..........................................................................................................................................................................................................
forever climbing
with the giro d'italia 2008 now a week old, and the mountains yet to make their presence felt in a meaningful way, it's interesting to note that the giro's favourite son, disgraced or otherwise (depending on your point of view) seems not to have been forgotten. marco pantani almost joined franco balmamion as an italian winner of back to back giros in 98 and 99, and it has to be said that he was one of the more entertaining grimpeurs of the last decade.
so if you are one of the many who found pantani to be a breath of fresh air, and sorely missed from the peloton, laek house of new york have produced this rather striking t-shirt, guaranteed to invite 'who on earth is that?' questions from the civilian population. forever climbing printed on american apparel cotton, is available from bromley video in the uk at a cost of £19.50 in medium and large sizes. across the pond, you can obtain it from laek house, in white or yellow for $22, in sizes small, medium, large and xl.
however, am i the only one to ask why it wasn't printed on pink cotton?
rest in peace marco.
posted on saturday 17th may
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................christine mclean interview
yes, you're wondering who the heck christine mclean is, and were it not for david harmon of eurosport (who put us in touch with each other), i'd be right there with you. well, let me make this introduction longer than it necessarily has to be (one has standards, you know).
i'm always banging on about the wind on islay, as if it were the only place in the world that experienced the phenomenon, when in fact, much of scotland's north and western coastline suffers from the same blight. and doubtless there are other locations throughout the known cycling world where a 60kph headwind is looked upon as a mere breeze.
for those of us who live on the scottish bits, it's an occupational hazard; if we didn't go out cycling/training in the wind, we'd never get out at all. it's character building. but the other aspect of island life, is the distance that has to be traversed to reach a mainland destination, distances that those in america would likely scoff at, but it is necessary to remember that scotland's transport infrastructure depends on not very fast ferries and a less than comprehensive air transport system.
so let's suppose that you live on one of these islands, but you're dead keen to participate in as many time trials and road races as you can. not only that, but you hold down a full-time job and are married with kids. how much more effort are you going to have to make to train (bearing in mind the meteorological conditions we opened with), and how much harder is it to get to the start line?
ladies and gentlemen - christine mclean...
posted on saturday 17th may
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................i'm first in the queue
in 1982, giuseppe saronni won the world championship at goodwood, england, ahead of greg lemond. he was riding a red and white colnago master, now resurrected to great effect by ernesto, not only as a lugged steel frame, but also as a colour option on the carbon extreme power. however, for those of us without the climate for chromed steel, or the overdraft for an extreme power, there will soon be another way to celebrate saronni's, and colnago's success. of course, you really do have to have a pre-existing colnago for this to be truly effective, but you wouldn't be reading this otherwise would you? would you?
although a santini storia wool original version has already surfaced, the sizes available rather preclude anyone vaguely similar to a human being. so mick and andy at prendas ciclismo, ever ready to provide for the contemporary cyclist with retro tendencies (and a colnago) are soon to take delivery of del tongo colnago short sleeve and long sleeve jerseys, bib shorts and the seriously necessary casquette. authenticity is guaranteed, since these are manufactured by the makers of the original del tongo team wear, santini.
the shorts can be had with two pad options: coolmax and twist gel, though there is somewhat of a £20 price difference, the latter being the more expensive option at £69.95 ($137) (coolmax retails at £49.95($98), in case your mental arithmetic is as poor as mine). the short sleeve jersey is available in sizes xs all the way through to 6xl at £49.95($98). however, the icing on the cake, as far as this colnago fanatic is concerned, is the del tongo colnago long sleeve jersey which arrives in predominantly dark blue with yellow side panels, and sells for £55 ($108) and worth every penny (cent). sizing is the same as the short sleeve version. the cap is a one-size-fits-all for only £7.50 ($15).
so, in much the same way as mrs washingmachinepost always seems to need a handbag to go with a new pair of shoes, either you need a colnago to go with some del tongo kit, or vice versa. either way, it's a win win situation.
delivery is expected at the end of june 2008, but you can pre-order now.
posted on friday 16th may
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................when thursday comes
it seems that rapha are organising a series of summer rides in co-operation with the cyclists' touring club, starting on the last thursday of each month, leaving from smithfield market in london at 19:30. the rides are strictly non-competitive, last little more than 20km and offer free participation. the first one of the series takes place on thursday 29th may and rapha figure that you should 'unleash your inner pantani; wear pink and celebrate the giro d'italia.
