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 ...
19.5 lbs, even. I guess I subconsciously decided I didn’t want to use non-metric weights.
@Buck Rogers
Anyone else looking at this Merckx Corsa Extra SLX? Anyone want to say something to encourage me to pursue it?
@Nate
I was thinking about this during the recovery phases of tonight’s roller session, the top cap bolt is beginning to whiten from the sweat that ends up in there so I’m sure that some of it must be making it’s way inside. As well as giving a good strip down and clean soon if it looks like more than a little is getting in I’ll give the inside of my steerer tube a light coat of something water repelling or some grease to seal it off.
@mcsqueak
I haven’t done it to my road bike yet but one of the best upgrades I’ve done on my mountain bikes was to get decent shifter cables, the gore sealed jobs a re awesome. The difference between those and the stock SRAM cables was night and day. Excellent value for money as well and if your going to change your bar tape, now is the time.
@Chris
That’s a good point. It came with Jagwire, which I understand is a decent brand, but it may be time for something higher-end. The current cable has over 5,000km on it now, as well.
@mcsqueak
Yokozuna a la Marco. Awesome price and quality. Like butter.
Anyone interested in an 80’s Basso lugged steel frame built up with Campa SR?
From today’s NYC Craigslist
Not a fan of the color scheme but sweet-looking.
@snoov
Nice ride. Is it just the photo, or is the nose of your saddle pointed very down?
@Chris
suggest you get yourself a (albeit very uncool looking) towel made for roller/ergo sessions. I have a Blackburn branded one that hooks around my bars and seatpost forming a “towel triangle” that catches most of the drips.
Doesn’t solve the problem of sweat on your bars, but goes a long way towards avoiding putting salt into your headset.
Oh yes, and be sure to remove the towel before you ride the bike outdoors.
@scaler911
Thanks! It’s just the photo, seat is level and the tops of the bars and shifters are level when the bike is on the ground.
@marcus
I know that’s the way to go but this is the time when I look most pro, there’s only myself to fool. A sweat tent would ruin that illusion and with it my awesome stroke along with the belief that I’ve got the whole balance thing down. As it was I got a bit cocky last night and after managing to actually uncage a bidon and take a drink, I tried standing up. The front roller must be a tad too far forward and the bike went backwards through the door of the saucepan cupboard. Fortunately, Mrs Chris was already asleep by then.
Tonight I’ll be experimenting with the “invisible” ghetto version. Take a roll of cling film, starting in front of and parallel to bars, bring it up and over then all the way down to the seat post, twisting so the roll is vertical as it passed round the back of the seat post, then ensuring it overlaps the other side over the top tub and back to the bars. For longer sessions, unwrapped energy bars should also stick to the cling film.
@snoov
I saw that too and thought – “ouch” with the saddle, but it’s the shadow angle of the flash. Nice bar tape job!
Er, that top line cuts off half the saddle.
But I agree that it’s a great taping job!
@Chris
Cling film. Oh the humanity…
If any activity requires you to put cling film on your bike you really need to think carefully about your life choices.
@ChrisO
Keeps the nipple lube off the bike and rollers as well!
It’ll be go to meet you on the Keepers’ Tour even if just to dispel the picture that is forming in my mind of a retired university don in a tatty tweed jacket with elbow patches constantly cringing at the grammatical wasteland that is the internet and horrified that cling film might have any practical use outside of the kitchen.
@Chris
Right now, you need to ask yourself The Question:
“What would Eddy do?”
The way for you is clear.
@Marcus
Clever…
OK then, no cling film.
Eddy would cock an eyebrow at me and laugh at the thought of someone sitting in an office talking about cycling on the internet rather than getting out there riding. Tonight though I’ll get back on the bike and meditate on The V. At the weekend when I give the bike a thorough clean I’ll take off the top cap, spacers and bars and give it a good clean out. If it’s bad I’ll get a mankini.
@Steampunk
I figured that this would be the one place I could be sure of finding people who can relate to that compulsion. I don’t feel guilty about upgrading the rest of the group, because I got it all used and then put another 5000 miles on it; it’s time has come. But the shifters? Yeah. While I have some hope that I will see a performance upgrade, I admit, getting those was pretty much completely irrational.
@The Oracle
Shifters are the most expensive part of the gruppo. But I have both kinds of Ultegra and I think there’s a difference.
The newer ones supposedly pull more cable when the lever is initially activated. While either model is better than SRAM, I think the 6700 model requires less force and brakes/shifts more easily.
