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 ...
Someone here once described using latex tubes as something along the lines of secretly going about with frilly pink underpants… that thought’s always cracked me up. And it being summer time, and time to remove the winter tires, I spent a little time this am stuffing some cotton gum walls with frilly pink underpants. Good fun and makes for a great ride. Cheers all
@Randy C
Agree latex tubes provide a great ride. Those look like carbon rims, though, so be careful if you’ll be doing much downhill braking. (Or are those disc wheels?)
@Randy C
Is that bottom spoke pulling through the rim, or an illusion?
@Skip
@fignons barber
That’s a carbon fairing. These are HED’s Jet 4 wheels. Box rim alloy with C fairing. I use the + version of HED’s Ardennes and Jets and love ’em. Cheers
@Randy C
Indeed. Latex does it for me.
Interesting to read what Continental’s Mark Turner said to CW last year though: “For the pros we put latex tubes into our Competition Pro tubulars, however for consumers, there isn’t a latex tube that meets Continental’s minimum safety standards. With heavy braking, such as while descending, you can cook the wheel rim and high temperatures can cause a latex tube to burst.” He concludes with the understatement: “Latex tube failure at 60mph could be life-changing.”
http://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/product-news/latex-inner-tubes-worth-hassle-282066
So, it’s Vittoria and FMBs for me – and no descending at 100kmh either.
@Randy C
OK. Enjoy the supple ride, then. Rubber side down! (Rule #49 and all that.)
@Monty Stubble
Well the fastest I believe I’ve every gone is around 52 mph I garmin’d in a race descent a few years back and that speed was hit briefly and total descent was probably no more than minute. Highest elevation in Alabama is around 2400′ and any bombing down Alabama “mountains” happens real fast before it turns back up. And w/alloy rims too I suspect the only thing getting cooked on a bike ride will be me ! and for sure not the tubes.
I will note that I’ve witnessed a C wheel burst (delaminate?) at bottom of a particularly steep descent here in town. BOOM was like a shotgun. There were more than a few of us accumulating at the bottom of a 2k straight uphill TT when this guy just was getting to bottom and like I said, BOOM across the parking lot. Brand new wheel set too. It was hot. Literally.
Cheers
@KogaLover
I can try to take a picture, but it might be difficult. Most of what I was describing is hidden inside/under the headset cap. Look at the “spazio necessario” arrow…
You can see for yourself if you remove the cap. Look down and you should be able to see the top of the steerer tube recessed below the top of the spacer by a couple of millimeters or so (assuming there’s a spacer on top of your stem). That gap is important because it allows the compression forces of the stem cap to be directed through the spacer and ultimately the stem/headset assembly to allow proper tightening. The facing of the spacer top and bottom absolutely needs to be parallel (i.e., square, perpendicular to the steer tube length) for even pressure to be applied. The top of the steer tube is not in contact with the cap, so there are no compression forces pushing down on it. (There are clamping forces from the stem, but that’s different.) Thus, any *slight* variance in the steer tube cut by a reasonably competent home mechanic won’t affect the distribution of force by the cap assembly.
OK, I started to get technical again – a result of my chemistry and engineering background. I’m sure most people have already (or should) skip over my entire comment and just go for a ride.
@KogaLover
You’re trying to get me in trouble, aren’t you? First, my casual comment about steer tubes necessitated a lot of clarification, including the above response. Now I may have to confess to not agreeing with details of Rule #73. I like to keep them short, nicely arced, but long enough not to bind up when turning. However, I don’t like both cables routed under the tape along the front of the handlebar. If you examine the Campa brake hood design, one cable exits perfectly aligned with the rear of the handlebar, the other perfectly aligned with the front. It also happens that my handlebar has two cable grooves front/back for this very purpose.
@MangoDave
Thanks for the stem-pic!
I was not suggesting or asking for a picture of your cables’ routing. Only from/for stem-saw-off clarification. I merely referred to the cable-routing-saga as yet another Rule where I sometimes struggle to really understand the English, ie transform words into a picture. Add to that the fact that in UK, the brakingcables are reversed (normal: left brake=front wheel for me, but in UK is other way around) and hence chaos emerges in my OCD (optimal cable desire) brain.
@chuckp
Looks crisp.
