thewashingmachinepost




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changing checkerboard

slipstream winning jersey design

you may remember the competition initiated by slipstream (not forgetting powered by chipotle) to design their team kit for 2008. being of an artistic bent myself, i downloaded the design kit from their website, opened my copy of adobe illustrator and proceeded to design before uploading my completed (and totally superior) design to the folks in argyle patterned socks across the pond.

obviously there was some administrative error at the chipotle end becasue my utlimately superior effort failed to make the final five. and after thewashingmachinepost adopting the slipstream team for 2008 (whatever that means). how ungrateful can you get?

however, the winning design was voted for and subsequently announced at the recently completed interbike exhibition in las vegas and announced on the slipstream website. strangely enough the press release fails to carry an illustration of jo redondo's winning rearrangement of the argyll pattern, but a minimum of research on the slipstream site turned up the ensemble above.

is it ok if i say i prefer the one they're wearing at the moment?

posted on saturday 29 september 2007.

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did i say something wrong?

ipod

i have just watched the last lap of the men's under twenty three road race from stuttgart where, much to my surprise, britain's jonathan bellis took third place. now i mean this as no disrespect to jonathan, but us brits are almost always surprised when somebody who's not a track rider wins a medal in a cycling event. but is such success really a success?

i recall reading that americans were avoiding cycling because they perceived its relevance as in the shadow of lance armstrong - in other words they see cycling as expensive carbon, lycra shorts and somewhat detached from their everyday lives. and the worrying thing is that not only are the americans probably not alone, but they may well be right.

on an armchair tv discussion from day three of interbike, tim parr of swobo (makers of wool jerseys and now cool utility bikes) quite rightly pointed out that if 'we' are to get more bums on saddles, cycling needs to be shown to be relevant and cool. his notion was that when it came to the choice between buying a bicycle or an ipod, the bicycle could be seen as valid a choice. and i think he's right on the money.

i don't always find myself with too much affinity with bicycle advocates, because they always seem a bit too militant and 'underground' for my liking, though i do have a hidden admiration for their tenacity, workload and dedication to the cause. drivers of sports utility vehicles probably don't take too kindly to a skinny cyclist wearing a molteni cap pointing out the error of their ways, while those swithering between cycling or not (and i mean as a method of transport, not potential medal winning) are perhaps wary of being identified with the former stereotyped advocate. an eccentric.

so what i'm getting at here (as long as i know there's a point to all this...) is that the two distinct areas that are often seen as the hope for cycling's future, may well be achieving the complete opposite of their intentions.

david millar, bradley wiggins and nicole cooke have all succeeded brilliantly on the international stage, metamorphosing from cyclists to heroes (and heroine) that younger and would-be competitive cyclists can look up to and hope to emulate. but they most definitely are not going to encourage my daughter to buy a bicycle and cycle to work. and even though the dutch population seems to be outnumbered by the bicycles in holland, it's unlikely that a significant number of them have been impressed to do so by rabobank winning the tour of spain, or oscar friere's three stage wins.

so we can, by all means, continue with our competitive cycling, buying sportwool, lycra and carbon by the truckload. that's what we like to do and that's what we're allowed to do. and those more involved in the 'grass roots' of grass roots cycling can continue to produce fanzines (such as brad quartuccio's urban velo) and advocate all they/we want that the car is of secondary importance and the bicycle is the way to go. just don't be too disappointed if no one pays attention.

until cycling becomes an acceptable or cool lifestyle choice - and i don't really think this is nation specific - there will be those of us who cycle and those who don't. those of us who do should keep doing it - not as an example to others, but because it's what we love to do.

but come the revolution...

posted on saturday 29 september 2007.

