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 ...
Is it wrong that I can’t be bothered to stay knowledgeable of all the damn BB types out there right now? I even have a cycling magazine in my cyclomag stack explaining them. I just don’t care too much. Might I be kicked out?
Gotta say, like that Focus cx but think it would look even better with black tape. Think it would highlight the frame colors even more. But ehhhhh, that’s a hot bike.
@Gianni
@wilburrox
It certainly is #1 worthy but I have a Giant TCR Advanced for that. Posted pix of it a while ago but it has undergone some upgrades since. Will try to post some new ones later
@Ron
It will probably get some black tape once the pink gets dirty. That will probably happen after I do my first cross race on it. There will probably be lots of crashing involved. Yes we have cross races in Florida. Instead of mud we have sand pits.
@Mikael Liddy
I love the Rapha Focus colors to. That’s what sold it on this one vs. the others I was looking at. Plus the LBS I worked for years ago gave me a great deal!
cycling since 2013 and love this bike. I fear some negative comments as I am a novice to velominati and may be flaunting some rules. Actually recommended to me by a doctor who commented on the rule regarding tan lines, as my shorts and bib were cut from me when in hospital with a broken hip after falling from this bike.)
Not sure where to post this, but I felt like sharing how at 3’55” in to this film the guy brings a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘descending like a pro’. Not very aero mind.
http://www.thebikecollective.com/road-bike-party-2/?utm_source=Outbrain&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Outbrain
David
@chrismurphy92 merckx knows I love a black bike.
@chrismurphy92 Beautiful bike. Is that a 11 spd Ultegra? Did you have any issues mating it with the Campy Zondas? I have the same wheels but with 9 spd Sora and was thinking of upgrading to 11 spd 105’s. I read some concerns about the freewheel hubs having potential issues with 11 speed …. although the Campy literature says they are compatible with 9/10 and 11.
A great starting point for a youngster!
found here
Bit of a hiccup with the Cannondale acquisition. The bike that he ordered in for me is a 58. My current bike is a 56 but buddy swears that it is too small for me and that I’ll have no problem slotting into a 58.
So today I went down to try an initial fitting on the bike and it didn’t go well. Not only is the frame bigger but they also build it up with a 120mm stem and a seat post with a 25mm setback. After some time on the bike today buddy with the bike shop feels that a zero setback seat post and a 110mm stem makes the bike perfect – perfect position for peddling efficiency, nice relaxed reach to the bars. I can’t help but think that a 56cm frame with the 120 stem and 25mm setback was going to be perfect for me right out of the box!
When I left, he was going to speak to cannondale to see if he could source some color matched components and I was going to take the bike out over the weekend with a substitute stem to get a better feel for the comfort level of the bike. It just wasn’t sitting well with me though. Fuck it if I’m going to make this expensive of a mistake.
So now I’m setting up an appointment with a fella in Toronto they call “The Bike Whisperer”. He doesn’t sell bikes, he just tells you what the perfect fit for you is and if a bike exists that will give it to you. He doesn’t have any skin in the game in terms of what you buy and I like that a lot!
If he says the 58 will work for me, I’m in.
Buddy isn’t too pleased that I might not take the bike but I suspect he won’t have too much trouble finding a home for it. Seems a shame not to get the bike since I already caught heat from the wife for it.
@kixsand its too big.
@chrismurphy92
I’m drooling here . . . just drooling . . .
@kixsand
Man, that sucks. I’m a 56 guy and a 58 would be . . . too big. For years I rode a 23″ Colnago. It was too big. A 22″ would have been better and you know what, every time I look at pictures of that bike I think “It’s too big.”
You’re buddy might not be pleased, but that’s a helluva expensive mistake to make and if you’re not happy, it’ll bug the shit out of you every ride. As you admit, there’s a tall fella out there for this deal but it sounds like you know in your heart of hearts it’s too big, no matter what the “whisperer” says. Pull the plug and move on.
@kixsand if you need a 110 and a no setback post to make the fit work on a 58 it is almost certainly too big and will not handle as it’s meant to.
@Ron no. There is nothing wrong with a traditional threaded BB. The new stds are marketed as being more stiff but really they are just cheaper to manufacture. And from all i hear on the road and on the internet they make compliance with the Principle of Silence more difficult.
@piwakawaka
That depends really, @kixsand might actually be riding too small and crouched up already and should ride a 58 with the 25mm 120mm? How tall are you @kixsand? Any computer I’ve punched my figures in says I should ride 58 and I’m 178cm. I’m picking go with what the fitter says. I agree with piwakawaka, if the fitter says go for the straight post and shorter stem, it ain’t right as you will be riding out of the planned dimensions for the frame. One or the other, maybe ok to get around some dimensional anomaly you might have (e.g. out of proportion long or short torso, legs or arms)
And do not by any stretch of the imagination settle for a bike that is not perfect. It will eek out an annoying existence in the back of your mind. I convinced myself into a frame without much prior knowledge and though I love it and made it work, I know it is not the perfect one for me. Spending $5k and taking the wifes heat, you want that shit to be spot fucking on my friend!
