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 ...
@mcsqueak
I’ll bet the electrons had to travel 1000’s of miles though.
FWIW, I put a lot more faith in my own mechanical skills than most of the yay-hoos at the bike shops around here. The last work I had done by an lbs was pressing a headset on my mtb frame, which they did a terrible job on, and which I found when disassembling it had been Franken-bodged together from at least two different headsets, cups from one and bearings from another. I ended up buying a headset press and new headset more cheaply than having the shop do it (or re-do it). Plus I got a tool out of it.
See Rule #83…self reliance extends past punctures.
I do my own wrenching, but really need to get around the corner to talk to the German who’s rumored to be an ex-pro team mechanic. He now spends his days working on town bikes in his garage.
@sgt
I’d agree with you regarding trusting your own hand more than a strangers, except when you’re a relative young’in to the sport, everything seems more complicated than it is. I am slowly learning and someday hope to be off of the LBS teat for all but the most complex procedures.
so I was chearfully riding this weekend, but my mood changed when I hit the cobbles of Kwaremont and I now and then heard that awful ‘clapping’ sound of the internal brake cable in the top tube… I had experienced this some time ago, and I thought I solved it by inserting a shorter cable. it became worse, however. Then I tried a longer cable, in order to jam it in the tube, which helped until now.
The clack-clack-clack is back! Would you be so kind to help me? Suggestions?
Dream bike right here (I will have one, yes I will). Except, obviously need to get rid of 3M of spacers, and ditch the black bar tape for white.
@JC Belgium
Stop riding cobbles?
@scaler911
Oh Merckx! Isn’t there a point where too many spacer becomes simply dangerous!
@napolinige
Yep. And I know that I could get that stack down to nothing.
@scaler911
Mmmmm, it’s pretty no doubt, but I’m kinda over the “batmobile” matt black effect. If I’m buying an Italian frame for that sort of coin, it’s gonna be blinging.
@JC Belgium
Get a new frame with external routing? My #2, which is alu, has an internal cable that makes the godawefulest racket on anything but the smoothest pavement. Really ready to ditch it as a result of its fundamental inability to run silent.
@Mikael Liddy
Yep, me too. Not so much the blingblingbling, but matte black’s days are numbered.
@Mikael Liddy
Blinging in like a bring back the 90s, bring back the neon sort of way?
We all know there’s only one colour for bicycles, and that is Celeste. You know it’s true.
@Oli
Yes indeed. Just… my bike is a more raw carbon, red and white shade of celeste…
@Nate
I assume more like the Scrooge McDuck sort of bling:
@Oli
Bianchi needs to remember that… When’s the last time they made a top end road frame in solid celeste? The Super Pista looks great with that simple finish, plus it’s cheaper to finish them in a solid color with simple decals.
@Blah
@Nate
Bling may have been the wrong word, maybe flair is a more apt description. Something like this perhaps:
Although Oli is correct, Celeste (on the appropriate bike only) reigns supreme
@Blah
You’re treading dangerously close to that horrid Lemon coloured leather thing that was posted here a couple of years ago…
@Oli
For Bianchis perhaps, but it doesn’t really work with any other brand IMHO.
@scaler911
I’ve always had a thing for Colnagos but to me the whole lugs and carbon thing just doesn’t work. Their steel frames though are right up there.
@936adl
You’re entirely correct, of course. I was just joshing, and I would get bored if all bikes were the same colour anyway. Plus it’s been a while since I had a red bike and I’ve got a hankering…
I just like the colour scheme on Frank’s bike…
And who needs a clipless system when you can pull the pedals up with your toes?
@scaler911
???Expanding foam,
with the outer cable installed.
Just a brainstorm idea that popped up.
I’m running internal TT cable on my Columbus MAX, never heard a slap, never used foam fill in a tube.
Longer outer cable should help/fix.
I love matte black bike, but VVilier had some really flashy designs last year that I liked. this year it looks like they are pretty much doing black though. what a shame.
@sthilzy
Expanding foam is a great idea if you never plan on changing your cable housing again. Ever.
@scaler911
I have to say: I think white bar tape could be a mistake on that bike. The black looks slick and under-the-radar fast.
@sthilzy
You might also totally change the feel of the bike by changing the way it vibrates etc. It could end up feeling dull and lifeless. I’d avoid it.
@scaler911
out of the question!
thanks, but maybe expanding foam is a bit too drastic and as @scaler911 mentioned, you can’t replace your cable housing anymore. unless there is a solution to that?
@Nate
She is too young, it s a bit sad to ditch her already. (Principia Revolution integral C40) next frame I ll buy, will probably be with external routing…
thank you all, hope I ll find something…
@JC Belgium
You know I was just kidding. :D. You might try pulling your housing, (I think that your frame has a cable guide tube that goes thru the entire top tube), rubbing some Phil Wood grease on the housing, putting it back in. Just a thought.
@scaler911
yes, of course. that s like putting candy in the hands of a child and telling him he can t eat it.
not really sure about the cable guide, tried a couple of times, but it doesn t seem so… the cable goes in left, just behind the head tube, and comes out left too. it s like bend inside the top tube and hitting the tube more or less in the middle. I guess, don’t have X ray eyewear.
My local café just got even cooler:
Prototypes for a launch next year.
@JC Belgium
One other thought: get some small zip ties, one for each end, pull the cable housing tight as you can, cinch down the ties right at the frame holes, nip off the excess on the ties. Only other thing I can think of.
@scaler911
that might work! thanks, I ll let you know if it s solved…
@Steampunk
I like that. Is it my eyes or is there a beautifully subtle curve to the seat stays?