now this is a very fine sentiment, and it is fine to see one of the growing players in the cycle market putting something back, and not just for racing cyclists. however, there are more of us who don't live near smithfield market than those who do - what about us? well, if the mountains cannot get to mohammed, then the mountains will have to go riding by themselves. on the last thursday of each month through the summer (not much in the way of choice up here) grab the other cyclists you know and hold a rapha ride of your own. granted, you might find yourself cycling alone, but mentally and spiritually you're not really, since there will be hundreds, if not thousands doing the same across the country. in fact, maybe across the world; if you're reading this somewhere that isn't britainshire, have a nike moment and just do it.
on the first one, just remember to wear pink. if you haven't got anything in that colour, that's what rapha are for. rapha.cc
however, before we quite make it that far,
there's a bank holiday weekend just over seven days away - the second annual robert millar bank holiday weekend.
when you're out cycling over that weekend, make sure you wear a robert millar jersey (more especially if you arerobert millar): peugeot, 'z' (if you've got one), panasonic. if you only own a fagor or le groupement, you are excused. if you haven't got one at all, apart from hanging your head in shame, get over to prendas.co.uk and choose one from there.
don't say you haven't been given enough notice: that's the 24th/25th/26th and 29th may. busy times.
posted on thursday 15th may
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................putting the argyle in argyll
earra-ghàidheal -the gaelic spelling of argyll, an area of western scotland that, in the late 6th and 7th centuries was a part of the ancient scottish kingdom of dalriada, which stretched as far north as the isle of skye and as far south as county antrim in ireland.
in argyll, the kingdom consisted of three 'families' or kindreds, islay being the kindred of angus (oengus). these kindreds reputedly transmogrified into the scottish clan system, and midst the hundreds throughout dalriada was the clan campbell, thought to have originated in the mid 13th century, with the name caimbeul meaning wry or crooked mouth. the scottish clans originated their own tartans, based on similar principles, but all differing sufficiently to be used as a means of identifying one from the other. clan campbell were no different in this respect. in the 13th through to the 16th centuries they spread through argyll and the hebrides, becoming capable of wielding great influence throughout the area and the western highlands.
history lesson over; what on earth is the point of posting a dissertation on thewashingmachinepost's ambient residence? well, believe it or not, for once there is actually a point to all this. what we currently refer to as the argyle pattern does indeed originate from the area known as argyll. in fact it is said to be derived from the tartan of the clan campbell. aha! and can we think of a cycling team currently breaking chains in the giro d'italia who are sporting a version of the pattern much favoured by pringle sweaters and subsequently, golfers? i'm sure we can.
last year, slipstream chipotle's kit was provided by hincapie clothing, and every spare centimetre of that clothing bore the argyle pattern. after an end of season competition, the team kit was redesigned, lost a lot of the white but gained a lot of blue and orange, and is now made by pearl izumi (who were recently acquired by shimano). in the earlier part of this year, slipstream's press office agreed wholeheartedly to the post conducting an interview with jonathan vaughters; only i'm not sure they told jonathan, because despite sending the usually inconsequential list of questions, some of which concerned the plastering of the argyle pattern all over the shorts and top, i never actually heard from mr vaughters at all. suffice to say, i'm still none the wiser as to why an american would choose a piece of scotland to paint on the team's mercedes.
anyway, due to having a benevolent connection across the pond, a pair of team shorts, full zip, short sleeve jersey and cotton cap arrived from the usa in one of those brown jiffy bags. american sizing is obviously different than that purveyed by us euros; the jersey and shorts were both marked large, and yet they were nigh on a perfect fit for a scottish person of 5'10" with a 30" waist and a 38" chest. the bibs are very flexible lycra with the straps in white perforated polyester. there's no obvious grip to keep the legs from riding up, but they didn't budge during riding. i can find no identifying marks on the dark red chamois pad, but its waffle surface pattern ofers a comfy layer between brooks and bum.
it's not too usual these days to find a short sleeve jersey with a full length zip; for reasons which i don't pretend to understand, such is usually reserved for their long-sleeve brethen, but it's very welcome here. leading the breakaway up port askaig brae, getting in the way of the ferry traffic on a hot islay summer's day (what d'you mean, fiction?) the ability to unzip to the navel and make a spring for the line at caol ila road end would be of great benefit.
