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 ...
@VeloVita
In the fitter’s defense, I think he simply started at the back and worked his way forward. I had a bit of trouble resting my heel on the pedal at full extension without rolling my hip, so I think that’s where he felt compelled to start (in retrospect, I wonder about this technique with Speedplay pedals, which are both flat and quite small). And then knee and pedal weren’t vertically lined up when pedals were horizontal.
I was planning to head back tomorrow afternoon (this isn’t my regular LBS, but that’s another long and sordid story). But I get the impression that returning to my original position and then slowly working my way towards this fit (and not necessarily all the way) until I’m comfortable might be the best tack. Am I reading the above comments correctly? Commuted to and from work on my singlespeed today, which measures much to the old fit: of course, I don’t ride it as hard or for as long as the road bike, but the ride was easier and more comfortable than the new fit. So I wonder…
@Steampunk
I had a similar experience lately. After reading where most cyclist my height had their saddle, I had moved my seat up 25mm. I had no issue with that per se, but it seemed to me that I was too extended on the bottom of my stroke. I didn’t have any pain, just that I felt like I was pointing my foot at the bottom. I moved it down ~10mm and it felt like I wasn’t pointing any longer. However my first long ride and my left knee hurt again. I looked it up and everywhere said that knee pain is usually a sign of a seat that’s too low. So I’m gonna move it back up 5mm and see how it feels.
FWIW, Sheldon Brown recommended that your seat be as high as you could raise it without you rocking side to side.
@Steampunk
Oh dear, heel on pedal? Really? This is not a place I would expect an experienced bike fitter of the modern era to go (nor is knee over pedal spindle either, for that matter).
I’m not going to attempt a diagnosis over the web, but I’d suggest finding a proper bike fitter to help ease the shoulder pain, which is usually (but definitely not always) a sign of poor weight distribution.
Thanks, @Oli:
I went in with a weight distribution kind of question. I assumed that I was actually pretty close when it came to my position, but that my right arm was slightly longer than my left (which it is), and that I was therefore absorbing more bumps, etc. through the right side, with tension compounding in my shoulder/neck area. I really don’t think I was rocking in the saddle””or, more to the point, my upper body seemed fairly stable. I can see myself going all Merckx over the next couple of months, adjusting my position at every opportunity. And then going all (insert rider who typically blows up at every opportunity) at the end of June on the 200 on 100…
Get a fitter that works with Retul: that measurement system blows every other out of the water. It gives the fitter unprecedented amounts of real, live, precise data – although it’s what the fitter does with it that matters. Mine does magic, and I’ve been perfectly comfortable on both the road and TT bikes ever since he fitted me.
3D data of every movement, from toes to palms? Got it. Knee angle and lateral movement, hip angle, heel drop, arm-stress. Heel on the pedal sounds like a joke in comparison.
Retül Müve dynamic fit bike — yowza!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_jx7TV6TT8
@Steampunk
my mate’s situation had popped into mind. his shoulder was soring too and he had to get wider bars.
@oli and @tessar are right – a proper fitter can do miracles…
Horrifying news…
A local rider has died after suffering a catastrophic frame failure on his Cervélo. I will post more as I learn it.
@Calmante
Oh man, where did this happen? That is absolutely awful.
Rehoboth, MA
@scaler911
Hahaha! The only reason I left the caps on was because they were red! Great for photos. Totally useless otherwise. The hoods are pretty much straight off the end of the bend. The appearance of being angled up is purely a photographic artifact from me rotating the camera for framing, and the slightly goofy compact/ergo bend of the bars
Gary Lanoue passed away from his injuries at the age of 58 due to a catastrophic failure on his Cervélo Soloist; specifically, the Wolf SL fork. It happened on a smooth stretch of road on Monday evening popular with local riders.
Check your forks for recalls, for safety’s sake.
@Calmante
That fork was recalled wasn’t it? I’m sure that’s over on the cervelo website forum.
