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 ...
@DocBrian
I have left my camera with Brad’s brother, Craig, who will take a photo of the gold medal winning track bike in the next few days.He has it stored at the local velodrome.
@DocBrian
Look forward to the photo of the BT!
Still not 100% sure on that frame you missed out on Brian – i would bet my left one (again) that the Lapierres that FDJ rode in 02 (that stage into Avranche – the embodiment of panache from McGee that day) were carbon?
@Spun Up I like the colour – or more accurately I like the fact it isn’t stealth black or black/white/red like every second bike out there.
White seat post would be a bit OTT in my opinion, especially if you keep the white saddle and tape, but yes a polished crank would look good.
@Marcus
I’ll double check with Craig McGee tomorrow when I pick my Jamis up after Rod shortens the steerer. I suspect that some sort of special allowance was made for Brad to use that bike, but if I am wrong I will bow to your greater experienceknowledge of these things. Photo might take a few days to get: Craig doesn’t get to the velodrome every day.
if you are interested and use “YouTube” look up “cycling in the southern highlands.” I’ve posted a number of 12 to 15 minute videos of mixed quality of our local rides. We have good local rides of up to 200km, but I have edited down due to limitations on YiuTube to shorter segments.
@Spun Up
I like the colour. Very much like the DeRosa Avant.
@Spun Up Congrats! I like the colour and would even suggest a green bar tape. If you can’t change it, embrace it. A white seat mast would be good idea, imho.
@DocBrian no worries – dont make too big a deal of it. You might make me look like a loser bike nerd (if I havent done so already). Mr internet tells me his 03 TT bike had titanium. Possibly what they were selling was the 03 TT frame spec’ed out with road gear (it wasnt a super aero frame)? Then again, its more likely that I am wrong about the stock team FDJ frames which all had Ti. That is more likely than McGee getting some sort of “exemption” at that early stage of his career.
As for superior bike knowledge – Doc, I think that ship sailed when you even considered he may have won Olympic gold on a Ti road bike!
@Spun Up
white seat post and polished alloy crank will change the bike completely, for the better.
@Spun Up
Looks great! Regarding the seatpost colour…..if you go white seatpost then fine, if stay black then you should swap the stem for a black one along with the saddle. Personally I would get the white seatpost (cheapest and most effective option) but along with that when you can dodge the VMH get the alloy crank….
@Buck Rogers
+1 on the Cannondale and 105 combo. I’ve got a CAAD 8, as stiff as without transmitting every little vibration (carbon railed saddle, stem and bars help there). No worries about chucking it in a bike bag and entrusting it to the baggage handling apes. Priced to suit the Velominatus Budgetatus although it’s fallen victim to the sacraque emendationem ebay. Migt be a bit mainstream for some but Cannondale has a strong history of pushing the limits of aluminium frames.
105 is indeed bombproof or it would have been if the chain had been jointed properly. It’s now got 105 shifters and front mech and Ultegra rear. Very little adjustment is required if you re-cable it every now and then – mines due for that.
@Spun Up Fantastic colour – my favourite of the Madones. Surely your VMH will agree to the aesthetic reasoning behind a new crank and seatpost?
My team’s Elite squad is now Trek-sponsored and they’ve chosen purple-white Speed Concept TT bikes. Awesome.
@Chris
The ubiquitos White red and black (and I fully love mine too) has rarely looked so good….what crank arm is that?
@Deakus It’s Cannondale’s Hollowgram, stiffer than Marcus and Minion in a knitting shop and has the advantage of an interchangeable spider so it’s easy to convert from compact to standard (cabling, chain length and mech height need to be taken into account).
It’s pretty much perfect, the only things I’d change now are the brakes (budget tektro) and seat post to carbon. A set of deep dish carbon wheels would be nice too but they may have to wait awhile longer.
I’m not a massive fan of white and red but it goes well with the saddle bar and bidons. And I’ll never get ideas above my station and go for a white bar wrap.
@Spun Up Congrats! Thoughts on the 2013 Trek aero design? How do you like the brakes?
@Chris
Interesting you say seatpost to carbon, I recently over tightened mine on my rain bike and next ride it sheered of (schoolboy error) more interestingly I got home and moved back to an old Aluminium Ritchey seatpost whilst thinking about getting another carbon one. I have noticed absolutely no difference, I cannot decide whether that is just he lucious ride that the Vittoria Open Evo Tech tyres are giving (which are superb if a little quick on wear) or if the whole carbon seatpost thing is actually just a gimmick….
@Deakus I’d give carbon a go on the basis that the move to carbon railed saddle, bars and stem have eased the transmission of vibrations and I’m interested in the effect a carbon post would have.
