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 ...
@Calmante
Road: Spesh Tarmac SL4 with Super Record 11
Mtb: Spesh SWorks Epic 29er SRAM
CX: Spesh Crux Bunnyhopper with SRAM Force
Hmm. Gonna need a track bike as well as I’m about to move 5km away from and indoor velodrome…
@Vin’cenza
Whoa, whoa… Give a guy an inch, he starts talking two bicycles. Jeepers. You get a BMC.
@Calmante
Alright, alright.
I’ll take care of the MTB, track and cross bikes.
@mouse
Better. This is a road bike forum, after all.
Two hours to go before lifelong financial stability.
@Calmante
Are you in Maryland? I won $2, can I get anyone a gel or a zip tie?
i won £10.60 on the euro millions. Sorry, but i can’t stretch to any of your dream bikes I’m afraid.
@xyxax
Nope, not me. I would have been in Flanders by now.
If I could have this colour scheme without the disc brakes, just normal calipers and Super Record gruppo, this would be my choice.
Museeuw Bikes [en.museeuwbikes.be] — Flaxcarbon is impressive.
Museeuw Vibration Testing proudly, yet firmly offers this (image).
I’m guessing it wasn’t one of you that won, but I would get one of these:
http://www.englishcycles.com/
Okay, image attempt #2
2010 Ridley Helium
Dura-ace, Ultegra mix
Chris King r45’s laced to Velocity a23’s
I opted for the s-works shoes (in white & red) over the new bars, but after the first ride, I need to address those bars. Can’t say I’m a fan of the fizik saddle either.
Holy jeez is this bike fast, I love it.
@urbanwhitetrash
Careful chap, people have been excommunicated for less!
In all seriousness, that is a swift looking machine you’re aboard there. Given the look of the dimensions in the photo, you’re another of the freakishly tall velominati aren’t you?
@Mikael Liddy
I was thinking the same thing.
Maybe one of their other models is more inline with what you need.
@Mikael Liddy
I prefer the term altitudinally endowed, thank you very much.
@RedRanger
This is my first fizik saddle and it’s loaner from a mate, so I’ll see what my LBS has in terms of newer/different models. I’ve been riding on Specialized Toupé up to this point but have been getting numb junk on 5+ hour rides so change is required, especially if I’m planning on doing the STP in sub 10hrs.
NEW WHEELS!! Woo. Yay.
I just took possession of these wheels from the FedEx guy, who commented on the two shipping boxes (one for each wheel) feeling like nothing was in them.
Oh, there is something in them all right. Hopes and dreams for a better future of climbing, quantified in aluminum form.
Only bummer is the came with silver spokes, not black. The photos online looked black, but it was probably the reflection from the rim playing optical tricks. I don’t really care enough to return them for such a minor detail.
They will be replacing my stock Alexrim 500 boat anchors, which now have over 5,000 kms on them.
Pairing them up with an 12-27 cassette and my usual Conti GP4000 25mm tires, though the rim at 22mm looks a bit skinny for them. We’ll see how easy/hard they are to mount when I get home.
I’ll try and remember to get a good shot of them tomorrow on my bike when I’m out giving them their first shake down.
Inspired recently to grow stem length and angle from 100mm (Feb) to 130mm (Mar). Since I will never turn back, now selling 3T ARX Team 31.8 stem 100mm ±17° Al 7075 T6 on Ebay for a bargain price. It may be much appreciated by someone within the Velominati.
@mcsqueak
I love Conti tires, but sweet Merckx do I hate mounting new ones – with the rims I have, its a complete nightmare. I just got a new frame (a 2010 Ridley Orion my LBS had lying around) which I’m taking out for the first time tomorrow morning (outfitted with all the components from my old frame for a controlled comparison), but after a few rides I’ll be putting on a new pair of GP4000s and I’m praying they are easier to mount than the Gatorskins I have mounted currently.
