thewashingmachinepost



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gran fondo

there's been a little more interest in the gran fondo on 5 august 2007, so i've popped a link here to the info on the ardbeg page for those who may have missed the original posting. with bealach na ba apparently sold out (not without good cause) you might fancy a bop round islay - nowhere near as challenging nor as well organised, but good fun nonetheless. and we've now designated it a braveheart fund sponsorship ride. downloadable sponsor form available soon.

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rapha.cc


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high resolution

in common with the great unwashed, i have commonly made new year'slondon paris resolutions at this time each year (tautological statement if ever there was one) which, again in common with the great unwashed, rarely made it past the end of january. and the easy way out of this dilemma? exactly - don't make any new year's resolutions, or at least, don't look upon them as such.

according to my new (moleskine) 2007 diary, i have less than 170 days before i cycle from london to paris (with the obvious exception of the wet bit, which is done by ferry), and in that time, i have to educate my physique to not only calmly accommodate 200km in one day, but to then repeat the process over the course of a further two days. the first bit is almost doable now, but the subsequent part will take some time, a process i have already initiated. or at least i think i have.

and since the object of the exercise (in both senses of the word) is to raise mountains of money for the ride's charities - schools for children of cambodia and morning star children's centre i am more than happy to accept sponsorship for the undertaking to go towards both charities. if you'd like to contribute, drop me an e-mail at londonparis@thewashingmachinepost.net

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thank you

since it's now 2007, i would like to take the opportunity to thank a myriad of folks for the support they have given thewashingmachinepost throughout 2006. about a year ago, the post was still 'an article a fortnight' website with a readership of around 3000. as of this month, that's now around the 9500 mark, though it does take a lot more time and effort (worth every minute) than it used to.

we've been to the start of the tour of britain in glasgow, the national cycle show in london, and the braveheart ride in kilmarnock, read countless books, watched numerous dvds, worn wonderful clothing, ridden some very light wheels and didn't quite manage to pedal a fixed. those who helped us do all this deserve to be recognised (in no particular order), so thank you to stefan and david at carbonsports, brian, anthony, simon and james at cycling.tv, simon, luke, rene and claire at rapha, to cycling plus magazine, andy and mick at prendas, dave at velopress, david at bromley video, tony hewson, peter at colnago uk, graeme freestone king at eddy merckx uk, richard moore, chris and doris at schwalbe, calvin at park tool, will fripp at madison, lance sanderson, tom hunter, jackie at ardbeg, scott coady at big ring films, brian tinsley at yellow, diego colosio at colnago, chris distefano at chris king, ira ryan, dave russo, taliah lempert, stacey keese at skeese greets, brant richards at on-one, nigel at the comic, adrian at mousehold press, allan peiper, matt seaton at the guardian, guy andrews at rouleur, all at competitivecyclist.com, robin thomas, tony morley, brian gibb at thecyclejersey.com, francesco and silvia at campagnolo, debbie at the minimarket in bruichladdich, to jez for his invaluable and unfailing assistance, to dave t for his words of wisdom, and to everyone who has visited the washingmachinepost and sent me e-mails. all is very much appreciated. and a special thanks to mrs washingmachinepost for putting up with this cycling obsession.

there is more than a slight possibility that i have forgotten someone, for which i offer my sincere apologies, but the memory isn't what it was. i hope you all have a happy new year and add significantly to the mileage in 2007.

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prendas ciclismo


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the final hour: chris boardman's athletes' record. bromley dvd £19.99

the final hour

it's not news. chris boardman rounded out a more than competent career as a professional cyclist by attempting to beat eddy merckx's hour record on a bicycle made with round steel tubes, drop bars and normally spoked wheels. and he managed this in manchester in 2000, over six years ago. but along with the newly released 'battle of the bikes' (see review below), this makes fascinating watching.

granted, the insights into boardman's and obree's initial attempts at the hour record in 1993 on wildly different bicycles are less detailed than this 'solo' effort: this 'final' attempt at the hour involves a serious amount of scientific preparation within the 'spirit' of the regulations. as with michael hutchinson's hour attempt, the uci are not shown in the most favourable light, something that also takes up much of the obree documentary 'on yer bike'. and considering the current state of the pro tour, we really have to wonder if these officials really have cycling's best interests at heart.