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flying solo

solo equipe jersey

almost co-incidentally, in a similar manner to rapha, paul mason's new zealand clothing company solo, has eased its way into the world cycling consciousness with a unique range of jerseys and jackets. the classique jersey has already been well documented by others besides the post, and the dark horse so far has been the equipe range.

actually that's not strictly true - the solo gilet forms a part of that range and has been successfully worn by yours truly for the last month or so (islay's like that), but the long sleeve equipe jerseyhas an almost timeless quality about it. and after clamouring by those who have already discovered the range, it is shortly to be available in black, joining the blue and red presently available.

built from 'mapp matrix fabric, the equipe jersey places the luxury of merino wool on the inside and pairs it with a wind and water resistant fabric on the outside. cuffs are in knitted merino wool (which i believe they have a lot of in new zealand) and has two rear pockets with button fastening and a full length front zip. modern, yet traditional. hopefully i will have one of these jackets on test in the not too distant future, so we'll see how it adapts to the scottish west coast.

coincidentally with the appearance of the man in black (not me, i hasten to add), solo have unveiled a brand new shiny website as of today (28 september) which displays the entire range and a bit more besides, to great advantage. postage of solo clothing to the uk costs a lot less than you'd think, and can sometimes reach these shores quicker than domestic mail. style and convenience.

posted on friday 28 september 2007.

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a bit of a card

cyclo cross card

no sooner do i mention that we're into calendar season than a card drops through the letterbox. granted, it's a 'non-specific' card (no message inside, non-seasonal pic on the front), but it has a bicycle on it. or, to be more precise, it has a bicycle in it.

produced by kim jenkins of luckybird, the illustration is embossed into the recycled card along with foil blocking (a luckybird speciality) as is a monochrome portion of the illustration on the bottom right corner of the envelope. the cards cost £2.99 and are being sold by the scottish cyclocross association to raise funds. since you wouldn't want to be responsible for cross people getting cross due to lack of pennies, and it is a particularly attractive card, you could do a lot worse than buy one or two for those close friends. that's the ones who would understand why you'd sent a card with a bicycle on it.

the card shown above arrived via davie the snake, so unfortunately, i'm not too sure how to go about acquiring more of the same, so in the interim, try e-mailing davie to find out.

posted on friday 28 september 2007.

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brintonissimo

brintoni logo

i'm hoping you'll let me off with the fact that this is calendar season (it is - trust me) and the fact that i think the guy's drawings are excellent, that the great brintoni is featured yet again in the post. partly due to the 'great minds think alike' syndrome, the idea of interviewing david brinton occurred to both dave trendler of velopress and i at pretty much the same time.

and so, fresh from an excursion to the tuscan hills with connie carpenter and davis phinney, here's an interview with the man himself. readers in the usa will perhaps be more familar with brintoni's artwork than europeans, but that shouldn't stop you checking them out.

read on...

posted on thursday 27 september 2007.

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increasing your carbon footprint

simmons custom shoes

how did you go about choosing the correct size of your last pair of cycling shoes? mine are currently the vittoria bling, bling gold 30th anniversary shoes supplied for a road test by fk marketing, and i basically told graeme what size my very comfortable carnacs had been, and he, with his enceyclopaedic knowledge of these sort of things, sent me up the most comfortable pair of cycling shoes i have ever worn. and they only weigh around 200g for the pair (without my feet in them)

but there are other ways to get the right size of shoe, but only one way if you fancy a pair of simmons full carbon wrap cycling shoes as sported by magnus backstedt - foot casting. without a trace of irony, the website of simmons hand-made shoes purveyor, groupe de tete states "for most cyclists, finding a qualified foot-caster should be fairly simple" - not round these here parts i'm afraid. in fact, i didn't know there was any such thing as a qualified foot-caster. helpfully, the site not only lists several of the above species, but allows the download of casting instructions, should you wish to hold a foot-casting party of your own. it almost goes without saying that none of the above are this side of the pond.

the shoes are effectively seemless with the carbon wrap describing a 360 degree enclosure around your happy feet, and it can be had in three variations as well as the custom. the makers promise improved blood circulation around the foot and unique power transfer. they also look soft enough to have htem brought to you by the faithful basset hound along with the pipe and newspaper after a long hard day in the saddle.