@VeloVita
Yeah I struggled a bit mounting my last set for the first time. When I had to change a flat a few months back it wasn’t as bad – I had more trouble with the tube than the tire.
We’ll see how these go… I’m more concerned now with how the 25mm tires will look on the 22mm rim. However, my current rims could be just as skinny – it’s been a while since I’ve seen them with tires off, and rims do look deceptively small with nothing on them.
@mcsqueak
Bike porn! You know I’m a junkie for pictures right?
@mcsqueak
Nice. I believe @Steampunk just got the same/similar wheels.
@xyxax
Yeah we talked about them on here a few months ago. G’rilla has the same ones as well, which after seeing them at the cogal pretty much cemented my choice of them among a few other brands at a similar price point as well.
Of course, I still have a looong ways to go until I can climb like him. But at least I won’t have “heavy wheels” as an excuse for poor performance any more.
@RedRanger
Sure, here they are hanging out at my office, helping me be distracted as fuck:
I didn’t expect delivery today, otherwise I would have brought my tubes/tires to work and finished putting them together. I still need to stop by the LBS and pick up the cassette.
@mcsqueak
I ride Conti 25s exclusively (except for on my CX bike) and have them on various rims ranging from Open Pros to Aksiums to Neuvations (which are the narrowest I think) and have never had a problem with how they look or perform.
Oh, and I’ve already had one coworker ask how much they were and comment on how their last bike cost less than the wheels.
@mcsqueak
Yeah, it’s great to talk to colleagues regarding cycling gear – they think you’re fucking crazy ( and I’m a velominatus budgetatus).
@mcsqueak
Congrats, look sweet. Now you are out of excuses for the ronde. Its going to hurt. But what ride worth doing doesn’t? Faster doesn’t mean less painful, to paraphrase.
@gaswepass
Thanks. And I’m totally doing the Ronde. It might be the last person to finish, but I’m going to give it the ‘ol college try.
Er, *I* might be the last to finish, even.
@mcsqueak
Very nice! I did indeed just receive a pair myself (the 27mm rims). I mounted Vredestein Fortezza tires (25s) over Vittoria latex tubes. Nice combo. I think you’ll find that the difference in climbing won’t be nearly as significant as the speed on flats and downhill. I shaved ~400g off the bike, but these wheels just like rolling””and fast.
This is step 1. Next week, I’ll be changing out the groupset. Pics to follow.
Incidentally, the spokes don’t really register as silver once outside…
@Steampunk
Awesome! I’m glad you like them.
I too have thought about going to latex tubes, but haven’t quite convinced myself of the benefits. I currently really like like the Specalized Turbo Tubes, as they are fairly lightwight but seem strong (only one flat in ~5,000km last year, from a sharp metal bit that managed to stab through my tire), and they come pre-talc’ed in little ziplock bags which is a nice plus.
@mcsqueak
It will be awesome, no matter how long it takes. Glad to hear. Good on yuh!
@mcsqueak
I should have switched in some latex tubes on the old wheels; doing it with new wheels and tires (which are stunning, by the way) makes it difficult to discern what is the result of the tubes, the tires, and the wheels. Regardless: so far, so good.
@Steampunk
I went home at lunch to mount the tires and hustle over to the LBS… holy shit that was about the hardest tire/rim mounting effort I’ve ever had. I hope flats are few and far between…
@mcsqueak
Nice! Those should take an hour off the Ronde!
Do you guys have info on this “ronde” or a link. I’m assuming it’s Ronde Du Portland?
Ronde PDX ?
@paolo
Yeah this thing.
@mcsqueak
Hey, for some reason I kept thinkin sat 21, but now it seems that sun 22 is the date? opinion?
mcsqueak – Very nice upgrade. You were on Alex wheels? Holy cannoli. I have them on my around town bike & they’re so heavy I want to upgrade them. ENJOY!
