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 ...
@unversio
I thought the brand was Basso and the model was Loto. How did you tell the model from just that detail? Were they all made with fastback stays?
@Skip
[ Nacho Libre voice ] “Those things you just said are the same things I said too.” (my correction to the previous Lotto post) And not all Bassos are made alike with fastback stays.
@sthilzy
Something about making a Merckx tribute bike with a compact seems… Wrong?
@Mikael Liddy Have a good week. I’m off to Bright for some Hills and the Alpine Classic.
@Mikael Liddy Have a good week. I’m off to Bright for some Hills and the Alpine Classic.
Looks like reasonable weather forecast for the AC – not too hot. I will be down there for the 200 as well.
If you’re really attached to that frame of yours you could do worse than contact paintmybike.com.au for a chat – they do some excellent carbon repairs and paint jobs I am told.
@FAT999 Cool, if you see a dude on a black Daccordi in Euride kit that will be me. Say hi.
Colored hubs (other than black or silver), pro or no? Asking for a friend.
@xyxax
On a modern bike I think they are pro, especially if matched to similarly anodized other parts such as spacers, brakes (e.g. TRP), and match with overall bike scheme, cables, decals/paint, saddle, tape. I’ve seen an all black bike with orange hubs, spacers etc, looks swish as.
Classic bike needs chrome, end of.
Love: The way my disc brakes stop monster 29″ 52mm tires with Belgian mud EVERYWHERE
Hate: Having to adjust said mechanical disc brakes at least once a month, with failure to anticipate the need resulting in no functional brakes. And even with properly adjusted, they still potentially can get contaminated and go to 0% functionality.
Anyone have an issue with disc brakes failing due to contamination in a commutting application? I’ve just now gotten over the fact that I have to adjust the damn things every 2-3 weeks for wear (as well as anytime I take a wheel on and off and change the skewer tension). I’ve finally gotten decent at dialing in the correct position for maximum braking.
What I can’t really tolerate is how frequently the pads get contaminated and how that results in 0-10% of the normal braking ability. This morning I rode in seriously shit Rule #9 conditions and had both the front and rear brake fail simulataneously on a 16% decent with cross traffic and had to do a flintstone maneuver to stop. Stopped and spent 30 minutes dicking with the adjustment, and no matter what had 0% front, and only managed maybe 10-15% rear. That got me another 2km and the rear failed completely. Got to do the walk of shame the last 2km in 3 degree driving rain. Its not like this is a every other week occurance, but its happened to me 3 times now in 2 years (call it 7-10k km of cycling) and its seriously dangerous when it happens.
With all the talk of disc brakes going legal for road bikes I get alot of questions from my pals. I love how the damn things stop in the wet when properly adjusted, but the need for adjustment, and the apparent ability to become contaminated from road surface oil………..can you imagine the same issue in the peloton on a major decent? Ugly…..
@Beers
Thanks, that sounds right. A complimenting color (orange, or red, hubs on a black frame) looks great. For matching colors, there is a line beyond which it all gets a little Martha Stewart matchy-matchy and I am not confident I know where that line is.
@xyxax It was JMHO, but glad it falls in line with your thoughts. I should add personally I also like the feature items to be contrasting colour to the main frame scheme. Say a red frame with white decals, I’d go for white on the smaller parts to offset the frame. Apart from white and black, personally I hate a bike that was all one colour – say red or blue frame, wheels, tyres, tape, saddles, hubs all matching. Just overkill to me too.
@Rob
I haven’t heard of road grime causing an issue with disks before, in fact I heard it was the opposite as the disks should in theory be way out of harms way, compared to rims. You sure you’re not getting accidental overspray when lubing, or spreading grease/lube on the rotors when cleaning accidentally? The water could also drip lube or polish from off the rest of the bike onto the rotors? Sorry but not much help there..
Hydros are better than mechanicals for the adjustment aspect, so they would be worthy upgrade when they eventually make it to road shifter/disk combos, if you hate adjusting all the time.
@xyxax
Why would you want anything other than Silver or black? Both are the most awesome colours ever. We’re not matching fucking handbags to shoes here.
@xyxax what is running through that mind of yours? orange kings that have stolen gianni’s heart? Ever get that bb from unobtainiumland?
@roger
“Asking for a friend” How cute is that?
What a memory on that Roger. I pity the fool who does not think orange CK hubs and black carbone rims do not look good. Xyax has a mostly all black new steed and understands a little color might look rad. Do it man, life is too short. That’s my rationalization for anything. Blue hubs? I think some color is great, obviously.
@roger @Gianni
As January comes to a close with no word if or when Alchemy will start putting hubs out again, I’m thinking of a plan B, Tune 70/170 hubs (which also come in silver and black)
and they do go great with my new wheel bag (thanks @minion):
Roger, all the parts are in, just need wheels. WHEELS!
make those tunes, sing, doc! i havent seen many of those builds over yonder, so would be great to get your feedback on them.
i’ll make a rim recommendation though…hed belgium plus. i built these up for my dynamo wheelset. can not wait for randonneuring season!
