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 ...
@the Engine
I rode my new Fulcrum Racing Zeros today for the first time. Very nice. They replaced my Ksyrium Elites and, despite me being very fat and useless at the moment, they feel good – roll well, feel stiff. But they’re not 3’s. So that doesn’t help you very much.
@the Engine
I have Fulcrum 3s as everyday wheels on my Ridley Noah. I would highly recommend them. I weigh in around 85kg, so I’m over the typical 80kg limit for many light wheels and I’ve had no problems with the Fulcrums.
I run them with clinchers. I have use tubeless on my Campag Eurus wheels but I don’t think it’s worth the hassle. Repairs are a pain, the only tires you can get are Hutchinson and the gunk you put in to seal the tubes ends up hardening and making a mess of the rim. I’ve just re-tubed those wheels.
As for Mavic Open Pros, well you can’t go past them if you want reliable, sturdy wheels that will take any crap the roads throw up. I’ve had a set on my UK bike for 6 years and done audax and all sorts on them. Not as nice a ride as the Fulcrums though. Depends where your priorities are, but I would tend to go with the Fulcrums.
@frank
I was having a great morning, then the big reminder. I get gutted every time I am reminded or think about Planckaert’s win over Steve…..
@ChrisO
I will always take Ambrosio Excellites over Mavic OPs any day. I also think that how a company does its lower end stuff is a good indicator of quality and Ambrosio seems to me, to have tighter tolerances with “lower end” stuff than Mavic. Although, I have a set of Maivc Cosmic Elites for rough roads and while they are like pedalling through syrup, they are tough wheels.
@Daccordi Rider , Nate, Chris O, Marcus, Thanks
Second for ambrosios. My rain bike wears excellences on ultegra hubs. Just about the same weight and rim profile as OP’s (to the extent I could re-use spokes that were on these hubs previous iteration, laced to OP’s) and like Dan alluded at, lovely attention to detail, even on the lower end stuff. Got a set of Nemesis tubs as well, and they’re superb.
@everyone, just registered after lurking here for a long time while working on making myself and the bike rules complacent. In the process I realized that it is time for the bike to be upgraded. Now, I am still relatively new to riding the pave, however I have been mountain biking since the early nineties. So, what I would like to throw out there is a question; what should I be looking at? I ask this not so much for specific brands or models but in a quest for advice about the different qualities of materials. While mountain biking I have ridden Aluminum, Steel and Ti bikes, and found that I preferred the rigid qualities of Aluminum best. But, I have never ridden Steel, Ti, or Carbon on the road. Also as if the purchase of the n+1 becomes too high, it might become an s-1 instead. So, is a cheaper carbon bike in the $1500-2000 price range even worth looking at or should I just stick with Aluminum. Curious for your thoughts and opinions.
Sorry, it was a little longer than I meant for it to be:)
@crashin in jpn
A bit like “how long is a piece of string” but….to give it a go…
Bear in mind you are embarking on a life long and wallet diminishing quest where what you have is never good enough and what you want always costs too much which results in family not eating properly, never being able to go out because you will be spending all your time away from them seeking Souplesse…
Start with the frame, get the best frame you can afford because everything else can, and will, be upgraded. My question is what sort of riding do you want to do…if it is long Sportives or touring I would go for Steel or Ti. If you are wanting to blast, climb and out and out race, I would go with carbon. Fit is really really really really important….you will spend a lot of time on the saddle. If you know what size you need and are confident with the mechanics or fiddling with it then you cannot do much better that ebay or secondhand….I recently advised a friend of mine on a purchase and he picked up a £5000 Focus with full Dura Ace for £1100….I was gutted it is better than my bike but it was not my size. If you are not a grease monkey then go to a good Local Bike Shop and get some advice…
The most important thing is to get on the bike whatever you end up with and ride ride ride!
O and welcome to the site!
@crashin in jpn
FWIW, re the issue of carbon vs alu vs. other: On this forum, I have previously stated that I often glide around in old-school splendour on 30+ year old, classy steel with all kinds of shiny bits. However, last year my dark alter ego spent approximately 1200 USD on an alu roadbike of a brand that hardly ever gets mentioned here, possibly because A) it’s Taiwanese and B) it’s a very big – one could say, a giant – bike manufacturer. * visualise smiley-winky emoticon here *.
I then invested another 835 USD or therabouts in a fantastic set of wheels, the make of which should probably not be mentioned here either, because it’s Japanese – but for the record: Dura-Ace C24 clinchers. I am now the happy owner of a fast but surprisingly comfortable alu road bike that handles like a dream, ánd a spare set of winter/training wheels, for just over 2 grand in total. This set-up performs remarkably well – and that’s putting it mildly. Honestly, none of the US$ 3,000-and-over carbon bikes that I tried before springing for the combination of a good alu frame and superb wheels, came even close, as far as I’m concerned. Just sayin’. (And now I’d better go and don my flame-retardent gear, I suppose…)
Oh, and welcome from me too, by the way
This frameset had so many good scars and craftsmanship. I love these detail shots that were captured before it was sold and gone.