well wouldn't it? to be honest, the only downside i could find was having shimano emblazoned on the sleeves and back, when i'm a campagnolo man through and through. there's a tiny perforated pocket sewn inside the middle rear - obviously dave z needs change for the phone box, same as the rest of us.
should you wish to wear a little bit of scotland on the days when you're not wearing your more regular braveheart kit, slipstream kit can be had from bobshop.com in europe, from wiggle.co.uk in the uk, or from the pearl izumi slipstream shop in the usa. the jersey retails at $100 (£60), the shorts at $130 (£79) and the cotton cap (a vast improvement over the appalling polyester head covering that came from hincapie clothing last year - i know, i have one) at $17 (surprisingly it doesn't seem to be available in europe).
oh, and by the way, there's a burrito in your back pocket.
posted on thursday 15th may
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................back in the day
nowadays we rather take for granted the fact that bicycle manufacturers can bond carbon fibre to beryllium, then add a soupcon of titanium for good measure; there's every possibility they could marry candyfloss with maple syrup and bettini would ride it to olympic gold. but how on earth did we get from lugged steel to high modulus carbon fibre? well, back in the day...
...in the early 1970s, ludovic falconi came up with the rather novel and effective idea of bonding aluminium tubes into aluminium lugs to create a bicycle frame. in those days, most frames were still fabricated by brazing steel tubes into steel lugs; not something that aluminium favoured, and certainly not an effective way to get it to all hang together. aluminium, at this point, was not available in alloys that responded well to welding, but as the aeronautical industry had developed very high strength adhesives falconi saw the potential and proceeded to exploit it.in 1972, he set up alan bicycles (the name is derived from the first two letters of his children - alberto and anna) to market and develop the bonded aluminium concept, a frame adopted almost immediately by the professional peloton, who found it to be a lighter and ostensibly more responsive alternative to the lugged steel frames of the day. in fact it was cyclo-cross riders who were quickest to appreciate the more flexible characteristic of those early frames finding them ideally suited to their chosen discipline and a darned site easier to shoulder. the anodised finishes seemed also more durable.
in 1976, alan moved one step forward, utilising the bonding concept to unite dissimilar materials in the one frame, in this case, carbon fibre tubes into the pre-existing aluminium lugs. the carbon was supplied by the same company that supplies a good deal of today's black gold - toray. as with many original ideas, others had no wish to be left standing, and committed their own research and development teams to apply falconi's principles to their own hardware, thus were born vitus and tvt. in turn, the development by all three paved the way for new and original frame construction methods by today's more ubiquitous brands such as giant and trek, both of whom raised the construction of carbon frames to the next level.
however, a total of 21 world championships won on ludovic falconi's frames, gave alan pre-eminence and truckloads of experience that kept them at the top into the early 1990s. this led many others to knock on the door with a view to consulting and co-operating with alan, and to make use of their state-of-the-art fabrication and development facilities, creating bits of bikes for other folks.
and they're still around today; possibly perceived as slightly less than pre-eminent in the field of cutting edge frame development, but existing as a small company focused on the consumer market, and still willing to innovate. in this guise, it is one of the few bicycle companies in the world with the ability to make bespoke carbon frames, and still produces welded aluminium alloy frames, hybrid alloy/carbon versions and even a contemporary variation on the original carbon tubed, aluminium lugged frame for both road and cyclo-cross. alan works closely with dedacciai, amadeus and columbus, still with the aim of developing products to suit the requirements of their customers. and while they may not bear the alan name, there are models that exist outwith the current catalogue, so it is worth asking if, in the words of albert arkwright "you don't see what it is you fancy"
current top of the range is the supreme 3k which you can have in regular or compact (sloping) carbon weighing a rather featherweight 980g for a 54cm, and moving down the range it's followed by the full monococque max, baked in one piece rather than the two halves being joined after cooking. further details of the alan range can be had from the uk importer fk:m, particularly since graeme has unique input into the design of several of the alan
frames exclusive to fk:m including graeme's own fixed wheel bike (top), currently a prototype and soon to be available as a full bike fitted with another of fk:m's range, the wheelsbike wb1000eco wheels. so how how good is graeme at altering an alan frame design? well, cycling.tv's rebecca charlton had the opportunity to ride a very smart looking red alan a-matrix (right) in the luxurious surroundings of lanzarote (how come i only get to go to portnahaven?). read on...
alan a-matrix road bike
With plenty of experience in custom building, Alan have put a great deal of expertise into developing the geometry of their smaller frame designs and being a mere 5'2" I was keen to get my hands on one.First off, we're not looking at a women's specific bike here, but rather a frame designed for smaller riders, whether male or female. The thinking behind this is that you need a set up which suits your proportions, rather than assuming that you'll need a certain geometry based on your gender alone. Also, refreshingly, the decals are not aimed specifically at women, which is nice if you don't fancy florals or swirls on your frame. We're certainly not knocking the increasing options for women, but it's always good to have choice.
