that issue solved! He even just kept the old ones, which I had no need for, and traded me his. Nice!!
Now to install my first XT RD with a clutch and also size the chain, haven’t done it on a 1×10 drivetrain yet. Oh, and how about SRAM tech docs? I don’t think they could provide less information if they tried. It’s almost weird!
@KogaLover
Sorted before my first session on the boards – my ring is now locked.
What an awesome sensation going flat-out on a track bike is.
@RobSandy
Cannot wait either. Been watching quite some track cycling past couple of days from London: Cav and Wiggo getting beaten by the Belgians. Prior to that the Euro Champs in France. Hey, we can do the Madison together one time! Am planning to pick up the new rig mid December. And still cannot post a picture of it… FRRRAAAHHHHNNNKKKK. @frank: Beste meneer Nederaap, doe ‘s wat
@RobSandy
I have to say that my ring was very much locked tight the first time I went for a flying lap round the Oympic Velodrome. Terrifying. But awesome.
@chris
I found one of my clubmates swerving up onto the red line after we’d finished a sprint (he beat me, damnit) forcing me to dart up through a small gap on the blue line had the same effect. Don’t fancy repeating either of those experiences again.
Just hoping my 15t and my 100mm stem arrive in time to fit before Friday’s session.
@RobSandy
So what cogs do you ride now? I have 50 front and 16 rear, with optional 15 so I get 90” per rotation.