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 ...
@Steampunk
Brilliant. That’s why they call you Doctor.
@scaler911
That’s why it’s called try-athlon.
@Frank
you feeling well Frank?
@Marko
I’d like to meet “they.” They seem to call me a lot of stuff (frequently, according to Mrs. Steampunk, names of which the clergy would not approve). It’s also why I don’t get much done in a day and am relegated to being not that important.
@Steampunk
Look, now frank has been dumped to level 4. Didn’t that happen to you last week?
I would like to report that another Velominatus has notched his first CX race. Had a pretty good time, weather was great (high 60s, sunny, blue sky), did pretty well, kept the bike upright. The racing was awesome, the travel, waiting around, gobbling up an entire Sunday, etc. were not as awesome.
Some highlights:
First set of barriers nearly didn’t get my left foot fully unclipped, almost, almost “Joey”-ed it! Holy cow. I heard some folks lining the course gasp, then laugh when I cleared the two barriers. Very, very close to a faceplant.
Massive pile-up at the first triple switchback. Carnage. Some dude beside me jumped off and started running. Never would have thought of this on my own, but worked well.
Last lap I’m trying to pass a guy, heard some awful rattling from his bike. “What the hell is that?! Doesn’t he know the Principle of Silence?” As I think this, he stands up & his saddle goes skyward. Holy shit! Either his clamp broke or came very loose. Damn, he kept on going though, which was cool.
Followed #420 for most of the day. Nice! Afterwards I passed him in the lot and told him he had a sweet bib number. I don’t think he realized the joke I was getting at.
Glad to have raced & gotten those first time jitters out of the way. I know I can pull it off, can do pretty well, can keep it upright. A bunch more of races to come, so I’ll likely do a few more this season.
Not sure if this ever got posted (sorry, been slacking here lately), but here’s a nice article about Campagnolo, for those of you who wonder about us Campy-heads, or even those of you who already are…
Wow, I’ve really been bitten by the cx bug! I’d been riding an Italian steel road bike as my rain/winter/lock-up/grocery getter/around town bike, with 23 mm tires. Since I’ve gotten my Gin & Trombones been using that for these duties. But, it’s far too nice and far too expensive to lock-up and beat up.
Decided to swap my Italian road bike out for a new, decent cx bike. Just makes more sense overall. Plus, I still have three road bikes, two being steel Italian jobs. AND, with two cx bikes I can hit some of the local paths & trails with the VMH! Traffic sometimes scares her so I think she’ll love some light cx riding.
Plus, fun to pick up a new steed on 11-11-11!
Frank did you take this poor man’s bike. I’m kidding of course.
80cm frame!
@Gentlemen and @Ladies
Permit me to introduce you to my new bike.
No more smashing out road miles (kms) on the Yeti!
@sgt
Thanks for that, every day’s a school day huh? When I get a properly good frame, after reading that article, I just have to get a campa gruppo. I just have to support the business ethos!
@mouse
Love the bike, especially the lack of any livery.
A friend showed up with his new #1 at the ride today. Sorry for the quality of the picture, my hands were shaking from the first rush of seeing this work of art. Absolutely doesn’t do the S5 justice, especially the precision of the frame/backwheel cutaway:
I also came home with something new. A gift from another friend:
Oh, the S5 sounds like a muted jet engine when riding next to it. Too cool. And yes, I realize much work needs to be done in regards to compliance issues with my friend.
@itburns
Is that a man satchel or a gun rack?
@itburns
That bike need some new water bottles. And as stated above the EMS has to go.
@mouse
Fantastic! Nicely done and nicely built! Looks like a Trek frame…but not? What is it?
@itburns
That fucking saddle bag has to go. Merckx. Look at the size of that thing. Is he carrying gifts for the locals in that thing?
Outstanding!
@frank
Glad you don’t know either. I thought it was a LOOK.
Don’t tell yet Mouse. Keep the guesses coming…
@itburns
Man, one of those photos is awesome!
The other one is of a Cervelo.
@mouse
@frank
@harminator
Definitely not a Look – with the fancy headtube and line along the toptube I thought it might be an Italian-styling. Think Wilier or Fondriest – but 2 minutes of looking at their frames did not produce a match…
Mouse’s bike looks way better than that S5, even if it is a Chinese knock-off (which is probably as good as or better quality than any of the mainstream brands… probably from the same fucking factory.)