Only, if it was me – that front light would be fixed the other way up, shining from underneath the bar!
Tidier and more out-of-the-way IMO – including, for the clip mount when the unit is removed.
@Randy C
Thanx! If you’re referring to the lights … I’ve decided that function/safety take precedence over any of The Rules. Especially if I’m riding solo somewhere I don’t really know. Even during the day, I’d rather have bright blinky lights (the front is 700 ions and the rear is supposed to be visible from 2km away) to help cars see me.
@richardplondon
I agree, but there really isn’t room to mount it upside down with the brake/derailleur cable housing running on the underside of the bar. The “perfect” solution is an add-on accessory to my BarFly mount that allows you to attach a light underneath the Garmin. You may have given me a reason to go ahead and do that!
@richardplondon
You can take credit for me ordering this.
https://www.amazon.com/Tate-Labs-Light-Attachment-Black/dp/B00YETL002/
@chuckp
Very neat solution. But an even better solution is to remove the front light completely – unless you started (or were likely to finish) in fading light. I keep a rear light on flashing for much of the year when riding solo – but a front only when absolutely necessary.
@Monty Stubble
I ride with the front light depending on the situation. My weekday riding is solo after work and if I know I’m going to be in dense urban traffic for enough of my ride (which is almost all the time), I’ll use it in blinky mode as just another way to make motorists more aware of me. And I often ride late enough that (even though it’s not yet dark) the sun is starting to go down. And if I’m riding solo somewhere I haven’t ridden before, I’ll use the front light. If the choices is between The Rules/aesthetics and prudent safety, I err on the side of prudence. If I’m doing a group ride, I may or may not use my front light. If I’m the ride leader and know I’ll be spending enough time at the front, I’m more inclined to have it. Honestly, I’m not so vain that I truly give a sh*t. And have ridden/raced (former racer) long enough that I don’t feel like I have to live up to anyone else’s standards other than my own.
@chuckp
You’re right. Safety first.
@Monty Stubble
Speaking of which, is everyone here aware of Nicky Hayden’s situation? When I quit bike riding/racing, I became a knee dragger. Very sad. Not looking very promising.
http://www.foxsports.com/motor/story/nicky-hayden-injury-update-former-motogp-champion-remains-in-critical-condition-052017
@chuckp
Dreadful stuff. Heard about it the other day on The Cycling Podcast, when they happened to have a short interview with Cal Crutchlow.
I’m tired of waking up to news of yet another cyclist taken out by a car. As an experiment, I’ve kept a record each day of how many drivers I have seen on a texting whilst driving (when I’m driving, too). I don’t do many miles in the car, but use it almost daily. At 12 days I’ve seen it every time I’ve driven during daylight hours. Yesterday I drove 5km across town, and saw 6 drivers texting, all of them women, and at least two of them over 50. I don’t notice it so much when I’m on the bike, for obvious reasons. It is beginning to make me wary of road riding so much. I see cars veering into other lanes, sitting stationary at red lights, having to slam on brakes to avoid car ahead, because they couldn’t wait a few minutes to feed their screen addiction. These things used to be the preserve of drunk drivers, now it’s soccer mums and executives. Time for an n+1 MTB, me thinks…
@stooge
The mother of Becky James now too. And very good cyclist in her own right. Broken pelvis.
Yeah, I saw that in The Guardian yesterday. I’ve never ridden or driven in Wales. I’d imagined the roads in the border country to be relatively safe. Perhaps they are, and it’s a rare event. Broken pelvis sounds horrific, but I’m glad to hear she’s doing well.
I, like may others here, I assume, grew up spending a lot of time on bikes, riding to school, to sport practice, exploring with mates, bmx racing, etc. I had many accidents as a kid, but only one involving a car (which reversed out of a blind spot, resulting in me going over with a double half twist). My 4 yr old is gaining competence on the bike, but I doubt he’ll ever ride with the freedom I had as a kid. I don’t want him to get the impression, especially from me, that road riding is too dangerous, but I suspect letting him take to the roads is going to be a difficult (for me) when the time comes. Fortunately, we have pretty good infrastructure here, and a nice velodrome not too far away. A good deal of track and trail first, I think. Bring on the driverless cars!