@Nate
THIS.
@kixsand Doesn’t sound good and I agree, don’t be railroaded into something that isn’t right.
But I have to ask, didn’t the question of frame size come up at all in the conversation prior to ordering?
@RedRanger
yup
@Mikael Liddy
I should have asked the question better cause now Im confused on your answer. anyway, that cdale crank should fit on any bb30 . and bb30 isnt exactly proprietary.
@RedRanger yeah I know, technically it fits, but I dunno about running a Cannondale part on a Cervelo…
@Mikael Liddy
That I understand.
@ChrisO
It did. 185 cm tall, and every time I see this guy he tells me that my bike is too small for me and that I should be riding a 58. The fit of my current bike has never felt perfect, so I trusted him. We also said that if it came in and it didn’t fit that I wouldn’t have to take it. He was certain it was going to be fine. I was blinded by the sheen of the that Cannondale..fuck it’s pretty. It’ll be painful to pass on.
@PanzerPuss
It’s 10 speed. The Zondas have a Shimano freehub body.
@kixsand
I’m 72″ / 182 cm and ride a 58″ CAAD10 w/same geo as the Super Six Evo. I like the size very much. I’ve played around with stem length and setback. You can see the stem on my bike isn’t exactly stretching the bars way out over the wheel. On a Tarmac however I’d ride a 56″. The top tubes on those bikes are stretched. On a Roubaix however, the 58″ I ride is perfect. The trend sure seems to be go as small as possible. I gotta say, on my long wheelbase Roubaix, when I hit long downhill stretches of dirt road, I like the bigger bike. I’d be surprised, if at 185 cm, a 56″ Super Six is a better fit than a 58″. The Hi Mod Super Six’s are flat out great bikes.
@wilburrox uhhh… that’s 56cm & 58cm and not “…
@wilburrox
I’m just buying a bike, and I’m 6ft exactly. Everywhere I’ve asked has said a 58 frame.
I’m sure this has been done before, I’ve no intention of wading through 1000s of old posts, but I saw this in a shop window in Peckham, SE London today. It reminds me of the bike my dad used to cycle to and from work back in the 60s. We lived in rural Herefordshire, England, and it was his only way of getting to work as the buses were crap and we didn’t have a car. Looking back it was only 10 miles or so each way, but there were some nasty, steep hills on the way.
My introduction to cycling was sitting on a clip-on child seat that precariously attached to the crossbar, couldn’t have been much older than 3 or so, but I do have distinct memories of being propelled up and down country lanes – later on moved up to my ‘own’ bike ( a hand-me-down from my older brother and sister), single speed with rod brakes.
As hormones kicked in, a bike was the only way to get about and meet girls in a usually hopeless task to, well best left unsaid, but getting a kiss on the cheek could leave me hot and bothered for days afterwards.
anyways, back to all your fabulous machines from today, but just remember this was the sort of thing that millions used in the UK post war to live their lives.
chrismurphy92 – good on ya. I love some Leader Tape on my road bikes, but the beauty of a cross bike is that it’s light, fast, and fun to ride, but I don’t need/want to care if I crash it, bang it, scuff it, etc. It’s purely a tool, though still a sexy one.
I like NOT having to or feeling compelled to wash/polish my CX bike after every ride. While the bike itself adds variety to my roadie pursuits, the fact that it’s a tough steed means it’s okay to beat it up, a bit.
Thus, unless I have a mechanic taking my bike after I ride it, I’m going for black tape on my CX bikes.
@chrismurphy92 Mine too .. I got them from chainreaction with the Shimano M11 freehub body .. they came with a 1.85mm spacer …. dont know if they will work with 11 spd 105s.
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/us/en/campagnolo-zonda-road-wheelset-2015/rp-prod88911
@kixsand Ah, well that puts a slightly different complexion on things.
FWIW and obviously that’s not much since I’ve never seen you on your bike, I think he’s right and you should give it a go.
I’m 189cm and was riding a 58cm but have gone down to an effective 56cm in my TCR and feel much better for it. I have about 23cm of seat tube above that.
So here’s the skinsuit, and here’s a really skinny bastard on my left.
Jamie is both the strength and the curse of our team. He’s not only a fantastic climber he’s also a brilliant time-triallist who does a sub-50 minute 25 mile TT so he drags us around like it was a walk in the park.
