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 ...
@scaler911
I expected at least one response like this, somewhat disappointed it didn’t come from Marcus to be honest…
Some beautiful bikes posted in recent times. I offer ‘mio mezzo’ for your scrutiny. I replaced the Ritchey Ergo bars with a Deda Newton Shallow today. I’m not sure I’ve got the levers postioned properly. What think thee?
I haven’t ridden it yet (with the new bars) but I’d been thinking I needed a little more reach and drop. As it is now it gives me about 25mm more reach and more drop both on the hoods and in the drops. Having more than 2 hand positions will be nice for sure.
The frame is a Carlà which is how I pronounce my wife’s name and was bought in her honour. (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it). Maestro Carlo Carlà is a framebuilder from Lecce in southern Italy. I haven’t met him but will make a trip down there soon. He’s 81 years old but will still happily put together a nice custom frame for you at a very reasonable price. You’ll have to call him though, apparently he doesn’t do email.
The tubing is Columbus genius for lugs which maestro Carlo shaped somewhat like those of the Colnago Master. It’s hard to see from the photos but the ‘shaping’ alternates from vertical to horizontal in what I can only assume was an early attempt at achieving the hallowed vertically compliance/ laterally stiffnessity.
I assembled the wheels: Record 28H silver hubs, Open Pros and Dt spokes.
Record 10s group.
If I like the bar I’ll look for a deda stem and seat post to match.
I added a photo of my young padalwan. He started off with his Meccano hex wrench, proceeded to empty my toolbox and layout all the tools ‘systematically’ and then I found him with a real hex wrench trying to swap out the ritchey stem. A couple of years and I can give up wrenching my bikes!
[dmalbum: path=”/velominati.com/wp-content/uploads/readers/napolinige/2012.03.27.19.42.06/”/]
@napolinige
First off, bel mezzo! Regarding your levers, and in my very humble opinion, I think it’s partly to do with the rotation of your bars. The flat bit of the drop should be approaching horizontal so your levers would slide further up the bend so that the top of the hood was only slightly lower than the level of the bar tops. Others with more experience might advise better though.
@napolinige
Nice bike!
There is of course Rule #46 for guidance. I’d be tempted to move the levers up a bit so that the area your hands sit on is level. Your bar/shifter combo won’t satisfy the ends of levers level with the bottom of the bars thing so whatever is comfortable is best. A 25mm change is pretty extreem, good luck.
NEXT TIME THOUGH – contemplate Rule #26 before taking photos.
@napolinige
Lovely Nige, and not one of the same old brands either. Great stuff.
Without being critical, I’d echo what @Jonny and @snoov have said, but in saying that I realise that lever placement is intensely personal.
@Jonny
@snoov
Cheers guys! I’ll try rotating the bar up to get the tops nearer the horizontal before my Thursday ride.
My No. 2 has a similar reach and I always found it pretty comfortable so it should be ok.
@Oli
Cheers Oli. You posted as I replied to the other guys.
@napolinige
By way of an example, and to put it out there, here’s a photo of mine:
@Jonny
Don’t think you’re getting away with just that teaser shot…we want it all!
Could also be the first Boardman to grace these pages IIRC.
@napolinige
Bel Mezzo! That looks sensational, nice work on training up the pedalwan to become your wrench. Could use it down the track when he starts wanting fancy bikes, ‘sorry son, you’ll need to work harder on mine before you get one of your own to play with.’
@Mikael Liddy
Cheers Mikael! Sam’s only 2 but he’s showing promise.
@napolinige
ok then, ease him in gently to avoid putting him off…
@Mikael Liddy
Thanks for that. I’m excited about mine. I’m sure as I can be that I will likely promote them to #1 shoe status and bring them back home with me after winter in Melbourne.
Just finished a big block of work here and thoughts turn to the end of the school year… Giddy with the thought of seven or so weeks off to come.
Quick question for the lot of ya:
Sram Force shifter, Red FD. Having to really monkey with it to go from small to big ring. I’m guessing I need to tack up some slack on the cable. Barrel adjuster? Manually pull it up? I don’t think it’s a limit screw issue, but my FD work is still evolving.
