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 ...
@ChrisO
that’s really something! great photo!
@ChrisO
90″ for 50 x 15 may not be mathematically perfect due to the variations in exact wheel circumference, but Sheldon’s chart is the universally and historically accepted one for comparative and practical discussion purposes.
Crank length has no bearing on it, as the bicycle still travels the same distance for one revolution of the cranks in a given gear, no matter how long or short the lever is.
@ChrisO
!!!! Gotta love it. Lucky dad !!! Cheers
My daughter just turned 13. And this weekend for the CX races I set back her mtn bike saddle all the way on the post and swapped stems. All to try and salvage a few more months on a bike that’ll need upsized very soon. My prospect for 2017 is n+3 due to her sprouting up… Talk about growing pains ! Where does that leave my n+??? Dang.
At a recent coach’s seminar we had a pediatric orthopedic doc talk to us about kid’s physiology as relates to bikes and fit. At issue is when they sprout, and femurs grow, their hamstrings are well stretched before they catch up with the bones. So, when on a bike, rolling the pelvis forward to get that nice flat back becomes an issue. Hence, the way we normally look at bike fit can be a lot different when working with growing kids. This coming Sunday we have our first intro practice for our local Mtn Bike team and I’m gonna be looking at the student athletes and their bikes and fit differently than I have in past years. And we’re going to be implementing much more core strength and conditioning training over the winter vs just the usual indoor spinning we’ve done in past.
@Dean C
Masters Natz this year( or which one?) What age group are you in? I have done Old Guy Natz for the past 9 years( save for last year when I went to Elite Natz).
@ChrisO
Just Super Super Super! This is what it is all about now in my life and I would not change it for the world.
When I was younger and sans kiddos, it was all about me and my times and how fast could I go.
Now I cannot even begin to explain how much joy I get out of my kids athletics and experiences.
Great photo!
@chris
A developer asks an accountant, and architect and a quantity surveyor for some advice. He invites each into his office in turn. First he asks the accountant “what’s 2 + 2?”.
“4!” replies the account quickly.
Next he asks the architect “what’s 2 + 2?”
“I don’t know,” he answers, “What colour are the numbers?”
Last he asks the QS “What’s 2 + 2?”
The QS gets up, shuts the door, then comes back and leans across the desk.
“What would you like 2 + 2 to be?” he answers.
@Haldy
I’m 35 so I’m just in the seniors. I’m thinking if I compete in anything it’s likely to be the kilo. I’m a sprinter and time triallist so it should suit me. And as I don’t have that much track experience it’s probably ideal as I wont crash into anyone.
@Randy C
For sure, just getting her a bike was such a minefield. She’s 168cm but her inside leg is half that height, and her armspan is 172cm. Depending on which chart you look at she could be anything from small medium to large. And she’s still probably got two years of growing.
She’s been doing some core work and other exercises to help with the hyper-mobility, but it took a long time to confirm that. Her main activity is horse-riding (the one thing she wouldn’t stop doing) so that helps her core a lot anyway and I guess it activates glutes as well.
@chris
Since we were speaking about formulae, I had a hunch that QS could be Quantitative Scientist. In my world of professional activity, QS stands for Quota Share btw.
@Oli
But 90inch is not the distance travelled with 1 pedal stroke; that’s 278 inch of 7.08m. Hence “90” says nothing. Could as well have been the answer to “what’s the temperature outside?” “It’s a yellow Tuesday”.
@RobSandy
Your joke is spot on here, dudes making up numbers which no-one understands or makes sense of.
@KogaLover
I’m a Quantity Surveyor by training and job title, but at the moment I’m a commercial manager. It’s similar apart from everyone hates you.
Gear inches refers to the nominal diameter of the wheel based on a particular gearing, Penny Farthing style.
@RobSandy
@RobSandy
And there was me thinking you might be a contractor’s QS.
@RobSandy
Ahh…the Killermeter….I used to specialize in that back in the days of my youth. I have gone down the endurance path now, and the Madison and Team Pursuit are my favorite events.
@Haldy
I don’t know that I’ll be any good at it, but it seems a good place to start.
Any tips?
@RobSandy
Start hitting the weight room! The Kilo along with the match sprint is the realm of the monster quads! The kilo is all about starting out of the gates….and going FULL TILT until you die…then you still have 200m to go…lol
Here is a great vid of Francois Pervis in 2013. THe start out of the gate is as about as perfect as possible.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rt8lDyKMKsY
@Haldy
me too. nothing i’ve ever done in my life has hurt worse than a bad kilo.
@KogaLover
I am well aware gear inches is a somewhat arcane “measurement”, and I never claimed it was accurate, but it’s by far the most common way for English-speaking riders to express their gearing in a common language – if a rider says to another he has an 86″ gear everyone knows what he means and can compare their gearing on those terms.
Roll-out/development probably should be in more common use and I’m sure it will be eventually, but old habits die hard.
@Haldy
Oh, that was a BRILLIANT video! I had never watched a 1 k before.
Just awesome and it was great to see that his thighs did not look like they had come out of an East German lab, either!