Hard tire mounting you say? My last effort was 6 hours, two broken tire levers, two bleeding thumbs…and they wouldn’t go on. Seems as if the new Hutchinson Bulldog cross tires have a carbon (formerly Kevlar) bead & won’t go on Ksyrium rims. What a waste of time AND a p.i.t.arse.
It’s actually really awesome when you put up with very modest equipment for a long time, and many kms, and then get new, nicer stuff. Earning that stuff should be a Rule. Actually, via all the other Rules you can pretty much discern someone who just plonked down a load of cash for a nice bike & someone who earned/worked/deliberated/waited for one.
How’s the lottery winning going by the way?
@gaswepass
Multiple sites say that the 2012 LBL is on April 22, which indeed is a Sunday. I’d go with that!
@Ron
Thanks! Yeah, I don’t know why it took me so long to upgrade. I have a hard time committing to large purchases. I can waffle for ages, and the Alex wheels “worked” fine – bombproof, actually. Just heavy as shit. And while I’m not a fast hill climber I like to do it, and when the grade really tips up or on really long slogs I could just feel the weight (and the 25t cassette) working against me.
I guess tomorrow I’ll find out if the upgrade was worth the money!
Hopefully not just the weight but the stiffness too. I have a set of cheap Maddux and they must be 2000 grams and soft as shite. I use them when I ride with my VMH. It’s like riding thru mud or underwater or something. Good training though, then I slip the Dura Ace back on and I feel turbo charged.
When I changed to an 11-28 cassette I got another the same but a cheapo to use on the Maddux…top tip.
That Ronde looks like fun. Too bad it’s so far from me. Have fun with the new purchase tomorrow!
ps you know you might have to retune your rear derailuer tonight with the new wheels maybe a half turn or so either way and the limits..possibly. I’m lucky now that the maddux just match up the same but that’s not always the case.
@paolo
Ya it’s fun alright. Like a colonoscopy without sedation is fun. Like getting in the ring with Mike Tyson is fun. Most everyone I know looks like Ryan Kelly did at the coffee shop on 200 on 100 at the end. I swore after last year I’d never do it again ever, and made @gaswepass promise to shoot me in the skull if I even mentioned it.
But I can’t wait for the 22nd!
@paolo
Yeah, I imagine they’ll be much more stiff as well. Excited to see how they feel tomorrow.
And yeah, I decided just to drop my bike at the LBS as the cassette needs a spacer, and the RD will need to be tweaked, and I wanted them to make sure the larger cassette would work with the chain I have on (hopefully it’s long enough). The last few times I’ve tried to tweak my derailleurs have not gone so well, and I could see myself getting all pissed off and just wanting to ride tomorrow, so I decided to let them handle it. I shall learn the ins and outs of that when I am not so excited by the new shiny thing I just want to play with.
I actually frequently downgrade stuff – buy cheap old heavy stuff off EBay that still works well, I spend most of my time on an al frame with heavy 32 spoke 3 cross wheels so that I get a free upgrade when I hop onto bike #1. I just ebay-ed set of 10sp ulegra hubs built into cxp30s for 40 bucks. They felt like shit till I opened them up and found both front and back wheels are missing ball bearings (races are fine) 2 bucks later and they’re sweet
@scaler911
My house is all downhill from Council Crest (with the exception of going over the Hawthorne bridge). Hopped recovery beverages could easily be made available.
@mcsqueak
Nipple Lube!
@scaler911
So basically a dump truck of fun then!
@scaler911
The fun part is I will wait till after he’s finished to shoot him…
We’ll it’s just a start, but let the upgrades begin… Immediately, the saddle had to go, and I had the carbon stem which I knew I would need for the fit. There was nothing wrong with the stock wheels. Sure they were a little heavy (1800g), but they were stiff enough. But when the opportunity to demo these bad boys came up,I jumped before I said “yeah sure”.
I’ll likely wind up on the P-SLR1’s with the scandium hoops.