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 ...
@mtnbikerfred
Very nice ride sir, especially with the handle; @mtnbikerfred. I little advice, er suggestion, if I may; be rid of the red nipple caps on the tubes. and the shifters seem a bit high. But what the fuck do I know? Welcome to the fray, and it really is a nice ride!
@minion
I love it.
@Calmante
If you like that you’l love Scaler911’s bikes. Fucken Hell you’d think he bodged the drainpipes together himself to make a frame
@Ron
“Earn your upgrades” is also the biggest aid to a Velominatus Budgetatus, since you can’t insta-spend; you first have to complete an achievement. Preferably, you approach that goal with the expressed intent of using it to justify a new item. It also means that you get to thoroughly use your old equipment before you enjoy the new one.
I bought my Ultegra WH6700 wheels after a three-day, 600km trip. My 2500g wheels did a fine job insofar that they didn’t complain, ever, but a week later I walked out of the LBS with $400 less in my pocket and 900g less on my bike – with the main benefit, however, being the perfect smoothness of the new hubs and slightly wider rims. They’re not the lightest (no, especially not for that money), but I love them to bits.
Next up is a groupset, to be earned with sweat and pain at the European ITU Cup. My stepdad intends to upgrade his #3 steed from Ultegra to Record, which will allow me to upgrade mine back into #1 status (the newer, fancier TT bike took that place for a month) for the price of the shifters and cranks. I foresee new white bartape to celebrate.
@minion
@minion
Nice snag on e-bay. Isn’t that crazy? Who the fuck takes their hubs apart and puts them back together without all the bearings? Fucking morons. BTW, if I remember correctly from one of your long-ago posts about your “Gios”, it ain’t a Gios. A little paint and some decals go a long way.
3 FUCKING WEEKS…I’ve had the TF3 for as only as long as I went without a bike & I’ve fucking binned it.
Went out in the hills today after a massively windy day yesterday and within 10 minutes I realised descending today would have to be carefully done as there was tree based debris all over the place. Set a PB on the first climb & was working my way deeper in to the hills before tackling the first main descent.
I know it well & coming up to a long tightening right hander I was slowing much more than I would, noticed some solid sticks in the middle of the lane on entry so figured I’d go outside them & then work my way towards the inside. Cue back wheel slide & lock up on some smaller shit before topsiding over the front left corner of the bike flush on my elbow.
Collarbone is now in 3 or 4 pieces & I’m booked to chat to the surgeon once the Easter weekend is done. Important thing is the new toy seems to be in ok shape apart from a couple of scrapes on the hoods, rear derailleur & skewer.
@Jeff in PetroMetro
Yep it’s a Fuji with some stickers and a lick of paint. it does have the all important Italian fairy dust that has been blown through the frame tubes. I had to catch, strangle and grind the fairies myself
@Mikael Liddy
Bugger. Sorry to hear that, hope they can put you back together properly. It’s the classic cyclist’s injury.
@Mikael Liddy
Sorry to hear! Glad you got up!
Know how you feel. Busted my left wrist twice – still NQR, pedal scar on right knee from velodrome pile up. Bones mend, scars heal, but scrape marks on the steed! That pain never goes away! Yeah its does, they just becomes battle scars.
@sthilzy good thing is the frame appears untouched, the damage seems limited to “replaceable” parts. Have heard enough horror stories about internal issues with cf frames so I’ll make sure it gets a good going over.
@Mikael Liddy
Buggeur! Hope you heal fast.
@Mikael Liddy
Shit. Hurts just to hear about it. Glad to know the bike’s in pretty good shape, though. Just think about how much more time you’ll have to hang around here!
@Mikael Liddy
I did my collar bone a few years back when the guy in front of me went down and I went straight over the top. The feeling when you see that x-ray with the bone looking like a broken up chocolate bar isn’t great but it does heal. Top tip use a sling – you get bone rather than cartlidge and that means it won’t break easily if you have another moment.
@Mikael Liddy
Bummer. Hope you heal soon.
@Mikael Liddy
Sorry to hear that and I hope you heal fast. Good news about the bike though.
@Mikael Liddy
Sorry to hear this and I know there’s no healing soon enough. I am only 2 weeks into recovery from a broken left clavicle myself (went over the bars during a criterium (coming thru a turnabout) and landed ‘smack’ on the shoulder). And similarly the bike was unmarked. The only solace now is bike research, race research, and looking to replace a helmet. Let me know if you want to compare any notes.
