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look like stuey

last year it was cancellara, this year the surprise on the cobbles was good old stuey. it can't be entirely a coincidence that two of csc's top riders have won paris-roubaix two years in succession. and despite my contention that some of islay's lesser used roads have a surface that makes roubaix look like a billiard table (probably not true), the nearest i, or any of the rest of us are likely to get to emulating stuey or fabian is either by purchasing a cervelo (expensive) or some csc clothing.

and it's quite co-incidental that you mention that, because the never resting chaps at prendas, confident that one of riis' boys would take top honours, have acquired a limited quantity of these impressive descente retro cotton csc sweaters for the paltry sum of £65. the vertically challenged, however, need not apply since only large and x-large are available, but that's most of us, right?

posted on friday 20th april 2007

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mary, mungo and midge (jez hastings behind bars)

those funky chappies at on-one are at it again. ok so some of you have come across these bars before as we have (see the previous review of the pompino) that being said, when we got our hands on the midge bars, and mary too, we just had to try them on the vc tandem.

for those who are new to these bars and please forgive me for getting excited about such things, the on one think tank has developed these bars for specific use. the midge have a wee drop and are quite reminiscent of very ancient splayed cinnelli maes bends that we had on our trad touring bikes back in the days of fixed wheel winter club runs when everybody had saddle bags and drummed up if there was no café stop of course that was in the days of monochrome no cycle sport designer colour! the on-one team have still kept to the monochrome theme with fine engraving displaying a hint of humour with a wee mouse like midge smiling out from the centre of the bars. of course, if you use an on-one stem then you can clearly see his dinky face from the cut out in the stem support. cool and neat. fitting these bars was easy and i have put bar end shifters easy to use and then the brakes are aero diacompe for v brakes- again easy to install and use. this option knocks a whopping 1.5lbs from the original atb straights! (no wonder the tandem was heavy!)

how do they ride?

i like drops and use all the positions seven on these bars no i am not going to list them all here however they are very comfortable and having wrecked my hands on silly long distance rides (audax and 24hr events) in times gone by (the mismanagement of youth) they are extremely comfortable and i would be tempted to use them on all my machines save the c40 i do still have some street cred left in this wee corner of the outer edge! i finished them off with cork ribbon with the gel option. again a good and comfortable option.

so what about the mary bars?

these are very different and remind me of original bars that hardcore mountain bike designers were running way back when folks like gary fisher was young so were we!. the grip section is about 175mm long and gives lots of room to hold onto. from a stoker's point of view this is great.

the centre-centre dimension across the ends is 645mm and is smaller than the trad atb bar, but gives a nice shape and line. the bar sweeps forward 5 cms or so from the bar centre, and there's no need to change the stem (good for us frugal scots). brant at on-one says that this lessens the torsional force going through the stem clamp. on the tandem there is no need for controls on these bars ( we don't want the stoker doing any more work than pedalling!)

there is a gentle and comfortable rise at 37.5mm again this helps for a more upright position, helping raise the stoker from the captain's rear end! the material, like all their bars is 6061 a pliable, yet stiff alloy with little flex. (push up those hills please). the finish is shot-blasted and then anodised to stress the bas relief of the etchings.

final sample weight - and full production weight, is 300g. so for a funky 70s cowhorn look these are the real mccoy, and from a stokers point of view they offer lots of hand positions, are not flexible, and look different too!

at £35 per set they are not cheap, but quality and style has a price, and i think it's well worth paying!

and mungo? well on-one has these in stock a swept back moustache look so we can all join in the 1930s imageŠ. if only we could remember then! ( i'm just about to dust off the black alpaca!)

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that feeling of fraudulence just got worse

the article below this one is about phil deeker who's going to cycle over 300 cols in about a month. but even he must feel a degree of humility when confronted with the efforts of jane tomlinson. if you haven't heard of jane, she is suffering from terminal cancer, but rather than lie back and let nature take its course, she's making the very best use of the time she has left.

and the last thing that she did would make most of us feel like couch potatoes, and then some. jane cycled across america in about 64 days, from san francisco to new york, covering 3500 miles, and she's not a well woman. she's previously cycled from lands end to john o'groats, and over many of the mountains of france, taken part in an ironman triathlon and run a marathon. so next time you figure that it's too wet or too windy to cycle to the shops, stand in front of a mirror and remind yourself what a total wimp you are.

the ride across america was jane's last epic trip to raise money for cancer research, because she's not getting any better and she'd like to spend what time she has left with her family. the trip was documented by martyn hollingworth (who cycled alongside carrying a dv camera for pretty much the whole trip). you can read about jane and the documentary on apple's website or watch the four part documentary made for sky tv on martyn hollingworth's site.

brings new meaning to the phrase 'we are not worthy'

posted saturday 14 april

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now i feel like a fraud

i'm sure i've managed to bore you all with my training regime for june's london paris ride (it's going very well, thanks for asking) because the total distance each day averages 200km. and you may find it surprising to know that i don't usually cover that distance on a daily basis (there's another myth blown). so while basking in the self righteous glory of being the only cyclist on islay to have covered this kind of mileage on a weekly (weakly?) basis, the wind was well and truly taken from thewashingmachinepost sails when i received the following from philp deeker.