however, it really has to be made clear that, after your feet have been cast and david simmons has used same to work his magic, the end result probably cannot currently be matched. admittedly the simmons custom full-wrap carbon shoe weighs around 100g more than my current shiny shoes, but i think i may need more than that to give me the edge over magnus.

with assos now adding carbon into their latest line of bibshorts, we shall soon be in the enviable position of being modern day third policemen, where molycule transfer will have made us and the bikes we ride into 100% carbon. oh happy day.

contact groupe de tete if you fancy having your feet encased in black gold. the cost of the road and tri shoes will be around $1400 (approx £, while the time trial/tt shoes will lighten the wallet by around $2000 (just under £1000). and provided it is possible to obtain a good footcast (there's a phrase you won't read too often) groupe de tete will be happy to work with european customers.

posted on wednesday 26 september 2007.

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you would expect no less

ctv at interbike

i mentioned a few weeks back that here we are into cycle show time which, for the majority of us (certainly at the post) means a trip to earls court around mid october to see what the world's bicycle brands are happy to show us. now i'm more than willing to admit that jez and i might well be amongst the minority in travelling from scotlandshire to london for a look see at the bicycle show, but then we have this highly important mission in life to offload our obsession onto the rest of you - this way we can bore twice as many folks as we could do if we just mentioned it to those on islay (that is our excuse and the editor's decision is final).

but...

...in a strange land far, far away, even as i type, bigger happenings in the cycle trade are taking place. interbike, las vegas, on a scale that makes earls court look like the telephone box at sanaigmore, is attracting thousands of dealers, press (sort of like us, only different) and others who have managed to blag a pass for the three day show, are getting sore feet and bums either traipsing round an enormous conference center (notice the transatlantic spelling) and looking at all things bicycle, and probably one or two things that are not, or letting themselves loose on the outdoor demo days on shiny new carbon and alloy provided free by eager suppliers - no, i'm not kidding.

yes, i too am inordinately jealous of those able to make the trip (simon and barry to name but two), and thewashingmachinepost is seriously considering 2008 - any would-be sponsors for that should contact me soon:-) but this is america, and america does everything on a grander scale than anywhere else, so it should come as no surprise to find that 'getting' to interbike has alternative methods.

powered by cycling.tv, the interbike media center has a whole day's worth of programmes on the internet for the length of the expo starting at 8:30 pacific time. this seems to work out at a nine hour time difference, so start watching around 5:30pm uk time and you can grab a notion of bicycle shows las vegas style. if internet tv is not your thing, then there's a daily blog to keep you up to date with show happenings. and all this is free, which is considerably less than the air fare from glasgow and bed and breakfast in las vegas.

however, it does look a bit warmer than bowmore at the moment.

posted on wednesday 26 september 2007.

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the (almost) new obsession

campagnolo sportswear

it used to be just the bike (whatever lance says): what kind of frame, which brand of components, which pair of wheels, or even what colour of bar tape? and while that hasn't gone away (actually it's got worse), there's even more to fret over now. well, actually it's not just 'now' because it has been trundling along happily for a number of years, but may just have received the 'official nod' from the chaps at vicenza.

campagnolo have worked their way up in the clothing stakes from an almost occasional garment supplier, to running with the big boys such as assos, castelli, etxe ondo and the like, providing a comprehensive range of both winter and summer clothing utilising the very latest in technical fabrics. probably not something that can be attributed to tullio atop a frozen croce d'aune pass.

granted, i'm not sure you're likely to see too many shimano or sram cyclists wearing jackets with the italian logo emblazoned back and front (though there are bound to be some who just don't 'get it), but the latest winter range is definitely 'da biz'.

and if the significance of all this escapes you, it hasn't escaped campagnolo, since they have now launched a very slick website to showcase their extensive range of clothing including racing, team, classica, women's, technical gear, and the multi-season system. and entirely unlike their swiss counterparts, there is a downloadable catalogue to help choose the style that fits the finely honed physique over an isostar and torq bar of an evening. (why do assos fail to offer a downloadable version?).

campagnolo sportswear

however, the storefinder feature fails to offer any in the uk or the united states. go figure. anyway, doubtless there will be the whole range on show in las vegas this week at interbike. in the absence of campagnolo finding you a store, the uk distributor is jim walker, while in the usa distribution is handled by sinclair imports

www.campagnolosportswear.com

posted on tuesday 25 september 2007.