however, boardman's son, george, seems to have come off worst here, since his bedroom was transformed into a hyberbaric chamber, allowing dad to train at lower oxygen content than is normal for these parts of britain. and the numerous sessions at manchester trying different wheels, frames, bike positions show peter keen to be somewhat short on humour and temper when track veterans have the audacity to encircle the track during a session that may, or may not have been exclusively booked for the hour preparation. much is done using srm power cranks, and laptop computers to ensure that boardman's power output was in the region required.

and it was. despite being well up on his schedule at half distance, he dropped behind and only just managed to surpass merckx's 1972 record by 10 metres. granted, merckx achieved his in mexico city at altitude, but somehow all the scientfic preparation would have posited a greater achievement than was the case. very easy to say when you're sitting in a comfy armchair watching this dvd on a laptop.

the dvd also includes an interview with boardman, post record, during which we discover that after the first half hour, the muscle damage to the legs increases somewhat exponentially and therefore it becomes considerably harder to maintain the power output required. didn't know that. and after it was all over, chris realised eddy hadn't been showboating by being stretchered off after mexico. it kind of puts obree's 'i'll go again tomorrow' in admirable perspective.

despite never having been a confirmed boardman fan through his career, this dvd is a fascinating watch. if you've bought 'battle of the bikes' you really ought to grab a copy of this too. it's not just a movie about someone going round in circles.

for us colnago fans, there's a brief excerpt from an interview with ernesto at merckx's hour attempt in mexico '72

buy it online from bromley dvd

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the living art of the bicycle

stefano dragonetti

as a former art student who still harbours the misguided notion that my drawing skills are what they once were, it gives as much pleasure to see bicycles on paper or canvas as it does (well, almost) to see them in the flesh, so to speak. one of the greatest for sophisticated illustration of the bicycle of yesteryear was daniel rebour, whose beautiful drawings of derailleurs (it's not just me, is it?) adorned many of the pages of the dancing chain (now available in a revised, second edition) published by van der plas publications.

and with no deference to taliah lempert, nobody has come along as successor to rebour in terms of the accuracy of his drawings. that may be due to the changes undergone in the manufacture and design of bicycle 'bits' since the late sixties, early seventies - with one or two exceptions, stefano dragonetti masi few machines are built in steel with ornate lugs (though there does seem to be an underground resurgence of this art) and components have become more functional and less ornate as the years have passed.

however, a successor may just have appeared from italy in the personage of stefano dragonetti (such a frighteningly cool name) a young man being touted as the 21st century's answer to rebour. dragonetti prefers to own and draw lugged bicycles, which seems slightly at odds with his apprecaition of the work of the pegoretti brothers who almost exclusively build with tig welding. that aside, it will be interesting to watch the progress of dragonettis' art through his cicli su carta project.

and interesting to know that in italy, daniel rebour is probably unknown.

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cycletouring in france. a cicerone guide by stephen fox. £14 softcover.

cycle touring in france

if your weather is like my weather at the moment, then this is a very good time to be thinking about summer holidays. and being the superior beings that we are (when the other half let's us) such holidays would just have to be on a bicycle. and where, apart from italy, is the obvious place to undertake this pedalling? no prizes.

and, if like me, your total grasp of anything french is encapsulated in having owned a citroen in the past, then you need someone to make it a lot easier than it could be if you were to try this on your own. in this case, that man is stephen fox. his guide to cycletouring in frenchland, runs to 265 pages and contains explicit details on routes, accommodation, distances, eating places, money - in fact pretty much everything i hadn't actually thought of. and unlike those coffee table guidebooks that are full of wondeful photos but are way too large and heavy to put in a pannier, this book measures little more than eight by six. just the right format for taking a look at when taking the inevitable wrong turning on holiday.

without having ever been in france (though i will be in late june this coming year - when someone else will be worrying about whether i'm heading in the right direction) i am assuming that mr fox has a good grip on this french touring stuff, because he has been very thorough. this volume contains a total of eight complete tours ranging from a one-week, 200km venture up to a two-week 340km route covering such areas as brittany, picardy, alsace, the alps and the pyrenees. tom simpson devotees will delight that one tour includes an ascent of the ventoux (with the warning, in bold, that the cyclist should leave departure no later than 7am due to the heat at the height of summer).