My plan in 2012 is to upgrade the whole cross bike to Ultegra and the rain bike’s shifters and crank to Ultegra 6700.
@G’rilla
I agree with this based on my own Ultegra experiences. The 6700 kit I have pulls noticeably more than the 6500 I have on my gravel/cross bike. Granted, the 6500 is nine speed and 6700 is ten.
That 6500 9 sp is my all time favorite gruppo. It’s got thousands of miles and still shifts flawlessly and gets beat to shit. I also like the looks much better than the new stuff. It’s more elegant, less blocky, classic looking stuff.
@Chris
You forgot my pipe… so I could gingerly prod your cling film with the stem, and a look of disdain.
Sadly I have to go through life as an ultra-cool sharp-dressing smart-talking super-fit babe-magnet. This whole internet pedant thing is just my dirty little secret.
@ChrisO
Your secret is safe with me. I don’t really go in for cling film much either.
@ChrisO
@Chris
A guy walks into his doctor’s office wearing nothing but cling film.
The doctor says: “Clearly I can see your nuts.”
@sthilzy
The thing that is causing some confusion is the wee Fizik light clipped onto the Arione saddle, not a shadow. Also the photo is taken from below the saddle height and the bike is lower at the front, both of these things make the saddle look nose down. My Stabila level says the seat is dead on.
@marko
Boom boom.
@ChrisO
You’ll need to put your pedantry aside for that…
@marko
Tommy Cooper is alive and well and living in the PNW.
Question on cutting the steerer tube – sometimes the top cap is flush with the stem, sometimes there is a 2mm spacer on top of the stem. How do you determine which is correct for your bike?
(I like the look of the flush cut, but isn’t it advised to leave the 2mm spacer on there? I’ve heard it’s best, but plenty of flush-cut forks out there.)
@G’rilla
I previously moved from 105 5600 to 5700, and I felt a difference in shifting. With this upgrade, I’ll be moving from 105 5700 to Ultegra 6700, so the mechanism is pretty much the same and the only difference is supposedly materials. I’m still hoping that I’ll feel some improvement, although it might just be from having an all-new group that was designed to work together.
@ChrisO
You poor dear!
@Ron
Listen to Oli over me, but I berlieve you can cut an alloy steerer a bit below flush so the cap bears dirextly on the top of the stem. For a carbon steerer cut so it can accept a spacer on top so the stem is grabbing all carbon. That said, I need to cut my steerer (carbon) and I am going to have the shop do the job. A new fork is expensive!
@Marcus
+1
@Ron, @Nate
I don’t see any drawback to taking the same approach on the alu steerer as on the carbon steerer. Let the stem grab a whole fistful of steerer and drop a 5mm spacer on top. Nice, clean look, and also gives you an escape hatch incase you switch to a stem with more stack height.
@frank
Like the V stem. Merckx that thing is a fatty.
@ Marko
Sorry Marko but the photo fooled you a bit I think.These are not wheels but a close up of Colnago bar end plugs.And yes they’re from an old steel model.I had them in my toolbox for as long as I can remember and won’t be needing those anymore so if you like them and care to drop me an email I will put them in the post for you.
All the best with your build project!
@ Snoov
Thanks and nice job my friend.
@ mcsqueak
At the moment I think new chainset and new cables would make a big improvement to your shifting and your riding experience.I’d say even second hand Ultegra crank will do a lot good comparing to FSA you use at the moment.FSA uses really poorly machined chainrings on those cranks hence bad shifting results.
Just make sure you have those derailleurs properly installed and adjusted.No point in changing components that are in good condition and working properly especially if you are thinking of a complete upgrade later on.
@Ron
If you have a carbon steerer it’s always advisable (compulsory in my book) to have the stem fully clamping the steerer, which means there will be a millimetre or two of steerer above the stem and, hence, a spacer too. This stiffens things up, as well as helping prevent the all too common compression and resulting damage of the steerer.
For aluminium steerers the damage thing is taken out of the equation, but the stiffness thing still applies – a stem clamped along its whole length is noticeably stiffer than one that isn’t.
A small spacer above the stem is a small price to pay for increased safety and stiffness…
@Oli
Rule #45 make a bit more sense now.
@TommyTubolare
I must not have gotten my joke about disc wheels across well. I realize they’re bar plugs. Yes, I’d love to put them on the build. Thanks. I’ll shoot you an email. Thanks so much!
Got my new Addict SL frame built up. The old one didn’t match the colour of my new V-kit.
Bought from a good friend of mine who got it about a year ago. It was the wrong size for him so he never really used it much (<500km) and finally gave in to pressure to replace it.