Holy shite, Mikael – didn’t realize you went down on your new #1. Best of luck in the surgery & getting the new whip jazzed back up.
tessar – Yeah, I love riding tons to earn your upgrade stripes. It feels good to wear something out or put up with equipment you know is quite modest. My first proper road bike was a third hand Cannondale that was too big. I learned so much about cycling, training, mechanical work, and myself aboard that bike. I decided to sell it despite our connection, just too big to ride after I’d been on a proper bike. The cool thing is that it lives in town & I see it all the time. Passed it on to a really nice lad who upgraded from a borrowed Sears bike. To him, it’s magic! And that’s how it should be. No fun in starting at the top.
minion – good work on rehabilitating unloved parts. Yeah, who loses bearings & just leaves them out? Weird.
@Mikael Liddy
Ciao!
@Mikael Liddy
That sucks man… I hope you heal up quickly!
New wheels on the bike:
I also did a few sections of the ronde route today, and only about 1/3 – 1/2 of the climbing before my legs were feeling shot. Boy I am so fucked.
@mcsqueak that is one hawt looking ride Mr Squeek.
Cheers for the good wishes all, currently slung up enjoying the buzz from some pretty cool painkillers. Doesn’t look like the bones are going to re-align & reset on their own so surgery and a life of setting off airport security scanners seems to be in my future.
@Vin’cenza best of luck with the recovery. I know my biggest issue will be impatience, I’ll admit to not being the world’s best patient when I can’t do the suff I want. Did you have yours operated on or let it heal naturally?
@mcsqueak
Nice bike squeekers! Suck it up you have two weeks ;-) GU gels ( x2 caffine) and poweraid zero get you thru most anything. You’ll make it!
@Mikael Liddy
I recommend martini with percoset ( is that the right spelling??) I had rotator cuff surgery almost 2 years ago and I found out that percoset and martinis are a hoot!!
Not everyday like..that would be addiction. Just once in a while ;-)
@paolo I’m flying high enough on Endone by itself at the moment but there is an IPA in the fridge that may be consumed tonight to celebrate seeing the Keepers on the roadside at Paris Roubaix, could make the rest of the race interesting.
Aewsome. I don’t know shit about belgian beer but I just got a six pack of Leffe Abby Ale to consume whilst watching PR highlights tomorrow. Hopefully it’s good.
Have a wee recovery ride before then though..
@mcsqueak
Did you drive all the way up to Franks house to take a picture using his wall?
@RedRanger
I’m actually “house sitting” for him while he’s in Europe, only he doesn’t know it yet! Creepy!
I biked past that wall and actually turned around to use it, as it looked rather good for a background.
Thanks for the kind words all – I’m hoping to survive through judicial applications of strategic rest breaks, and that riding with some fellow velominati keeps me motivated.
Ok so had more of a look over the bike today & the rear wheel looks like it’s rolled its last kilometres. When I look at it from directly behind I can read the left hand side rim label at the bottom of the wheel through the spokes on the right of the tyre at the top of the wheel.
Interestingly the wheel also seems locked in place despite not being in contact with either the frame or the brakes anywhere. The cranks & chain will go backwards with no problem, but you can’t move it forward.
@Mikael Liddy
It’s not really a concern with carbon – it’s either obviously broken or still aligned – but check if the frame didn’t warp or anything.
I went down hard last summer on my fixed gear commuter. Car swerved, my crank got stuck in his wheel & stopped on the spot. Apparently, the combined mass of the bike and the momentum of the wheel (plus a mighty strong, taut chain) managed to twist the rear triangle to the side – I didn’t even realize it until I rode a few days after release from the hospital, and noticed it wasn’t tracking straight when riding hands-free.
@Mikael Liddy
Maybe a bent axle. It’ll be hard with one arm but take the wheel off and see if the wheel spins. I hope your frame is ok.
@paolo
Turns out its alright…
@paolo
Leffe Blonde is alright. Leffe Brun is awesome.
@snoov had a much closer (read: less influenced by painkillers) look & a brake pad was stuck on the rim. Opened the quick release on the brakes and was able to move the wheel about 1/10 of a revolution before the rim made contact again, went back the other way & maybe got a little further than back to the original position before it caught on the other pad.
Basically the wheel is spectacularly warped.
As part of my 200 on 100 preparation, I got a bike fit done last week. For the past few months, I’ve had a fair amount of stiffness in my right shoulder. The first thing the fit called for was shifting the saddle forward and raising it close to 2cm (medical bill going to Keepers). Now: I wasn’t rocking in the saddle, and my upper body is typically fairly still, but on initial experience, the lower saddle did clear up the tightness in my shoulder. However, after a 55km ride (mainly on flattish roads) on Saturday, I’ve had a dull pain in my knees, which I’ve never had before.