(It’s on a cross bike, so a 42/38 setup. Has worked just fine in the past, so nothing wrong there.)
napolinige – Very slick bike! Ours share a few things in common, such as the wheels & Genius tubing. I’ve put it up here before, but thought since it has a tubing-pal I’d chuck it up again. Recently recabled mine, which was a pain in the arse due to the internal cabling routing. Looks cool though.
2005 frameset with Genius tubing. The only visible lug is at the BB junction. I guess the others were filed/sanded down? (I’m guessing someone will know more about this.) Internal cable routing, cool hidden seat pillar clamp. Wheels = Record hubs, Open Pro rims (not my doing of mismatching them & I’ve actually learned to accept it and not be Ronned off about them). Campag seat post, older perforated Flite saddle, Deda Zero100 matte bars, Deda perforated tape, Thomson stem (I don’t like the gun metal grey of the Deda stem, wanted to straight silver), & Centaur gruppo (I have not learned to accept the compact – when I bought this I was a neophyte Velominati, so didn’t even know what the hell a compact was. May Merckx have Mercy on my Soul.) Oh, and new Hudz. Had older ones that were far too squishy. Those lads seem to have gotten the compound recipe sorted! Vittoria Evo Corsa CX tires. Incredible ride!
If I was forced to choose just one of my road bikes, I think it would have to be this one. It’s just smooth and fun to ride. Whoever built it knows a thing or two about how a road bike should handle.
A 2005 Casati Laser:
@Ron
Bella bici! Casati make great frames. They are definitely held in high asteem by the acciaophiles here in Italy. If I remember correctly they are hand made by Casati in Monza. Genius tubing was originally designed for fillet brazing i.e no lugs like yours, but apart from saving a bit of weight I don’t know what difference it makes. Later a set for lugs was produced. At least I think that’s how it went. Mine’s a bit older too, ’96 I think, definitely 90’s judging by the paintwork.
I hear you on the internal routing! When I built mine up I foolishly removed the plastic guide tubes thinking I could use the inners from Nokon cables. It didn’t work and I spent hours sweating away trying to prod the cable through.
Nothing wrong with compact cranksets either. I just picked up a NOS 10s Chorus Ultra Torque compact of ebay pretty cheap. It will go on my Bianchi TSX for now but will be on the Carlà when I take on some bigger hills this summer. I like to think I’ll appreciate more than I need it but I think it will be the other way round.
Good to know about the hudz too, mine are nearly gone.
Thanks for the kind words, napolinige! I didn’t realize you were in Italy! Very cool. Mine says 75th anniversary on the TT, and it’s a 2005, so I guess they got things started in Monza in 1930? Pretty cool heritage right there.
Ha, I dig the paint on yours. I too have a crazy 90s paintjob. You can search “Tommasini” on this site if you’d like to see one of my other steel Italian road bikes.
I’m still not ready to quite talk about my recabling fiasco. I’m planning on getting it sorted out between now and the 2 years/15,0000 kms when I next need to recable it.
OOOOh, another Bianchi TSX? Now Frank’s has company!
I’m still pretty young & a bit of a big ring churner, so maybe the compact will grow on me as I age. I did actually ride this bike during the longest/steepest climbing day I’ve ever done. Was able to keep up with three big shots who have far more days in the saddle than I do.
Yeah, I should put this out there for you & anyone else regarding the Hudz. I got my first pair in maybe 2008. They were very soft, felt okay, but almost too squishy. They actually ripped on me and Hudz replaced them, which was awesome. The new ones are from last year, so 2011, and they feel GREAT. Firm, but still soft, but just more substantial, more like an original Campag hood. I do think they’ll hold up longer.
I do need to cut my fork, but that gives me series anxiety since replacing it wouldn’t be easy.
And yes, the feel of this bike is just great. I love pulling out my modern carbon bike for fast group rides (races!), but if I’m just riding solo for a Saturday or Sunday, or just putting in casual kms with mates, I always go for the Casati. I’m happy to own it and think it might even feel better than my Tommasini, which has the Multi-Shape tubing, but I never say that in front of the Tomma.
bought this third hand last year for 500 bucks.
circa 1996 ti frame, carbon fork, very early 8 speed dura-ace, came with campa alloy wheels. Perfect for newbie – now addicted, hence new wheels, pedals, bars, saddle, stem and waiting on seat post. Stripped decals ( random brand called newport racing australia – thikn they shipped in from US and badged up) and rebadged with my own. Love it more than life itself. any one have any idea who may have made the frame?
