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 ...
@Xyverz
You’re right – this will heal
@minion
I lived in Canberra for a couple of years. The weird thing is that it seems everyone who hasn’t lived there thinks it’s a brilliant place for cycling – what with the relatively dry weather, wide roads, etc. Truth is that with all of the diplomatic staff and students (foreign and domestic) on the roads, it’s a freakin’ dangerous place to ride – and I have the fractured (and thankfully, healed) C1 to prove it!
@ten B
@minion
Yes dear?
@ten B
Ah yes. Well I wrote a witty, insightful reply then went out before posting. Mac must have posted for me without me hitting submit, or Frank Zappa over there must have figured out it was a ghost post and tidied it up.
back to The Bikes ..
Today I bought my son a bike (and maybe the last bike I will ever buy him) as a ‘well done for getting through first year at university’ present.
Trouble is – its so nice to ride, its going to be a really tough to give away. N+1 strikes again.
@al
thats not a ride to class bike?
@RedRanger
pretty sure it is …
I watched Breaking Away and based my purchase decision on that.
@RedRanger
My classes aren’t far enough away to need to ride to, but my only bike is also the run to town bike.
@DerHoggz
I was thinking of the horror of having that bike locked up outside against some metal bike rack. Or leaving it out in the rain.
@RedRanger
Mine actually sleeps above my bed, I have a rack that leans against the wall and I set it up beside my bed. That way when I startle in the night I get a face-full of fork.
@ten B
Also the point I made in a fit of clarity and insight was that drivers who have learnt to drive on wide, empty multilane roads like Canberra are shit drivers – I’ve found drives who learn to drive, or spend most of their time driving on, tight busy roads are far more considerate, and far more comfortable dealing with cyclists and other road users.
The upside is, in another week and a half I’m automatically elected to parliament by default of a) living in Canberra and b) not having a criminal record.
Marcus is sooo going to jail. Or, as he affectionately calls it, ‘home’.
Gents & Ladies:
Intoducing my new CX bike.
Specialized Stybar Special Edition Crux
Rival bro-set with Force BB30 crank.
Cross season begins in less than 2 weeks here in Aus.
To say I’m excited would be the understatment of the year.
@mouse
Holy shitbags that’s pink.
I like it.
Where are you crossing?
@Blah
Melbourne.
There are two series running simultaneously. Dirty Deeds CX and Cross Melburn.
Doing them both. Good times.
@mouse
Sweet. Hit Melbourne later this month until August. Based out in Ferntree Gully, which is crap for living life but great for riding (I would rather ride the 30km out there from the city).
Will try to get to one of those July 14/15 dates to have a nose about. Might not have any luck; with a toddler and a missus getting to the awkward phase of pregnancy I’m just wrapped to get out on a bike for a couple of hours let alone go to watch some races.
@mouse
Wait, you’re a dude right? If so, internet high-five, I want a pink bike and that is sweet looking.
@DerHoggz
Yep, I’m a dude.
Need to start practicing so I can fly like Stybar.
@mouse
Nice bike. Glad to see we’re all comfortable with our sexuality. Did you just pick that up as it looks like it still has the safety stickers on the levers?
@mouse
Sweet rig mate.
@mouse
Oh my god do I approve. I loves me a pink bike. Strong work laddie. Tear it up. Make ’em fear the pink bike.
Awesome bike, love the pink tape. What are the accents on the levers, are they just standard sram shifters or is that something special?
@mouse
That’s awesome. It looks like you robbed Ryder and threw some cx wheels on there.
Thanks for your kind words all.
@il ciclista medio
@minion
Ha, yes, just picked it up so I hadn’t yet had the opportunity to pull off the red stickers. Still have to cut the excess off the steerer and to swap out the test saddle for the white one that’s on order.
That is stunning. Really beautiful. Are you gonna put on Stybar’s white tape or keep the pink? Both look great.
It’s so weird to think of ‘cross starting in two weeks. And Santa wearing board shorts, Sanuks, and sunscreen. And the song White Christmas having exactly no relevance whatsoever. Except to coke addicts.
@mouse
Man (?) that looks hot for a chick’s bike!
@al
Don’t let your boy ride that to school, some tight-pant dick will swipe it and rip the derailleurs off it, then run it with a freewheel and no brakes.
@al
Hmmmmm. I’m gonna have to rethink this whole dad thing. Mine hasn’t bought me a bike since I was 12.
