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 ...
@bmohan55
Love the L’una. I love its fork rake. Beautiful.
Slap some fenders on the Eros. Become a fendangelist. And, of course, it goes for beer. But what kind of beer?
@Cyclops – Ritte’s website is really funny, but don’t let it put you off the bikes… a buddy of mine in Brooklyn, NYC has just built up a Ritte Bosberg, and it looks unbelievably cool…. I’ll try and get him to take some photos of it, because it looks so sweet… he’s riding the Battenkill this weekend, so I’ll get him to take them before, in case he wipes out on the Strade Bianchi equivalent and it becomes expensive coal dust…. Campag Record, Ciamillo brakes, HED Bastogne wheels – the thing is literally chomping at the bit to go fast… he’s a lanky fucker too (not quite Frank dimensions, but 6′ 4″, 68-ish kg…) so has great frame geometry
@roadslave
Dude! I want a Bosberg so bad I can’t see straight. I hit their site at least 5 times a day.
Bosberg Frame
Sram Red
DT Swiss Carbon tubulars
BAM!!!!
Since we’re on the topic of dream bikes, I wouldn’t mind one of these:
I don’t much know what flax does in the frame, but that’s a pretty sweet name to have emblazoned on your ride…
@Cyclops
The Ritte bikes are sexy, that’s for sure. I wouldn’t turn one down. The more I get into cycling, the more these small brand frames appeal to me, sort of like micro-breweries vs. Miller Highlife. I can only hope I’m in a financial position where my next bike won’t be from a major manufacturer like Felt, but rather a more boutique brand.
The company kits are damn nice looking too, in a sort of retro-80’s-but-actually-nice-looking way.
Ditto. I can just picture myself on a lonely climb in the rain wearing their kit and their awesome jacket.
I’ve pretty much come to the conclusion that predominately black kits are the only way to go.
Black kits sure do look nice, but sometimes I wonder about visibility. People are stupid and don’t pay attention while driving. Now, I’m not saying go all YJA, but at the same time I worry about donning too much black. I’ve seen a sweet Castelli jacket over and over again on Bonktown, but rocking all black in an environment that is oftentimes overcast worries me.
At the same time, I’ve been hit once, wasn’t wearing all black, and even had lights because I was riding at dusk. Go figure.
@Steampunk
Yuh. I like where the front brake caliper is. Then I went looking for the back brake caliper. Right behind the bottom bracket. Ooooh, la, la.
@Jeff in PetroMetro
I read about this somewhere, but I forget what the rationale was””probably Huangish. But I also got to have a good look at one in Cambridge, MA last summer. It really is a stunning machine.
Updated 4/5/11 with Open Pros and my old Flite. I think it works.
@Steampunk
Flax helps make you regular. In a bike it helps make you win regularly. The things I find myself having to explain.
@Marko
My heart stopped for a second there. Stunning. Now get rid of that black seatpost and drop in an alu one.
Man, what a beauty.
@mcsqueak
I’ve been hit three times and all three times it was a VW Beetle. Go figure.
BTW, did you know that black – I mean BLACK! – does not occur in nature. Go into the woods and you will some very dark hues but never black. That’s why you don’t see black in modern camouflage patterns. The human eye picks up black rather easily.
@Steampunk
I’ll venture a guess–the back caliper needed a home that was a little more stout than those extremely thin seat stays.
Back in the late 80’s, some mountain bikes put a “u-brake” behind the bottom bracket for the same rationale. Or it was just marketing.
Regardless, that bike is HAUTE.
@Marko
Your Serotta is really beautiful. Where did you find a suitable location for the photo that wasn’t buried in snow?
@Cyclops
I hope it wasn’t the same Beetle.
@Jeff in PetroMetro
A south facing brick wall. That said, there’s a snowbank just out of range. Thanks.
@frank
Thanks. Scouring the intertunnels for alu dura ace or ultegra seat post (why do we call them saddles but not saddle posts or saddle tubes?). They are either too expensive or non-existent. As your current post states though, it’ll happen in due time.
@Jeff in PetroMetro
…three times in quick succession…just to be sure.
@frank
Stalker.
@frank @Jeff in PetroMetro
I’m thinking scorned lover. Cyclops spent ONE too many hours on the bike instead of with her.
@Cyclops
Very true about the black thing, I never considered that angle. When thinking about it logically rather than emotionally, the colors that you wear probably make little difference in the probability of you getting hit on any given ride. It’s left in the hands of the drivers to be careful and attentive, and your skill as a cyclist to keep your spidey-senses on high alert.
@frank
This is why I keep coming back. I keep learning. Thanks again.
@Marko
What’s your seatpost diameter? I have a bright aluminum post on my trainer bike that I’d be willing to part with, for a worthy cause…
@sgt
27.2. Very nice of you. I’d be happy to swap you one so you’re not out of a post for your trainer. I have a couple, just not a shiny-bit one.