@Ron
Barrel adjuster will do it. *
Just wind on the tension till it is taut.
The cables are pretty thin, so they stretch from having it engaged in the big ring over a long period of time.
* Caveat:
If your barrel adjuster is already wound out, put it in the small ring, wind barrel adjuster in, then undo cable binder bolt, take in slack to hand tension, bind it up again.
That should sort it.
No need to touch the limit screws.
@Ron
If not the barrel adjuster, people often complain about poor shifting with the Red FD and often “downgrade” to Force.
@smithers
…and we have a winner!
That for 500 bucks is just amazing.
Beautiful bike.
@smithers
Wow! Good score. It looks brand new, which I suppose is the beauty of titanium.
@mouse
yeah…but have dropped a bit on wiggle to get it to this point…worth every penny though. I do like staring at her.
@napolinige
I love the fact it has a halflife of something like 140 years. It’s just powerful stuff.
Looking for a little assistance…has anyone got first hand experience of Fulcrum 3 wheels? I’m looking to upgrade a basic Alex 32 rim / Tiagra hub wheelset and they seem to fit my needs and budget pretty well. (£307 from Ribble). Any opinions or alternatives that I should be considering will be gratefully received. Cheers
@Ron, @napolinige
Went of a wander at lunch time to pick up some energy bars for the keepers tour and ended up buying Issue Twenty nine of Rouleur. In amongst some interesting looking pieces on Paris Roubaix, Zues and the Cannibal here’s an article on Casati with some rather nice looking photos.
Nice looking bikes, chapeau. I do rather fancy a steel framed bike.
Noticed some worrisome creaking from my carbon bars the other day. Sooo….
Some new Rotundo Pros just landed on my desk this morning. Wheee!
@smithers
Titanium doesn’t have a half-life, unless it is radioactive isotope?
mouse – Cool! I thought it was something like this, just wanted to check. Been through some decent cross riding so I think the cable is probably stretched. Was shifting just fine until quite recently, thus I thought it was not the limit screws.
DerHoggz – I have heard about that upgrade/downgrade. But, this set-up has been pretty clean & slick for me until this. I actually had this problem before a race in November. I reset the cable by hand after just racin’…in the BigRing!
I’ll throw it in the stand & pull up some tension. Thanks dudes!
Chris – sounds cool! Will have to check it out. I’ve never seen another Casati in person. In a perfect world we’d all own one carbon, one steel, one Ti, one Al road bike. I have three Italian steel bikes, gotta get that sorted out. One isn’t that rare or even that awesome, but the idea of selling off an Italian road bike, just seems like a bad one.
In the meantime, how does one put up a slideshow? My darn photos, which I put up using “upload” are always grainy and ugly. I’d like some nice clean ones in the future. Must be doing it wrong.
@motor city
I’ve got a set of Fulcrum Racing 3’s that came with my Wilier Gran Turismo. They ride really great. Good all around wheelset. For that price they’re a good buy, and you will DEFINITELY notice the difference from your current wheelset.
@smithers
Bel Mezzo! It doesn’t have to be expensive to be beautiful and fun to ride.
Also, looks like you’ve got some Racing 3’s on there, so maybe you’ve got another opinion for @Motor City.
@Skip
Cheers man, useful info that ties in with other reviews & stuff I’ve read.
I’m saving for a new #1 but that’s likley to take until Xmas at the rate I’m going. A wheel upgrade that I can then move onto the new bike seems like the way to go for now.
@smithers great score – i love ti bikes. As @skip says – would like to hear how those wheels are?
@motor city
I have Fulcrum 3s and yes they are pretty good, especially at that price range. Have to say I would be hard pressed to notice a substantial difference between them and my Eurus TBH.
The Pro Lite Bracciano wheels get rave reviews in that price range – even a little cheaper I think – and may be worth looking at.
@smithers
Very Nice. I don’t know if American Bicycle Corp made that your, but several years back they were making the majority of the Ti bikes in the US.
I picked this one up a couple of years ago and I love it.
