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 ...
@G’rilla I like it! After Im done with school and get a job I have some bike upgrades in mind for the bikes. new fork for the Niner and Ultegra build/bling wheels for the C’Dale. I have BB30, so either Shimano gets off the pot and makes BB30 cranks, or Ill be forced to go with another crank. I dont know how I feel about using adapters.
Im thinking Hollowgram or these
http://fairwheelbikes.com/lightning-carbon-cranks-p-1257.html
@snoov
I picked up one of those from Pedro’s, but it doesn’t span the whole length across like that so it isn’t nearly as stable. Looks like that Pro one is really nice, may have to pick it up!
@G’rilla
The ONE slightly appealing feature is that you can run a “semi” compact 52-36 set up
I got 2 weeks offshore to carry out some googling in between short bouts of actual ‘work’. So will be hunting down the best price for a decent latex tube, give them a fair try when I get back. Might even splurge on a couple new tyres.
@Nate
I would punch a customer in the throat if they used my carbon clinchers with latex tubes. NEVER do that.
Latex does not handle heat as well as butyl, so the higher heat on the carbon brake track will make latex go boom. On a set of Ambrosio Excellites, oh yeah baby! Budder!
@Dan_R
So what about using them in summer heat i.e. when temps hit 100+?
@Dan_R
Any word on your 24mm clinchers yet? I got money burning a hole in my pocket……
@strathlubnaig
Just a professional interest…contractor or you work for one of the major oil companies?
@snoov
It’s a simple idea but works really well. I cut one down for the track bike too, particularly for transportation in the car.
Who’d have thought it, Rule V violation from Fab
We are watching the Giro d’Italia. This is defently not healthy and has nothing to do with sport. #wrongDesicion
@ped
fucking Faboo, he has a Spring campaign like this year to seemingly consolidate his hardman status & then blows it bitching & moaning about conditions…granted they would be horrible circumstances to ride your bike in but if you want to compete in bike races held in controlled conditions, ride on the track. Road racing involves going up high mountains where it gets cold & there’s a chance of snow, don’t like it? Don’t do it.
@ped not the first time he’s made similar noises either, oddly enough for a classics man he’s very shy of anything less than perfect riding conditions.
@Mikael Liddy
The new Swiss Miss?
@ped & @Mikael Liddy
Easy, now, lads. The pros make the Rules, not us. Nobody, but nobody can call Cancellara soft. I’m not sure many of us have ridden more than half that kind of distance in those kinds of conditions. And we probably didn’t have to do it again the next day (or after two solid weeks of riding in the rain). And if we cam even close, we’d be home in a nice hot tub by the end of the day. I’ll admit it was amazing to watch, but our demand for panache puts riders’ lives at risk and encourages PED use in order to stick with it. Safer, more humane conditions are more in line with the aesthetics of road cycling. If you want high risk, go watch professional wrestling or the X-games.
@Mikael Liddy
@ped
@Steampunk
I think the important question is, would he ride it if he had to? I always wonder how much of what riders say is just repeating the “party line”
@RedRanger
It’s a good question. Though, remember that Cancellara was the one who neutralized the chaotic Tour stage a few years ago. He’s probably one of a very small handful of riders who has the kind of job security to be something of a patron within the peloton and then be willing to speak his mind. I have a lot of respect for him for that.
My humble apologies for starting this riff….on the wrong bloody page.
Riad tubeless update: Read (cracked) wheel replaced. Neuvation made good on the warranty even though technically it was a few weeks past the one year limit. I remounted the hutchison fusion 3 and topped it off with fresh sealant. So far so good. Less of a money shot this time.
Time for moor milez…
Road
Speaking of wheels, a couple of days ago, commuting on the single speed, I broke 2 spokes on the rear wheel, at the nipple (final thread of spoke), exactly opposite each other, DS and NDS, both pulling spokes. The wheel is a hand-built with double-butted spokes of unknown provenance.
Just how it goes or somehow preventible?
(I was able to replace the spokes and true the wheel, just need new rim tape, so haven’t re-ridden it yet)
@scaler911
“Never jump obstacles in front of Caesar’s Palace.”
I’ve probably flogged this question to death on here, but what have those of you with really high arches done to get a good fitting shoe? I have the Specialized green insoles, but I am still getting pain in my left arch.
My sister sensei’s new-to-her Gunnar SS:
@DerHoggz
I have high arches and use sidi genius pro 5s but have to say I am not getting any problems….
@DerHoggz
I use Giro Trans with the high arch support fitted in what they call the supernatural fit adjustable insole. The shoes come with 3 different height arch supports that attach by Velcro under the insole. Comfortable, no pain. I used to wear specialised BG but when they wore out and my foot size fell between their euro 43 and 44, I tried on a number of different shoe brands and styles before settling on the giro. They do half sizes too.