S5 is gonna get holes in the seat tube on the first chip seal ride.
Monkeys humping tennis balls would ride a S5. Thing looks like 2 bikes have mated inappropriately. Has to be a 54, I have no fucking idea why they went with compact geo on those things.
To elaborate the S5 I’ve seen in the flesh looks ridiculous. I haven’t seen one to date larger than that and there’s probably a reason for that.
I really can’t deal with position of the cage on the seat tube, couldn’t they have moved it up a bit? That bidon is cradled by the junction and just looks ridiculous.
Also, if he is going single bidon, why is it not on the down tube?
@DerHoggz
This is for people who hold the bottle inverted.
As a die-hard Cervelo rider, I have to say the S5 is the ugliest bike ever made. Well, that’s a bold statement that ignores any number of abominations, but its on the list, anyway. Thor’s was OK, though.
The tall headtubes on the 2011 models, geared to the recreational cyclist, kills the brand for me, sadly. I’ll be riding Pre-2011 Cervelos only, or no Cervelos.
@itburns
I’m sure it rides great, is stiff, and is super fast. And he shelled a goat and a half for that thing. I hope he likes it heaps.
@frank
@DerHoggz has it right about that damn bottle. Probably interferes with the front mech.
@DerHoggz
The bidons are so positioned as to maximize the aero effect. However as Frank rightly points out, it is the most god damn ugly bike on the planet and I say this as a fellow Cervelo rider. It’s just wrong..so wrong. I am thinking my next bike might be a Bianchi Oltre. The new frame in black looks sick!
@itburns
Is that a 2 litre bottle of Sprite ? That bottle is huge!
i buggered that up eh?
In a small defense of my friend, he had just taken it out of the car and had another bidon to put in front. The seat tube did fine after 50 miles of chip seal, head wind, and hills.
As for the rest of the violations – it will be my life’s work.
But seriously, you people are just jealous of my new drinking vessel.
my bad – the ride was billed as 67 miles so was thinking evil units. 80 km of chip seal out of 108 km because a huge section of usually nice pavement was getting redone.
@all.
I wasn’t quite sure when it first came my way either. It’s imported by a friend of the LBS that I loiter in waaaay too much. Suffice it to say that I didn’t really want any of the brands the shop had to offer and so we hit upon this as a solution. It happens that I’m about as midgety as the importer fella and so he just happened to have this frame lying around. Cue heraldry, angels and unicorn va.. (wait that’s another post).
Seems pretty hot off the press though as it’s BB30, ISP and has a tapered (carbon) head tube.
My internet perambulations lead me to believe that it’s a (mellifluviously titled) DF028 ISP BB30. DF short for Dengfu. A stone’s through from Vicenza, clearly.
Even coolerer is that the wheelset was just something midgety importer had lying about as the spoils of his previous life as a gun racer. Cue more rainbows and waterfalls of… (oh hang on..).
I decided that I wanted SRAM as I hate Shimano, and I can’t afford Campag. I saved my pennies for about 5 months so that I could get Force on it. Then I had some good results in a CX series that the shop ran, and so was able to pay for the saddle, stem, bars and tires with the winnings.
Anyhoo, it comes in at 7.4kg including pedals. Definitely the lightest bike I’ve ever ridden, and it’s taking a bit of time to remember what it’s like to not be able to slow a bike down real quick when travelling downhill at 85km/hr without disc brakes, but bugger me (no, wait) it goes uphill quick.
Needless to say, I’m a happy, happy man.
Oh, and thanks all for your kind words.
@mouse
Stealthy mate!! Very stealthy.
@mouse
Like lots. Enjoy.
mouse – nice bike! I like it a lot. But wait…you won money in the shop-run cx races and then put this money towards a new bike?
If this is the case, that is sweet as. I’d like to win some money riding my bike.
On another note, I’m a bit concerned. Since fall has hit & I’ve started racing I’ve been riding my cross bike all the time. Yesterday I grew a bit worried that the roadie in me is dead. Have I lost the passion for road riding? Or, is this typical for someone bitten by cross riding in the first year? I think both types of riding would provide a nice balance, I just can’t remember my last proper road ride. Hopefully it’s just fall doing it, more fun to be in the woods than the shadows/low sun/early darkness issues on the road. But, I do feel a bit worried about my lack of roadie-ness lately.
