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 ...
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I don’t recall if I ever introduced myself on this board… well, I’m Soren from Denmark.
Anyway, do any of you know anything about the Italian brand ‘Intermac’?
I’ve been offered this bike and been trying to find info about it (yes, I’ve know about Google, thank you) but nothing has turned up. If you have any tidbits of info, please let me know. Thanks.
@Barracuda
Why’d you stop there? The beach is just over there.
Can anyone help with FSA parts? I have a buddy trying to find these FSA Headset parts in the UK with zero luck (teach him to buy a Spe&^% Roubaix !!). I’m in the US at the moment so if anyone either in Europe or the US can help source these it would be much appreciated
Finally finished … Colnago Super frame before 1975 … Campy Veloce US/UT, Centaur and Athena mix, 3T handlebar and seatpost, Selle San Marco Regale UP.
(Personally) ditch the brown for white and you’ve got a winner.
@Teocalli
I really dislike using iPads on here.
@norm
But it allows me to keep up with the conversations with my SWAG iPad stem mount.
@Kupepe Me likey!
@all
Anyone got suggestions on easy to clean white tape? The steed has a very comfy EVA/cork tape at the moment, but clean up is a very involved brush and detergent job, doesn’t come up fully clean, and is dirty in the first ride, something the missus would probably say about me..
@Kupepe I like it and initially I love it. That frame size leads me to believe we are reasonably similar ( you may weigh much less ). Buyer beware the Red coated Aluminum nipples and rider weight — they’ll break. Changed the last set of Open Pros back to brass to “keep the safe!” ( Gandalf voice ) Bonus points: making the effort to match bartape to the Selle San Marco. Note: Frank will want you to return to a quill stem.
( Gandalf ) “Keep it safe!”
Oh, and it has to be comfy too please..
@Beers Fizik microtex has been on mine for nearly two years/~12,500k’s & still scrubs up nicely.
@Beers
Any of the fizik non-soft touch versions are bombproof. I ride it on my rain bike and don’t even need to scrub it. The performance model gets just a little bit dirty but not bad. The superlight will wear out before it gets dirty.
Yeah, the Microtex tape is bonkers. I’ve even swapped it from one bike to another and it’s still going strong. That stuff is crazy. They should make is less good so people would have to buy it more often. I recently picked up some of the Arundel Gecko squishy rubbery tape. Interested to see how that rides.
Also, getting awesome bike stuff is a good idea. Despite the rain, cool weather, muck, and potential snow, I’m going riding today because I can’t get enough of the smooth shifting of my new Red shifters. I like them a lot more than Force.
Love it when you kind of want to stay inside but some new gear keeps on tapping you on the shoulder. You know you want to ride today…
Thank you chaps.
And yep @Ron , nothing like new shit to make you do something foolish, ha.
@Kupepe
Very nice. For me, quill stem, gumwalls and less logo on the wheels would make it really classy.
@Teocalli these guys should be able to help http://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/airebearings
Faaaaaaaaaaark me it’s been a rollercoaster of a day. Cracker of a ride this morning with a mate where we finally managed to find some cool air (it’s currently still 34 degrees at 10.30pm). Dropped the Fondriest in for a major service at the LBS near the office given it’s done ~12,500km over the last 18 months & mentioned a bit of a click/creak coming from the saddle or seatpost over the past few weeks.
Head wrench does a rudimentary check & shows a heap of movement at the seatpost insertion despite the clamp being tightened properly, pulls a concerning face & says he’ll give it a good going over. Calls me back in at lunch to say he’s found the carbon delaminating at the point where the frame itself is bonded to a collar that the seatpost clamp tightens around & this is what has been moving.
Swearing & cursing ensues as it basically means taking the bike back to the original shop of purpose (who I’ve since had a falling out with), for them to begin the process of getting the frame warrantied, and me suddenly without a rideable roadie 3 days out from the biggest week of riding I’ll do all year.
Interestingly, after “extensive” examination by the original shop, they found no issue with the carbon itself, but a paint chip that had become lodged in a manner that it would sit between the collar & the inserted seatpost meaning they couldn’t sit flush against each other, resulting in the movement. They cleaned it all up, got a wrench who is a similar size to me to take it on one of their trainers & apparently the noise was gone.
The cynic in me says that it’s bloody unlikely that a wrench with 20yrs experience will mistake a paint chip for the carbon layup coming apart & the 2nd shop are banking on the remaining few months of my 2yr warranty expiring before anything becomes an issue again now that it’s been freshly cleaned & had a new smothering of carbon paste…but I also really hope that the bike is fine given I have about 800k worth of riding planned over the next 10 days.