1. Could this simply be a by-product of not stretching properly after the ride into headwinds (I do have tight hips)?
2. Could knee pain result from too low a saddle? (I’m toying with raising it just a bit).
3. Or saddle forward?
4. Or: no real problem, just body adjusting to a radically new position (change made in one go, not gradually)?
Not that I particularly care, but the saddle height remains Rule compliant at the lower height, but I’m not wild about trading muscular pain for joint pain. Would be grateful for any experienced thoughts on how best to proceed…
@Steampunk
I’m a bit confused: It think that you lowered your saddle by ~2cm from reading your post, but your 3rd sentence says you raised it AND moved it forward?
Either way, it seems that you drastically moved your saddle position and a 55km ride may have been a bit ambitious for the first time out after that change. Maybe go for shorter rides and concentrate on your stroke in your new position for a week or so? Other than different, how does the new position feel?
@Mikael Liddy
Yeah, my rear wheel is still in the shop from being hit by an SUV a month ago. It appears that HED C2 Belgium tubular rims are very popular these days and have been sold out for a month. Should be okay as long as it arrives in time for my trip to France in June.
Not that it matters as I have not been able to ride from an Achilles injury which hopefully will be healed enough to ride by this weekend We need to start an injured Velominati Support Group around here for those of us that cannot ride. I’m sure Vin would be in for it!
@Tartan1749
Agree with this. Also confused if you actually lowered or raised your saddle height and it might have been a bit too much of a push after such a drastic change in position, although 55k is not too crazy, maybe your effort was a bit over-the-top?
Gah! Sorry.
Saddle was lowered ~2cm. Saturday’s ride wasn’t too hard, although I spent most of the time in the big ring (on flat terrain with some headwind). Nothing untoward, it seemed (at the time). The lower position seemed to put the lion’s share of the work on the quads, and I noticed that I was having more difficulty recruiting the hamstrings. Also not used to dropping quite so far down to sit back on the saddle after climbing. But shoulders felt a good bit better.
@Steampunk
2cm at once is too drastic, that declares the sore knees. it might be better to lower your saddle by 0.5cm every couple of weeks.
if it s the shoulders, it might well be the width of your bars.
@JC Belgium
I must admit I thought it was a bit of a drastic drop, especially all at once. Width of bars? How so? Too wide (bars are 440mm; I’m fairly broad across chest and shoulders)? And the pain was in just the one shoulder.
@Steampunk
I had my saddle too high once and the way I was able to tell was that my calves would cramp up from flexing more than they should as a result of my ankle would extend at the bottom of the stroke. At first I thought I wasn’t eating/drinking enough, but I ruled that out and lowered the saddle by a hair. Bang! No cramps since.
@Steampunk
I tend to have the same issue with one shoulder being sore. I’ve found that really focusing on relaxing my neck and shoulders coupled with tightening my lats and core when I ride makes a huge difference. I also just shortened my stem by about a centimeter compared to what I’ve been set up with the past 3 or so years – I have yet to really test out that alteration though, but I anticipate it making a positive difference.
@VeloVita
Maybe bringing the saddle forward would be enough in itself. Lower body was fine with the old set-up. I might start extending the seat post again gradually to see if I can find a compromise…
@Tartan1749
Only indication that the saddle might have been too high (and only reason I even bothered with a fit) was that might right shoulder would get very stiff (and then neck) on rides over, say, 70km. Calves and legs were fine. Now, with the lower saddle, the knees are still aching””this three days after my last ride.
@Steampunk
Yeah, I’d start migrating that bad boy back up (maybe even start at your original position and move it down a mm or 2 only. My guess is that it really wasn’t too high. If so, it wasn’t by much. 3 days of pain? Ouch.
@Steampunk
If I were you I would go back and talk to the guy who fitted you and discuss it first before you make any changes back. You paid for a fit after all.
Everything here is subjective guess work.
@paolo
Agreed. Fit should be an iterative process and a good fitter should work with a rider to achieve a setup they are comfortable with as opposed to having a one and done approach.
@Steampunk
I would go back and explain the problems you are having and see what the fitter suggests. I find it a bit strange that a fitter would lower a saddle to compensate for stiff shoulders as opposed to attempting to raise your bars/shorten your reach unless your saddle height was just too high to begin with and resulted in not enough of a bend in your knee. Regardless, I agree with everyone who has said that 2cm is a pretty drastic change and that a 55km ride may have been ambitious with that kind of change to your position.
Just upgraded to wheels to some Pro-Lite Bracciano (thanks for the suggestion @Chris O) so i thought i’d stick up a picture of my humble ride, its a Genesis Vapour. Its a fun bike.