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 ...
@brett
Oi, you promised photos, I want bike porn!!!
bike #1, stage of completion:
@grumbledook
Oh. Yes. Very yes.
@G’phant
Look at the wall! And the floors! Soooo cool and clean. I love European contemporary and European modern. Mmmmmmm.
A friend of mine vacationed in Switzerland. In the country, every house had perfect stacks of firewood. Uniform length. Uniform diameter. Uniform heighth. He asked a local why be so meticulous about the firewood? The local answered, “Is there any other way?” LUV IT.
I am surrounded by sweaty, fat, sloppy hell. Think Dante’s Inferno with extra cheese.
@Jeff in PetroMetro
Wait, there are walls and floors in that photo? I musn’t have noticed, all I see is a sweet ass bike. Very nice grumbledook.
Regarding my own bike, after consulting my bike repair tome and looking over my equipment, it looks like I have what should be the world’s easiest cranks and BB to remove/service. The cranks can be loosened by a single large hex key, and it looks like the BB cups use the a common 20-tooth system that this tool can unlock.
I did notice that three of the small bolts holding the two chainrings together were slightly lose, so I tightened those up last night. Today after work I’m going to pick up a pedal wrench, a set of larger hex keys (I don’t have one large enough to get my crankarms off), and the BB-removal tool. Before I rip my bike apart too much for the first time, I’m going to make sure the clicking isn’t a loose pedal. If not, the cranks are going to come off and I’ll see if the BB cups are loose. I only have a bit over 3,500 km on this bike, so I can’t imagine my sealed cartridge BB has already gone bad. But god the clicking is fucking annoying and needs to stop.
Hopefully I don’t fuck anything up too bad. You’re watching a boy become a man become a proper Velominati here, folks.
Hmmm… this page has swallowed to posts of mine, and they aren’t showing up. Gosh darn it, the post was sort of long too. Maybe that’s a sign I should actually be working…
@mcsqueak
Found your posts buried in the spam queue. That logic is a black box to me, absolutely no idea why that happens sometimes.
@grumbledook
That is a very nice bike. My #1 bike is also a Seven. As soon as I can, I’ll post a photo.
Thanks for the kind feedback!
@Jeff
We also have district heating over here :)
@mcsqueak
Good luck with your cranks/BB! You should switch to a 24 mm axle system (stepped or straight). These are usually trouble-free. And you can get yourself a Chris King BB (stainless steel or ceramic). This should last forever. (The new 30 mm press-fit systems with aluminum axles are not fully mature yet. I know a lot of people who have trouble with these.)
@drsoul
I hope you can very soon!
@grumbledook
Just curious. What city are you in? If your photos are any indication of everyone’s good taste there, I need to move. Quickly.
@frank
Clearly it’s trying to keep us rank amateurs from embarrassing ourselves too much.
@mcsqueak
Nothing is more fun than taking something apart and putting it back together. Think of the experience as spiritual. Merckx will guide you and you will become closer to your bike.
@RedRanger
Merckx will probably wind up guiding me to the bike shop after I break something.
One thing that might throw a wrench into my plans (HAR) is that I lack a torque wrench, and I don’t really feel like spending $75 on tools this weekend. I’ve never used one when putting my cassette back on after cleaning, and I haven’t had any issues… I just used a 12″ adjustable wrench and turned it until it was really tight, as the torque-spec was really high. Not sure I’m really comfortable making the same assumption with the cranks and BB.
@grumbledook
Chris King is made here in my city. Good stuff, though I wouldn’t want to use their hubs because they are awfully loud. I bet their bottom brackets would last forever though.
@Oli
Ha! I went home and checked the envelope, and the return name was Matt, though the email said he worked for Bike NZ c/o the Invers velodrome. Sibling? Dad?
Dammit. 9:30pm. Settling in with a Session lager. Got my shop apron on. Working on the 80’s racing bike for some last minute goodness. Replacing the derailleur cables. Not a hard job, right? Well, not gonna happen tonight. The new cables have heads that are just the smallest amount too big and won’t slide into the Simplex friction shifters. So now a 10 minute job has turned into a drive to a different bike shop tomorrow (with old cable and new cable for comparison) in search of the super-small head on derailleur cables. It’s really not fair that Oli’s shop is over 12,100km from here. ‘Cause I know his shop is open. And I know he’ll have the cables I need. Dammit.
@Jeff in PetroMetro
I had the ol’ going-to-the-shop-for-the-same-thing-more-than-once-because-of-different-sizing-standards-of-components thing going on, as well. My first thought was that it has something to do with building a trusty steel’d with 25 year old parts.
But then I thought, “Nah…”
So I end up riding around an ultra high geared 2-speed (your choice of 42/12 or 52/12) all day trying to find a proper rear derailleur eyelet socket holder.
@grumbledook
That Seven’s sexiness is making me have to completely rethink my strategy on life. Good on ya’, grumbledooooooook!
@earnest
Yeah. There’s a shop in town that handles old stuff. I know they’ll have what I want. I just gotta wait till tomorrow and drive over to the other shop. Grrrrr.
