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
Also, you are not limited to 53/39 or 50/34. Shimano, at least, hasn’t brought out a wider range of rings.
@DocBrian
Or you have something like a Cannondale Hollowgram where the spider is attached to the crank by way of a splined interface so you can swap between standard and compact relatively easily (adjustments to deraileur height, chain and cable lengths notwithstanding).
@Beers
You are perfectly correct.
@Beers
Funnily enough my n1 came back from the shop with a medium cage rear mech on it recently. I historically run a compact with 12/25 cassette and short cage mech. When I asked him why he had put a medium monstrosity rather than a short cage mech on, he looked at me, raised and eyebrow and mumbled something about moving to a 27 or higher on the rear.
I was about to swing for him, when I realised he was probably, in fact almost certainly, correct….oh well my body dismorphia is not cured and I am obviously still in need of my diaphramatic breathing and need to dodge a curry or two!
@DocBrian
Whew!
@Deakus
When do you need to move to a medium cage? Would a short cage on a 54/39 cover a 27t cassette?
Does anyone know why short cage is preferred to medium or long cage? I can’t think it would be any less efficient, save for having a few more links in the chain, it actually has slightly less of an “S” to go through the jockey wheels? Aesthetics and the metophorical manliness implied?
Secondly, based upon @frank assistance and @stihlzy bike fit links, it seems I could maybe, maybe fit this bike. Turns out my n+0 is 57mm on the virtual top tube length, the potential bike is 57.5mm. I run an 80mm stem on the n+0, but only because it is what I had, the shop advised a 90 would be better. 10mm shorter than @frank suggested 100mm should be within cooey, and more aggressive than my enduro geometry currently. Got the measurements from n+0, so am going to organise another meet up sometime and see how the potential bike compares, if only to satisfy my curiosity.
@DocBrian
That’s on the 9000 series 11 speed Dura Ace, the cranks use a 110bcd but they are making rings up to 55 tooth for them now. They’re also 4 bolt, so not quite standard compared to what is currently available.
@minion
Thank you for that info. Many of the newer bikes at more than $4000 are now equipped with these, making them great value taking into account the stand alone cost of Di2 and the flexibility and ease of changing chain rings. I have DuraAce 10 speed Di2. Great to use, but lacks that flexibility.
i sometimes change from my 53/39 FSA SLK Light Hollow Carbon cranks to a Compact Ultegra crank, but need to fit a costly adaptor each time. FSA and Shimano have minor incompatibility with their BB30 and thus the adaptor is needed. Prefer the FSA over compact for most of my riding.
No problem. I’ve seen images of 11 speed Ultegra on the interwebs as well which shares the 4 arm crank, so that if you go down this route in future replacing rings won’t make you feel like you’ve just had your wallet dragged out of your back pocket through your nose (DA will be F’n expensive – Ultegra will be too but probably considerably cheaper).
Shimano doesn’t do BB30 at all, their spindle is 24mm because it’s steel, which if you buy into their line of thinking, is optimal for weight, strength and reliability. BB30 uses a 30mm diameter spindle, which is rarely steel (al or carbon) with thinner walls of the spindle, which explains the need for the adaptor.
Does mean that we all have to upgrade now if wanting to use DA or Ultegra from now on though.
@Beers short/medium/long cage all to do with the amount of chain length being engaged on teeth and the need for chain tension.
If you run a compact on the front and are sitting in some of your smaller cogs on the back, a short cage isnt going to “angle” far enough back to maintain chain tension. So you need more length in your rear mech.
@Beers I looked into this when trying to determine if my 28-11 was too much for my shortcage (SS) derailleur. Found this on the interweb;
Rear Derailleur capacity should accommodate the difference between the smallest and largest chainring in the front plus the difference between the smallest and largest cassette cog in the back (eg 53 – 39 = 14 plus 25 – 11 =14 for a total of 28 teeth).
This is called the chainwrap capacity. The Ultegra 6700 SS rd has a chainwrap of 33 teeth, so running a “28-11”, Chainwrap = (53-39) + (28-11) = 31….sweet!