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and lo, the bicycle will save the planet... let's crank

innovate or die

the same amount of energy that it would take a person to walk at 3mph (5kph), would allow them to travel at 10-15mph (15-25kph). so sayeth specialized bicycles and goodby silverstein & partners and just to put their money where their collective mouths are, both companies are offering $5000 dollars cash and some specialized globe bicycles, to anyone who can invent a bicycle powered solution to reverse global warming (couldn't we just all dump the car and use bikes?)

the innovate or die pedal powered machine contest launched on september 19th (apologies for such tardiness in reporting) and eligible entrants will be invited to use that most ubiquitous of media outlets, youtube, to document their solutions. and if you're wondering what sort of innovation we're talking about, the site shows a pedal powered computer (a macbook pro, i'm entirely smug to say) - just the very thing i could use while filling these pixels. not terribly sure that mrs washingmachinepost would be keen on the attendant noise though, (and i'd insist on a lightweight carbon wheel).

intrepid inventors have until 11:59:59 pacific time on december 15, 2007 to save the planet, before being judged by mike sinyard of specialized, dan reicher, director of climate change and energy initiatives (part of google, who also own youtube), and rich silverstein, founding partner of goodby, silverstein & partners.

and just to let us know that this isn't entirely rhetoric, sinyard, specialized employees and select(?) dealers will ride the 600 plus miles (1000km) from morgan hill, california to interbike in las vegas over five days. (it doesn't say how they're getting back afterwards).

winners will be announced on january 15 2008 - start footering about with bicycle bits immediately.

posted on monday 24 september 2007.

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ride on the money

www.magclearsmines.org

some of us take our bikes out for a short pootle to the shops, some for a few kilometres more, and some of us at every available opportunity, rain or shine because, well, that's just how it is. but for some folks, the occasional hour in the saddle just plain isn't enough - thirty days seems about right (at least it probably seemed like it at the time).

and while we can all manage to squeeze out a damn fine excuse as to why it's all absolutely necessary 9i can help you if you're stuck), raising over £7000 has to be probably one of the finest reasons i have ever come across. phil deeker, you may remember, decided to climb more than 30 cols in thirty days while the rest of us were slouched in front of eurosplot watching the tour de farce. the 7000 green folding bits are going towards helping mines advisory group prevent tragedies like the photo above. an entirely worthy cause, and one hell of a good reason to ride your bike.

phil deeker, we salute you.

posted on monday 24 september 2007.

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a friday thing

cycling scotland

the post's best pal from mull, a chap by the name of cyclocross davie graham, spends a lot of his spare time teaching bike skills to small people, principally those in primary five and six. and in a fit of total selfishness, jez and i thought it would be a really smart idea if we could learn to do the same on islay, if only to protect the velo club d'ardbeg lineage. yes, we all have intentions of cycling forever and a day, but realistically...

so on friday afternoon (21 september) with a bit of help from the folks at the mactaggart leisure centre in bowmore, and morrison bowmore distillers (who lent us their car park), we worked through the cards in cycling scotland's ready steady bike followed by practical instruction from davie: riding in and out of fluorescent green cups, snaking up bowmore main street, and embarrassing ourselves at bicycle polo (at which johnstone wheelers are apparently unparalleled at present).

still, despite displaying such high levels of incompetence, jez and i have been passed as trainers in ready, steady, bike and, with the assistance of the islay active schools co-ordinator, a scottish cycle presence at the 2016 olympics is almost assured. or are we getting a bit ahead of ourselves here?