only three carps: lots of the photos appear a la cycling world magazine - there are bicycles in almost all of them. just a tad unnecessary i feel. and while there is some excellent technical advice regarding cycle repairs on the move at the beginning of the book, it rather concerns me that the author feels the need to fill a page and a half with instructions on puncture repair. why on earth would anyone attempt a two week, loaded cycle tour in the french alps without knowing how to fix a flat tyre? shouldn't be allowed. (and actually you need to remove the cassette or freewheel to replace spokes on either side of the rear hub).

and the last carp is this: it's a uk published guide (cicerone are based in cumbria), with a brief history of the tour de france and yet fails to mention the only english speaking rider to win one of the major three jerseys and the highest placing by a british (scottish) rider in the history of the race. and why are the photos from the tour as long ago as 1991?

trivialities aside, this is a great guide. i honestly figure that i could load up the bike, turn to page 50 and commence pedalling. if you can't find a copy of this book in your 'local bookstore', it, and many other guides from cicerone, are available from their website.

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if it ain't fixed, don't break it

usually, when something arrives at the post,il pompino we're straight onto it, either reading, watching or pedalling, because it's nice to have reviews pixelated in a timeous manner. if someone has had the decency to send us an item for review, the very least they deserve is a bit of punctuality. usually.

that very nice mr richards at on-one bicycles sent us up an il pompino earlier this month which had jez all a fluster and me just flustered. december's weather front, however, kept the poor thing cosily ensconced in thewashingmachinepost bike shed for almost two weeks, since the winds on the outer edge pre-empted any cycling at all, let alone the 'special' cycling we do for bike tests.

all that has blown away now and climatic serenity is ours (for a day or two at least). click here to read the full review.

or download a pdf of the review here. (mac users option click, windoze right click)

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how much? (part two)

ceramic pulleys

you know that bit of metal or metal and carbon dangly bit at the back of the bike? that thing with the cable sticking out the back that seems happy (most of the time) to shift the chain up and down the toothy bits on the wheel? yes, that's right - the derailleur. so, how much did that cost you then? twenty, thirty, forty - a hundred and something?

if you've managed to go all the way up to a campag record rear mech, then we are talking around £160 or thereabouts, while dura ace is a much more reasonable £65. but if, like michael rasmussen, enough is not enough, then improvements are called for in the friction department, ably supplied by ceramicspeed in the form of derailleur pulley, or jockey wheels with ceramic bearings. i have read before that ceramic bearings are 1000 times more round than normal bearings, but have no idea how anyone comes to such a conclusion.

anyway, if we take their word for it, you can acquire a pair of these for whichever brand of rear gear thingy you own from competitivecyclist for a mere $159.99 or around £83. i think i will struggle on in the face of adversity for now thanks.

and just while we're here, competitivecyclist are now stocking rouleur magazine, for all those across the pond who would like to see what us in britishland are harping on about.

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girls allowed

womens cycling mag

i'm led to believe that this sport of cycling that holds our attention to a greater or lesser degree, is very male centric. certainly velo club d'ardbeg's resident members are all of the male persuasion, and were it not for the fact that nicole cooke has been doing so well, you would likely be hard pressed to find much in the way of coverage of women's cycling in the uk mags. even cycling.tv, with the opportunity to cover stuff outside the norm, have had precious few women's races on the mac.

so, in the true spirit of aretha franklin, the girls are doing it for themselves. log on to womenscycling.net and be delighted that a 2006 review has been issued in magazine format and available worldwide via paypal. order very soon (before 28th december) and discounts are available. the magazine (with yet another naff cover, i'm afraid) runs to over 150 pages and incorporates 700 photos from the 2006 season. and yes, nicole cooke is in there too.

so the male dominated washingmachinepost has ordered its copy and we humbly suggest that you do too, whatever shade of pink you wear. and maybe we'll gain some hints as to how we can cover the fairer sex more often in the post.