Over torquing with carbon fibre is a concern but I’ve got a torque wrench or two and my bars didn’t shear off when I hit the pave so I can’t have been too far off.
The change in tyres my well be improving your ride, my Vittoria Paves certainly do but I do like to run them at fairly high pressures which combined with the stiffness of my frame does tend to transmit a high frequency buzz.
@gregorio
Having ridden it for just over three hours, my impressions are still pretty loose. Aesthetically, I like the shape a lot, and got a pretty good sense of it’s aero qualities riding about 40k on the flat into a very stiff headwind. That was one of the things that got me reaching for the checkbook. It was a night and day difference from my other bike In terms of maintaining speed against the gusts.
The brakes are going to take a little longer to suss out. I like what they do for the look, but I’m really wondering whether the rear caliper is going to pick up more road grime in its position.
@Spun Up Nice colour. I am building up a Cinelli demo in the studio with the Ultegra anno black/grey. I had not thought of the finish, so I will get a good impression if the ano holds up to hack riders. This picture is a few days old. I am ready to wrap the bars and cut the cables.
@Chris I have had 3 ‘dales come through the studio for tune-ups already, a SuperSix, CAAD9, and a CAAD8. I have worked on ‘dales before, but for the larger manufacturers, I am always impressed. I have one customer that goes on about his Madone, and while I will roll the eyes a bit, it gets him up the local hills just nicely, and he ain’t small. My circle of riders give a buddy the gears over his Cervelo, they are pretty common up here.
I think I have nearly made my mind up. Will be on 18 days for he next few weeks and the bike shaped object needs quite a bit done to it. Headset, BB, wheel bearings etc etc. Now I hope to do this anyway and use it for the turbo and crappy weather but I wouldbe able yo do it cheaper when I have time myself.
So it looks as though a Domane 4.3 might be the one for me. Had a good chat with the shop guy and sounds and looks pretty good. They will swap stems and saddles to suit and I can get 5% off as well. So the discount, plus the £150 of bits that the BSO needs soon (I am doing a couple of long sportives in May and June and don’t want a breakdown, it also needs a chain and cassette) takes me down o the same price as a 4.0 see I can rationalise with the best of them. How else do you think I can justify a £90K tractor when a £40K secondhand one would do the same job!
The shop has cannondale but didn’t have a CAAD 10 in stock, it would be a little cheaper than a 4.3 domane for shimano 10 but th black trek looks pretty sweet and down plays the larger tubes.
They dd have steel genesis bikes but they didon’t exactly have skinny tubes either.
See I told you I would listen to your views and then ignore them, but damn I still think Celeste is cool, mmmmm maybe a Bianchi mountain bike!
@ChrisO
Exactly. What I was going to say. I like that green color myself, but more importantly it’s not black. Black looks good but has been overdone the last few years… like mine, which is black with red and white accents….
I think sticking with a black steatpost is best. A bit of contrast is a good thing.
@Spun Up I also rode an aluminium 2.1 and upgraded to a carbon Trek 5.2 – quite the difference – but mine is an old school madone before the design change. There’s still afew DA 9700 cranksets out there at fire sale prices if you want to change it out. My VMH approved funding for a full Group-san upgrade in January: stiff and beautiful with optional ringsets.
@the-farmer
I’m a father of four and this is the first time anybody ever listened to anything I said.
I’ve been having some pain directly ahead of my heel recently, on and off the bike. Anyone have experience?
@DerHoggz pour yorsekf a stiff drink, sit down then Google plantar fasciitis
this should motivate you to get onto this quickly with a physio or your other quack of choice – because if that is what you got, you need to nip it in the bud.
Plantar fascitis, I had that in my right heel, fucking nightmare, but on the plus side it got me off the trails and on the bike a lot more. Seemed the only way I got rid of it was not running. Easing back into the sneakers again, offshore treadmill and a few 10k’s at home, and all seems well. Good luck.
@Dan_R I have had a Dura Ace anodised grey chainset for a few years now. Not a mark on it. Think you would have to royally mistreat your bike to start marking it. Like some sort of nervous twitch which made you kick your crank hard with the metal part of your cleat.
@Chris
wouldnt be so confident on your alu frame standing up to mistreatment at the hands of others. In the past (not sure about now) Cannondale alu frames (like many good alu frmes) tended to be very thinly extruded (this is good – saves weight) especially on the top tube.
Doesnt lose them much in the way of stiffness/handling but does make them vulnerable to non-standard impacts – say like your bike falling over sideways when stationary and hitting a hard object laterally. how do i know this? In the past i did own a CAAD3 in Saeco colors (thought I was Ivan Gotti, not Cippo unfortunately) and a CAAD3 Aero. The aero ended up with quite a sizeable dent in the top tube due to a poorly executed attempt to park my bike. Still makes me angry.
