the post

book reviews

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r.i.p. ivor cutler

ivor cutler

missed this one at the beginning of march, but great scottish eccentric, ivor cutler, died on march 3 at the age of 83. a great proponent of the bicycle as the ideal transport

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les nomades du velo anglais

in pursuit of stardom

cheating really, because i haven't read the whole book yet (review in next edition of the post), but 'in pursuit of stardom - les nomades du velo anglais' by tony hewson, is an absolute stoater of a book. it records the true story of three brits in europe in the late fifties trying to make it as professional cyclists.

published by mousehold press (where would we be without them?) at £12.95, i wouldn't wait for my forthcoming review, just rush out and buy a copy now. tremendous. ..........................................................................................................................................................

saddle up - fi'zi:k pave hp



fizik pave hp

when i bought the colnago, in order to keep the whole colnago thing going, i had a colnago water bottle and a selle italia colnago saddle. unfortunately, due to not cleaning it out often enough, the bottle bit the dust not too long after the c40 was into its stride, but the saddle has lived on since day one.

however, as is the case with most saddles - at least most of the ones i've owned, it started developing the odd creak (some of them very odd) which, while not being particularly life threatening, did nothing for one's sense of style. if you were a regular in the velo club d'ardbeg sunday rides, you would know just how little this means.

anyway, continuing the ardbeg analogy, there happened a degree of serendipity. having recently tested the assos airprotec bibtights after several rides in the cold air that is islay at the moment, i was rather concerned to discover that the exterior seat area exhibited signs of scuffing on the lycra. the possibility exists that this was due to the stitching on the colnago saddle, but we will never know because i had already decided to replace the colnago saddle due to its creaking and groaning. nipping back to the scuffed assos tights, i e-mailed the folks at yellow who are the uk assos importers asking if this was a normal state of affairs. they replied in the negative and asked me to return the tights to them in order that they might get to the seat of the problem (that was an entirely deliberate pun - i'm trying to maintain a regular quota).

fizik pave hp

brian tinsley of yellow phoned me during the week to say that they thought there might be a problem with the lycra and would replace the tights forthwith.

now that's what i call customer service, and an even better reason to purchase assos clothing when it comes with that kind of backup. major kudos to brian and to yellow.

if you've looked at the pictures, you will realise that the new saddle on the colnago is the very latest from fi'zi:k - the pave, with wingflex. this latter feature made its name with the fi'zi:k arione, beloved saddle of gilberto simoni and damiano cunego. many reviewers and the two gentlemen named above said this was the most comfortable saddle they had ever ridden. however well it may have supported their bums, it has always seemed rather long to me. and how ever little style i may have, i would like to keep the colnago proportionately agreeable.

hence the pave, a saddle which promises all that the arione apparently delivered but with the look of a more normal saddle. and wingflex. now i'm not really sure what this wingflex is supposed to do (i am assuming that the slots in each side of the saddle denote the area described as wingflex). according to fi'zi:k it's to allow for free thigh movement, but i haven't actually noticed any difference between the last saddle and this one - or any other saddle for that matter. this is not to say that the pave is a bad saddle. on the contrary, it's a very good saddle, a very comfortable saddle and a very smooth saddle.

fizik pave hp

strangely enough, the marketing ploys of yore had convinced us that with stitched areas on our seating, we would no longer slide uncontrollably all over the darn thing just as we were about to outsprint pettachi in the final few metres of milan san remo (am i the only one that sees it this way?). but it seems that may have been just a marketing diversion and a neat way to embroider the manufacturer's name all over the saddle (surprised are we?).

now that my bum is in contact with a smoooooth saddle, life is more manoeuverable scrabbling about on the hills, the downhills, the sprints (i was saying to alessandro only the other day...). so i wholeheartedly approve of such smoothness in a saddle and i also approve of the titanium rails - partly because of the inherent suspension qualities of the metal, but mostly because the great stuff simply doesn't rust. and when you live surrounded by the atlantic ocean and its siblings, anything that doesn't rust is alright with the homeboys in velo club d'ardbeg. why, even today another one of the chain gang has invested in a carbon c40 (purely for its rustless properties you understand:-)

so, at a fairly minimal and comfortable 275 grams, the fi'zi:k pave is a recommended purchase for your velocipede. it costs a reasonably modest sixty pounds or so, answers to the description 'shiny' and is bum friendly. what more does a padded insert need?

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this website is named after graeme obree's championship winning 'old faithful' built using bits from a defunct washing machine

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as always, if you have any comments on this nonsense, please feel free to e-mail and thanks for reading.

this column appears, as regular as clockwork on this website every two weeks. (ok so i lied) sometimes there are bits added in between times, but it all adds to the excitement.

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