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cool has my name on it

wool jersey

you can tell that retro has finally arrived in the hemisphere of cool when nike start making it. currently very much in vogue and available from a multitude of sources, are retro wool jerseys, just like eddie used to wear. some are more chic than others and some command higher prices than others, but would it not be the pinnacle of style to have just such a jersey with personailsed legend plastered over the front either in embroidered lettering or raised flock?

since that sounded like a resounding yes, we need only log on to www.portlandcyclewear.com - yes portland again, home of ira ryan cycles and chris king components - and take your pick of jerseys, colours, and a wide variety of lettering

happily for those of us on this side of the atlantic, proprietor chad kreuger will ship to the uk. once new year is out of the way, get your designs over to portland.

if all works out the way jez and i are hoping, we may yet have our velo club d'ardbeg leisure wear that will imbue us with a style not often seen in these here parts.

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battle of the bikes and on yer bike. double dvd. bromley video £22.99

battle of the bikes dvd

i'll not bore you with a history of thewashingmachinepost, because i'd like you to stay awake long enough to read the rest of this, but the inspiration for the bizarre title of a cycling website came from scots hero, graeme obree. and things have now come full circle with the opportunity to review this marvellous new offering from bromley video on the post.

consisting of two discs, this release has the channel four documentary 'battle of the bikes' and the bbc focal point docu 'on yer bike'on the subsequent banning of graeme's crouching position. also on disc one is an interview with doug dailey who was the british coach at the time of the obree/boardman 'battle' in the early nineties. i'm sure it's been said before, but it bears endless repeating: a scots cyclist previously on the dole (unemployment benefit for those not in the uk) wins the british 4,000m pursuit at herne hill after pulling his foot out the pedal within a few metres of the start, posting a new british record in the process. selected for the british individual pursuit team, he then beats his nemesis and world title holder (boardman) in the semi-final by almost 3 seconds, breaking the world record in the process, and goes on to beat the 'acknowledged' world's fastest man (ermenault) in the final to become world 4,000m champion. and breaking the world record yet again.

and prior to all this, obree had broken moser's world hour record (at the second attempt in two days) six days before boardman did the same thing. no wonder they wanted to make a movie out of it. and if you hadn't watched all these programmes on the telly at the time, (or logged onto bromley video to buy a copy of this dvd), you'd think i was making it up.

we've reviewed graeme's autobiography on the post and know the torment he was going through while achieveing all of the above, but it doesn't diminish the results - if anything it makes them seem even more superhuman.

graeme obree

battle of the bikes concentrates on the complete opposites that constituted obree's and boardman's preparation for these events - the former running on feeling and intuition, the latter on every scientific advantage known to cyclist kind at the time. and the tortoise won. 'on yer bike' starts with a brief reprise of the events covered in battle of the bikes, but concentrates principally on the injustice of the uci banning graeme's bicycle 'old faithful', despite complying with every uci regulation of the day, and despite the uci never having carried out any tests on the bike. mike burrows may be correct in his assumption that a) it wasn't italian, and b) the crouch position was 'just plain ugly'.

disc two has 'amateur' film of graeme beating the british hour record at herne hill in may 1993, which, ironically, spends way more time on post race interviews than on the cycling itself (thankfully) and footage of the rttc 50 mile record in june 1993. and strangely, there is some poorly shot video of graeme being beaten by colinelli in the 1995 world pursuit in manchester (during which you could be forgiven for thinking colinelli wasn't actually there). the footage is gratifying, however, because it shows obree using the superman position that the uci subsequently also banned.

lastly is a brief filmed interview with graeme at herne hill discussing the making of the feature film 'the flying scotsman'. this is almost the best bit, showing that after everything that graeme has been through in the last decade and a bit, he's still a wonderful human being.

if you missed all this when it happened, buy it now. and if, like me you still have some of this stuff on ageing vhs, buy this and throw the tapes out. i have.

makes me proud to be scots and to be thewashingmachinepost.