@936adl
Specs were sent to Luc Henault at Marinoni, who made the frame. Truth be told, the café proprietor sent me the pic””he’d whisked it away by the time I got down this morning, so I haven’t actually seen it in the flesh. I’ll report back once I get a proper look. He’s also talking about making a track frame, which is rather exciting, since we’re due to get a new velodrome in preparation for the 2015 Pan-Am Games.
@Mikael Liddy
Pretty cool, but who sawed off the ends of the drops on those bars?
@Mikael Liddy
Yes! Right on! I don’t even pay attention to cars but can’t believe the “batmobile” look went from huge SUVs (Tahoes, Escalades) to those silly Dodge Magnums then to very nice cars like BMWs and Mercedes. Have some class, people!
And next to bikes! Black can be classy, but I’m definitely tired of the black-out look. And on an Italian bike? C’mon now! You gotta go with loud paint, bordering on wildness, such as my Tommasini. It’s almost too crazy, but I do like it.
I second that, Mr. Liddy.
I think the term young people use is “Murdered Out”
I still like the look.
A beautiful Baum.
@RedRanger
@Ron I really like matt black bikes and ride one myself.
I think that the matt black look in cars developed from the fact that when you buy replacement panels such as wings they are quite often sprayed with flat black primer. This meant that there were custom cars driving round with matt panels waiting to be painted properly. Another reason from the custom car scene is that matt paint finishes are cheap and easy to do.
I actually I rattle-can sprayed my Vespa T5 matt black a while ago and it looks good. Will post a picture if I can find one later.
@sgt
Woah, I really, really don’t like the feeling when I know I care far more about my bike(s) than a shop does. It means I won’t be going in there again. It’s really disappointing when someone doesn’t take pride in their work. And, when it means someone could crash hard on their bike because you did a half-arsed job, that’s just downright unacceptable.
I actually took a bike into the local REI the other week because they were the only local shop to have the BB tool need for the bearings on Campagnolo cranks. I’d heard good things about them and they couldn’t have been more professional or cool. In place of the bi-polar mechanic syndrome I often encounter in shops, was a nice, knowledgeable PRO dude. They told me when to drop it off, they told me when it might be done, then they call me when it was done. That was awesome. I do try to frequent the smaller LBSs, but after that performance, I’m quite impressed.
I love doing my own work though. It feels great to figure out something new. I mean it was only a few years ago that mounting a tire or changing a tube was a challenge. Now I do most of my own stuff, unless it’s a job I might only do a few times ever and the tool is pretty expensive.
motor city – I think matte black bikes or cars can look good. I’m just not that enthusiastic by the sudden explosion of them. Then again, trends in general are usually hard for me to get pumped up about;)
Also, if I had a very nice Mercedes sedan I wouldn’t want to make it look like a street rod that I didn’t have the cash to paint. Black rims on a fine Euro sports car? Nah…give me the Shiny Bits!
@Ron, @sgt
+1 I’m no superstar wrench but I’m rapidly coming to trust my skills more than those offered by the bike shops in my area. It’s a combination realising from doing it myself that there’s little that is very complicated and seeing the poor results of paying for the work.
I have recently found a place that I would trust, it’s a bit old school, a combination of bikes, toys, modelling and DIY but the owner and main bike guy is a serious masters track rider. Unfortunately, it’s just a bit too far away.
I learned to do my own work on my bikes early on. For me, a LOT of the attraction of cycling is the gear, and putting that gear together into something that exudes awesomeness. (When I was a kid, I loved LEGOs for the same reason.) With the exception of my 7 yo’s mountain bike, every bike in my house was built by yours truly.
I have only a few exceptions:
(1) after waffling over whether to build my own headset tool and giving it a go myself last fall, I had the LBS press the headset in my new frame. I figured it was something that was really hard to reverse if I mucked it up, plus I was dealing with a carbon frame and pretty King components that I didn’t want to scratch, crack, or otherwise irreversibly blemish. They did a great job, and even carefully lined up the King logos, in full Rule #65 compliance.
(2) I take in my wheels to get them trued. I’ve had good luck with wheels, so I need to true them so seldomly that I can’t justify purchasing a truing stand.
(3) I take in my rear wheels to take off cassettes. I know how to do this myself, but every time I need to change out a cassette, I figure it’s going to be the last time I’ll need to do it for a while, so I don’t need to buy or fashion my own chain-whip. Then, three months later, I need to change my cassette again.
@The Oracle
There’s something about retiring to the garage to spend a few hours working on a bike that leaves me very much at peace with the world. There are eight bikes (four of mine and one each for Mrs Chris and the Velonippers) in there so there is pretty much always something to be done, it’s just finding time to do it.
Velonipper 2 has recently joined the cub scouts so I suggested he works towards his cycling proficiency badge. He can’t get enough of it and often asks me ” Are we doing Pedalwan stuff?” when I get home from work. He surprised me when he was able to get the tyres off my mountain bike without any help. I didn’t think his fingers would be strong enough.
@Chris That reminds me that changing tyres and fixing punctures was the first thing I learnt about bike tinkering when I was kid with a bmx. I used to use tea spoons as tyre levers.
@The Oracle
Yea, working on my carbon bike is at another level of expertise and sophistication. I also don’t do wheels (yet) but will start learning once I get my shop set up correctly with a good bench and tryuing stand. Fortunately, my wheels stay pretty true so its not something I need to fool with a lot. Other than that I have built from the frame up MTBs and SS road bikes. I have plans to build out my CX frame in the near future.
@Chris
My boy is, regrettably, less interested in working on his mountain bike than he is bombing it into mud, trees, fences, and parked cars. He knows that he can just hand the bike to dad to be put back into order after he’s done with the evil knievel act.
Now this one is beautiful!