@Buck Rogers
check out Florian Rousseau and Erin Hartwell, too. Rousseau basically upended the entire sprint discipline in the ’90s, and Erin Hartwell had a LONG kilo career for team USA. i think they’re awesome.
@Cary
Having ridden intervals of that length and planning to possibly race over that distance, the pain and suffering for the whole last lap is palpable.
I enjoy watching how those guys can channel such awesome strength and power into a minute of complete smooth focussed riding.
I like Rousseau because, as late as 1995, he was turning 1:03 kilos, sans tribars. he was not a great big guy, either, he just had MAD explosiveness. i like Hartwell because NOBODY of his era was faster over the last 250m.
such a demanding discipline. very fascinating.
Well I’m no mathematical genius or anything, but I have 50×15 at 88.18″ on a 25c tyre, and 87.68″ on a 23c.
@DVMR
I agree with this guy.
@Oli
I think the point about crank length BTW was that it doesn’t make a difference to the gear inches (or development) but it does make a difference to the overall gearing.
@Haldy
Was hoping Haldy and a few others with much more Velodrome experience would pop in on this thread.
One thing I have learned from my limited time there is don’t paint yourself into “I have to get a 1:15 or less or else” there are so many factors that can slow down or speed up everyone’s times for a given day.
Are you racing on a 333 or 250? What is your local training track? 250 or 333 concrete or wood, inside or outdoors?
What might be a “fast” time at one track might be “so-so” at another for a 1K and all other ITTs and pursuits.
No matter what or how you train your last lap will a sufferfest, you will look down swearing one of your tires is half flat.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki2re9uILtc
“Standing Start (2009): A unique insight into a champion’s adrenaline and drive as he trains for the Olympics. Maclean’s heroic cycling is set against the story of Odysseus, creating a heart-stoppingly rich portrayal of man.”
Don’t get too wrapped up in gear/inches bla bla bla; know what works for you- not the other guy. Teams and other riders go to the trouble of grinding the tooth-count numbers off their cogs and rings so nobody else can see what they are riding, so if you ask a local, chances are you will not get a spot-on answer- even to what the locals recommend for tire pressures for “their” track surface.
For crank lengths, some tracks do not allow any longer than 170 due to rider safety(bank degrees vs. pedal strike). For others its leverage vs. rotation speed.
Take care
@Dean C
Technique! That’s probably the biggest key. Learning how to do a proper standing start( it’s not as easy as it sounds..) and also learning how to sit down on a fixed gear at speed( plopping down on the saddle scrubs off speed..you have to slide back on to it) are key to doing well. Also learning how to stay glued to the black line. Time and distance are measured off the black line. The farther away you are from the black line in the turns, the more time you are giving away by traveling farther.
@Haldy
Very True! I can say that I have had some very good bike “holders” at some of my standing starts and some very young inexperienced ones that have probably cost me a full second + from just miss-handling my bike during final seconds and release. But going to Nationals for your first race you should not see any of that.
Focus on the black line like Haldy says, the more time you spend away from it and wandering up near the red line the longer “your” track just became.
Although by the last 200 meters the black line becomes somewhat fuzzy, replaced by dancing black dots in front of my vision.
Also if you are going with a buddy, have him “pace” you with a stopwatch:
From training you know you are gunning for a 1:15 on a 250 meter track.
First lap with standing start: 21 seconds
2nd, 3rd and 4th laps- all 18 seconds or less= 75 seconds.
Your “pacemans” job is to yell to you as you roll by if you are at , below or above your pace to reach your time.
As you do your sprint training around your neighborhood don’t get put off if your times in the Velodrome do not match those you post at home, a 250 meter Velodrome with it’s sharp turns takes an enormous amount of speed away from you. It’s one reason many will post faster times at a 333, more gradual turns=less friction+ less of them per kilo.
Take care
Use-by dates for bikes??!!
Should there be a ‘safe’ life for bicycle parts?
@Dean C
@Haldy
Thanks for the advice chaps! My training track and the competition track are both the Newport Velodrome (where the British squad do a lot of training), so it’s a 250m wooden indoor track.
I’m hoping my coach will give me a trial run on Friday night to see how I can do. My calculations suggest 1:15 is possible, maybe quicker. But I really don’t know. It’s probably an event that suits me as I like TTing and have some idea of pacing but I’m also a decent sprinter; I naturally have a strong ‘kick’ (the downsides are that on steep hills every single one of my riding partners dances away from me while looking back every now and again to check if I’ve punctured – I haven’t). Plus, I’m all in for pain and suffering.
I think I could also set myself up with kit pretty well -I have a skinsuit on the way, got a TT helmet and I think I can knock together a track style aero cockpit (bullhorns and aerobars) from things I’ve got kicking around. Then hopefully I will have time to practice a lot – I imagine a lot of the skill is in accellerating fast up to race speed, but not overdoing it. It does intrigue me – sort of thing I can imagine becoming an obsession!
@RobSandy
Thanks for paving the way for me, sir!
@Oli
And with Brexit, they will be coming back real fast!
@KogaLover
Haha, true!