coolest part of the whole practical instruction was what is apparently called snaking - a means of escorting kids on bikes from one place to another through traffic. in order to assure their safety, the kids are led by one trainer, with a second following up at the rear. on approaching a right hand turn, the trainer riding shotgun at the rear, signals and pulls in towards the centre of the road, thereby preventing following traffic from passing. once in position, a quick shout to the lead cyclist allows them and the kids to move out into the road's centre too.

once everybody is in position, the rearmost adult cyclist pulls back into lane and accelerates past the group, taking up position at right angles to oncoming traffic just past the turn. this prevents oncoming traffic from endangering the group as they turn. sheer brilliance, and it was good fun, even if we did carry this out travelling up the 12% climb of bowmore main street.

cyclocross davie, we salute you.

posted on sunday 23 september 2007.

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le velo de ghislain lambert - a film by philippe harel dvd. prendas £19.95

le velo du ghislain lambert

you really have to wonder how this gem sneaked by the observation tower. granted the movie is in french with english subtitles (for those of us who are linguistically challenged in any foreign language) but pan's labyrinth seems to have enjoyed a fairly high profile at the box office despite being in spanish with english subtitles. and don't give me that argument about being a minority interest - pan's labyrinth wasn't exactly the simpsons movie.

i did wonder momentarily about the vicissitudes of a cycling movie that has institutionalised drugtaking as its core theme, but the subject's treatment takes the piss both literally and figuratively. ghislain lambert is like all of us: fanatical about cycling, racing along the road to his work pretending to be several metres ahead of a chasing peloton (we all do that don't we?), and is recruited by the directeur sportif of the magicreme team. unfortunately, ghislain is the only one who doesn't realise he is woefully unprepared for the step up to professionalism in every conceivable way.

it turns out that the ds has roomed him with a team-mate whose job it is to supply ghislain with preparations and increase his value as a domestique. the first attempt provides the finest humour of any cycling movie i've seen, but i'm not going to tell you any more - you'll just have to buy your own copy to find out of which i speak (write?). while the movie's raison d'etre is the endemic drug culture that existed in the seventies, nobody lives happily ever after, so on reflection, there is some quiet moralising.

if i've read the stuff on the cover properly, this film was made in 2001 but portrays the cycling world of the 1970s - and the attention to detail is phenomenal. although the teams that lambert pedals for are entirely fictitious, he is surrounded by peugeot, molteni, brooklyn et al with period wool jerseys and sean yates shorts. not a look pedal to be seen. the only faux pas that i noticed was the platform band in brittany playing pipe band hts drums that weren't invented until the late eighties. and i have a sneaking suspicion that some of the bike frames were tig welded, but i could be wrong on that count.

most obvious oops is the cover photo which has the clothing logos correct, but somehow the photoshoppers have managed to put the chainset on the right. ho hum. any period movie effectively sets itself up for anoraks such as yours truly to point out such trivialities, but i'm not altogether sure that a regular diet of reviewing stuff doesn't make you more sensitive to this.

that said, none of these punishingly obscure observations can possibly detract from what is a massively entertaining film. prendas are to be roundly congratulated for having the foresight to have tracked down this dvd. get your order in very quickly, because i don't think there are boxloads of them available, and you will kick yourself soundly if you miss this.

prendas.co.uk

posted on saturday 22 september 2007.

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oooooh!

lightweight rear mech

you may remember a short piece in these pixels regarding the generation three products from the carbonsports' lightweight range. well, courtesy of the gentlemen at least partly responsible, i have some photos that allow a closer look at what is possibly the most sought after black gold on the cycle market.

the carbon rear derailleur we already knew about, since it has been much rumoured for several months, and photos of early prototypes have been seen elsewhere, if you kept your eyes open. the picture in this gallery is of the final pre-production prototype, and gave the impression that the whole affair could conceivably be dismantled with strategic components, such as the parallelogram pivots, being replaceable (notice the mini-nuts on the lower facing). however, i have been advised that the final version (production of which will commence next month) will differ slightly from this - unfortunately i don't know whether this means dismantleability will or will not be possible. the jockey wheels will be delivered in light alloy with standard, not ceramic, bearings due to a longer life cycle and a warranty of two years.