However I am actually running a 6600, which is only 29 teeth……. but so far so good…..;
http://techdocs.shimano.com/media/techdocs/content/cycle/SI/Ultegra/SI_5VG0C_001/SI_5VG0C_001_En_v1_m56577569830616226.pdf
Not sure what this does to chain tension but all is running OK – need to upgrade Group-san at some stage, but if it ain’t broke (yet)…..
@Rob
Stunning Baum in my LBS (Prestige Cycles, Hove).
The camera phone picture doesn’t do it any justice, the base colour is a greyish white pearl and the overall finish is incredible.
Strolled in to my LBS a few months ago to be greeted by this. Apparently, as one of southern England’s most up and coming Bianchi suppliers they were granted the privilege of displaying this beautiful piece of Pantani history for a couple of weeks. Needless to say, I lingered a while….
@Mike_P
That’s not a reproduction? That’s the original???? Didn’t they sell the original by auction a number of months ago? Makes sense as he must have ahad a few of them. Incredible. Holy Grail of a bike right there!
@Buck Rogers
An original apparently, and like you said, one of a number he would have ridden through the season. I saw that auction news too – absolutely mega bucks. Maybe I should have popped it under my arm and done a runner.
@Mike_P
Truly riding like you stole it!
But WOW, that is one true cycling relic in every sense of the word. Holy Ground right there.
@Beers
Beers, is this a road bike? Because a 57 or 57.5 top tube bike typically ought to have 120-130 mm stem to get the right amount of rider weight on the front wheel. My first bike when I got back into road riding and knew no better was 60 cm, 100mm stem. I now know that was wrong and I ride 57cm TT/120-130mm stem and the handling is worlds better. I hate to say it but I reckon both bikes are too big for you. You might want to try 54-55 and 110-120 for your next bike.
@Nate Yeah mate, a roady. Blow me down with a feather if it isn’t the same frameset but different size that @Mike_P posted. See why I am so torn about it? You guys think it’d be worth riding a bike too big just to have one?
How does that long of a stem affect the handling? Reviewing the results of one of the bike fit calcs said a 57.5 tt and 100 stem were right for me, the other say they are right for a “french enduro” fit with a bigger frame, less seat post. Sigh.
@Beers I see why you are tempted, but knowing it’s a Bianchi leads me to reiterate that it’s too big. As for why, a longer stem slows down steering for two reasons. One, the longer stem is a longer lever, so that for a given linear input to the handlebar, the front wheel moves less. Two, there is more weight over the front wheel, making it feel more planted and less skittish.
@Nate Thanks mate. It just seems weird, I can occassionally hit my knee on the bars climbing on the current bike, so I always thought it was too small. I think I have long legs/femurs (hence hitting the bars) and a shorter torso (hence a shorter stem) maybe. Hoovering the scraps of the second hand market and trying to figure it all out rather than going to a store and buying a nice bike that fits is a real PITA. @all apologies for clogging the topic, but it sure is helping me out.
@Beers How tall are you?
@Nate 178cm, 5’10” in old money..
@Beers
definitely sounds as though the bike might be a bit big. You and I are about the same height, and while I’m sure there are myriad ways that height can be distributed, my lower back hurts at the thought of that much reach. I think Nate is probably bang on re. his assessment, but no one can do this perfectly through computer screens. Definitely worth a trip down to a good LBS for a fit…
@Beers, @Steampunk
I’d agree, I ride a 57-57.5 cm TT and I am 6’1″/185 ish and like you short of torso, long of femur.
@Steampunk Cheers, what TT length do you ride out of interest?
@Nate Thanks heaps for your assistance, def sounds too big now, if you ride the same tt. Ugh..
Just went and had a good look at it. It’s a bit tired, the front derailleur is worn out, scratches everywhere, but the price was right, this is the cellar i dwell in.
Had a good measure of it, the centre seat post clamp bolt to centre of the bar is 65mm longer than my current at 72.5cm. This takes varying saddles out of the equation, so more repeatable. Even if the stem came back to 90mm from the current 130mm, it would still be longer than my current reach by 15mm.
@Beers
How about this: Clearly, this bike is an itch that you must scratch. We’ve all been there. Buy it, love it, restore it to its former glory and then sell it to someone taller who loves it as much as you do. Take the money, hopefully with some profit added, and go find another project. Maybe one that fits better.