@Steampunk
My experience has been if my seat is 5mm too low that it feels like someone took a hammer to the inner surfaces of my R knee. always the right. always not fun. takes 2 days to feel better. I take seat height very seriously now. last year realized after 2 hours of the ronde de pdx (which we expect y’all to show up for, btw) climbing like crap and then noticing R knee pain. then realized seat had slipped. My old merlin just doesn’t like to keep the seatpost very tight for very long.
@Calmante
Tragic, tragic. Check your gear always, and remember that carbon fails catastrophically; if there is a crack it won’t slowly grow over time, it will just fail at some point.
Velominati’s sympathies go out to his family and friends. None of us should die doing what we love; we all should always have the privilege to come home from our rides.
To @paolo‘s point, the Wolf SL was recalled several years ago and replaced with the Easton or Wolf CL fork. Fork failure is terrifying. Also note that the Wolf forks are built by Alpha Q (True Temper), not Cervelo, so that is technically not a Cervelo failure, but a True Temper failure.
@Calmante
Where do you live that this is local for you?
@MJ Moquin
Like I said, the crash happened in Rehoboth, MA. Gary was from Attleboro, MA.
@Calmante tragic occurrence.
Dropped the bike off with the lbs last night to have it looked over in the wake of Saturday’s crash & was greeted with some not so great news. There’s some frame damage about half way along the top tube that looks to go through the first layer of carbon to the frame below…shall find out the prognosis early next week.
@Mikael Liddy
Won’t neccessarily require replacement.
Some very good carbon repairers about in Australia, most notably Lueshner Teknik (think I spelled that correctly.
Don’t despair. $400-600 would likely see it sorted.
@Mikael Liddy
@mouse
I agree with Mouse – just make sure your LBS sends the frame somewhere that can x-ray (I think thats what they do) the frame to see whether it can be repaired. Only last week I dropped off a carbon EMC frame (that i stacked in a crit about 16 months ago) to Fitzroy cycles in Carnegie. They strip the frame and then send it off to a carbon repairer to see if they can replace what is a tiny hairline crack in the headtube (apologies for the upside down image).
@Marcus
@Mikael Liddy
Link to Raoul Luescher’s website.
Here
Lots of info about his repair methodology.
Fixed a cracked carbon seatstay on my mtb a few years back. Great work!
@Calmante
My mistake. I thought you were saying it was local to you as well.
@MJ Moquin
No, you weren’t mistaken; I ride on that road.
Bike tweaked (I have no idea what’s going on with the saddle angle in that pic):
New: Revolution Wheelworks wheels; Vredestein Fortezza tires (sold at my local café); Vittoria latex tubes inside; new take-off and lightly used Ultegra components (shifters, crank, derailleurs, brake calipers, cassette, and chain); Deda Newton bars; Fizik tape; and Fizik Cyrano carbon seatpost.
I figure this is the rule compliant way to introduce myself here.
Marinoni Special ’91 (Columbus SL) repainted and rebuilt recently.
@mouse, @Marcus cheers lads, I’ve read a little about Raoul on CT’s site before. Either way I won’t be stumping up for it thanks to my contents insurance (and might slide a few other things in to get ‘replaced’) so it’s all good. Mate has promised me his trainer so hopefully unwin’t be total crap once I get the all clear to head outside just as winter hits.
@Steampunk
Very nice! I look forward to meeting her in person this summer!
@2000dB
Wow! That looks like a beautiful bike! I have never heard of Marinoni bikes before. Can you tell me anything about them?
btw uwin’t = I won’t
@Buck Rogers
He’s a long standing Quebec frame builder, a bit of a local legend.
Here’s an article about him if you want to find out more than I can write here.
Maybe you’ll get to see it in person, I’m seriously considering coming along for the 200 on 100 on it.
@Buck Rogers
Dude! Really?? Classic Canadian frame. I’d love to find one of these (second only on my steel wishlist to a Mariposa). The café bike I posted earlier is made by Marinoni.
@2000dB: Beautiful ride! And welcome.
Velominati, I am very excited to tell you all that I spent half an hour with Graeme Obree today at the Scottish Bike Show and I can report that it was awesome. He said to say “Hello” to all Velominati, I’ll post the photo of him making the sign of Merckx later. I asked him which of all the cyclists he’d met meant the most to him and he said Francesco Moser.
