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 ...
@pistard
Haha thanks for the phalic history lesson. I will look for some pictures of Cipo with such stems. Although the usual images of his ridiculous kits is usually all I can find.
I’m not any sort of a photographer, but here’s my #2 road bike. #1 road bike is getting a makeover… I’ll get pictures up once I see the sun again. There’s lots of shiny parts to get the sun in your eyes when you’re behind me.
@Thursday there
@Thursday Sweet #2! Can’t wait to see #1!!
Newly acquired winter training bike. Need to sort out the setup at the front end but have only done a quick “as received” to take it for a quick spin. Pleased with what I paid for it.
@Teocalli
Envy and covetousness.
It amazes me that a lot of peoples #2’s are nicer than my #1. @PeakInTwoYears put it nicely “Envy and covetousness.”
@unversio
Let me check. I think I have a couple of long stems at home: a TTT and a Cinelli. I’ll check the lengths and see what we can work out. I doubt I’ll ever use them and it would be great to see one go to a good home.
@wiscot Or ITM ‘Professionale’ stem, 125mm
It took a couple weeks, but I finally got my Engin frameset built up. In short – absolutely the best bike I’ve ever ridden. Smooth, stable, plenty stiff enough and its the first bike I’ve ever ridden that I feel like I’m a part of and not perched precariously on top of. Not to mention the quality of the craftsmanship is exquisite. Obviously I still need to cut the steerer, but I’m going to ride it for a while like this to make sure the position is what I want it to be.
@VeloVita Exquisite is the right word. So you were floating on air with this one?
@unversio
Pretty much – I promised myself a custom frameset for my 40th birthday and while this wasn’t tailor made for me, it may as well have been – and I get it a year and a half early! Drew had it left over at his shop from a customer that didn’t end up keeping it and it just so happened that it fit me perfectly (although Drew did take 15mm off the head tube for me). I probably would have even gone with a similar color scheme. He made me a deal I simply couldn’t refuse because he just wanted to get the thing ridden. We had multiple telephone conversations, email exhanges with BikeCAD drawings and fit discussions. Drew was fantastic to work with and definitely knows his stuff. I would highly recommend Engin to anyone (though I think he’s only building in Ti for new customers now).
@Thursday
Is that a Giant TCR Advanced SL non-ISP by any chance… not unlike this one.
@ChrisO Yes it is. If I’ve got to pin numbers on my back, this one gives me a bit of an edge over my #1. That being said, it hasn’t gotten many miles on it in the past year. I got peer pressured into racing the whole MTB series this year. I only had TT race miles on the road this year.
@DCR @PeakInTwoYears
Many thanks, I was actually looking for a steel frame to hang a modern Gruppo off and dropped on this on eBay and was amazed that I was the only bidder. I think the guy that sold it was a bit surprised too. (Where for him surprised = disappointed). Really pleased with it having taken it for a quick hour of hill reps. I’ve now flipped the stem and I need to take 2 cm or more off the top of the steerer but that can wait till I have time to measure it all up carefully. New bar tape and eventually new bars as I can’t say I’m a fan of the ones currently fitted.
@VeloVita Sweet. Dreaming of maybe ordering a custom steel next year, frame builder I’d like to use has a 15-16 month lead time though. Spending any more money on bikes this year would push the n+1 over the s-1 limit though, having bought a new #1 then just bought the Wilier as #2 and I have my vintage rebuild still in progress. Brownie points being worked on as just booked Andre Rieu concert tickets for VMW’s birthday.
@VeloVita i’m extremely confused by this bicycle. while beautiful, i’m still trying to figure out whether it’s 650c, or if you’re 2.2m tall. then again, the rear end looks pretty normal, but the front.. bizzare. the headtube is as long as the AtC
@frank
Did you ever find another stem for the Bianchi TSX?
Yes, I got a ttt stem and bars and went back to the original steel fork.
@hurricane_josh
Its 700c and I’m 1.93m tall. The head tube is indeed very long and the top tube is brought up to intersect it in standard fashion, meaning that the standover height of the bike is very tall for its seat tube length as well as for a bike with a sloping top tube. The chainstays are longer than on a race bike and the head tube angle is relatively slack. I agree that it makes for a confusing looking bicycle at first, but compare it against something that fits the same with a more standard geometry and I bet you this one looks hella better. (I know, because I’ve got the alternative)
VeloVita – Happy birthday! Enjoy the bike. It looks really sharp.