Took it out for it's first ride and just love it. So responsive and sooo good up the hills. How they made something that fast and that light, yet still kept it really comfortable, is beyond me.
@ Spearfish
Nice machine my friend.
By the way nothing personal but I know why I never fully follow Rule #26.You perfectly aligned your tire labels just to have them upside down on the photos.With valve almost at 12 o’clock when your bike is on the stand it looks much better.
@TommyTubolare
Fair point, I hadn’t actually noticed that! Think I might also start bending the rules on that one.
Aesthetically it’s still far from perfection, new bars, stem and seatpost are all on the cards. The seatpost in particular makes me sad, it’s just wrong on this bike. Ugly.
Some carbon flavour Keo pedals would also, I think, be a big improvement. Other than that though, i’m really pleased with it and I can see in my mind how it’s going to look.
I know it’s “only” a 105 groupset but it matches the frame so perfectly and works so nice for what it costs.
@Spearfish
No need to bend the rules- just rotate the tires 180 degrees and you’ll be set. I agree the machine looks great so far, and I also agree the 105 groupo looks and works great for the money- I’ve been very happy with mine so far.
@All This may have already been linked into the site in the past couple of months but just incase it hasn’t i had to link it. I am so glad that this legend has found something to do again in the world of cycling. Roll on 100 mph and what is sure to be an amazingly engineered “bike”
Obree to try for 100 mph
My Scatty.
Thanks gents, regarding the cutting of the fork. That makes sense – safety and flexibility with new stems – toss a 5mm on top and leave it at that. Thanks!
On another note, I did my first true century (miles-wise) last weekend and around the 4.5 hour, 85 mile mark I really hit the wall. I ate throughout, we took a break or two, but I struggled near the end. Didn’t help that I was trying to hold the wheel of a super strong dude on a Sky Pinarello who told me he regularly does 120 mile rides on the weekend.
So my question is – why did I hit the wall at that mark? (I do know there are a ton of factors here.) I regularly do 3-4 hour rides, 60-80 km rides, so I’m wonder why I hit the wall this ride at around the 140 km mark. Might my body just not be used to it? Might I just need to build up, say from 4.5 hours, to 5 to 5.5?
I felt good most of the ride, but bringing it home was tough. Likely didn’t help that I was riding my cx bike and had been out the night before.
Lee – slick balance of white/black! This past year I got on a black/white kick with my kit. It’s simple & always looks nice. I do have one white/black bike and one that is almost all white/black with just a touch of red. Everyone needs an Italian steel steed with a wild paint job, but I’m a big fan of the black/white scheme these days.
@Ron
The technical reason is that your body ran out of available fuel sources, provided you were staying hydrated. Prior to cycling I was a bit of an ultra-runner (distances over the traditional 26.2 mile marathon) and one of the big learning experiences was figuring out how many calories I needed to consume an hour in order to keep performance at reasonable levels for very long periods of time. Everyone is different in terms of needs and tolerance for calories, but I determined I needed about 450-500 calories an hour for efforts in excess of 4 hours or I would hit the proverbial wall. Couple that with high fluid intake and supplemental electrolyte tablets and I found that I could sustain reasonable efforts for a really long time without running out of gas. As I have transitioned to the bike I have found that eating is actually harder riding than running. Figuring out how to stay fueled on long rides has been really tough.
@Spearfish
What seatpost is on your Addict now? My R2 came with a Ritchey carbon pro piece of heavy junk that just seemed like an insult to it considering the rest of the Ritchey gear – bar and stem. I replaced it with a Superlogic post so it still matches the cockpit. It was going cheap at a store I was checking out in Singapore so I pounced. Looks much better and knocked off about 80-90 grams, which isn’t to be sneezed at at the approx 7kg mark.
Anjin-san – Thanks for the feedback! That is a pretty awesome answer & I think you are spot on. Right, I guess I need to learn how my body reacts on rides of that distance/time. An hour used to be a long ride for me not so long ago. I adapted, then did two, three, four. I guess I need to do more rides of that distance and test out intake, hydration, etc. I had a lot of trouble staying hydrated, actually. I showed up late to the check-in, had ridden an hour plus there, and didn’t know about stops. Thus, I was being overly cautious in the first hour about drinking, not wanting to run out. Felt like I never caught up all day.
Now, considering I’m over in Central NC & you aren’t that far away…we need to get together & do some longer rides on the Blue Ridge Parkway! That way we can work on distance & eating as a mini V-Cogal, until we get a bigger one organized.
Thanks for the input!