@Nate
DerHoggz has it wrong about that damn bottle.Aside the aero factor that was already pointed out by paolo if you happen to go for a long ride and need two large bottles with you it is much easier to reach for it a bit lower than have the bottle hit or slide the top tube each time you need to drink.If you have a frame size 54 or bigger no problem there but you have to think about those who need 48cm or 51cm for example.
Also while training no problem but while racing drinking is something riders have to do very fast and under pressure so I can’t see it as a disadvantage to have more room to take your bottle out.Some bottles are longer although generally they take 0.5l of liquid in them just like the shorter bottles.For example camelback podium or podium chill have a longer non-leak valve which require a bit more space to take it out easily.
Plus Cervelos use braze-on front derailleur tab so no interference issue.And yeah comparing to older models the bike is sadly the ugliest,to some but not to everyone.
@mouse
Nice ride mouse.From the picture the frame looks like Trek District carbon in matt black.Did you check it against the trek geometry chart?Plus Force is a nice looking group with black and white finish.Enjoy riding it.
@Frank
Forget S5 and get yourself J.Van Summeren S3.Plus saddle post,stem and bars are ready for you the way you like.
http://www.shopslipstreamsports.com/featured/2011-cervelo-s3-61cm-00052.html
@itburns
Give it a chance and try it out on fresh chip seal. The Clarence (sic) between the tire and the seat tube is gonna cause failures unless someone devises a scraper that fits in between the brake and the brake fastener bit (you attach the brake to its mount first then you attach said mount to bike).
Is two day old chip seal fresh enough? I’ll pass on the warning to my friend to be on the look out for wedged stones.
@TommyTubolare
Rationalize all you want, but it is wrong.
@mouse
The only thing missing from you frame is a white decal of inspirational motivation from the gear page.
You never need two large bottles as long as you have a place to refill along the way. Not everyone will have that option depending on where they ride, but it’s certainly viable for those of us that live in urban and semi-urban environments that aren’t deserts.
I’ve gone from using a camalbak (shhhh! I didn’t know any better) when I first started cycling to using two large bottles to now using small bottles exclusively. Not only am I more comfortable now, but the bike is lighter (and looks better) because I’m carrying eight less ounces of water in the two small bottles vs two large bottles, which is a weight difference of about ~235 grams. Sure it’s not much, but every little bit helps when I’m hauling my ass up a hill. On a three or four hour ride I may need to refill once, depending on how warm it is.
I also never realized how ugly saddle bags were until I got rid of my own. Now when I see them on someone’s ride it just looks funny, like a swinging (as most are not secured tightly) udder under a cow.
Thanks for making me such a damn snob, Fr0nk. (I’m really not a snob, I just have some self-imposed standards now. But strangely, my rides have become longer and have much more climbing since I’ve made some of these changes and have grown stronger in my pursuit of the V. Coincidence? I think not.)
@mcsqueak
Was thinking stealthy black.
Catastrophe averted! Here I was thinking I’d fallen out of love with road cycling & was becoming a cross freak. Well, I am happy to report that I took out my Casati today. Sunny, 73*F, just a 1.5 hour cruise. Damn, it was fun & felt great to be on that bike.
Here I was thinking I was going to have to sell off all my road bikes & road gear.
Thankfully I think cross riding has brought some balance. I want to mostly just have fun riding my bikes. Sure, some days I want to push myself, but road riding daily and hammering it was beginning to feel more like a job. Cross riding has reminded me how much fun cycling is when you have the right approach. I am racing cross this fall but I don’t road race, so why do I act like every ride is a training session?
I’m just going to take it easy this fall/winter, ride what bikes I want, and have fun. No need to make things too uptight.
@mcsqueak
+1 I’m still transitioning, and will take one big bottle on a lot of rides, but I much prefer small bottles to big ones. And BTW, the new Spesh Purist bottles are the bees’ knees. I snagged a pair at Interbike and they’ve quickly become the go to bottles, primarily because of the nozzles (or, dare I say, nipples?)… High flow, no leaks, and look PRO. And you all know I’m not a Spesh guy, except for their bottles.
V-bottles, Frankie baby?