@crashin in jpn
Just go and buy a carbon bike. Seriously, they ride better than steel and aluminium. Antone telling you otherwise has their nostalgia goggles firmly in place.
Actual conversation with my wife, presented without comment:
@G’rilla
Are you sure this was your wife and not some imposter or were you asleep after too much Leffe and dreaming ? If something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. And if it was your wife, was she casually leafing through a Tiffany’s catalog at the time ?
@G’rilla
Wanna swap? And I don’t mean in that creepy 70’s way, I mean for realz.
@G’rilla and as long as we’re on the subject of new bike. This one might do you nicely
@Brian W Another saddle to try for individual sides and flexibility might be the Selle Anatomica – nothing to do with Selle Italia. Might not be your thing, but made in USA selleanatomica.com
@crashin in jpn My attitude is a bit different to purchasing your first road bike. Firstly, as others have said, it must fit correctly! Secondly, for me, I would go with the best groupset I could afford for the given budget. If that means an Alu frame with high level group and light wheels, so be it. I think the quality of the gear changes, braking, acceleration and lack of roadside tuning required, will be nicer than a cheap carbon frame with noodles for derailleurs and porridge for wheels. Then you can easily upgrade the frame when your budgetatus desires, to something better than a bottom end carbon frame and fork. But hey, that’s just my opinion.
Ride quality aside, carbon frames and forks seem so much more disposable to me, many articles recommending 6 years hard riding as the lifetime of such a frameset.
@Marko
Crikey! Thems some beefy fork legs and chainstays!!
@G’rilla
NEVER.EVER.LET.HER.GO
btw, does she have a sister with a similar mindset?
@Mikael Liddy
Who is hot?
@G’rilla @Marko @Mikael Liddy @mouse
No no no. The questions to ask about the sister:
Does she fuck on first date?
Does her Dad own a brewery?
Does she have nice tits?
with apologies to Rodney Rude
Would she show them to me?
@Marcus
The comments were funny up until that one.
@G’rilla
Wait.
Wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait.
Wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait.
Je ne comprend pas.
Surely its not your choice to keep them in the garage, so I have to assume she makes you keep them there? Isn’t she worried they’ll get lonely? Chillled? Damp? Stolen even?
She seemed so nice the times I’ve met her, had dinner with her even. I hadn’t realized she was a savage.
@girl
It amazes me that any of you Aussie women can tollerate the men down there. In the same way it amazes me that more preschool teachers don’t go insane.
@girl sorry – its a reference to Rodney Rude – a very ordinary Australian comedian who has made that song somewhat famous… Apologies if any offence caused. There was meant to be a level of irony in there…
@Beers
@crashin in jpn Actually I have just realised that after dictating that the best frame was the most important item, Beers has pointed out exactly what I did….I in fact started with a £100 winter training frame from Ribble and put Campag Centaur on it with Campag Khamsin wheels……only later did I get my Argon 18 frame and then had the gruppo moved over and purchased some better wheels….
Effectively this just proves you should ignore everything I say in future, I don’t even understand my own advice!!
@Marcus I get the reference. You can’t call yourself Australian and not know who Rodney Rude is. Just didn’t find it funny. All good.
Rodney must have been really successful at Summernats, competition for @minion?
@girl Luckily Marcus is actually a smurf and since smurfs little fucken trippers who live in toadstools, wear white pants and get chased around by a nutcase with a cat, their sense of humour is unreliable at best and probably see Rodney Rude as some sort of pinnacle of comedy.
Summernats is a greet name for an event until you find out what it actually is.
I’m also pleased to report that after a couple of months at work of sheep jokes and being told to hold things ‘like they’re a sheep’, I have not yet heard anything that hasn’t appeared here first.
@Deakus The most important time you spend on a bike (IMHO) is when you’re hammering and have the sensation of floating above the frame (while griefing on the bars and cranks, etc) and when you’re doing that carbon is excellent. For comfort on training rides al and steel are great, and if you get a good one they can be as good as carbon but are probably going to be heavier. Buying a bike is always an exercise in compromise.
@strathlubnaig
What do you mean by “too much Leffe”??
@girl
This is the topic that divides a nation; You’re either in the Rodney Rude camp or the Kevin Bloody Wilson camp, which KBW has that song, not Rude.
Summernats! Been there once after some country track meets to meet some friends at the nats. Try walking amongst bogans in shorts with shaved legs. I copped some flack on my smooth legs!
@minion What I find fascinating is the depth of smurf knowledge you have in order to treat them with such a brilliant reduction.
Since my new N1 is all carbon I think would be wise to invest in a torque allen wrench (wouldn’t it?).
