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 ...
@Russ Yes unfortunately 23mm is the limit but the Vittoria Open Corsa Evo Techs make life so much more bearable!
@ ALL This might be an alternative to help the USA Velominati with Insurance .
http://markelinsuresfun.com/
@Deakus
I’m still searching for the source. The big problem is that it only happens when I get up to a pretty good speed, so challenging to steer and try to figure it out, and can’t be reproduced in the stand.
Microwaved Nutella + vodka. The terrible part is that such a concoction doesn’t even seem that outlandish or disgusting. The local rage these days is to opt out of offering simple beer or a 2-3 ingredient mixed drink and instead give your guests ground ginger with a tad bit of alcohol or a salsa-infused drink. People need to get some new hobbies & quit fucking about with all this “mixology” nonsense.
I checked out insuring my bicycles and it was something outrageous, like double what I pay a month in health insurance. I store my one really irreplaceable bike with a pal who has around ten bikes that are nicer than mine. My hope is they’d steal all of his before getting to mine…Nah, I hope they don’t steal any of them.
@Ron
Nutella & vodka??!? That hurts me just to think about!!!
-Dinan
“Mixology,” hell. That’s just called dessert.
She’s mine at last! Took a brief test ride this morning and felt fantastic: stiff and light, comfortable and agile.
It’s the ultimate Rule #58 to buy a handmade frame from a local builder!
@G’rilla Sweet, ride the piss out of it.
Nice job, G’rilla! Enjoy the new steed. Talk about a great place to put it through its first set of rides!
Hey, does anyone have a solution for a work stand getting corroded & not spinning smoothly? I have one of the Park stands that cradles the BB cup and holds the fork without the front wheel. Sometimes I’ll wash my bikes in the stand, like the PRO mechanics often do. The problem is that mine will then get corroded where the top pole passes into the base, making spinning the bike a sonofabitch. I’ve steel wooled the shaft (no dirty jokes, thank you!) and lubed it like mad, but it still doesn’t spin smoothly.
@G’rilla Nice, PR is one hell of a shake down ride!
You know, there’s nothing quite as awesome as looking down at this…
…and saying to yourself “I freakin’ built this!”
Oh, and got the first ride in in the Witte…
@Cyclops
Chapeu
@Cyclops That is the best thing I’ve seen in awhile. Now all the riders around you need to be on Deacon. There’s a Deacon. And another Deacon! An awesome Black Deacon! A Pink Deacon!!
@Deakus
I have a love and revulsion to Nutella that starts as an army story and ends with, “he dipped it in every jar.”
@Cyclops Nice! Having your name on something like that is tremendously satisfying and nerve racking all at once! I have yet to finish (for paint) my first frame, but with the studio, and family, I don’t have the time to squirrel away into the garage to finish it right now. And riding, slowly getting on the road and trails to shake out the winter cobwebs. Every bump is the Alpe.
@G’rilla Ride it like she deserves! Way to keep the small producers working.
What are the rules of thumb for setting up a classic bend bar? Drops between level and pointed at rear brake? How do you position the levers? I don’t want to have to rewrap the bar once everything is done.
@DerHoggz
Rule of thumb my Cycling Sensei taught me is to have the bottom of of the bar between horizontal and no more angle than the fork crown. Or these days bar lower parallel with the bottom of the head tube.
Somewhere in this site there’s a great method of positioning the levers exactly the same as each other. From memory, with the bars off the bike and the stem on and levers on and a nipped up so they can move but stay in the position you moved them to, you place the lower part of the bars, drops on the table – flat, slide the levers down the bars until they hit the same table top. Then you can slightly roll the bars forwards which move the levers up the bars to your desired position.
Or watch 7minutes 7 seconds into “A Sunday In Hell”, that’s how The Prophet gets it done. (Note no bar tape on yet.)
hi there,
longtime lurker, first time poster here.
about 5 years ago i rescued this bike here from the dumpster. faced with a choice of either build and ride it or throw it out by the VMH, i decided to sand the frame, paint it and reuse whatever was still useable.
the bike has a bit of (unverified) history to it, I’ve been told by the previous owner (not a cyclist himself) that it was ridden at the Tour in the 80s by an australian. (hence the green and gold). No idea if it this is true, or if there even were any aussie riders then.
anyway, the bike and I had a great time for the last couple years, mostly as a fair weather commuter to work. Sadly it is now time to part ways. The bike has to make room for a new family member as the bike room is turning into a nursery.
cheers
@DerHoggz
For what i worth , i’ve heard the same thing from this old wheel builder back in SO-CAL. He was the go to guy back in the late 80s early 90’s for the local race crits.