@Jeff in PetroMetro
Basel. And I can tell you: the Swiss Jura mountains are a road cycling El Dorado.
@grumbledook
Not fair and also not fair. So, I bet you get this question a lot from American goofballs like me: Do you know Spartacus? If so, tell him Velominati think he’s awesome–well, this Velominatus thinks he’s awesome.
@mcsqueak
The sound of the CK hubs is one reason to buy them, actually :) But I have chosen them for their bullet-proof Ring Drive and their perfectly sealed bearings. I have a pair of CK hubs in my cross bike as well. And they have seen plenty of water coming out of the nozzle of a pressure washer. And they run still perfectly smooth. I only service them once a year, and the hubs of my road wheels only every other year. I will never ride any other hubs again.
@earnest
What has been your strategy so far?
@mcsqueak
Hey,
I don’t remember which day you were saying Cornell was going to be closed, but I’m not leaving to go camping till Sunday now (the VMH had a gnarly reaction to antibiotics and her skin looks like a starfish). Anyway, give me a e-mail, and I’ll see if we can hook up!
@grumbledook
I have CK hubs on my Reynolds sewups, and although they break Rule #65, I think that the bearings resonating thru all that carbon (steed included) is sexy as shit.
Jeff, I am positive you are not the only one who has had the ten minute job turn into a much, much longer one. Chin up, bud! It sucks then it happens, but you’ll smile & laugh at the PITA it was as soon as you are rolling on that whip!
I’ll have to check out CK hubs. Not sure how they compare in price to some other fine hubs. I have some Record hubs on two bikes, 105 on my rain/lockup bike, Ksyrium wheels/hubs on the cross. I like long-lasting gear!
TGIF everyone. I’m headed home tonight after three weeks on the road, with only two rides in that time. I miss my bikes, VMH, cats, & dog. Not sure which I miss the most;) Oh wait, it is indeed the VMH! And heading to the beach next week. I like this hard work paying off stuff…normally I just ride my bike all the damn time. Feels good to be a workin’ stiff!
@mcsqueak
I had a noise issue as well with my #1. It turned out that the lock ring of the cassette just loosened a little but not that much that there was visual play. So I just checked it because I could exclude any other potential source of the noise before. In another case on a bike #4 it was just the lack of tension of the quick release of the rear wheel that caused a nasty noise.
@grumbledook
Monetary expenditures: 1) Rent/bills, 2) Food, 3) Music equipment (my job), 4) Misc cycling. I’ll have to switch #4 w/#1.
One always needs food to continue laying down some V, afterall.
All joking aside, nice ride!
@Ron
It’s not so much the actual employment I think about. It’s the actual employment while stuck in Houston for the rest of my life. NZ, Switzerland, the Emerald City, wherever pedale.forchetta hangs his hat–these all look and sound like heaven on Earth. Compared to Houston, Toledo, Ohio sounds delightful. No offense to folks in Toledo. I envy you, too.
@Jeff in PetroMetro
Actually, you’re the first one. And I had to ask google about S. But I could offer to ask my girlfriend’s hairdresser to give him your best regards …
@minion
Different surname, I believe. Matt Archibald was the Cycling Southland development officer (and I believe he also rides with the NZ sprint squad these days) before getting in with BikeNZ, Shane Archbold is the talented madison rider.
Boring one here, but worth a quick check if you have welded stems on your h/bars
Just back from Sat am 90K ride, thankfully on a slow corner, the chap behind me suddenly flipped and ate some tarmac – front weld of his stem failed and his bars fell off – went straight over the front – as I say, thankfully this happened after the 60kph descent a few minutes earlier….
Didn’t know where he was, pretty shaken up, but thankfully no busted sticks and displayed loads of V (tried to get on someone elses bike to keep riding, until pointed out it wasn’t his bike, nor was it tuesday)
Anyway, glad to have a carbon wrap on my stem, maybe worth a look at your welds if you have a metal stem (his was ITM)
Safe ridings Bro’s
@Dr C
Man, horror story. Looks like the crash gave him Horner Head. I hope he got some brain rest.
@grumbledook
Your girlfriend’s hairdresser knows Cancellara? Seriously?
@scaler911
You only break Rule #65 if you STOP pedalling.
@Jeff in PetroMetro
LOL. I should not rely on google too much, obviously. … But seriously, nobody is talking about Cancellara as “Spartacus” in Switzerland, at least not too my knowledge. I have read that his team mates during the Olympic games in Beijing called him S. But I doubt that they do so at LT.
OK, slight fit query, possibly something for Oli.
I’ve noticed I’m coming back from recent rides with my neck, shoulders & upper back all locked up. Only thing I’ve changed lately is a slight tilt of the saddle upwards to level it out & a little drop of the seat post to go with it. Physio mate of mine I ride with said the bars being too low could be the main reason but based on the change above if anything I’ve already come closer to the bars with the seat…
Any thoughts?
@Mikael Liddy
A picture of you on your bike would be helpful. I guess less drop and more reach could solve the problem.