@xyxax that’s a nice setting. looks familiar.
@JohnB
I also have Giro Trans and use the high arch support. Really nice shoes for my feet.
@RedRanger
Yep lovely Tucson. i bet you two could swap melted alloy component stories.
@xyxax I suffer more from melted skin. The nice thing about being Latino is that I’m always one ride away from sharp tan lines. The bad thing is that I now have one leg darker than the other cause of an out and back route I’ve been riding n
@xyxax
it might be the light in the pic, but are those tires green?
@xyxax what is her LBS of choice?
@RedRanger
Fair Wheel bikes is her LBS of choice; she is friends with the owner. Perhaps “friends” in that she has spent a shitload of money there over the years. Nothing wrong with that.
@thebaron
Green indeed. I had to check with her to see if it wasn’t just the sidewalls. Apparently they don’t make them anymore and they may have come from the previous owner. I like the green, but more as a sidewall than a Shrek toy bike.
@xyxax right on. That’s where I have been going recently. Good shop. One of the younger wrenches does great work.
@xyxax
interesting.
How easy is it to service/replace the bearings on a Campy Shamal rear wheel? Apparently they’re feeling “grungy” (LBS talk)
My only experience with wheel bearings is 20 years out of date
Don’t campy still use cup and cone bearings? Your 20 year old info may still be applicable.
LBS just warrantied me a a battery which was great. MrsEngine went to pick it up as well as a couple of Allen bolts for the bottle cage on her steed.
So the guy in the LBS opens the padded envelope the battery was shipped in and drops the bolts in there. MrsEngine gets home and takes the bolts out of the now unsealed envelope.
MrsEngine notices a piece of paper. The LBS had to show the battery maker when they’d sold me the battery to show that it was still in warranty so they’d printed off the computerized record of all my purchases to date and highlighted the battery sale. What they had also done was give my VMH an itemised breakdown of what I’ve spent in the LBS since the beginning of time.
A night in the garage with That Fucking Bike is an uplifting experience.
@the Engine Ouch, just reading that made me wince. I presume that COTHO would now beat you a testicle count.
Have a word with your LBS and point out that you’re hardly going to observe Rule #58 at their establishment if thy’re going to bend you over the counter and apply the ungreased pineapple whilst emptying your wallet. With any luck they’ll at least give you a decent discount on the new extra large padded saddle with oversized cut out that you’ll need while the damage inflicted by MrsEngine heals.
@Chris
S’alright – when the next unexplained creak surfaces I’ll take the steed to their workshop and talk bollocks whilst they look for the source of the problem – punishment enough.
@the Engine
Oh dear. Much as I miss my wife and children in London it’s incidents like this which remind me there are benefits to being able to visit bike shops and spend money without anyone else noticing.
They come out here once in a year on average so when my wife sees something new I can honestly say “New ? No I’ve had that for ages…”
@the Engine
I suggest you roll the said person in the LBS in bearing grease and chain whip them….that should ensure future compliance!
@ChrisO You lead a charmed existence….I cannot imagine how carefree your life must be without the subterfuge of trying to conceal a purchase history that scales with the GDP of a small 3rd world country!
Help. Or rather, an appeal for possible insights from the combined experience of the Velominati.
I recently took the plunge and popped a pair of Zipp 202’s on my Cervelo. All was going well until the test ride. A rattling coming from the back end each time I went over anything like a bump or ripple in the road surface was mad. It sounded like a bag of spanners and living in the county in England with the record for the worst maintained roads, meant a lot of spanners in that bag.
I reseated and re-torqued the cassette, ensured the axle was as it should be in the drop outs, quick release was tightened correctly etc. The rattle is still there. I’m wondering if this is the norm? Surely not for such expensive hoops and it’s not a noise that my previous rear wheel made when running on the same frame. Are Zipps only able to follow the principle of silence on glass-smooth surfaces?
@Mike_P If there is movement in the cassette despite being torqued correctly, check your old hub for a thin spacer that should slide onto the free hub body before the cassette.
@Chris
Thanks Chris. That check is now job #1 for this evening.
@DerHoggz Another vote for the Giro adjustable insoles.
@Mike_P
Also, is it the valve stem? Wrap a single strip of electrical tape around the valve before inserting the tube. Or, if they’re tubs and you won’t want to re-glue them, you can put it over the top and onto the rim, but that’s rather ugly that way…
@frank
^^^I took my headset apart 5 or 6 times trying to figure out why it was rattling when I rode over uneven pavement before I realized that the headset was fine and that this was the solution.
@frank
Not sure if it’s the problem, but that my friend, is an absolutely brilliant tip. I’ve checked the cassette spacer is all in order (thanks Chris) so am back off to the cave with the electrical tape.