@Haldy
That’s pretty cool. Looks like nothing but pure pain going deep. And it’s just a one minute bike ride ? Cheers
@RobSandy
My son has been going to BC coached road session on the circuit outside the Lee Valley Velodrome. It’s generally to cold to stand outside watching and they only go past every minute or thereabouts so we’ve been watching the FullGas Track League racing inside. That and your adventures and upcoming tilt at National Glory have got me thinking about getting accredited over the summer to have a crack at racing next year.
It’s also encouraging to see that there are quite a few blokes in the C races (and even a few in the B races) who are considerably more rotund than I am.
I’m going to need another bike…
@chris
I’m a bit frightened of mass start track racing still, hence me considering track TTing.
The irony is, I can’t race track league because I’m not accredited, and there aren’t any accreditation courses coming up. But I can race the Welsh Track Champs without accreditation. Odd!
@RobSandy
The Cat C bunch racing looks terrifying, the Cat B slightly less so but in three weeks of watching them wobble and swerve round the track I’ve only seen two crashes and no injuries.
If I remember correctly, you’ve been in bunch races (on a roadbike) in a velodrome before, it won’t be any worse than that.
As the who accreditation thing, you’ve got to love the logic of the ruling bodies…
@chris
At least no-one would have brakes indoors. People who brake in crits on oval tracks should be lashed with frame pumps until they’ve really had enough.
Didn’t get that comment.
Anyway, here’s my track bike now with new longer seat post, longer stem, track bars and new grips.
Kierin grips…ribbed for MY pleasure.
Yay! A discussion about track.
It’s been such a great thing to be able to race track as well as all of the other disciplines I do. Especially good when it’s pissing down outside and my normal training ride is cancelled on a Tuesday or Thursday.
Melbourne has a really amazing track scene. Really good turnouts on both nights, both Juniors and Seniors.
The coolest thing is racing against early teenage girls in some of the open races. (They’re fast!!)
Anyhoo, here’s my bike set up in pursuit mode.
Or not.
Where’s the photo link button gone?
Ah yes. Log in…
@RobSandy
I wanted to thank you for asking all the questions that I otherwise would be asking in a couple of months from now! So by gathering the answers, you paved the way for me.
And on the ride, that looks sweeeet. You know blue is my favourite color. I recall you saying your bike was old, but this one looks brand new to me. Are those SPD SL Group San pedals?
@KogaLover
Ah, I getcha now. There’s so much to know – more than you’d think for a bike with no gears and no brakes that just goes round and round a wooden track. I bought a replacement chainring (49t) and discovered that despite measuring the BCD I’d got it wrong; I’d bought 144mm and need 135mm. Of course, 135mm chainrings are fucking expensive.
If it was a better quality picture you’d see all the dings in the frame, it’s well chipped. But the wheels are lovely. And I’ve added the cockpit and seatpost/saddle, so they are new. And yeah, they are just normal SPD-SL pedals, handed down off my road bike when I upgraded to 105. I only have 1 pair of cycling shoes.
I’m still thinking if I repainted it in matt white and put some deep section wheels on it’d look pretty modern (aero DT!), EXCEPT, the steerer is 1″ (rather then 1 1/8th”), so I can’t replace the forks.
Looking forwards to hearing how you get on riding the boards!
@RobSandy
Looking good. the frame has nice geometry/proportions. And if it’s got a 1″ steerer, I would definitely be going for a quill stem, but then, I’m a total retro-head. I’m on the lookout out for a steel track frame myself. So far, the hunt has not been going so well.
@DVMR
I’m of the opposite incination – I’m a total moderniser. I think with a few changes over the next year I can make it look like a modern track bike. It already looks completely different with the track bars (had some horrid too-small ergo road bars on before).
Also, I’m only really interested in making it go faster.
@RobSandy
I always say that it’s not my bike that needs to become lighter, but me. Mutatis mutandis: it’s not your bike that needs to get faster, it’s you
@RobSandy
Looks nice but is riding a BC Talent Team bike not on par with wearing pro kit?
@KogaLover
Touche.
@chris
You ever heard that old expression? “Nope”.
I’m intrigued who it used to belong to though. I’ve seen an identical one on interwebs with Alex Dowsett’s name on it. Think it’s too big a frame to be any obvious candidates locally though (G, Luke Rowe).
ChrisO – Damn, that is awesome. Great photo, great story. But…setting Lillian up with an e-groupsan at such an age? You are in for a world of Budgetatus pain down the line if she gets hooked!
On another note – what is the feeling on mounting a “be seen” light light a Lezyne Strip on the fork. I prefer to keep my bars clean. Too low for motorists to adequately see? Anyone doing this currently? Thanks.
Have commented on occasion. Thought it only proper to put my bike up.
@Steve T
Love your machine! Are those 28 or 26 mm tires — interested to know the gap or brake reach on that fork and rear bridge. I am seeing another allroad machine in my future.
I’m going to replace the 135mm BCD crankset on my track bike with a 144mm BCD set. Makes it easier to get chainrings.
How likely is the new crankset to fit on the existing BB? Says the new ones will fit a 107mm square taper JIS – is this standard for track bikes? I’m slightly concerned that it’s going to have some esoteric BB fitting.