As a petite female, I was keen to see what the A-Matrix frame could offer me in terms of a geometry tailored to the position I needed. After tallying up a few measurements, I hopped upon an Alan with a seat tube centre to top measuring in at 52cm and a top tube centre to centre (parallel with the floor) coming in at 53cm. This was teamed with a seat angle of 73.5 and a head tube of 13.5cm.
The position felt really comfortable for the many hours I spent in the saddle, while allowing a nice racy angle when down in the drops, striking a great balance between a training and racing bike.
The aluminium frame is paired with carbon forks offering a responsive and fast handling ride; the overwhelming feeling with the Alan is that it offers great confidence, allowing you to corner quickly and accurately without it feeling twitchy. The Wheelsbike WB1000eco wheels were also really impressive, offering a nice rolling speed without upping the overall cost of the bike too much, and all in all they felt pretty light at a very reasonable price point. (the wheelsbike wb1000eco wheels are available to buy separately at a cost of £160. available in shimano or campag formats they feature 24 radial spokes front and 28 3x/radial on the back. fk:m are currently working on a track version).
The A-Matrix offers a really impressive ride, combining speed with comfort which suited me well over some significant mileage. The build tested included 10 speed Campagnolo Mirage, Wheelsbike WB1000eco wheels, Modolo bars and stem and a Selle Italia Azoto ladies saddle costing £1325.00 all in. Of course, if you reading this and you're not female you can opt for a more suitable saddle!
We got on with the components just fine although you can opt for a higher spec when ordering the bike and we would be tempted to splash out on Campag Chorus or Record if we were using this for racing - we do like to spoil ourselves occasionally...
©Rebecca Charlton 2008
perhaps unsurprisingly, i'd like to thank both graeme freestone king of fk:m, and cycling.tv's rebecca charlton for pretty much doing my job for me. very much appreciated.
posted on wednesday 14th may
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................the athlete's guide to yoga dvd - sage rountree.
however much you get from a book on yoga, and depending on your own efforts, that can be quite a lot, there's still the nagging feeling that you're maybe not quite carrying out the moves exactly as transcribed. my daughter has often used this as an excuse not to practice yoga (more fun lying on the bed listening to some dastardly pop music), but in essence she may just have a point. and if we hold that to be true, it may be slightly unfortunate that the book of the movie arrived before the movie.
velopress very kindly sent me sage rountree's athlete's guide to yoga in book format earlier this year, and i have, on one or two occasions, attempted to devise a satisfactory routine from its pages. that i have not quite succeeded places the blame entirely on my stiff shoulders rather than any slight on ms rountree's efforts to have me do otherwise. it's a sad fact that those who could benefit most from a daily yoga routine, tend to be the ones who struggle to find the time - a sort of infinite loop. however, it's a pretty safe bet that the dvd is about to cure all this.
it contains three preset sequences, offering yoga for strength, flexibility and focus, designed to coincide with the athlete's more regular approach to training: base, build and peak. there are three participants in the movie, each practicing a more extended version of the exercises than the other. so if you're a yoga newbie, then you need only pay attention to the simple version of each. this is the first time i've seen this on an 'exercise' dvd, and seems a particularly effective way of creating more value from its purchase.
assuming you progress through each stage and level with relative ease, you will eventually wish to create your own routine based on the exercises that have the greatest perceived benefit, and this is where this dvd reveals its secret weapon; the customized routine. now, i am insufficiently well versed in current dvd technology to fully understand how this is accomplished, but basically choosing the 'customize' routine allows you to select up to a dozen segments to create your own dvd. you can place them in any order you like, and utilise each more than once if you figure it's good to go. an excellent idea and well implemented, allowing you to tailor your day's yoga practice to suit any other training you may be carrying out on the bike.
the reason i said i'd like to have had the movie before the book is that i find the dvd easier to follow in the initial stages, using the book as a backup reference; it's not always practical to play a dvd at times (coronation street, east enders, giro d'italia - you know how it is) and the book can be taken on holiday to those mediterranean training camps. however, all this is rendered insignificant now that both are available, and i'd seriously recommend that you grab both.