@Beers Thanks for the reply.
Sadly its not that simple. Both wheels going at the same time to me eliminates it being lube related on the back chain. I don’t use polish or anything like that to clean the bike for the very reason of avoiding contamination of the pads (just dish soap). And am a bit rententive about one small drop of oil per link, and wipe before riding the next morning.
Disassembling everything yesterday to clean it, the rotors were covered in a very thin but complete covering of a gray paste, like graphite, and the pads were completely smooth/glazed. The only other possibility I can think of is that I have 360m of climbing in 25km of my commute so its not exactly flat. I have 12% grades within a KM of home which I’m quite heavy on the brakes with the potential for black ice in the mornings. Could it be that the pads have a tendency to glaze if you take them from 2-3 degree C to heavy braking immediately in the morning?
Does anyone have relative experience to share between Avid BB5 brakes and others? I noticed they appear to be quite small in terms of pad area. I ‘m hesitant to move to hydraulic, yes they are self adjustable, but not sure i want to have to bleed my bicycle brakes (despite or because of my moto background doing the same).
Thanks for any and all opinions. At least it was dry this morning and I got to ride my #1 to work! All things have a positive!
@Rob are you positive it is a glazing issue?
with the bb7 and likely lower models, it is not uncommon for them to fail returning the cable after releasing the lever. So what happens is the wheel will still spin freely as the pads back off enough not to make contact, but pulling on the levers has no response.
That Merckx looks like a posturing cat, back arched and ready to fight.
Good work, Mikael! Glad this worked out so well for you.
As for me, smashed a rear cx wheel. Buddy had the same set sitting around, sold them to me for a bargain. Sold off the fine front and the damaged rear for parts…and actually made money on the whole thing.
Now I’m looking forward to just riding for a few weeks, enough of the broken parts and such. But, as that pal told me, if you want to have a bunch of bikes and if you demand they’re all in tip top form, you’re gonna have to work for it and you’re gonna have to suck it up sometimes.
@Rob That paste sounds similar to the grey shit you get riding regular rim brakes in the rain, it’s the metal of the braking surface and the pads. I know on my MTB the pads can look glazed/shiny but work fine, the problem comes when the pad looks like it has changed colour from soaking up some contaminant.
You do replace the pads every time you get this issue, no? No amount of sanding/filing/degreasing the surface will make a contaminated pad recover.
Sintered are said to last longer over the winter in rain, I ride organic because I prefer to wear out pads than rotors, but someone like @brett would have better advice here. You’ll go through an organic set in one big ride if it is wet.
I have heard the BB7 is about the best mechanical for commuting, YMMV, no personal experience.
As far as hydraulics go, no need to bleed them unless you lose some oil. If you do go that way one day, go for mineral oil brakes, the ones using dot fluid can be nasty. On a commute bike I think they’d be fine as you don’t have far to go on one brake to fix if one fails (same as mechanical really). The main argument I’ve heard against them is that they would be no good for a long distance tour if you had to fix them in the middle of nowhere, which is why many long dist guys still use rim brake/cantis, ease of adjustment and repair, reliability, even if they suck in the wet with a load.
@xyxax
Tune is weight weenie gear. You’ll break those in no time.
I think he called you fat
@Nate
@roger
Alas, a kielbasa in a weight weenie world.
The Ridley has been re-born.
We have a series of TTs coming up (because the local federation decided to make the second half of the season all TTs, as you do…) and while I would like to have gone n+1 on a proper TT bike I fear I am close to s-1.
So I’ve compromised by turning the Noah into a TT rig, and maybe next season I can switch the bars etc onto a TT frame.
[dmalbum: path=”/velominati.com/wp-content/uploads/readers/ChrisO/2014.01.22.07.01.22/1//”/]
It’s just back from the shop and I’ll play around with position as I get used to it.
I suspect I’m going to find TTs extremely boring, but sadly I also suspect I should be reasonably good at that them. Being able to stick out 330 watts for an hour is a blessing and a curse.
@ChrisO love the fact you’ve even put the front QR in TT position.
@xyxax
Ha! This is great. No matter how much I promise myself I won’t let it happen, in the winter months I always feel like a kielbasa squeezed into kit that has shrunken. Nope, I’ve just grown.
Hey, has anyone tried out the Lezyne Zecto or Knog Blinder 4? I’m looking for a small, USB rechargeable light to put on the back of my helmet for commuting and low-light winter riding. The Knog is brighter, but most of their stuff seems to be shite. The Zecto looks very well made but it’s 20 lumens vs. 44. This will just be a secondary light, coupled with a frame-mounted light, most about dual levels, but still brightness would be nice.
@Ron
Ain’t it the truth? I try not to appear in Lycra anywhere near brown mustard until late May.