Any recommendations? As ever, budget is a consideration…cheers in advance
@motor city Santa is bringing me this which has had some good reviews and is adjustable from 2-14nM but tbh I have not used it yet so can’t add my review. I struggled for a bit just trying to find one at a reasonable price, they can be very expensive.
My college ride, left behind in Iowa at my ex-girlfriend’s mom’s house when I moved to France. Luckily she’s a huge fan of mine so I know it’ll still be there when I go back. I think it’s fairly rules-compliant for a fixed gear road bike. I found the 1990 Fuji frame on Chicago craigslist for $120 and got the other parts from my LBS. I wasn’t planning on the color scheme but it just came together. It’s perfect for the rolling hills of central Iowa and I can keep up with friends on newer road bikes with gears so I’m happy. I even used it for part of RAGBRAI.
Merde !
@motor city
I use this from BBB. Nothing’s loose. Nothing’s broken. What more can I say?
@zeitzmar
Hehehehe.
@Deakus
Might have helped if I included the link!
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/bbb-btl-73-torqueset-torque-spanner-set/
@Deakus
Thanx for the link. Wiggle is great. Recently they agreed to this guy’s offer to trade a new bike for his car.
@unversio
Don’t give me ideas!…the VMH would go mental….they are based just down the road from me in Portsmouth…I use http://www.ribble.co.uk too who will generally be cheaper the annoying thing is that ribble does not have customer reviews which I use quite a lot when looking for stuff…
third time’s the charm?
@zeitzmar
Hooray! You had me waiting all afternoon! Looks lovely..
@Deakus Thanks! I’m really missing riding fixed here in France, but the hills in the countryside around Paris are killer and I’m glad I have a road bike with derailleurs here. I’m hoping to take my french bike back to the states with me now that I know it is compatible with English components.
@motor city Park makes a couple of beam type torque wrenches (0-7nM and 0-70nM) which are cheaper than the click type ones. An auto mechanic friend warned me off the click type ones; apparently they need to be calibrated on a regular basis to be maintain accuracy.
@motor city
@pistard
You need a torque wrench but this ^^^. I have the BBB one @Blah mentioned. The first time I used it I sheared a brake pad fixing bolt. Aside from the calibration issue, you can’t lock in the torque setting and can easily cause it to slip with the palm of your hand. Rubbish. Don’t trust it. I have a Ritchey 5nm torque key that covers many regular adjustments, e.g., stem/bars/steer tube/seatclamp. If I need big torque, e.g,. for cranks, BBs, and the like, fortunately my next door neighbor is a retired auto mechanic and I borrow a proper tool from him.
@Nate
The preset 5nm torque is useful. Also check the shoe cleats with it!
can anyone tell me if its possible to put my quill stem onto a more modern bike like a cannondale supersix? im asking because i have a 3t mutant stem that i like a lot for aesthetic and control reasons. my hunch its not possible but gotta ask haha
@Jacob
99% sure that isn’t possible, but there seems to be a threadless version, although it looks to be rare
Actually, here are some in 120mm, I quite like the look.
http://www.worldcycling.com/3T-Mutant-Stem/productinfo/3TSTMUT/#.ULhQKptajZs
Jeez, Bauer had some serious Guns too! What’s with the 80s riders…LeMan, The Badger, and Bauer’s legs all put many of the riders today to shame.
On another note I was entering a very busy intersection last evening from a side road when a car, approaching a red light and a set of train tracks, which have white lines on either side denoting that you should not put your car in that area unless traveling across them, refused to let me merge. They accelerated and then proceeded to lay on their horn and not relent.
I’m sharing because I’m very proud of myself for not reacting by instinct or how I wanted to. Instead I allowed her to scream at me about how I should be riding on the sidewalk & simply asked her if she had bothered to consider what she just yelled. I think the subtle differences between pedaling a bicycle & walking were lost on her. More yelling, then she told me she was going to put in the hospital with her automobile if I kept riding like that. Sweet! Drive your car at a stranger & then threaten their life, again!
It’s amazing how aggressive and selfish some people are & how much being inside a car shapes how some folks treat other people. The good thing is that I’m getting better at often ignoring such drivers but, when I can’t, doing my best to remain calm & try and help them reflect on the insanity of their actions or stance.
And, I know I’m not the first person to be told to ride on a sidewalk but it just amazed me as I was simply going about my evening, not bothering anyone. And I’m amazed that an adult could be so dim as to think that cyclists should ride on the sidewalk. Why don’t more people react with “Wow, look at the skill and grace and courage of that cyclist, doing what they love despite the crazy traffic!” instead of with horns & screams & anger.
The entire time I had John McEnroe’s voice in my head, “You can’t be fucking serious?! You can’t fucking think I should ride my bike on the sidewalk? What are you fucking dumb & blind?!”
Oh well, she clearly has some problems going on, but damn, she was really really good at driving her shiny Cadillac really aggressively.