@chuckp
Sadly just seen that Nicky Hayden has passed away. RIP Nicky, may the wind be always behind you.
@Teocalli
I just saw too. Huge loss. RIP Nicky.
http://www.bbc.com/sport/motorsport/39972058
@chuckp
And another cyclist passed away: Julia Viellehner, German triathlete who was run over by a truck while out riding.
Although I ride mostly in (safe) Netherlands and Switzerland, I am more and more concerned about riding next to cars standing still (sudden-door-openers) and on roundabouts. I fuggetabout who’s right and wrong and maintaining avg speed then. Just get passed it alive.
@KogaLover
This is just getting old and needs to stop. I’m a “car guy” (and former knee dragging moto guy) and love driving cars (fast whenever that’s possible), but we have way too many drivers in this world who don’t know how to drive and think driving is secondary to everything else their doing. And it’s not a car vs. bike or bike vs. car thing. It’s a question of being responsible and courteous and safe … both cars and bikes.
Unfortunately, probably won’t be the last time we read/hear about a cyclist killed by a car.
The vast majority of my riding is in a dense urban environment. I’m used to riding around cars. I try to be safe, courteous, predictable, and respectful, i.e., don’t go out of my way to piss them off unnecessarily. I admit to taking certain risks when I’m riding solo. Part of that is the former bike messenger in me. But when I’m on group rides, I insist on safety above everything else. For sure, that takes precedence over average speed. And, as I always tell everyone, it doesn’t matter if you’re right, the car wins every time. If people I’m riding with want to be yahoos, that’s their prerogative but I just let them go. And it’s likely the last time I’ll ride with them (or let them ride with me).
It’s also why, although very un-Velominati, I ride a lot with both front and rear blinky lights. Blindingly bright ones. Even on group rides (although I’ll switch to the lower lumens on my rear light on a group ride). And the more the merrier as far as I’m concerned on group rides. A lot harder for a car driver to claim he didn’t see you if there are a swarm of blinky lights.
@chuckp
This all sounds like good sense mate.
Anything to stay safe.
@chuckp
Well said, chuckp. It’s certainly not a car versus bike thing – it’s a good road user versus bad road user thing. I certainly see people doing stupid things on bikes daily, though when they mess up, the consequences are typically much, much less severe. If the data were available in large enough numbers, it would be interesting to look at the number of car-bike crashes where driver is at fault, by driver who never rides vs driver who also rides a bike. I’d guess the latter would be underrepresented.
I run a very bright rear light day and night, and a very bright front light in flashing mode around dawn and dusk (though both solid if at night and/or with a group, as I personally dislike riding behind bright blinky rears ). I also wear less than stylish high vis, or at least brightish, kit if I’m gonna be out in heavy fast traffic for a good deal of the ride. Same goes with kit as with lights – I’d rather look a bit more goofy and be seen.
My wife often says things like “Did you see that idiot cut me off? That would have been his fault”. I’ll respond “No fun being right with a broken leg, or worse”. Don’t know why she bothers anymore, probably a nervous response.
Getting agro with drivers almost never helps, but I do tend to point out stupidity when the chance arises. Some drivers simply don’t understand that what they did was so dangerous, and appreciate having it pointed out when approached calmly (which can be difficult when they’ve just almost taken you out, and if I’m too angry I move on).
@stooge
Yup. I’m perfectly fine with wearing YJA or YVA if circumstances warrant.
@richardplondon
How’s this? BarFly attachment to mount your light underneath your Garmin.
@RobSandy
a decidedly unsexy derailleur mount
@KogaLover
just a couple weeks ago, we had a cyclist SHOT in New Orleans while on a Saturday morning training ride. whether deliberate, or the result of a falling bullet or ricochet remains unclear. the bullet lodged near his spine, too, complicating removal. there also have been a rash of paintball attacks on cyclists here, lately.
@Cary
The sexiness of the mount is the least of my worries. Sad face.
Now I’ve stopped crying (and been rescued), genuine advice required;
I think all that is actually broken is the RD hanger and the RD plates. How tricky is it to acquire compatible replacement plates? Would any of roughly the same shape do the job (obviously assuming the inner and outer plate matched)?