now to work on my time management.
the athlete's guide to yoga is available from velogear priced $29.95, and should hopefully be available this side of the atlantic from cordee books, in the fullness of transatlantic shipping.
posted on tuesday 13th may
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................it's good to torque
when i started fixing bicycles, if there was a bolt, you tightened it. depending on where the bolt was, you either tightened it till the thing stopped moving or, if it was a crank bolt, until your knuckles went white. perhaps surprisingly, everything seemed to work just fine; i have no recollection of ever breaking anything while tightening (well, almost nothing) and nobody rushed round first thing in the morning carrying several bits of a bicycle. but then, as the bicycle industry stopped being the bicycle industry, and concentrated more on being the overspill from the aerospace industry, strange numbers started being etched next to certain tightenable (new word, don't worry about it) bits and bobs. probably one of the first instances of proving that torque is no longer cheap.
so what is this torque stuff, and should we actually pay any attention? after all, both campagnolo and shimano insist that all the components, from the front of the bike to the back of the bike, should have the same logo on them. well, there are a number of folks who have proved that wrong along the way, and there's a tendency to view much of this stuff as yet another part of the marketing machine. you see, to some folks, having 12nm engraved in white on the seatbolt clamp is an outward sign of cool (moi?).
so, although having been aware of these numbers and letters for a wee while, it was the arrival of a colnago clx last year that started to underline the importance of such markings. the clx has an airfoil shaped seatpost, held in place by two seatbolts on the clamp, and a torque setting to guide the newbie owner or, in this case, road tester. not being in possession of a torque wrench, i did what we'd all do - i guessed. but tightening an alloy bolt on a carbon frame holding a carbon seatpost, it seemed better to err on the side of not receiving a nasty letter from colnago asking why their bicycle was broken. as a result, the seatpost slipped all the way to ardbeg distillery. and probably not unsurprisingly, a few days later a similar fate befell the handlebars, though fortunately on one of those rural singletrack roads at a rather sedate pace.
with the proliferation of incredibly light aluminium and carbon fibre, it has become more prudent to at least understand the necessity or otherwise of pounds/foot or newton/metres, whether you intend being your own mechanic or not. particularly since several manufacturers have started to re-consider warranty claims if torque wrenches were not used during assembly. however, while i am quite proud of my mechanical abilities, i am astute enough to know when i'm out of my depth, so i asked a man who knows - park tool school trainer, and london-paris mechanic, graeme freestone king.
first point is to decide what it is that is being measured. torque is the amount of rotational force being applied about a centre point, in this case, on a fixing nut, bolt, stud etc. units are either pounds/foot - one foot pound is a rotational force of a lever one foot long, from the point of application of the force to the centre point of the fixing. however, most bicycle fixings tend to be marked in newton metres, which is a tad more complicated.
I'll let graeme explain: "one newton is the amount of force applied to give a mass of 1kg an acceleration of 1m/sec/sec - so you could say that on earth, where acceleration due to gravitational attraction is 9.8166m/s/s, 1 newton of force the force needed to lift a mass of 0.98166 kg against gravity - for simplicity's sake, we normally apply a rule of thumb and say 1kg on a flat surface will need about 10n to lift it, so it follows that 1kg hanging on the end of a spanner 1m long, say, is applying a force of "10 nm"". i'll bet you're glad you asked. so now you know why you'd use a suitably marked torque wrench to do the job for you, rather than getting out the slide rule, calculator or studying for a physics degree.
why does it matter? well, threaded bits are not perfect, because unless the two threads due to be connected were perfect to the same degree, they'd never fit. this means, however, that in any given threaded assembly, only two or three threads are fully engaged, usually at the 'bottom' end of the thread, and what holds the bits together is stretch. in correctly tightened components, when the two parts are separated, the stretch, provided it hasn't exceeded the limits of the metal, returns to its original shape. roughly put, if you overtighten a bolt, it stretches beyond its designed limits it either distorts or, in extreme cases, strips.
graeme again:"The key thing here is that the rotational force applied is only one factor in how much stretch you get in the components, but all you are measuring, in measuring torque, is that rotational force. This is really important."
at the risk of stating the obvious, if no lubricant is used in fitting and tightening, it'll be harder to turn threads relative to each other. the same is true if you use a thick or viscous lubricant, a thread-lock compound, or the bits aren't clean. the fly in the ointment arrives when we start dealing with real life instead of theory. for example if we pop a steel bolt into an alloy thread which has been previously overtightened, it'll be harder to tighten than if we were using brand new, shiny components. follow this through, and it is perhaps self-evident that the bolt will reach a specific torque setting before it is properly tight. perhaps graeme can explain with a more practical example...