Testing it tomorrow morning to see whether it stands up to a work out, stay tuned for updates.
as a side note, today was a pretty good lesson in why Rule #12 exists!
@Mikael Liddy Thanks Mikael. You know, with the whole ebay thing, I find myself riding a bike for a couple years, and then selling it before it becomes “outdated” to the market and less sale-able. Every time I think about getting rid of this one, something inside says “don’t do it. you’ll miss it”.
@Mikael Liddy Good luck with that Mikael. I remember Jens Voigt riding up the Champs Elysees in maybe 2008 or 9 with no saddle on his seatpost. Fingers crossed that you won’t suffer a similar fate.
Yep, good luck, Mikael! That’s a bummer if you are without a road bike for awhile. You gotta get a solid N+1 it seems.
I have some bad cycle luck of late too. Remember – it could always be worse! Hope things work out for you.
@ped Thanks will take a look
@Beers
Believe it or not, Toothpaste and best brushed with a fine brush ( I use a toothbrush!).
In Navy Cadets we had white gaters and that is how we used to polish them, same works for bar tape too. I find that from the first clean with tooth paste, it stays clean for longer. Maybe there is residual stickyness or something on it from the factory.
Thanks for the well wishes guys but it looks a lost cause. Red circle is where the carbon is delaminating, you can see the wear on the collar & also at the back of the insertion hold and clamp platform from the seat post moving back & forth. Now I’m just hoping the the guys at the LBS let me take a demo out over the next week so I can enjoy the TDU properly…
@Mikael Liddy bummer dude! in oz, (accc) isn’t there a product to last/perform a reasonable amount of time? Hope your n is fixed promptly and your +1 shows up soon!
@Mikael Liddy
What a bummer, esp. given the timing. I hope your ex-LBS makes it right before you shut the door on their paint-chipped ass.
I think this still qualifies as a bicycle.
@unversio
The VMW and me plan to open a bike friendly B&B in our next life. This would be a hoot!
Fastback?
@unversio
Shouldn’t that bolt say “Campagnolo”?
@unversio
Nice! What is it? I know that seat cluster as fastback-to-binder and associate it with Eisentraut and his ilk, but Cinelli and some UK and Japanese builders used it too. Newer custom builders are doing it (Ellis especially) but rarely with caps on the seatstays.
Just when you think the cycling industry is populated by douchebags someone pops up & completely contradicts all of that. Frenzied search for a replacement bike took place yesterday & this morning til I called an awesome little old school bike shop that’s nearby but not close enough to be the LBS…Cued the violins & told them of my plight.
Expecting the same response as I’d been getting (sorry mate, everything’s accounted for), I was pleasantly surprised to hear “Actually we’ve got one of last year’s team bikes that should fit you, it’s not being used so for $100 bucks & a security bond it’s yours til the 28th.”
I’m pretty sure I’ve actually come out of this with a much better bike for the next week or so than I otherwise would have had!
@Mikael Liddy
NFG. Rule #26 re valves, and LBS for Rule #40. White bar tape would set that right off!
nah, just poking. Great to see you going again on a nice Italian steed! Enjoy the TDU!
@pistard
Basso, no?
@Mikael Liddy Glad you found a solution. I see from Strava that you’ve been training hard and it would have been a shame to miss the week. Have fun!
@Skip Ah, of course. I want to see the rest of it.
@pistard Basso Lotto. I will be looking for this to build an 8 speed GRAVEL bike. Marco has slowly bitten me with the idea of GRAVEL. And Frank and so on.
@Rom
CR-MO has a ring to it.
oh my, Campa, where have you been all my life?
@Mikael Liddy
Italian Bike and Gruppo. Welcome to the world of awesome buddy. Now wait till you wrap your hands around the current model shifters. Post up a bike review, genuinely interested to hear what you think.
@Skip
Ritchey has a similar, though less elegant detail, on their road frame.
@Daccordi Rider
I’m thinking there might be the fuel for an article in it. I’ll need more than just 50k’s on it though, see what the rest of the week brings me.
@unversio
I unreservedly endorse this plan. My modest setup for a bit of rough is a steel Merckx with wide-ish 7-speed and wider diamond tread tubulars. Graveur by no means, but king of any road around here.
Something nice to look at;
Flip that stem though.
@Mikael Liddy I’d call that a great result. Enjoy!
@Skip Correction: Basso Loto. This very frameset is currently on Ebay but is too pricey.