Come to think of it, I think they both had anodised chainsets. No marks on them…
sorry CAAD4 Aero. Give your top tube a squeeze with your finger and thumb then tell me whether you think a baggage handler couldnt fuck it up.
@Marcus
Marcus. I checked with Craig and Rod McGee. They are adamant that frame of the road bike was a SCANDIUM alloy. Scandium is a moderately rare metal used to strengthen aluminum. Only about 10kg of scandium is sold worldwide each year but you don’t need much inAluminium for strength, only between 0.1% and 0.5%. Particularly it it seems to lengthen bonds around weld points. Titanium is cheaper and less rare. Scandium appears to have some advantages over titanium but its rarity and cost make it less practicable than titanium. FDJ went to carbon later. All I can do is rely on the MvGees for this info. Brian
@DocBrian
Which seems as good an opportunity, as if one were needed, to post the wonderful elements song.
@DerHoggz
I had a similar thing last spring – Plantar FasciItis. Very painful. Hopefully it is not as it took awhile to heal. Good Luck.
@DocBrian
Great ice breaker at parties!
http://www.eastoncycling.com/bike/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/RD-03-Scandium.pdf
@Vernwitha_V
If is is as everyone guesses, get it looked at and treated as soon as possible. Be very careful to follow the advice given. Plantar fascitis is not fun and can be very troublesome.
@Deakus
Deakus. Thank you for the article. Quite illuminating. The evidence piles up to indicate that the frame was a scandium allo frame, perhaps made by Easton, and badged (as it clearly is) as LaPierre. The McGees were the first to import LaPierre bikes to Australia.
@ChrisO
ThanK you. I’ve heard that song before. Who sang it? Pete Seegar? .??
@DocBrian
No, of course if memory serves me well, it had to be Tom Lehrer.
@Deakus
Post resurrection but I’m pretty sure Time and Look manufacture their own carbon, as does BMC. For the Impec. Which you can’t buy. And is why Looks and Time’s are thousands, and they can make custom frames for customers (If you want to spend over 10 000 euros on a track frame).
@DocBrian Tom Lehrer indeed.
@minion look do some of their stuff inTunisia
@DocBrian In the first case you said Titanium. Lots. I concede alu could be the answer. What frame were they selling on a fully made up bike for $900? The one he rode to victory in Avranche? Puhleeze
@Marcus
It’s a good point that I hadn’t really considered. I suppose at least if the baggage apes do give it a hefty clout any damage would be obvious rather than potentially being undetectable.
Either way, it gets packed pretty well – soft bag but extra padding – and it’s well insured.
@Marcus
Yes, get it looked at. I had plantar fasciits for over a year and could barely walk at times.
@Marcus
Yes,,it is the Avranche road bike. the friend selling it believed it was titanium because of the brilliance of thme polished metal parts, but Craig and Rod McGee corrected that for me. It is a scandium/aluminum (spellchecker must be Amuuricun) alloy. Frame might have been made by Eastonnwhomwere big on this alloy at that time, but it was clearly recalled as LaPierre. The alloy apparently allows thinner alu tubes to be used and gives greatestrengthen to welds.
I’m interested in Velominati opinions on electronic shifting. Anybody riding it (and willing to admit it in a public forum)? Since there’s not a rule against it I suppose it should be considered as a viable option. Thoughts?
@minion
Here is the carbon weavy thing at the TIME factory
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZZkpWc0MJY&feature=player_detailpage
@ped
My favorite part is the Slurpee cups of resin. Amazing that even with this much of the hand-made process still happening, most of the actual frame building is really just in a mold. It seems all to close to making Christmas cookies and not nearly enough like a master in his basement with a torch.
@Skip
A shop owner from the mainland joined a sunday ride months back and he said the most amazing thing about electronic shifting was the front shifter, not the back. One could be putting maximum force on the cranks and the shifter always worked perfectly, no hesitation.
Someone need to own it. Do it Skip, do it.
@Skip
Never ridden it, but I’ve heard magical things. Maybe you should ask Wiggo:
http://video.eurosport.se/cykel/bradley-wiggins-had-problems_vid274038/video.shtml
@Gianni
That and the fact that it tracks with the rear derailleur so no trim and no chain rub…ever.
@Nate
Talking of magical, how about that one handed remote parking of the bike against the wall by Wiggo from about 30 feet away. That was some trick!!
@Skip
I don’t have it but I’m not opposed to it although I am still not sure if I would have it based purely on sentiment. You start to feel like that about things as you get older.
Disc brakes however are another matter and should be reserved for mountain bikes and maybe ‘cross.
@paolo If only he hadn’t been so visibly irritated, it would have been the height of Casual Deliberateness.