"fitting the front plate to a handlebar stem, three out of the four bolts on the stem run easily and cleanly in the threads and can be "finger tightened", but the fourth needs an allen key to turn it almost straight away. this bolt is therefore "pre-loaded" relative to the others, so even when you carefully tighten all four bolts a bit at a time, ending up with all four nominally as "tight" as one another, because your torque wrench has "clicked" as you've applied the same amount of force to each, that fourth bolt won't have "stretched" as much as the other three, because it needed an extra bit of force to turn it in the thread in the first place. hence, you'll have an uneven application of force to the stem cap and so to the bars. in many cases, the errors will be very small and of no real significance, but in some cases, you do see instances of fixings not being tight enough insofar as they don't exert enough force where it's needed, although they are "torqued" correctly."
am i, therefore, suggesting that your recently purchased effeto mariposo professional torque wrench was a waste of money? not exactly, but the principal message to be gleaned from the above is not to treat the torque wrench as absolute gospel. however the absolute moral of the story is to check your work before you commit to the road; make sure seatpins don't move in the frame, that bars can't rotate in the stem (i know, i know) or that those ergo shifters or sti lever wont move on the bars. if you figure you'd like to know more, there are a number of training courses available, and i'd suggest that you contact graeme freestone king via his website, fkm
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................effetto mariposa giustaforza torque wrench
well, theory and discussion are all very well, but how does all this work in practice, when it is necessary to tighten bicycle parts using a real, live torque wrench? very kindly supplied an effetto mariposa giustaforza torque wrench to be hamfistedly wielded by yours truly in thewashingmachinepost bike shed. unlike some of the enormous torque wrenches that are long enough to close out of reach velux windows, the mariposo version is quite small at about 17cm, with a knurled handhold at one end, and a 'head' with a magnetised slot to accept the 'bit'. as if to underline the implied exclusivity of this delectably crafted bicycle tool, each bears an individual serial number - superb.
emerging from the knurled end is a rotatable handle for altering the torque setting, indicated by a calibrated window set into the knurling (see photo). settings can be from 2nm all the way up to 16nm. (bizarrely, the conversion chart on the included instruction sheet runs all the way to 20nm.) obviously enough, a wrench is of little use without the necessary means of tightening any bolt that happens to be on your bicycle. the giustaforza arrives with a long 5mm allen wrench extension, and a variety of allen, torx and screwdriver bits. unfortunately, the allen bits only extend to an 8mm, which puts campagnolo's new ultra-torque cranksets out of reach since they require a 10mm. even the professional giustaforza wrench (in a very fetching metallic red) misses out the 10mm, despite claiming "nothing is missing to work on modern bicycles".
such points notwithstanding, how does it perform? damn fine actually, now that you ask. simply note the torque setting for the bolt under consideration, turn the extension to set the wrench to the correct amount of newton metres, fit the 'bit' that fits the bolt, and start tightening. when the bolt reaches the desired setting, the 'head' of the wrench emits a fairly sharp click. the fact that the wrench will still allow tightening at this point was a bit of a body-swerve, because i had half expected it to ratchet and prevent overtightening. however, once the significance of the click has embedded itself in the mental process, stopping is as easy as braking at road junctions.
since repeated use of what is, after all a mechanical device, is bound to result in a lessening of efficiency, mariposa recommend re-calibration after 5,000 clicks (have the assistant mechanic keep count) which can be carried out for around £28 including carriage. the effetto mariposa giustaforza torque wrench lists at £139.99 ($185 in the usa). contact upgrade bikes for a list of uk dealers.
effetto mariposa have dedicated themselves to making things easier for the professional or serious home mechanic. aside from the above tested wrench, upgrade also sent a can each of carbogrip and carbomove which, utilising that well worn cliche, do exactly as it says on the tins. carbogrip is a spray on silicone resin that assists in clamping smooth carbon parts such as seatposts, aerobar extensions, handlebars etc. a waterproof substance, it also acts as a thread-lock on all manner of bolts on the bicycle.