The curse is on us. We are all quite a bit taller and nowhere near as aero. I get so little benefit from being behind him that when you take the extra weight into account I’m doing pretty much the same watts as him just to draft him. When you’re second wheel doing 330-350 watts and THEN you have to do a pull on the front it’s soul-destroying.
I wasn’t feeling great today and nearly dropped out during the race but I held on. Even with doing short pulls and missing a couple, while he did long pulls and extra turns my average power was about 15% higher than his.
It doesn’t help that I’m on a converted road bike. This is a shot of us mid-race with me behind Jamie.
Err, I don’t know how that ended up in The Bikes, it was supposed to be in the Spandex thread. Sorry.
@kixsand I just had a similar issue, albeit in reverse. The Trek I was on was a 58, slammed, setback, and a 120mm stem. The bike I was being offered was a 56, at roughly the same $ and spousal issues as you mention. Was is going to be too small?
A couple hours with a bike fitter and everything was magic. That said, if it don’t fit – don’t buy it.
@markb Thank you for that.
@PanzerPuss Mine are the same. I have that same spacer on there with a 10sp cassette. I think if you take the spacer off an 11sp will work. That’s what I was told anyway.
@kixsand. height is a very crude measurement to determine frame size. body proportions are more important as to the rider and for the frame itself top tube length and seat tube angle or stack and reach matter a lot more than the label the mfg puts on it. Having said all that I am also about 185 cm and run a 57 cm tt assuming a 73 degree STA. I would not want another cm of reach in the tt and a shorter stem as it would take too much weight off the front wheel and the bike would not steer right. When I came back to road riding my first bike was 58.5 and when I tried a 57 it was a real ah-ha moment.
@ChrisO Incredible and looking good.
All,
Thanks for the supportive posts everyone. Appointment with the fitting guru is at 1:00 tomorrow. I’m taking my 56 Neil Pryde and the 58 Cannondale with me and we’re to spend somewhere in the neighbourhood of 3-4 hours together. He said to bring food and water and a towel, so I’m expecting to get my money’s worth!
It could very well be that there is something either in my physiognomy or my position on the bike that is preventing me from being able to stretch out long enough to comfortably fit on a 58. If the only problem is me, I’m happy to try and fix it.
I’ll post an update tomorrow evening.
@kixsand
May the best turn out to be the best.
@kixsand best of luck. Have fun and ask lots of questions!
@markb
I had a creme coloured Raleigh Sports in my college days.I called it “the white cloud.” Rode it everywhere and commuted on it for years afterwards. Bullet-proof. Had the original Brooks seat, saddle bags, etc. My wife has an old green Superbe. Same thing but with generator in the front hub, lights, etc. Classic town bikes.
@kixsand
There’s nothing wrong with zero-setback posts and 110mm stems on 58cm bikes (188cm tall, relatively long legs and arms). I’ve got that setup (Trek 1-series alu frame, though) and the bike handles like a dream. Handled 660km in three days without any pains. Setback preferences are an individual thing – I seem to prefer sitting forwards, with my road bike with no setback and my saddle directly above the BB on my triathlon bike.
C’dale EVOs are incredible bikes, and it sounds like you’re just in the range for that size of bike. Anyway the difference between following sizes is never something you can’t account for with a -17 stem or so. I’ve ridden a size 53 without too much difficulty and a 140mm stem.
@ChrisO
Well done! TTTs are the devil’s work. It’s not uncommon for pro riders to set their wattage records during those…
However, as the resident tridork and aero nutter, you’ve got:
@RedRanger
But the R3 is not BB30! Before somebody goes out and wastes $1000 on that pretty, pretty Hollowgram crank:
Cannondale = BB30
Cervelo = BBright
The difference? BBRight is wider, therefore a Cannondale crank will not fit a Cervelo. A Rotor crank (that comes on Cervelos) will, however, fit a Cannondale.
@wiscot
That is a really good looking bike. Classic. Look good year after year. And the Giant Shimano team kit would go really well with it.
@tessar I have to admit I’m fairly new to this level of aero-consideration so all comments are helpful. Jamie is an aero-freak who can tell you his cd on different bikes, wheels and even kit.
I thought the Giro Attack was supposed to be pretty good? Although I got it partly because it wasn’t just an aero helmet and could be used in racing.
I’m pretty maxxed out on what we can do to the Ridley, at least according to the various experts who’ve looked at it and helped set it up. It’s an ISP so it can’t go any lower without cutting the seat tube and that would make it useless if and when I convert it back.
Anyway I have a Giant Trinity on the way so will be able to try out positions on a proper TT bike.
Agree on the disc too. Especially yesterday when it was a strong head and slight-cross wind in one direction. But one thing at a time. Hoping the team sponsor might cough up for some team discs we could use – they are also the Mavic importer and distributor.