@snoov
Very cool. I used to race against Graeme as well at bump into him at Uni. One of the nicest, down to earth champions you could ever meet. There are very few people I put on pedestals and say I truly admire them, but if you know Graeme’s story, it merits that pedestal.
One of the few pleasures in Glasgow’s new transport museum (overcrowded displays, poorly laid out, bit of a mess in one of Zaha Hadid’s worst buildings) is the chance to get up close and personal with Old Faithful and the Superman bike. Fantastic!
@Steampunk
I ride Marinoni too. A Crono Piste for the piste, and a Supra Vectra for the road. The track bike was custom built and painted. Love it so much I threw some bullhorns to commute on it. Although I swap out the Campa wheelset when on the road – they only see the velodrome
@2000dB
Excellent on both the info and the possibility of seeing it in person on Rt 100 in June! What a beauty of a bike. Man, there are soooo many really amazing bikes out there. Keep seeing new ones (to me) and falling in love with them all.
@2000dB
Dang! Amazing article. Now I want a Marinoni also! My VMH will not be pleased.
Nice Marinoni!
Steampunk – I like your bike a lot. Nice, understated in color, but very sharp.
Cool Marinoni! Always fun to see classic steel bikes with some modern updates. I like it!
snoov – Hanging out with legends? That’s awesome!
@motor city
I like the look of that. In fact, I did a quick search to see what they retail at… I really fancy a cross bike.
@Steampunk
You’ve done well there. I think you and Mcsqueak chose some fine looking wheels. This may be my only chance to see the front, so thanks for that.
@Calmante
I ride those roads on a regular basis too and was actually on Homestead this afternoon.
@xyxax
My aim is to stay on the front, so that when I collapse I’ll have two more than capable docs arriving on the scene almost immediately.
@JC Belgium
Interesting to hear this–and a bit distressing since I just swapped in some narrower bars (I went from 440mm to 420mm). Initial impressions, though, suggest the more compact position on the bike feels intuitively more comfortable. I’ll have to ride more to see if that notion holds up.
@Steampunk
I rode 42’s for years and still have ’em on #2. My plastic bike came outfitted with 44’s and the first ride or 2 I thought that’d be something I’d be changing. I’m now looking to replace my 42’s as the 44’s seem much more comfortable. In theory, 42 is my size. I’m a narrow shouldered dude. The new width feels much better. Give it a few rides before you make your decision.
@snoov
Wow, a true hero and legend! His exploits with his crazy bike design represents one of the most exciting periods of Cycling from my perspective; he is truly one of the few geniuses of our sport.
Absolutely can’t wait to see the pic of him making the sign of the Merckx. He couldn’t possibly already have heard of us, yes? Surely you told him to say hi to us? I might shit myself if he knew of us previously.
No idea wether this will work, but here’s Spartacus’ set up at home on the trainer:
@snoov
OMM, I would absolutely die.
@Steampunk, @scaler911
Ah, bar width. Merckx famously rode with narrow bars for the aero effect they provide. So does Faboo. Merckx fitted some narrows on Armstrongs bike when he was at Motorola and it caused him all kinds of problems until he went back to a wider bar (don’t recall what size).
I rode 42cm bars (c-c) until last year when I moved to the Rotundo Pros which I tried with 44’s (c-c). I love it and now all bikes have this size. The VMH gets shoulder pain within minutes on anything more than a 40 (c-c) and prefers a 38. Bottom line: experiment and find what works.
@frank
Just ran across this post, and immediately went to check my velomispouses Cervelo. Happy to see hers sports the wolf CL fork. I did see the recall notice some time ago, but you can’t ever be too safe on the issue. I think this wolf CL fork is all aluminum. Hard to tell.
Don’t know if anyone is looking for the deal of the week for a project:
http://portland.craigslist.org/yam/bik/2933759096.html
I’d pick it up if the comptroller agreed. But I’ve got a Viner to finish first.