BTW, get the Lezyne and report back. We need a professional opinion.
just in case anyone was ever wondering what works with what…
http://www.drivetraincalculator.com/drivetrain.php
I received a safety recall notice from Velo Orange today about a seatpost, and I know at least a couple others here have VO posts. If you bought one direct they should email you, but if you bought it retail or used, check their website for details. It’s only early models, 2008-2011, and just the clamp mechanism: they’ll send an upgraded replacement part if you have the recalled version.
After seeing pics of Bauer’s Merckx Paris Roubaix bike with the very slack seat tube angle, I thought it was a one-off. Anybody seen this, which appears to be the same geometry?
@xyxax
Ha! Yes, nobody needs to be dreaming of mustard-ing up a Hibernating Velominatus. Stay away from open jars. I actually just stopped for some post-ride Recovery Drinks and caught a guy checking out my package. What is the proper way to handle this? Pretend you didn’t notice or tell ’em the views aren’t free? Makes ya realize how tired sexy women must get with being treated poorly by dirtbags.
Okay, I’ll go for the Lezyne. And, report back! Thanks for settling this.
Oh yeah, and I recently put some Red shifters on my cx bike. Is it me or is the braking amazing? There is no tension whatsoever, just smooth, free movement of the lever. It’s damn nice and really allows you to feather the brakes just as you like. I’m quickly warming up to ol’ SRAM…
I don’t personally do sporstball, even when it’s super local excitement time.
But this caught my eye…
http://www.bikerumor.com/2014/01/30/the-bike-the-superbowl-built/
@Mikael Liddy We want a new bike update!
@Skip had to give the Daccordi back on Thursday night after a week long love affair through the Adelaide Hills. ~800k’s on a bike that, although it actually felt a little heavier to lift than the Fondriest, felt so light & dynamic once you were moving.
The warranty claim along with the requested photos has been submitted to the Fondriest factory, although the rep seemed resigned to the fact that they’ll likely respond initially that it’s been over-torqued (not true), which would require sending the frame itself. Hopefully I’ll hear something in the coming week, but given that it’s happens to be Chinese New Year that may be delayed if they’re in holiday mode (it would appear that the decision is made at the factory in Taiwan, rather than back home in Italy).
Will hear on Monday if the shop that serviced the bike & found the crack will let me take one of their demos out for the intervening period, a phone call that will dictate whether or not I can attend next weekend’s Victor Harbour cogal.
@Mikael Liddy
Yes. Troublesome when the Italians start taking holidays for Chinese New Year… Good luck.
@All – Can’t somebody loan this man a bike for the Cogal? (I would but I’m about 3 continents away.)
@Ron
Maybe we’re discussing different Blinder 4 models, but mine definitely is a frame-only type of light – metal frame shaped like a seatpost. That being said, it’s darn great – can’t-miss-it brightness, reassuringly sturdy housing and neat charging solution.
@ChrisO
Also, Campag TT shifters. Sexier than Assos Lady.
If you can nail a good position on that bike (reach might be too long if it fit you as a road build, and the head-tube is gargantuan), it looks like a frame decent enough to race on. Certainly not slower than most pre-2008 TT frames. And lose that second bidon-cage!
Boring? Depends on how much you want to hurt… I’ve grown fond of 20k TTs – long enough to weed out the stupid, short enough to be massively painful.
@Skip salvation could be at hand, convo with the boys from Giant went well & it appears I might be rolling around on one of their demo TCRs for the next week or so. Still some logistics to be arranged for the weekend, but the outlook is much more positive than it was a couple of days ago.
@Mikael Liddy
Nice work, a TCR would do the trick. Let us know how the logistics are going for the 8th. Numbers appear to be all over the shop. Hard to get a handle on how many exactly coming.
Mmm. Did you swipe the valve stem lids?
This little gem is available in the fine state of Idaho: http://boise.craigslist.org/bik/4244263201.html
discuss (after Frank’s latest article of course).
@scaler911
What has been seen cannot be unseen !
Nasty
Sure, it won’t win any beauty contests, but the important things are these:
1 – It’s a bloody good bike, unbelievably smooth to ride.
2 – I get a free look at what the fuss over Ultegra Di2 is all about
& last but not least
3 – I have a bike for this week’s cogal!!!
@Mikael Liddy Glad you’re back on the road! Is that Di2 11 speed?
Nice, Mikael! I actually kinda want a Giant TCR. Think it would make a mean #2. Glad you are back in the saddle.
@Mikael Liddy
I don’t know if the Fondriest will have you back if she finds out you’ve been whoring around with every other little thing that rolls, and then pasting it all around on the internet.
@scaler911
Paging @Cyclops.
Whoever buys it should fit a setback seatpost. Then they’ll be good to go.
@sthilzy yup, with the “semi-compact” 52/36 up front.
@Harminator depending on how the Fondriest’s parents treat me I may not have her back. If it becomes too much of a hassle to get the warranty claim I’m thinking I’ll cough up the $250 excess to claim it on insurance, explain why I don’t want to replace it with the same bike & go shopping with the cash equivalent.
@Mikael Liddy
Got a mate doing exactly that – picks up a new Madone today ready to roll it out on Saturday.