Nah fuck that. Ride the shit out of it with a 90mm stem on it. 1.5cm is doable in terms of reach, if that’s the only thing holding you back don’t worry about it. You might also be able to get bars for it with less throw, so that the levers aren’t as far away as your other bike.
Of course, seat tube length and crank length might also be fuckers, given it’s an older bike. Did you ride it?
@minion So drop the stem from 130 to 90 and do it? I set up the potential bike at my same BB to seat top and it looks fine. The cranks are 175, same as my MTB, current roady is 170. It needs work to ride it unfortunately.
@minion So drop the stem from 130 to 90 and go for it? It needs work, so couldn’t ride it. Set the seat post at my BB to seat height, seems fine. Cranks 175, like my MTB which I have no prob with, current roady is 170.
@Beers
I ride a 56. But I’ve spent the spring pushing the saddle forward and lowering the seatpost in order to get comfortable. Is suspect I’d be happier on a 54/55…
Finally put some slippers on my new wheels with some tan wall Veloflex Masters
Ambrosio Excellight rims, double eyelet, 3x, sapim race, ultergra hubs, 36 back, 32 front – feels super stiff, and super light – come in at 1.4kg for the pair – nice!
I think she looks rather well, bit retro almost
And the KT2012 bar tape now in situ
@Dr C Holy Hell, that’s a lot of spokes! (exaggerated more by the shadows at play). They’d better be stiff with all that steel.
@Dr C you did good doc! if those clinchers ride like their tubular counterparts, you’ve got to be in heaven
While we’re on the subject, a bit of an update on my road tubeless experence.
I converted R28Aero2s from Neuvation to Tubeless using the Stans no-tubes system and hutchinson fusion 3s. I like the setup, particularly the reduction in pressures. I put about 500 miles into them, and just discovered a crack in the rim of the rear wheel. I’m certain it is done for. The wheelset has only about 2000 miles total, and I will contact the retailer.
However, this presents a quandry on the tubeless front. While the tubeless setup wasn’t particularly complicated, it was for sure more of a pain in the arse that simple clinchers. It is clear that even simple spoke repairs are much more complicated (even though that isn’t the current issue.) To pull the still good tyre off and remount it on a new tubeless wheelset … sort of defeats the purpose of going tubeless. The idea was to reduce the amount of shitte I carry with me (fewer flats) and to reduce tyre pressure. And of course, an attempt to reduce the overall maintenence. I got ~500 miles in before I had to disassemble, reassemble. For sure I can do better on clinchers.
Sorry, tubbies are Right Out. Not going to fuck with them. Yes, I know you will all disagree.
As previously described, I am not going to Carbone. My Jan Sized ass prohibits this.
So, back to new metal clinchers. This does afford the opportunity to try 25mm tyres. Perhaps I can run those at lower pressure than 23mm tyres.
LBS has a sale on Reynolds Solitude. Anyone have feedback on them?
@Dr C Those look stunning. Strong work.
Are you taking orders?
@Tartan1749
I’m a fat lad, and those are very scrawny rims, so every one of them will be needed when I start throwing myself down the Motirolo in June (okay, unnecessary name drop there!)
@roger Muchos
@Chris
I was probably inspired by your good self to build these – if someone as bonkers as you could build a set, then I thought I ought to have a lash! Now I just can’t find enough wheels to rebuild (not sure I’d let anyone else ride them in case I’ve made them the wrong way round) – next set will be a rear 20in wheel for my daughter’s bike, as I reversed the car over hers a couple of weeks ago – she wasn’t riding it at the time, before you ask – bloody cars, useless form of transport altogether
@Dr C
You fucking delusional twat, you must have confused me with one of the talented people on this site. I’ve never built not claimed to have built a set of wheels.
That said, I’m chuffed to bits that I inspired you anyway. I never thought that being a role model could be so easy.
I ran one of the kids bikes over. A horribly sobering experience of how easy it might be to run one of the kids over (not that I needed actual sobering up at the time).
Speaking of kids bikes, hows your lad getting on with his Luath? My lot all want road bikes. I’m not sure that’s what the Keepers had when they thought up the N+1 rule.
There’s now a small shadow of doubt that it wasn’t just a coincidence that someone else was posting as @chris. Maybe my schizo alter ego is a talented wheel builder. I need to see a doctor.