I have since upgraded the wheels and put SRAM Force on it.
@Ron
To upload a slideshow you add a photo as usual but when selecting the photo select all the photos you want in the slideshow. For highlighting multiple files hold the control button while selecting.
How did the work on the FD go?
@smithers
NIce ride! It’s hard to say who made it, tho lot’s of bikes in the US are/ were made by Litespeed and Merlin. Is there any clue stamped on the bottom of the bottom bracket?
@ChrisO
Cheers Chris, those Pro Lite Bracciano look like a great alternative.
@Skip
I think those are Fulcrum 5’s judging by the spoke count.
@motor city
Itburns is right: they’re fulcrum 5s – really happy with them: only down side is weight ( 2kg ) but the rest is upside – stiff, very strong, accelerate well and smooth out the bumps well, so great on our crappy Sydney roads. And for $250 – value. Rate highly.
@scaler911
yes there is : H90600 …… ? guess it must be a litespeed or merlin.
@DerHoggz
I only ride radioactive isotopes. great in winter.
@smithers
My wilier came with fulcrum 5s, and I have to say, I love them. I bought lighter wheels since, but I don’t know that they make more impact than how smooth and quick the 5s are. I know that I will be labeled heretic by the masses(or those who know how bike parts actually work), but I’m guessing something about the hub makes em special. I can’t tell a huge difference between them and my lighter wheels (except the lighter ones are definitely purtier..
In other news, we pre-cogaled here in asheville- @Anjin-san took me out on some awesome singletrack to pre-cook my quads for tomorrow’s climbing. What a beautiful part of the country!
In anticipation of winning the $640M MegaMillions Jackpot, I will be buying a select few of your asses some fine fine bicycles.
Let’s say I win, and let’s say you get your dream bike. What is it?
@Calmante
Something off the shelf or something custom?
If I were going off the shelf I’d just get the top of the line Felt or BMC. Something so light it wouldn’t be legal to use in a UCI-sanctioned race.
But if I really won it big I’d probably pony up for a custom rig (material to be determined, probably Ti) that fit me perfectly. If money is no object, why not?
@Calmante
It changes all the time but right now it would be Bianchi Oltre ( vaconsoleil replica) with FSA stem post and bars ( I don’t care I like ’em) and the campy eps components, a fizik aliante saddle and Lightweights standard carbon clinchers with conti gp 4000 tires. You should see some change from 20 grand.
If I win I’ll do the same for you mate! Plus we can go ride in Italy and watch the Giro..my treat!
@Calmante
Nice thought @Calmante! Funny thing, there was a mini bike expo this morning out on Melbourne’s iconic Beach Road and there were some Wizz bikes on display. Looked nice, and rather looked like Giants. That made me think, Hmmmmm what steed would I get if money was no problem? Either a custom made Baum or Italian classic Colnago C59 each graced with Campagnolo Super Record. Hows that?!
@Calmante
cheers man, you’re too kind.
it changes regularly but today i’ll take a custom fitted one of these – http://www.enigmabikes.com/bike/bike-enigma-effusion.html
they are based 30km from my house so you won’t need to bother with the shipping.
what are you having?
@Calmante
A Pegoretti Luigino in Faema white and red with Campagnolo Super Record, please.
@Calmante
BMC TeamMachine SLR01 size 60, Shimano Ultegra, 440 bar width, 120 stem, 175 crank length
Just my luck, I build out my new bike and the weather decides to shit the bed, serves me right for living in a rain forest. :| I’m hoping there will be a reprieve tomorrow to get out and give her a spin. Better/more pics soon.
2010 Ridley Helium
Ultegra/Dura Ace mix
Chris King r45 laced to Velocity a23’s
@Calmante
Cervelo R5ca size 61 (same TeamMachine specs)
@Calmante
Look 695 56cm. Dura Ace grupo. Zipp 404 wheels with black decals. Look carbon pedals. Fizik tape and saddle. Zipp cages. this frame btw
Excellent choices! Consider them yours (once I win, of course!).
As for me, I will take a Time Ulteam with full Campagnolo EPS and matching wheelset, similar to the one Oli built up a few weeks ago, if any of you bums win it. In black, of course.
@Oli
Pegoretti… Nice.