The other alternative is to buy a whole new RD, and I’m assuming any 8 Shimano 8spd RD would do.
@RobSandy
The hanger is easy to replace but you do need to get the correct one for the frame as they all vary. What do you mean by RD plates? Usually in that instance it’s just the hanger that breaks – though I have seen people trash their whole rear wheel when the mech goes through the spokes.
@RobSandy
Do you mean the parallelogram plates? The springs inside those things are pretty strong and they can be a devil to put back together without drawing blood. Obtaining spares could be an issue.
On the subject of @RobSandy‘s wee incident we get quite a few of those on the Ride London at Newland’s Corner being the first real climb and did a whole pile of single speed conversions as a result. So I’m thinking we will get a few of these for this year as will be a quicker fix and leave the rider with some useable gears.
Anyone had any experience with them as an emergency fix?
https://www.rosebikes.co.uk/article/rose-emergency-derailleur-hanger/aid:713771?channable=e8467.NzEzNzcx&gclid=CPfRlPLomdQCFZadGwodJqsNRw
@Teocalli
Yes, the parallelogram plates. They are trashed. I don’t know if I’d need something specific for my current RD, hence me thinking it might be easier (and the same price) to buy a full new RD. Also not sure about RD compatibility, but probably any Shimano 8 speed road RD would do?
I don’t know what hanger I need but a know a man who does – I snapped one not long ago and my friendly local mech replaced it as part of an overall service.
Wow, I guess you picked it up between the chain and cassette. Not seen that happen before – but marginally better than trashing your rear wheel! I’m a Gruppo man but yes I believe any 8 Sp GroupSan should be compatible and certainly easier than trying to get the plates and take the thing apart. I’ve taken vintage ones apart to refurb them and regretted it each time.
@Teocalli
I carry a tie-rip with me, Rule #83
@KogaLover
Intrigued as to how that would fix a broken rear mech hanger……..
@Teocalli
I’m reluctant to admit this as I think it’s completely anti-V…but I think what happened is the bolt holding the jockey wheel in the lower part of the plate loosened and fell out (i.e I didn’t get it tight enough). Once the jockey was gone the whole thing folded in on itself, snapped the hanger and ended up jammed between the spokes and the chainstay.
Fortunately, I was going uphill and not very quickly or the outcome could have been a lot worse for the bike and for me. I’ve gone ahead and ordered a Claris 8 speed RD. Have to learn how to fit a RD next…
@RobSandy
Oh those plates! They are easy enough to replace – if you can find replacements. Though you can still draw blood depending on the spring arrangement.
@Teocalli
I’m not very patient and I use that bike most days for commuting so I’ve gone and ordered a new Claris RD and found the correct hanger off out of interwebs.
I was just about to put a post on about riding that bike over all sorts of terrain last weekend – I worked out I could fit 30mm CX tyres on it. Hopefully it will be back in action early next week.
@RobSandy
Good call on the new rear mech. Much cheaper and easier than trying to fix a busted RD. There are a million different hangars out there but a bit of digging and you should find the right one. If I’m ever in that situation and I need a new hangar, it’s the kind of thing I’d buy two at the same time, just in case . . .
@wiscot
These sites helped me to find more info on old RDs.
http://www.disraeligears.co.uk/Site/Home.html
http://velobase.com/ViewComponent.aspx?ID=23518536-fc4d-42ba-bb77-947b35887fcf
And: of course I knew that Joop was the one to directly preceded Tom.
@Teocalli The tie-rip would not fix the broken rear mech, but it would avoid the need for buying your rose-emergency-derailleur-hanger-aid of around 7.50 quid.
@RobSandy
Were you also not the bloke that forgot to tighten the lockring on your track bike? One would expect you to have learnt from that experience to tighten bolts… http://www.loctiteproducts.com/
@KogaLover
Cheers for dredging that up again…mate.
@KogaLover
Sorry I still don’t get it. If your rear mech hanger is broken, snapped, bent and generally snafu, I see no way a zip tie will fix the rear mech back to the frame.
@chuckp
Check these out, while the company selling them is Australian, Raceware (who do the 3D printing) are UK based, so I’m sure someone in the US either does, or could, import them.
https://fullbeam.com.au/collections/raceware-direct-3d-printed-mounts
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