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just finding my bearings

campag hubs

there's an exceptionally good article in the current issue of rouleur magazine by rohan dubash about wheels - all sorts of wheels from those specials that they build for paris-roubaix up to the ultimate hoops produced by carbonsports. and if you're a confirmed wheelaholic like wot i am, this makes for great reading and viewing.

and it was this article (plus a degree of inclement weather) that provided the impetus to finally service the campag hubs that have languished in thewashingmachinepost bike shed since they were temporarily replaced by a pair of campag proton factory builds. despite the latter having disappeared from vicenza's line-up they have proved to be stronger than they look, and have delayed refurbishment of the handbuilts.

so this should serve as a timely reminder that now might be a good time to service the hubs on your own machine. wheels are not just for christmas you know. it doesn't take an advanced level of mechanical ability to have the wheels spinning smoothly again, and only a minimum of tools which every cyclist should own anyway. depending on make of hubs, this need only consist of 14 and 15mm cone spanners, a 17mm open ended spanner (if you're in the usa, substitute 'wrench' for 'spanner'), and the obligatory bearings and grease. it's common for rear hubs to be filled with quarter inch and fronts to have 3/16th, though this varies according to make. if you have a campag rear, the inner bearings that you can see once the freehub has been removed are the bizarre size of 7/32" (several years ago, i spent many a frustrating hour trying to fit 1/4" in this space with entirely unsuccessful results - so take note).

bearings

to be honest, there are just too many various hubs around to give step by step instructions on how to carry out what is a relatively simple task, so either consult any technical manual that arrived with the wheel, grab a copy of park tool's 'big blue book' or use your advanced mechanical knowledge and figure it out for yourself. campag freehubs pull off the axle once the drive side locknut has been removed, while shimano freehubs require complete axle removal before unscrewing the freehub using an appropriately sized allen key(wrench)

if any of the cone surfaces show signs of wear, they should be replaced - it's practical to put the worn bit back in for the time being, but you should replace as soon as is practical, since it won't get any better. don't do any of the above until you have obtained new bearings, as there's little point in putting the old bearings back in again, even with fresh grease. put everything back together again in the opposite order of removal (you did take note didn't you?) but only tighten the cones finger tight, and wipe away any excess grease from the outer surfaces. two reasons for finger tight cones: the q/r, when tightened will load the cones/bearings by a slight amount-if the cones are tight when re-fitted, fitting the q/r will cause a small amount of binding. and secondly, it's much easier to detect lateral play when the wheel is in the frame than otherwise.

when everything is assembled to your satisfaction, go for a ride and check for play on return. grease finds it's way into interesting little places when the wheel is in motion that it didn't when you put it in the hubs in the first place. of course, if you don't feel sufficiently mechanically adept, pop the wheels into your local bike shop and have the experts do it. it's been many a long day when you could replace the bearing surfaces in a bicycle hub, and regular servicing will let those prized and not so prized wheels last much longer.

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not a day too soon

rapha winter tights

although it's been wet and windy up here for what seems an eternity (well, eternity plus a bit of november), today is the first day that it's become wintry cold. and although the bib-shorts were washed, folded and packed away a good while ago, now is definitely the time when the lower limbs need to be cosseted and cosied.

and after taunting us on the website for several weeks, rapha have finally announced arrival of their winter tights which will prompt resurrection of the shorts, because these have no pad. made of thermo Roubaix with a large degree of stretch and a thermolite fleece lining, 'easter knees' should be a thing of the past (even though we're nowhere near easter). as with the model t, they are available in black only with white detailing on the left leg.

the price is in the usual rapha stratosphere at £140 and all the usual sizes are covered from small through to xxl.

and just in case you haven't noticed, the pair above a pedalling a colnago c50. quality all round.