@Steampunk
My n1 is a Jamis Zenith Team Di2. Sized 54. Find it great at that size,but when I swapped from the original saddle to a Specialised Romin Evo Comp Gel saddle I needed to slide the new saddle quite a lot forward to get it right. Now it is excellent. also raised seat post and dropped bars one full spacer. For your info, I” 172cm tall (5 foot 6 for the ‘murricuns) and 74kg. 54 a good size for me in this model bike.
@Tartan1749
How much does a spoke weigh? Do a few more spokes make a difference to anything but increased reliability?
@Bespoke it’s not about weight as that’s a forum all to itself. On ambrosios, it is ok. On a more modern wheel not meant/designed for cobbles and the like, I could argue that extra spokes are not needed given finite element analysis and other design tools. It’s all about looking fantastic and Ambrosios do that with the golden ticket alone (and the black and white Specialized does indeed look fantastic). I’m just saying that with that many spokes, the wheel better be durable AND stiff, as Dr. C has confirmed. Now, given Dr. C’s Strava entries, his self proclaimed mass may not be entirely true, but that’s a different conversation. The
@Bespoke
With time I may reduce the spoke count, but I reckoned as a first set to build, twas safer to spead the inaccurate tuning across a larger number of twigs
Certainly feels bloody stiff compared with teh DT Swiss Axis 3.0 it came with
@Chris so who did make those ambrosio tubulars you were riding at Roubaix KT12 – albeit with the tubs on the wrong way round…?
General comment, why have 11 sprockets, other than because we can?
@Tartan1749
Ohhhh. Aesthetics! Well, that’s another story. Never mind…
Must confess to being a little sad not to have golden tickets on the Excellights – I think it is only the Nemesis that has that crowning glory
We don’t have cobbles here, rather the inverse, a lot of potholes joined together with thin remnants of badly layed tarmac – similar effect, so seems appropriate!
@Dr C The back to front tub (rear only) was entirely my own doing but I don’t think that should serve as inspiration to anyone.
Apparently, the wheels themselves were originally built up in the ’90s by a pro team mechanic in Belgium for an aspiring racer that wasn’t on his team. Belgian malted recovery beverages may have eased the off the books transaction. Allegedly.
The front was originally laced radially which probably wouldn’t have worked too well as the interface between my considerable bulk and the pave so I got them rebuilt by a chap called Mark Zaschke who runs a local bike shop and is/was a National and World Masters Track champion. My sensei recommended him as builder of fast, reliable wheels.
So far so good, they’ve survived two trips to the pave without complaint. I have my eyes on ebay for some more dura ace hubs to form the basis of something a bit more carboney deep section.
@Dr C
Excellence are also anointed with “golden tickets”.
@Dr C If you want the golden tickets without going down the tubular route, Ambrosio do a clincher version of the Nesmesis rim.
Alternatively, Rule #5 and go tubular.
I put forward my No.2, made by Ricky Feather of Feather Cycles. I ordered the bike from him at Bespoked in Bristol last year and collected it at the Bespoked a few weeks ago.
The bike is based on the paint / car seen in the documentary Urban Outlaw featuring Magnus Walker a UK citizen relocatted to the US with a penchant for Porsches.
The frame is built of Columbus XCR tubes, lightly modified Richard Sachs Nervex Lugs and flat crown fork. The whole lot is stainless and is set up to run fenders for the more likely weather and wet roads we get here in the UK most of the year.
I had the bar tape and saddle custom made / covered by Mick Peel of Busyman Cycles, an amazing leather worker and well known around these parts.
I built up the wheels using Franks preferred spring classic choice of Nemesis / Royce rims and hubs although I built using Sapim CX_Ray spokes to keep in with the modern classic theme. I gluled FMB 25mm Paris Roubaix to the rims and now realise what everyone was talking about. It’s not like I am used to bad tubs using 23mm Veloflex Criterium on my Enve 6.7 wheelset that I run on my other bike.
The gruppo is Campag Chorus 11 speed and Nitto alloy seat post and handlebar.
Having covered just over 200miles in the last couple of weeks i can confirm that the bike is ecerything I was hoping it would be. ery comfy for long hours in the saddle and hadles road buzz better than my Enigma, althogh that could be donw to the wider FMB’s I’m running.
Anyway, enough waffle, pictures …