@Jeff in PetroMetro
Thanks! Think I’ll keep the pink tape for now.
@brett
Not a chick, but could be considered a “Cross” dresser.
@Jeff in PetroMetro
Oh, and re the sawpping of seasons; It took me about 10 years of living in Aus to get used to the idea of a hot Christmas.
The thing that I love though is that unlike in Toronto and Vancouver, I can keep riding all the year round. It’s just the focus that changes.
Bah, edit:
*swapping*
@al
That’s a beauty! What year/model is that? It doesn’t looks like a recent model (but then again, I haven’t looked at their site lately)…
@mouse
Oooo, sexy. And pink. The forks and frame shape really remind me of my Trek tho.
@mouse
When I moved from NZ to California, it didn’t take me very long to get used to the swapped seasons… but getting used to the coastal California weather was difficult.
Coldest winter ever? Summer in San Francisco.
@Frank
You selling a bike???
http://www.leboncoin.fr/velos/302294639.htm?ca=12_s
@al
As big as that drop is, I don’t think it’s Frank’s. The stem is not slammed. Cranks are not positioned properly. Caps on the valve stems.
I also note that the front tire is not fully inflated, which is surely a breach of a rule (although I couldn’t cite exactly which one). Definitely not photogenic, though.
@al, @Flying Crowbar
Compact crank, medium cage derailleur, anatomic bars, black bar tape, 110 or 120 mm stem…I’m almost offended at the suggestion this could be mine. Thanks for having my back @Flying Crowbar.
@al
I’m guessing that is in the shop, integrated seatpost, hence height.
@frank
No problem.
I couldn’t catch all the violations when viewing on my phone.
@Flying Crowbar
The cranks are positioned at exactly Frank’s regulation 30 degrees, depending, as specified, on your orientation.
@Oli
Yep, that looks like Frank took the photo!
@Oli
I wish there was less awesome stuff happening here today, because had I not just given the badge to Tobin, you’d certainly have earned it for that one.
I’m glad you agree that measuring the angle only within the perspective of a given quadrant is the only way to do it. I mean, what if you’re doing a head-stand or laying on your side? Awfully confusing. We’d be at it for days.
@Oli
Is there a pre-defined datum that the 30-degree angle is drawn from? Local horizontal? The chain stay? The seat stay? Seat tube? Down tube?
I always presumed it was from the horizontal. Based on the horizontal in the photo, it is pretty obvious those cranks are closer to 40 degrees than they are to 30. But, like you said, @Oli, I suppose it depends on your orientation.
Sorry @Flying Crowbar, explaining the math and/or science is way beyond my simple ken – you’ll have to ask Frank to define the datum. Suffice it to say, the cranks can apparently be oriented at any point, as that point will always be at 30 degrees from some other point. I trust this assists?
@Oli
30 degrees in relation to the GMT offset at your current location, subtract the declination of magnetic north to true north, and add the azimuth of the current solar position.
That’s how it should be calculated.
@mouse
Ah, but I think you’ll find that in a situation like this one must always remember that the square of the hippopotamus is equal to the angle of the dangle.
I think my high school edumacation is coming back to me now…
I’m not sure where this 30º bullshit came from. The rule is this: photograph the bike from the drive side. Position the non-drive crank in line with either the chainstay in the rearward position, or the seat tube in the up position. Simple. 30º? WTF?
Or use @mouse‘s formula…
@Oli
Yes, that helps. A bit. But it still leaves room for interpretation. Which could lead to discussion, which could lead to disagreements, which could lead to arguments. And I think we all know that no one on this board wants that.
@mouse
Thank you. That’s a simple, easy to follow formula that anyone can use.
But it is not without its weaknesses. The GMT offset changes as you change timezones, and unless you are in Hawaii or Arizona or most of Australia, it changes with Daylight Savings Time.
I guess I’ll stick with @Oli’s approach after all.
Fuck. This Venus transit is casting shadows that my camera can’t correct. Oh, wait. That’s just blindness from staring directly at the Sun. I will conduct today’s riding by feel.
@Flying Crowbar
Ah, you make a compelling argument athough the GMT variables are easily countered by the change in declination as you move across the time zones.
The Daylight Savings Time variable is countered by the existence or non-existence of the Higgs bosun which exerts a Yukawa interaction upon the space time continuum as is required to result in the desired outcome.
I’d spell it out in an equation for you, but really it’s just kindergarten stuff and wouldn’t want to insult your intelligence.
Boson.