@nimmersatt
Nice find and nice save of a classic Italian bike. One thing though: in my book there is nothing worse than an Italian bike – especially one that has “Record” in its name – with a “groupsan” on it. Heresy. May Merckx have mercy on your soul.
The frame looks like it’s my size – around a 53 or 54cm – I’ll give you $50 for it.
@G’rilla
I’d imagine it’d go a bit faster if you put the fucking wheels on.
There ought to be a rule about taking photos of your bike….
@Cyclops
couldn’t agree more (re the group-san). in my defense though – this is how the bike was found. I only added the shifters as the 600 downtube shifters were beyond repair. everything else is pretty much original running gear. and yes a 1988 600 derailleur works just fine with 9 speed ultegra.
now that i have to get rid of the bike i’ve tried to look into it’s history a little bit more. (i just want to know what exactly i’m giving away before i do)
the person i got the bike from said that he swapped it for a car (!) in the early 90s from a guy who used to race professionally overseas (i guess that means europe). he then mentioned the TdF but i’m guessing he made that bit up. the bike then went into storage and was never ridden again until i got my hands on it about 5 years ago.
as far as the bike goes – columbus tubing, cinelli lugs, campa drop outs and bottom bracket, cinelli stem, bars and seat post – who in his right mind would combine that with dura ace and 600?? and then there is the weird paint job. if you look up the australian cycling jerseys from that time it matches perfectly with the stripes on the top tube. so, if anyone knows about any team or organisation racing in the green and gold around that time please let me know.
as much as i would like to keep her, the VMH is adamant that it has to go. so, if i can’t find a good home for her in the next couple weeks i might actually consider giving the frame to you or anyone who will promise to restore her to former glory.
@nimmersatt
Michael Wilson rode for Pepsi Cola Fanini in 1987 – this is Wikipedia’s entry on him (French only) http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Wilson_(cycliste). Wilson rode the Tour in 1988 and 89 http://www.cyclingarchives.com/coureurfiche.php?coureurid=9807 but not for Pepsi Cola Fanini – he was with them early in 1987 and then moved to 7-Eleven in the same year.
John Nicholson rode for them in 1987 too and this is his entry (Catalan only) http://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Nicholson_(ciclista). Nicholson had been a track champion for Australia in the 1970’s.
Nicholson was born in Box Hill and Wilson in Adelade.
@nimmersatt
Forgive the diversion from bikes but looking at your photos, if your whole house fits the same minimalist aesthetic then as a father or three let me say that you are in for one very big shock in about a year or so.
If the reason you have to get rid of the bike is because it will clutter up the place, my advice is to get someone to store it for a while and then reintroduce it when the place is in a state that nobody will notice.
@G’rilla
Aha…you have achieved what I dream about…I want a steel steed from my local builder but it will be a few years yet..Chapeau! Can we have a pick of it built up….?
@the Engine
thank you for that. I had already looked into pepsi fanini, as well as fanini 7up to check out their bike colours.(black). this is before i realized that it could be national colours. you see, 1988 was also the bicentenary here in australia and a lot of things got painted green and gold for the occasion. maybe one of the aussie boys (that you mentioned) got himself a special paint job and brought the bike over. i don’t think fanini bikes were ever sold in australia.
in fact, i’m now wondering if it could have been a yellow bike with the green ‘highlights’ added later. just had another look at some of my before pics and none of the green paint ever crosses a decal, and then there’s the white(!) bar tape with green end tape which doesn’t look very professional at all… (that and being a clear rule violation of course)
@ChrisO
2 excellent pieces of advice right there :-)
the house unfortunately is only an apartment and the most ‘minimal’ thing in here is the available space. no garage or other storage either. For the foreseeable future s-1 will equal 3. I already had to give up another bike last month, but this one is much harder to let go. I really like the storage idea…
@Cyclops
My BRO-nago is also in direct violation of the “Gruppo Rule”.
@EricW A pitty.
It looks like a model with a bad nose job.
@Marko careful, you just might be America’s beloved allAmerican NCAA quarterback…
I am still waiting for other parts, but I had to post that one!
@Cyclops Awesome. Not exactly the same, but similar:
http://vimeo.com/62537881
New bars, loving the classic bend.