Not to detract from the road bike pron, but I thought you’d all like to see the new mountain bike. She had her shakedown cruise last night; a little 500m climb right out my back door. Nice night for it, too. Parts were moved over from another frame, so cable housings are a bit long, and I’m not going to fiddle with shortening the the hydraulic brake lines (too much hassle). And it’s a freaking mtb, fercrissakes, so The Rules can be slackened just a tad.
She Climbs Well for Her Weight… I was cleaning some pretty gnar sections (that’s mountain biker talk, y’all) uphill, and she goes down like a Vegas showgirl! Gonna take her out for a longer ride this weekend.
@Marko
That should work. I’ll measure it and take a pic tonight, then we can swap if mutually agreeable.
@sgt
Sounds like a plan.
@mcsqueak
It would only matter if you were riding in a black city with a black sky and black street. For example, at night, but then you have other issues. I don’t think a dark kit is any less visible than any other, and it certainly looks better.
Besides, I’d rather be the best looking dude in the cemetery then the worst looking dude at a lame party.
@sgt
Bel mezzo, mate! Never shy away from showing MTB some love. This site is for people who love bikes, not just road bikes. Fuck. Put up a pick of you Dutch Bike Commuter if you want.
@Marko
Gorgeous ride Marko!
@mcsqueak
Riding again today??!!! Like fuck you will.
Niiiiiiice. Wish I had a neighborhood that looks like yours. I’d get a mountain bike, too.
@Leroy
Grazie.
I think we’ve seen your Cervelo enough already…
@frank
Ninjas wear black.
Ninjas are invisible.
Therefore black kit makes you invisible.
Ninjas wear black.
Ninjas are effing cool.
Therefore black kit makes you effing cool.
Choose one or both.
PS
Ninjas wear black.
Ninjas are effing cool.
Therefore my new black mtb is effing cool.
@sgt
Pirates are much cooler than ninjas. Cogitate on that in a cycling context.
Gladiators, Pirates, Ninjas. Has no – one come out with a star wars themed cycling kit yet? Hordes of storm troopers for domestiquse with your team captain in black with a creepy heavy breathing habit?
@minion
Whoa, Bessy – too much of that type of talk and we’ll have a bunch of Tron Guys on the road (albeit probably on recumbents) – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Maynard
@Brett
And the knives come out…
Ah yes, but the patch may impede ones ability to notice the rider on your left/right launching their attack! The parrot on the shoulder may also cause some annoyance to the peleton with the “polly wants a cracker” spiel. Though one could teach it to say a few choice phrases – e.g. “want some beef Cvntador?”
Ninja’s would be able to
a) appear out of nowhere and win the sprint before you knew what had happened
b) drop a few star knives on the road, causing a puncture or two in the bunch sprint
c) their mastery of disguise would allow one to look like a domestique, lulling you into a false sense of security, when in fact they have the same abilities as Cavendouche in the final 100m.
d) drop a smoke bomb during the final 100m causing confusion, again allowing one to win
For anyone suggesting that Pirates somehow don’t climb well for their weight, please review the following irrefutable evidence:
As for ninjas, they ride other types of bikes, but are fairly scarce when it comes to cycling.
@il ciclista medio
What Fränk said. Pirates don’t have to worry about attacks coming on their eyepatch side. Because they’ve already dropped the pack and are climbing solo. Out of the fog. Arrr!
Of course, cannibals eat pirates for breakfast…
You know Frank, I’m starting to see the light. Not only have I come to the conclusion that predominately black kits are the way to go, I’m also realizing cold weather gear looks way more badass than just a SS jersey and bibs. I mean any dickhead can throw on some shorts and a jersey and swing a leg over a $5k bike and go for a little tool around the greenbelt but every picture I’ve ever seen of you in the mist or anybody else in proper cold/wet gear out on a training ride under overcasts skies just says “This guy fucking loves the work.” The other thing that has dawned on me is how transcendent it is to be riding solo in a gentle rain with no wind where all you hear are your tires licking at the wet pavement and your breathing.
There is no worse feeling than getting on the bike when it is cold and raining out, and no better feeling than twenty minutes into the ride when you are soaked in your own cold sweat, reveling in the taste of road spray on your lips, and watching the water streak down your glasses.
@Steampunk
@frank
so does that make Il Pirata a Pastafarian and the crucifix salute was actually to the FSM then?
In case this hasn’t been posted here yet, I found the mother of all vintage bike pron: http://www.speedbicycles.ch/
@blaireau
wow, speechless.
Awesome, some rare beauties in there! Thanks, Blaireau!
@blaireau
Amazingly beautifull bikes there !
And now to maintain a balance is it just me, or is this just plain wrong ?
http://www.brooksengland.com/en/ResampleImg.ashx?imgurl=../images/stories/2010_s2/100830.122612.77_100830.122513.75.JPG&Height=600&format=jpeg&bkColor=FFFFFF
@Lepidopterist
down right wrong. No Look should ever go through that. she really is the black beauty of bikes. but on the plus if I ever run into that person I may offer them some cion just for the frame.