doing almost the opposite, is carbomove which not only cleans off traces of carbogrip, but is a snap for removing stuck carbon seatposts and suchlike. in so doing, it doesn't harm either metals or carbon. both products cost £6.95 - the grip arrives in a 75ml can, while the move inhabits 200ml. they can be had from effetto mariposa dealers.
i'd like to thank graeme freestone king for substantial input to this article, and preventing me from making more of an idiot of myself than usual. major thanks too, are due to paddy at upgrade bikes for the effetto mariposa torque wrench and carbo sprays. gentlemen, i am indebted.
posted on monday 12th may
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................."f**king hell I need to do some training!"
if you've read paul howard's sex, lies and handlebar tape, you may recall that the star of the book, jacques anquetil, in an attempt to improve his public relations with the french public, who generally favoured raymond poulidor over himself, took part in a management (raphael geminiani) engineered cycling spectacle. after taking part in, and winning, the week long dauphine libere, maitre jacques flew from nimes to bordeaux by private aircraft to start the following day's bordeaux-paris; a 557km one day race. in the true tradition of cinematic heroism, he won that race too. unfortunately, it never quite achieved the desired aim of raising his popularity above that of the eternal second.
.you'd think that such an undertaking would be unlikely to be repeated, and strictly speaking you are correct. however, a group of certifiably insane cycle journalists, headed by guy andrews of rouleur fame, will attempt their own crazy bet by riding the marmotte sportive on july 5th; a 174km ride which takes them over the col de la croix de fer, the col du telegraph, the col du galibier, and finishing on the alpe d'huez. enough for most of us, but not for our fearless heroes. because the next day, having transferred by private plane, they will cycle the 2008 etape du tour, popping over the tourmalet and hautacam for another 156km.
in true rouleur/rapha fashion, not only will we be able to read of their exploits, but there will be a following convoy of photographers. aside from mr andrews (who, when asked by me earlier this week, gave the quote that heads this article) the other three intrepid pedallists will be john bradley from outside magazine, bill strickland from bicycling magazine, and simon richardson from the comic. slate olson, rapha's north american chief tells me he will ride day one, but spectate on day two - smart man. of course, to achieve such fame and fortune will require steeds of distinction, in this case the titanium xs, supplied by independent fabrication.
with such journalistic participation, finding out how they get on shouldn't be that difficult, irrespective of which side of the atlantic on which you live. and should you feel like involving yourself even in token fashion, pop over to the rapha website and take a wild guess at how long it will take john bradley to complete both days riding, and you could win one of the indy fabs all for your very self.
that seems a far less frenetic and saner thing to do.
posted on sunday 11th may
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................bruichladdich distillery cycle jersey
for those not familiar with the layout of islay and the distilleries thereon, bruichladdich distillery sits on loch indaal, just a few metres along from debbie's cafe and almost directly across the loch from bowmore distillery. it used to be islay's, and possibly scotland's, most westerly distillery, until they built a farm distillery at kilchoman on the road to machir and saligo bays. so now that you're none the wiser, take a click over to rideofthefallingrain.net and download the map, which is kind of what i should have told you all in the first place.
bruichladdich's corporate colours are dark blue and light blue, the latter being remarkably similar in shade to that employed by the bianchi bicycle company. in the light of this, it has often been said over the years that fashioning a cycle jersey emulating the coppi era style - or even the ullrich version of a few years back - would be perhaps a smart idea. of course, between having an idea and putting it into practice, there are often a number of other factors that come into play, maintaining some of the original notion, losing some, but adding others.
so finally, a bruichladdich cycle jersey has seen the light of day, having arrived at the distillery only yesterday (friday 9th may), and guess what - it has the post's web address on the back. i am humbled. the jersey bears an outline of islay front and back, with the distillery's web address, as well as islayinfo.com. the bruichladdich name also appears on each side panel and the sleeves are given over to the museum of islay life, and islay natural history trust. a thoroughly local effort (even though ron of islayinfo is dutch).
the jerseys are available from bruichladdich distillery at a cost of £48 ($94), and since they're made by thecyclejersey.com, there's every chance that they'll turn up there too. as far as i know, ron plans to have online ordering from islayinfo.com, but since he's currently on islay for another two weeks, you'll just have to wait. they're sized from small through to xxl, with the necessary three rear pockets and an elasticated hem. i currently have a medium jersey, which is a slim fit. i'm 5'10" and about a 38" chest, if it's of any help.
posted on saturday 10th may
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