both pairs of lightweight wheels that i've had on test have had a very nice pair of lightweight branded,continental tubulars pre-stuck (due to probable incompetence at the islay end) to the carbon rims. this effectively removed any possible discrepancies in the testing procedure (notice how i've managed to make it sound like an efficient process) allowing me just to ride a luxuriously appointed colnago. however, it was almost inevitable that, with the continuing advances in carbon technology, lightweight would not be far behind in offering carbon clincher rims as proffered by the likes of campagnolo and zipp. the lightweight clinchers have not, however, followed the ventoux profile but remained closer to the deep profile rim of the lightweight standard. unfortunate if you live in the windy city - i look forward to the day when a clincher version of the ventoux appears. the standard clinchers will appear around march 2008 at a cost of around £2300.

all the generation three wheels come with 100% carbon fibre spokes, moving on from the current carbon/kevlar, though the ventoux will have the option of dt swiss which add 100g.

the surprising release from carbonsports comes last. many cyclists build or buy themselves a fixed gear bike to lighten the load, simplify pedalling life and lower the cost (unless you bought one of those mercian/paul smith fixed wheelers). yes indeed, carbonsports have provided the ultimate fixed accessory - the lightweight 'fixie' with a tubular rim. bearing in mind my total incompetence on a fixed wheel, the hub on the lightweight fixie will only accept a single speed freewheel (i know - like me you're wondering why it's called a fixie). one of these could eventually make its way onto the colnago superissimo (if i ever get round to having it re-painted). of course, there would have to be a matching front wheel. so whatever you do, don't tell mrs washingmachinepost about any of this.

view the gallery

all lightweight products are exclusively available in the uk from bespoke cycling

posted on saturday 22 september 2007.

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now it's winter, even if it isn't really

rapha long sleeve jersey

on the second thursday of august every year, the islay show is held on the show field near bridgend. essentially and historically an agricultural show, this year's edition suffered from the cattle movement restrictions in force due to a couple of foot and mouht cases discovered in england. however, there were still dogs, horses, tractors, boats (?), islay pipe band and numerous stalls to keep the multitudes entertained.

it's an important day in islay's year because lots of folks who have moved away for family or work reasons, tend to come back over for the show in the hope of bumping into friends and acquaintances while wandering round in circles for most of what is more often than not, a damp afternoon. surprisingly, to the neophyte, this event lasts only for the one day, though things do tend to continue in the local taverns of an evening, or at the show dance in portnahaven.

anyway, the point of all this diversion is that there's a local saying that once the show's over, winter sets in. disappointingly this has often taken the form of a hideously accurate prediction, show day being followed by several days of cold wind and rain (you'll perhaps understand that these pixels are not being sponsored by the islay and jura marketing group). still it has become one of those sayings that is repeated more and more often each year, to the point where it has entered the local lexicon as if it were incontrovertible fact.

however, we must bow to even greater pressure to acquiesce to the doom and gloom of impending autumn/winter, because rapha have stopped releasing lightweight summer jerseys, instead intent on providing us with their equivalent of furry slippers, the long sleeve jersey. built entirely in the style we have come to expect and respect from the kings of pain and suffering, it is available in pale blue, purple and red with a full length zip and an elasticated waist pullcord. pockets are admirably catered for, including the almost, by now indispensable pump pocket and zipped, waterproof valuables pocket. this latter feature, admittedly available on several other manufacturer's products, has become so useful that it's a major disappointment to wear a jersey without one.

all three jerseys can be had in small through to extra, extra large for the respectable fee of £120 ($200). impeccable styling when there's a nip in the air.

posted on friday 21 september 2007.