@tessar I have to admit I’m fairly new to this level of aero-consideration so all comments are helpful. Jamie is an aero-freak who can tell you his cd on different bikes, wheels and even kit.
I thought the Giro Attack was supposed to be pretty good? Although I got it partly because it wasn’t just an aero helmet and could be used in racing.
I’m pretty maxxed out on what we can do to the Ridley, at least according to the various experts who’ve looked at it and helped set it up. It’s an ISP so it can’t go any lower without cutting the seat tube and that would make it useless if and when I convert it back.
Anyway I have a Giant Trinity on the way so will be able to try out positions on a proper TT bike.
Agree on the disc too. Especially yesterday when it was a strong head and slight-cross wind in one direction. But one thing at a time. Hoping the team sponsor might cough up for some team discs we could use – they are also the Mavic importer and distributor.
@ChrisO
If you’ve got a Trinity on the way then I wouldn’t bother optimizing too much with the Ridley. What you can do meanwhile is find saddle that you’re comfortable on in a time-trial position – a rotated pelvis sits very differently on the saddle compared to a road position, and finding comfort might mean an anti-V saddle like an Adamo. On the other hand some of the German IM pros seem to prefer naked Selle Italia saddles for their 180km rides… Either way starting out with a saddle your taint gets along with is critical to a good TT fit, because otherwise you can’t stretch yourself out and put the power down. A TT bike should be just comfortable enough to let you put down the pain :)
As for the Giro AA – it’s a pretty good road helmet. It looks a bit daft, but it’s faster than a Giro Aeon other road lids (though matched and bettered by the LG Course and Spec Evade, which also look better) but a true aero helmet like Jamie’s Selector will beat the pants off it by a significant margin – especially in a TTT where you’re looking ahead and not staring down. Two cheap but very good options are the Giro Advantage 2 (which is ancient, but still tests faster than most new lids – in fact, still the choice of the Aussie Pursuit Squad) and Bell Javelin. Don’t bother with a visor on most helmets (except the Selector and Javelin) – it usually tests slower.
Check the legality of disc covers. They’re illegal under UCI rules, but not every race is under UCI rules. USAC, for example, allows covers on anything below Nationals. It’s a cheap, easy way to get most of the benefits.
All tuned and cleaned up for tomorrow’s cross race. Love this season. Will be sunny and 41F. The lungs and guns will burn.
@tessar I did know that. Just wasn’t sure if this particular R3 was bbright or bb30. Seems the newest one are pf30. No idea when they made that change.
Apparently I was the problem.
I should start by saying that this fitting was one of the most enlightening experiences I’ve ever had…wow! Best money I’ve ever spent.
We started out on my Neil Pryde.
Saddle Height – up 3.5 cm.
Bar Stem – the Neil Pryde has a 110mm stem. He took me out to 135. But before he did that he replace the handlebars on my Neil Pryde with a compact set that matched the ones that come on the Cannondale.
One of my issues was hip rotation. Mine weren’t really tipping forward to create a neutral position between back and sacrum. So he worked with me on tipping the pelvis forward so that I could move into a longer, more powerful peddling position.
Once we got the Neil Pryde set up perfectly we started to look at the Cannondale and how the position would transfer over. Turns out it does so almost perfectly.
We did have the move the saddle as far forward on the 25mm setback seat post as it would go – we were still about 5mm further back than ideal but close enough not to have to bother replacing the seat post.
The extra 1.5 cm of the Cannondale frame subtracted from the 135 stem he had me riding on my Neil Pryde left me with 120mm of stem – exactly what the Cannondale came with!
The other big issue with the Niel Pryde was that once we got the seat up to where it should be there was too much drop to the bars – 14 cm with only 2 cm left for it to go up. On the Cannondale we were able to slam the stem and still reduce the drop a bit to a more comfortable 11mm since it has a longer head tube.
So not only does the Cannondale fit but it fits nearly perfectly – the only issue is that the bars are 44 cm where I should be using 42. It’s not the end of the world but he did suggest seeing if they could/would try and exchange for a size narrower.
He sold me insoles for my shoes to address my high arches. He put in two wedge shims under each of my cleats to neutralize my foot position. He repositioned my cleats about as far forward as they would go to position the ball of my foot over the pedal.
With all of the above changes my pedal stroke that I always thought was nice and neutral and straight up and down went from varying by nearly 5cm from top to bottom to the point where it was pretty much dead on without any variation. To measure this he had dots on my knees and a laser creating a straight line from just inside my big toe to the dead center of my knee – super cool.
So, I’m buying the Cannondale and I feel great about it.
The new position is going to take some getting used to – no doubt. But it is a much more powerful and dynamic position that I should see a real difference on the bike.
He’s sending me before and after videos. Maybe I’ll post them here for you to have a laugh at.