@xyxax
I see Chris Horner also has Horner’s lung (pulmonary embolism), poor guy – that’ll be him out of racing for 6 months
@Dr C
I really do feel sorry for him. And if he ever develops Horner’s Syndrome then he is totally shit out of luck.
You know, EPO use is a risk factor for thromboembolism. But Serena Williams had one too last year. What’s going on? All that air travel?
@Mikael Liddy
Could be the bars need to go up (or you need to get more flexible) or they are too far out (too long a stem). As @grumbledook mentioned, a picture would help.
Keep in mind that changing the saddle angle and lowering it will change all the angles of your body – especially your hips – and that could be the problem. My guess is you’re not flexible enough in your hips to accomodate the reach/drop without tipping the nose of your saddle down. But I’m not smart enough to know if this is the stem length or the bar height.
My VMH has never suffered from neck aches, but she has suffered from shoulder pain. Counter-intuitively, we put a longer stem on her bike and it cleared it right up, after her putting up with the pain for about 4 years.
I think Merckx is testing my faith atm. A Peugeot Competition 7000 frame in Columbus Brain Megatube was listed on a local tradingsite. It was a 1998 model in white/red/blue. Prices was a bit on the steep side, but it looked ok in the flesh. I went home and looked up some further info and rummaged in parts bins. I had a complete Ultegra 6500 group (which Shimano introduced in ’98) with blue anodized Open Pros in the cellar and a Rolls saddle. In between the cheese and the ice at the dinner at my friends that night I made the decision and ran out the door to pick it up. Got the price down a bit plus I got a pair of Veloce 9 speed shifters and front derailleur. Made it back in time for dessert, with the frame that is now beginning to test my faith and/or patience. First of all the paintwork: It did not looks as good in the light of day, as it did at night while slightly drunk. Then there’s the stuck bb cup: The splines for bb tool are shot, so the tool keeps slipping. And then there is the seatpost that is stuck precisely a centimetre too low. There’s even a sligth bulge in the seattube, which is odd, since it’s the original seatpost and clamp, but it still looks like it’s meant for a thicker one.
What was meant to be a quick weekend project, looks like it’s going to be something else… Hopefully I’ll get rewarded with a great bike in the end so I can get out and get my Brochard on:
(Why won’t it allow me to use pics from Picasa?)
Hmmm… And why did the Brochard pic work in preview, but not when I submitted the post?
@xyxax
Could end up being one for the Corhorner to sort out…..best leave it at that – nice Hat Trick thought Xyxax
Suspect I might be inscribing my own tombstone tomorrow – nasty matter of a 125 with 2800m climbing to do – hopefully the V will protect me – freshly applied
@Mikael Liddy
I think Fronk’s on the right path. Having the bars too HIGH can lead to a position similar to being locked in a near completed push up. Your shoulders will fill with lactic acid and ache like buggery I reckon.
I tried this recently, out of curiosity.
Stand a couple of feet from a wall, nearly arms length.
Put you hands on the wall about 3 or 4 inches above your line of sight (or as much as you can manage for the apes or dwarves who read this site) and lean forward putting weight through your arms. You might feel your core activate to take some load, and some weight going through your arms.
Now move your hands down so they’re level with your nose and repeat. They should still be above parallel but you will be putting more of your weight straight through your shoulders.
Now move your hands down to so they’re in line with your shoulders (a position that should not be recreated on the bike, it’s just there for example) This is close to holding a push up against the wall, all your weight will be going through your shoulders and there will be minimal work done by the rest of your body.
Position 2 is I reckon where most people have their set up, and for people in that set up they could be more comfy if they went longer and lower. Core does more work, takes some pressure off the shoulders and hands and might work in this case.
Of course this is my two cents. Leroy?
@minion @Mikael Liddy @frank
I’ve been wondering about this myself. Very similar problem, but without any kind of changes since last year, although the weight loss””more than 10kg””might count for something. Last summer, I got to the weight room a little more and did a number of exercises specifically for my shoulders, which seemed to clear up the problem without having to mess around with the bike fit. This year I haven’t spent any time in the gym. Counter-intuitive as it might seem, going lower sounds as though it would make more sense…
@frank
This ought to be made into a t-shirt or something. The sign of a true Velominatus.
@JesperXT
Not sure, but that pic came from Graham Watson, and he doesn’t like hotlinking. I copied it over here and now it works.
@vaughanf
Cheers, that makes sense. It also means I’m not necessarily a Moran.
@frank
I tried hosting it on my Picasa account as well, and that didn’t work either. But thanks for fixing it…
Hi All, first post here, sorry if it’s the wrong section or so :)
Good bike shop in the Bay Area?
I live in Sweden but I will do some work in the SF Bay Area soon (say Palo Alto to San Jose) and I’m planning of buying a new road bike to use over there.
If I do a web crawl I find a million shops in the area but I want to go to the ones that carry a good selection and know what they talk about.
Any tips would be greatly appreciated!
Cheers,
Patrick