Of humbler note, I picked up some Giro Lusso gloves (on sale, less than half price!). Only tried them on at home, but wow, extremely comfortable and really, really nice materials and stitching. Interested to see how long they last, as the Gore “retro” leather gloves I had died pretty fast. For those digging classis mitts, these are pretty nice, slick, and a good price, even at retail.
@frank The steel fork and ttt cockpit fit the bike far more than the previous setup. I am very jealous of the bike!
@VeloVita I am curious now. Mind posting a picture of said other bike?
Love all the steel. I posted my Waterford R33 a while back, but here it is with a black seat and cockpit. The white was – um – ill-advised at best.
Jesus we have some tall people here!
@unversio Ebay has loads of them.
Keep in mind the Cinelli has a bulge that keeps it from sliding all the way down, so if you need to be able to slam it this may not be the best choice. The ttt does’t have this and that is the main reason I chose that one.
@GreenGiant
Beautiful. I was a big Paramount fan back in the day (still am) and was grateful that Waterford picked up the baton.
@frank Looking to uphold a great ITM stem and bar setup now. Thanx
@Mikael Liddy
I think there’s a disproportionate number of us mutants here because we need custom geometry, and that usually means owning a nice custom bike (or 6) executed in said geometry.
@VeloVita
Love. It.
You can’t tell from the picture I posted earlier, but my Waterford has similar geometry. Glad you’ve discovered that riding a bike that fits is something of a revelation. I put in 80K days and get off feeling, well, tired as shit, but at least I don’t -hurt- anymore if you know what I mean.
Now I’m off to Waterford to get my matching seat post and stem like your bike has.
@GreenGiant
While I’m thinking about it – a little love for the DuraAce C50 wheelset. For you fellow mutants If you’re 6’5″ and 195 pounds like yours truly and looking for a fairly aero, fairly light everyday hoop, go pick up a pair. They are completely bulletproof and won’t grenade on those long descents.
Refer my picture above, does anyone recognize the brand of the bike ?
@Teocalli
what builder are you considering?
@Barracuda Fubar?
@Mikael Liddy
No, not at all, it will buff out !
It was my Grandfathers race bike after trying to wrestle with a wayward car on wrong side of road in a race from Adelaide to Victor Harbor.
Trying to get some history on it but cant make out the brand, most likely as you say, due it it being FUBAR !
@VeloVita
@GreenGiant
Well done, the both of youse. Particularly impressed with the wheel choices, and loving the gumwalls on the HEDs. When my frame gets in, we’ll swap geometry stories and how we used to get beat up by the short headtube kids.
@Barracuda
My guesses for some of the letters:
C
A
P, B
P, B, E
No clue after that, but good luck. Likely a defunct marque. Very interesting story, I take it he survived?
@DerHoggz yes, just, since passed now though.
Messed up his racing career and was heading for the Commonwealth games that year by all accounts !
Lost an eye, fingers and pretty smashed up legs.
I make out a “CA …. ” hopefully someone can enlighten me !
@Barracuda
Damn, that is rough.
@Thursday
I only got mine at the beginning of the season (Sep-Mar for us) and love it. I can’t decide if it is No.1 or No.2, though if you took value/performance into account it would be way ahead.
I am fudging the issue by using a standard on my Ridley Noah for when it is flat and fast and a compact on the TCR for when the road goes up.
If the test was “You’re being sent to a desert island (with tarmac roads of course) and can only take one bike” then it would be the TCR, so I guess that makes it No.1.
@unversio
And now with proper shifters
@Barracuda
What year was he racing? Do you think it could have been an Australian made bike?
http://www.bicyclehistory.com.au/brands%20&%20companys%20table.htm
@unversio
Here’s what I have: A 13cm Cinelli stem in silver. Good condition. A few marks on the bit that goes in the frame. Standard front bolt.
A 14cm black 3TTT stem. hidden bolt, a few scratches on the frame bit but otherwise clean. (This sounds like a Frank stem)
Let me know if you’re interested and we’ll work something out.
@wiscot
140 3ttt is good. Contact me when you happen to think of it at vin at 28avg dot com.
@unversio
Will do so this week.
@DCR
1936 – Maybe a Carbine ??
Logo looks similar.
@Weldertron Impressive… most impressive…
@Barracuda You are a Jedi.
@unversio
Teach you I will !
Now to research Carbine i spose!