philip is undertaking to cycle across 300 french cols in under 30 days covering three different routes across the alps, pyrenees and cevennes. why? well, philip works with explosives, and wanted to assist the mines advisory group (nothing to do with coal or such, we're talking landmines here) in their work to re-establish local community life after disaster.

phil is leaving from annecy on july 1st (co-incidentally, the day i get back from paris, if anyone's interested) and aims to climb around 3000m of climbing a day (!). philip's wife will drive the support car and he will be joined by 28 year old romanian cyclist, claudiu moga. if you fancy joining him, he'd welcome you with open arms, even if you only partake of a few cols. contact him at philip@painsfireworks.com that's the same contact e-mail if you feel like giving him loadsamoney to help his nominated charity.

each successful ascent will be photographed, popped on the corporate laptop and posted here. if you're going to be photographed, you need the right shirt for the occasion, and since our friends at rapha have kitted the man with their distinctive brand of sartorial elegance, i for one look forward to phil's progress and the photos.

hopefully we should have updates and stuff on the post during july

posted saturday 14 april

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the art of the lensman

if you look further down this page, you will read my lyrical waxing over the latest rapha catalogue. and in my opinion, the two greatest things that rapha have going for them are the quality clothing and ben ingham's photography.

when the very first rapha catalogue appeared almost two years ago now, i sent a copy to a friend of mine who is a cyclist from the 'old school'. on receipt, he telephoned me immediately and said 'only a real cyclist would understand'. i know exactly what he meant. some bloke with a camera had managed to capture the very essence that is rapha, and the very essence that describes what it is to be a cycling fanatic, old school or otherwise.

that 'bloke' was ben ingham, and he's still at it, producing photographs that get you right here (if you see what i mean). so when the opportunity arose to interview the man by e-mail, i grasped it with both lens caps. and not only is it fascinating, but ben was kind enough to supply an exclusive set of photographs from the recent rapha condor team training camp and february's courses au soleil race from france to spain.

read the interview

posted thursday 12th april

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sartorial elegance of a velocipedal nature

i will forgive you all if you have the opinion that a t-shirt is a t-shirt, is a t-shirt, mainly because i would often tend to agree with you. and in this age of the internet, or even two page colour advertisements in the cycle press, images of and on t-shirt graphics all seem to appear as if they were done in adobe illustrator. and there's a good reason for this - they quite often are.

so much like the catalogues that mrs washingmachinepost orders her summer wardrobe from, there often seems to be a world of a difference between what's promised, and what falls through the letterbox in a large brown envelope. while i can agree that this is somewhat of a sweeping generalisation and i mean no disrespect to those involved in the purveying of such garments, the three items under discussion in this part of the post certainly do not disappoint.

the regular reader will have seen these images on the post in recent weeks, but those were the 'illustrator' versions that prendas were/are using to advertise the availability of same. through thewashingmachinepost letterbox today (actually that's not quite true - the postie simply opened the door and put the envelope in the porch, but we're trying to build an image here people) arrived a sample of each shirt, and they are everything promised and more.

the shirts themselves are heavy cotton, and quite roomy. i'm quite thin really, the shirts are size medium, and they come up reasonably baggy - just as i like them. each design appears to have been applied by heat transfer rather than the traditional screen printing, but seems heavy enough to withstand wash, after wash, after... well you get the general idea.

the illustrations are taken from original paintings by joe scherer. i admit to having had doubts about the likeness of the obree pic as seen in the promo illustrations, but close up, in real life (so to speak) it's actually pretty accurate.

which one to buy?

not an option, just get all three.

available from prendas for £17.50 each post free. and almost as a footnote, if it weren't so important, the colnago cap is also available for a mere £7.50 each. if you're a colnago owner or aficionado, you'd need a darned good excuse (like-'i've already got one') not to add this to your order.

posted tuesday 10 april 2007

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home mechanic

if you're sitting in front of your computer across the atlantic, you can log on to wrench science, choose the bike frame you want, along with all the other weight weenie stuff you might want to hang on it. then watch while the grams head downwards and the cost of same goes through the roof. and it's great fun, because you can build several versions of your dream bicycle without so much as a grease mark on the keyboard.

and, to be perfectly honest, you have been able to do likewise through certain online retailers in the uk (and probably europe too) but not always specifying quite the frame exotica you might like. since yours truly at the post has an inherent prejudice towards colnagos (in case you hadn't noticed) it was great joy to find de ver cycles website, where i can happily try a myriad of options on my prospective extreme c frameset, while noting down the list of convincing arguments with which to placate mrs washingmachinepost.