@DerHoggz does the bike fit better?
@RedRanger
Lots. I moved the saddle back 10mm more. These bars have 7.5mm more reach, but the difference in shape means that is in the drops as opposed to being at the point where the levers mount and having the drops behind that, which makes a substantial difference. My headset was shot so that is a new Cane Creek one which has the compression ring integrated with the top cap. Didn’t realize this, but could get a lower one if need be, so far it feels good.
@DerHoggz kick ass!
@DerHoggz Very nice, are those Rotundos? Classic bend bars are tits if they work for you.
To my eye the drops look a bit pointed upward but it could be the angle of the photo.
@Nate
They are Zipp’s “Traditional Bend”, a little smaller than Rotundos. The drops are level as far as I can see. I think it has to do with the stem and TT being angled down, as well as the angle of the photo since the saddle looks off-level, which it isn’t.
@DerHoggz Nice. When I went to classic bends (Rotundos) I found I liked the drops angled down toward the rear axle just a hair, but YMMV of course. In any event now I’m used to that look.
First ale despatched for courage, then the Chocolate Stout to ease me through, and finally a Leffe in the frigo to celebrate the birth as I watch the Tour of Basqueland later – heaven
@Dr C Yesterday I rode the wheels I built for the first time. They worked! I think they are very slightly out of true even after taking them to the shop but they are pretty close.
I had to lace each wheel about 3 times to get it right. I think that’s the magic number for one’s first wheelbuild.
Chris King hubs, HED Belgium tubular rims, DT Swiss spokes, Dugast tire.
@G’rilla
Nice – I bought too tight a spoke wrench, so will have to wait until tomorrow night to see how wonky I can get them
When you say you had to lace them three times, does that mean you had to loosen them right off and start again?
I got them laced first time, took a while, as I had to keep replaying the youtube vid overdubbed by a Russian lady who in my warped mind kept emphasizing all the double entendres…..
These are Ultegra 6700 hubs 36/32 (I’m a big boy) Spaim Race DB spokes and Ambrosio Excellight rims – feels so pro coming out with a mouthful like that
@Dr C Strong work, old chap, can’t wait to see how they end up.
@biggles
And then adding insult to injury it has Bontrager hoops on it. Oh, the humanity!
@Cyclops I wasn’t going to say anything…
This actually puts me in a mind to show you a picture of my steed as it heads up one of the greatest roads in europe (of which i’ll try and write a guest post at one point)
Anyway…. I was two months from peaking at the time, and I do not have better pictures of the steed as it is now. I would love to take one but I haven’t seen Maria (the bike) since january, as I’m currently having adventures far from home in lands that are inhospitable to road cyclists on account of being all frozen solid.
Anyway… Since then I changed the seat into something slimmer and less scuffed up. Still fizik though, though this time a more road specific one. Utterly white to match the white ultralight fizik bartape and white computer.
As italian as I could make it:
Marchisio wheels
Campagnolo chorus.
Bonetti custom carbon-aluminum frame made of Columbus Airplane tubes. I emailed them to ask about it and found out it was custom built in 2005 for their team. So I’m pretty happy with that and I do love the frame with all my heart, will never move on from it unless it’s something as special and rides as good.
And of course fiizk contact points. Can it get more italian?
Rule breaking disclaimers:
I know the seat is too far tilted forward…but it was a TT seat and to have it straight would cause great numbing and fright in my mushy bits. Anyway it’s off now the new one is perfectly level and centered with the column.
Yes, I know the bidon is not right either. I’ll fix that.
And horrible dura-ace gloves I already changed with some mavic aero gloves.
I am aware the socks are the wrong length. I will never live down the shame.
Cyclops – nice ride shots! That’s a lotta red, but looking great.
I have Deda Newton round bars on my #1 LOOK with Centaur 2009 shifters, Deda Zero100s on my Casati with 2007 Centaur, and Deda Zero100s on my CX bike, with SRAM Force. All very nice bars, in my opinion.
Biggles – full LAYoPard kit? Surely there is a story, and some atonement, behind that… Nice action shot!
@Ron Was there a rule against leopard kits I have somehow missed in the last few years? Because it’s my favorite kit design ever since they took away the La Vie Claire.
@Marko
GOOD LORD!!
@biggles
Check Rule #17.
@DerHoggz
Looking sweet!
It’s great when you can get the fit working AND the aesthetics right.
I do agree with @Nate though that the drops should angle down a poofteenth.
Strong work.