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colourful round bits

bora art

it seems to be flavour of the year for competitions to design something to place on a bicycle rider, or something that adheres to a bicycle. team slipstream powered by chipotle have been holding a competition to design a new jersey for next season, when everybody and his best friend will be in america's number one team. the competition finishes today, but you can view the short-listed designs here, some of which are designerly very clever.

and to celebrate their forthcoming 75th anniversary (1933-2008) campagnolo launched a competition earlier this year where us punters could paint a pair of bora wheels - well, one of them and campag would make two of the winning design. similarly to jonathan waughters team, campagnolo have whittled their entry of 587 down to ten finalists. now the art connoisseurs amongst us are invited to pop along to campagnolo's website and vote for the entry that displays the highest degree of perspicacity and artistic integrity. or, if you prefer, the one with the highest degree of bling. bear in mind, just before you click the link, that whichever design you choose, it is going to spend a large proportion of its life whirling round at high speed. so a design that looks uber cool when leaning against the team bus, may have the appearance of mud in rotation (not that i wish to sway your mindset one way or the other:-)

so please make the effort to vote at least, since 587 folks made the effort to rearrange a bora rim.

posted on friday 21 september 2007.

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brintoni revisited

subsequent to my article below, velopress very kindly sent me a small selection of illustrations from the 2008 heros du velo calendar by david 'brintoni' brinton. click here for a peek. available from cordee in the uk and velopress in the usa.

posted on thursday 20 september 2007.

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cyclocross training+technique by simon burney. velopress 230pp illus. £13.99 ($18.95)

cyclocross by simon burney

when you were at school, did you ever have to stand up in front of the class and give a talk on a subject of your own choosing for about five minutes? and over the course of that five minutes, did you find that you didn't actually know as much about the chosen topic as you thought you did? then, just to make matters worse, after all the ands, buts, and ehs, the teacher would invite the rest of the class to ask questions. ground swallowing time.

simon burney must have loved those days, because he would likely have been so squirmingly good at it - not a smidgeon of embarrassment must have crossed his face during five, ten, or even fifteen minutes. how do i know this? because i've just finished reading cyclocross training+technique and i can't remember ever having read such an incredibly concise and complete manual on any aspect of cycling. ever.

a successful primer on any factual subject, should really assume no prior knowledge on behalf of the reader, but conversely should not bore the more knowledgeable. it's somewhat of a difficult tightrope to walk, but mr burney has carried it off with aplomb. if memory serves well, simon burney was manager of the uk based peugeot mountain bike team in the early 90s, guiding such riders as david baker and tim gould. currently he is british cycling's 'cross and mountain bike coach and it seems to the 'cross novice (me!) that the transition between mountain biking and cyclocross is a small one. but it turns out that it may well be coming in opposite direction from the road isn't that big a leap either. just muddier, but still with double chainrings and drop bars.

in a very quick 230 pages, simon covers every minute aspect of racing, training, the bicycles, clothing, the riders, mechanicals - in fact, if i had to give a five minute talk on what i thought had been missed out, i'd have to stand silent (mrs washingmachinepost would be so happy). to point out that using a turbo trainer in a dusty garage may not be the smartest thing to do because the fan would blow up the dust is minutiae of an order greater than you or i would be likely to include.

the book is particularly well illustrated, with photos showing how to get off the bike and back on again without losing time or stride, how to leap hurdles, how to deal with cambers and perhaps most importantly in cyclocross, how to carry the bike. there's a highly detailed section on training including sample season training plans, training based on heart-rate, advice on weight training, cross training, fitting your training around work - the depth is astonishing. burney has even managed to attract richard nieuwhuis, owner of dugast tyres, to pen a page on exactly how to glue tubulars onto carbon rims (though it seems to me that the directions would apply equally to standard alloy rims).

cyclocross by simon burney

so with the cyclocross season already underway in europe, and coverage again on cycling.tv this winter (through their uci channel), now is the time to inform yourself via this book: if you are already an experienced cyclocrosser, i'll bet you'd still learn from this, and if you know little or nothing, you'll enjoy every page. the man's writing style suggests the possibility of an alternative literary career - i breezed through in just over an evening, because it just gets you that way.

in the uk, copies can be ordered through cordee books for £13.99, while those in americashire can order through velopress (the book's publishers) for $18.95.

if you want more (and who wouldn't?), simon has a blog at crossadvice.com.

posted on thursday 20 september 2007.

