Does this make it right?
I kind of like the fact that I still have to look up what number certain Rules are. Some stick in my mind, usually due to their relevance to my everyday riding and living situation. That’s how I could justify hairy legs over a ride-barren winter, loose-fitting (I refuse to call them baggy) shorts for gravé rides, and a frame pump on my road bike. I can hear the howls of derision now. And even after Gianni’s public flogging for using a saddle bag, I’m still gonna go there, girl.
It occurred to me while watching the Tour that the main reason we eschew the EPMS, like most things, is that they don’t look good. Fair enough. Yes, they are functional, and while that usually doesn’t sit high on our list of priorities, it has been making a bigger blip on my personal radar of late. I guess that’s what happens once the floodgates are opened by the likes of a frame pump; “shit, this works really well, and you know what, no-one else is running it, so I’m kinda unique. Maybe even a trendsetter.” OK, maybe not, but justification comes in many forms. Anyway, from watching the Tour and not being able to avoid the fact that every bike was running the electronic timing GPS device under the saddle, I had to ask the question: do they make the EPMS acceptable?
Probably not, and those howls of derision are hitting peak decibels now, I’m sure. But there is a new crop of bags out there which are swaying me to the dark side. Stop howling! Maybe not on my road bikes, but with a new gravé machine imminent, I’ve been looking at all manner of add-on carrying devices. Frame bags, TT bags, handlebar bags, and even the EPMS. My good friend the Bike Bag Dude has been commissioned to customise a camera bag for the bars that can handle an SLR, and a slim frame bag that can also accomodate my Silca Impero. And those purveyors of the pump that has its own Rule caveat may have just released another Rule-breaker with their new Seat Roll Premio. See, it even sounds cool. It uses the BOA system to secure it to the rails and looks more like a wallet than a small piece of carry-on luggage dangling under your arse.
Now that Frank has turned 40 and Gianni and I are well north of that, could there be a softening of the Rules going on? Shit no, we’re not completely senile just yet. But there are increasing ways to gently skirt some of them, while others are sacrosanct. And when our colostomy bags turn up, you know they are going to be Rule compliant. Otherwise, it’s just a shit time, and no-one wants that.
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Speaking of "older" guys - of which Frank isn't one, no matter how much he howls about turning 40 - I hit 53 on Tuesday. That makes me old enough to remember when wool jerseys weren't hip things to wear on Eroica rides, but the only friggin' option out there. And shorts had real chamois in them FFS! For you young fellas, try and imagine wearing a jersey that's cut 6-10" longer than most modern jerseys. Then fill your jersey pockets with all kinds of food, tubes, levers etc. Then ride in the rain a few times. That jersey is hiding the back of your saddle it's so saggy. This is what scarred me for life in the early 80s. The jersey-dress. Early acrylic jerseys weren't much better. And don't get me started on the ease of washing and caring for real chamois in wool shorts.
An EPMS, the smallest possible, gets used. It's so small you can barely get two tubes, two CO2 cannisters and two levers in there. My wallet and cell phone go in my center pocket, food in the other two as required. There's a reason they're called the formative years.
@wiscot
Another yoof.......
@Steve Trice
Gold right there.
Rules are meant to be broken. Occasionally...
I've quoted this before (I think in a similar thread) as learned from my educashun
So publishing breaking the rules does seem kinda dumb..........go to mini pump flogging, do not pass GO, do not collect £200.
So many random thoughts... I've never used an EPMS, but they don't offend me much... The GPS units look like they're jammed up the riders' arses, they are awful.
@Brett... Your link to the Imperio article reminds me that 1) Your Jaegher is still stunning to look at. 2) I haven't run a frame pump in a couple of decades, but they do actually work well. 3) The valve stem can be prevented from pushing into the tire by using the valve stem nut - see, now you can justify that, too.
@Ron
And I just ordered the Super Pista floor pump for a lot more coin than this. Not the Ultimate, that would be insane.
@ErikdR
pump or no pump, this fucking Miyata is giving me a stiffy.
@Teocalli
fucking christ. another one. the late '60s-mid '80s was the absolute pinnacle of bike aesthetic.
@Teocalli
Interesting bicycle, that - and very pretty!
Quite a long wheel base, from the looks of it? I'm guessing it's not the most scintillating ride when cornering, but it probably tracks like an Australian road train.
Any idea why the derailleur cage is so long, by the way? The gear block looks pretty compact, and as far as I can tell, that's not a triple up front. Or is it? (Not that I would have anything to say against that: in blatant defiance of Rule 47, my very first decent road bike (1976 Peugeot UO8) sported a triple and I loved it to bits).
And I have to ask: which purpose do those truncated fenders serve? Keeping the brake calipers clean-ish?