should you desire exotica, but not share my colnago obsession, you can currently choose from wilier (including the cofidis le roi version), time, giant and the aforementioned carbon from ernesto. groupsets feature the best of shimano and campag, and if the bank manager will stand it, you could pop for a pair of campag hyperon clincher wheels (don't think i hadn't thought about it:-)

according to maurice at de ver cycles, the 'bike builder' currently offers over 10 million combinations and, as they add to the variey of componentry and framesets, this can only increase. once you've made your choice from bars, frame, groupset, seatpost, saddle, stem, tyres, bar tape and wheels, you receive a one to one consultancy to complete the order and make sure that the whole thing fits. both this and uk delivery are included in your final bike price.

unfortunately my extreme c is currently heading towards a 'sleeping in the bike shed' price, though it's comforting to know that the weight of same would blow away in an islay breeze. if you're in the market for a new bike for those summer gran fondos, how much simpler can it get?

posted monday 9 april 2007

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disgrace doesn't begin to describe it

we're not renowned for being overly serious in these yellow pages - serious about our cycling but probably more than flippant about the culture that is appended to same. and that's generally the way we like it - cycling should be fun, no matter what standard you're at, or what style of riding you like. but there are times when you have to stand your ground and point the finger at the guilty party.

cycle campaigning would be a very valid use of this notion, but unfortunately, my point here is a might less serious, in the grand scheme of things, but close to the hearts of those of us who delight in what are known in cycle racing circles as 'the spring classics'.

if you read the article below this one, you will learn that the tour of flanders was today (sunday 8th april) won by alessandro ballan, and coverage of the race made history with cycling.tv broadcasting across the entire world, with no restrictions, to those who had subscribed to their premium channel (£24.99 per year). similar coverage was also broadcast by british eurosport.

next weekend on sunday 15th april, paris roubaix, the queen of the classics takes place, and believe me, this is where it's at. or at least, it's where it should be at. unfortunately, due to the vagaries of broadcast rights, cycling.tv can only show paris-roubaix in north america, because it appears that eurosport have the rights for europe. and unfortunately, having possession of such rights apparently means you can do what you like with them, which is exactly what british eurosport appear to want to do.

flanders gained about four hours coverage, but next weekend we will apparently be lucky if we manage one hour's worth of probably the finest single day race in the calendar. if this bothers you as much as it bothers us, phone eurosport (0845 6721010) and scream in their collective ear or send them some serious pixels to ukcomms@eurosport.com.

eurosport have the european tv rights and are squandering them, while cycling.tv would dearly love to have the tv rights, but can only broadcast to north america. and no disrespect intended to our cycling compatriots across the pond, but how come they're going to see more of the 2007 paris-roubaix than those of us in the uk?

the fans lose out again.

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there's mileage in the old dogs yet

it's rare that thewashingmachinepost can be considered bang up to date. generally we don't do up to date because that is far more competently handled by sites like cyclingnews.com or cyclingweekly.co.uk, but i will relieve you of your consternation by pointing out that this ever-so-up-to-dateness is totally accidental.

if you're reading this anytime after sunday 8 april, you may consider this a false claim, and in order that this may, or may not happen again, i'm going to try and remember to put dates on all future articles.

but to the point: alessandro ballan (lampre-fondital) won today's tour of flanders (not a quickstep to be seen in the top ten - oops) on a wilier bicycle. and his wilier bicycle had wheels with spokes - real spokes built three cross on to tubular rims. and because he's a big lad (6' 2") and flanders, along with roubaix, is notoriously hard on the spinny bits, the front wheels used thirty six spokes.

big deal, i can hear you say, but if you look at the rest of the peloton, the majority are on boutique wheels with as few spokes as they can get away with because that's what their sponsors would like them to use. in fact, it's sort of what i have on the company colnago (campag protons) at present. granted, ballan will switch to campag neutrons for most of the rest of the season (roubaix excluded), but it's comforting to note that the craft of wheel building is still alive and well and living on the bike of de ronde 2007 winner.

this article brought to you by the luddite society of islay:-)

the post hopes to enlarge upon this by testing a pair of handbuilt chris king wheels when they become available (with a bit of luck)

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transcending the idiom

there have been a number of publications over the years that transcend the product(s) they were produced to advertise - ask anyone with a copy of the pirelli calendar. while not quite as alluring as the latter, the seasonal catalogues for rapha are rapidly achieving a similar degree of collectability if for entirely different reasons. previous versions have described the cycling heaven/hell (depending on your point of view) of the cobbles and back roads of belgium, while the latest points to the more civilised and presumably warmer climes of majorca.

while the ultimate aim is to have us log on to rapha.cc, with credit card in hand, to order cycling apparel that will transport us to our own cycling heaven or suffering, the photography by ben ingham lifts these offerings above the mainstream. i have a standing order to send copies to acquaintances across the pond, while retaining some for my own collection - and catalogues, other than those from colnago, are not something i am prone to hoard in the depths of washingmachinepost towers.

with this summer catalogue now out and about, with the promise of some new reassuringly expensive rapha cycle clothing and artefacts, if you haven't already received one, contact claire or rene, speak nicely to them and they will pop you one in the post.

it's not just all about the bike

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