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tour de france redeemed

kraftwerk remixed

i'm not enough of a trendy music buff to know whether the following will increase or decrease my street cred (working on the assumption that i actually had any in the first place) but after having phloyd, rasmussen, sinkewitz, vino and kashechkin destroy any vestiges of dignity that le grand boucle may have clung onto, something was needed to revive our faith in what is generally billed to be the world's greatest race (even though we all know that to be paris roubaix).

it may be that you are one of those cyclists who only listened to kraftwerk because they released the tour de france single in 1983, followed a long time later, by the tour de france soundtracks in 2003. and if you're a real nutter for this kind of stuff (why's everybody looking at me?) you will also have a copy of minimum maximum which has a live rendition of sections of the soundtracks album (though they never look very live in photos of their concerts). come every july, there will be ipods all over the country lighting up for the annual tdf playlist.

so it came as something of a pleasant surprise to find a two track ep available on the itunes store for £1.99 ($2.49) containing remixes of 'aerodynamik' and 'la forme-king of the mountains'. incidentally, i'd recommend downloading from itunes, because the shiny plastic version from amazon uk costs £3.99 ($5.98 on .com, but not released in the usa until october 23). the remixes are by hot chip which appears to be a collective name for a british dance/dj outfit. why the heck they have chosen or been chosen to re-work a couple of kraftwerk tour de france tunes, i have no idea, and the notion of releasing it around two months after the the tour has finished is also quite beyond my ken. maybe they were waiting for the 'b' sample.

however, if you'd like to feel a bit better about the tour, download the ep and follow it up with any of the other kraftwerk tour stuff. it might even relieve the boredom that has become the 2007 la vuelta.

posted on wednesday 19 september 2007.

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if the cap fits...

bp peugeot cap

it possibly started with greg lemond, because i remember having a giro 'z' helmet in stock years ago and, as the years have snuck by, we have been offered numerous lance wears it pudding basins from giro and others have done likewise. and the casquette has also been available to suit your favourite velocipede, or occasionally fausto coppi and paul smith(?).

the velo club d'ardbeg peloton have searched far and wide for a friendly manufacturer that could provide us with stylish casquettes befitting our team's celtic design with the big 'a' - so far unsuccessfully. however, i should care less, because i have a personalised brian palmer peugeot cap from the chaps at prendas. quizzically enough the cap design was originally hi-jacked by bp peugeot englebert between 1963/64, then by bp peugeot michelin from 1965-75 (not sure about the connection between peugeot and petroleum firms, because these two teams were followed by peugeot esso, then peugeot shell).

the earliest incarnation featured the great eddy merckx and roger pingeon, though perhaps its most infamous wearer was the late tommy simpson. but if you check the initials of all of these heros du velo, none of them fit - they were wearing the cap under false pretensions.

so, if your initials are bp, or you know someone who's initials fit the description, prendas will be happy to sell you one for £6. and there's more: you can also purchase a limited edition, tom simpson, bp peugeot world champion's jersey for £39.95, or, if you're not actually a world champion with the initials bp, then you can buy the domestique's team issue for the same price, as worn by the brilliantly named pino cerami amongst others.

can't guarantee you'll all get personalised clothing though.

posted on tuesday 18 september 2007.

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tell them we sent you

quick mention for those intending to visit islay's shores on a bike during the summer. velo club d'ardbeg recommended coffee/tea stops - in no particular order.

club headquarters at the old kiln cafe, ardbeg distillery. excellent food and good coffee, though strangely (and disappointingly) still no espresso or cappucino. the single malt is apparently just ginger peachy. only open at weekends from june to september.

bruichladdich mini market (debbie's cafe), a few hundred yards from the distillery. highly commended designer coffees with outside tables. we like. open all year round with a cycling wall in the coffee corner.

the croft kitchen, port charlotte. longest established of the threesome with everything from full four course meals to the vca recommended carrot cake and designer coffees. open from easter to christmas.

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

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book reviews

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