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no longer a bum steer

no threadset

last saturday was an industrious day. leave aside the fact that the weather was so bad that i wouldn't have put a milk bottle out in it, there was much to be done on the company colnago. having survived a regular diet of potholes, gaelic toothpaste (like flemish toothpaste, only scottish) and cattle grids, the campagnolo record headset which had arrived three and a half years ago already installed in the c40, had definitely seen better days.

i would make you aware of the courage it has taken to admit in pixels to the fact that i left a headset in situ for so many years. granted the whole assembly has been stripped down every six months and regreased, but since it has been displaying symptoms of the dreaded 'indexed' steering for the past nine months or so, the final remedy has been staring me in the face all that time (and in this wind, sometimes literally). this is a problem that often aflicts regular cup and cone headsets.

so the bullet has been well and truly bitten - out with the campag, in with the pink chris king. the latter are generally reckoned to be amongst the world's finest, and the price would not lead you to believe otherwise. however, they do come with a ten year warranty which always helps. however, you don't put one of those into a carbon frame by hitting it with a hammer.

cyclus headset press

in fact, you don't fit a chris king headset with just a headset press (in this case, a very efficient cyclus headset press). since the cartridge bearings are already fitted in the headset cups, pressing the cups into place with any quality press tool, will put unwanted pressure on the bearings. so chris king offer a fitting kit consisting of two thick alloy disks that fit into each cup and spread the pressure across the cup edges. i, a complete novice at this sort of antic, had the headset cups fitted in less than thirty seconds (yes, suprised me too).

and since accepted mechanical practice for fitting the crown race (that's the bit on the forks) is to slam it into place with a heavy metal tube (yes, just like ozzie osbourne), the fitting kit includes yet another disk that fits over the race and saves its alloy hide from almost inevitable destruction.

in the brief period that the winds and rain were hiding, i managed to get out on the refurbished colnago and rediscovered what a joy the handling of this bike really is. i had forgotten how wonderful it could be - ernesto is no fool.

and if this were an american sitcom, it would have, along with the happy ending, a moral. and the moral is 'replace that ruddy headset before you have no option - the bike will love you for it'

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periodical art

my father used to persistently regale me with the whimsy,rouleur 3 'what's black and white and read all over?' the joke rested on the fact that the words 'red' and 'read' sound exactly the same when spoken. the answer, as i'm sure we all know, is 'a newspaper', but it could just as easily refer to rouleur, issue three of which will go on sale this week. those of us who had the foresight to subscribe, have already received our copies (now that the ferries are sailing again up here), and while i promised myself that i wouldn't mention its release at all, i couldn't resist.

the cover is art (despite what nigel says) and the photography within (with a tour sequence from magnum photo) is luxurious, most of it in monochrome.

'glory and suffering', as luke says.

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relaxing on the bike - sort of

cy-yo dvd

if, like me, the thought of spending time on an indoor trainer fills you with dread, even if there are numerous books that put it all into context and give you some sort of a purpose, then maybe this is something you might enjoy.

cy-yo is the brainchild of curt dalton and takes a 'normal' yoga workout combined with indoor cycling to give a different slant to the turbo trainer. while the ideal is a gym workout in a group with a cy-yo instructor, given that the current setup appears to only apply to the usa, the best option for those not in north america is this dvd.

there are two workouts on the disc: fire and ice. i doubt it needs me to explain the difference between the two, but i will anyway. fire is hard work and ice is marginally less so - both commence with appropriate yoga exercises carried out on a mat in front of the indoor cycle, before continuing on the bike. both finish off with a yoga wind down.

so where's the difference between this and any other indoor workouts. well, from what i've seen, most alternatives concentrate on simulating regular road rides, where cy-yo concentrates on, well, yoga on the bike. it's not actually as bizarre as it sounds. if you are going to use it with a turbo trainer, you would probably be better with one of those that allows you to increase/decrease the resistance where appropriate.

and if you get fed up with watching curt's antics and a group of folks on schwinn indoor bikes, you can switch to music only and carry out your own cy-yo workout. the only problem i had with this bit is the apparent lack of being able to switch between tracks; it would appear that you can only listen to the whole workout sequence rather than choosing the tracks you want.

and with reference to an article i ran several months ago, deploring some of the music associated with cycling films, the music on this is well matched to the exertions (all original and performed by 'some of the hottest new rock groups in the usa' - curt's words not mine).

if you do live in the states and would like to find out if there's a cy-yo class in your area, or you'd like to become a cy-yo instructor, check the website at cy-yo.com where you can also purchase a copy of this very well produced dvd for $24.99 plus postage. at current exchange rates this makes it only just over £12.

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it's the wheel thing

chris king wheel

apologies for the appalling heading, but there's always one sneaks through when i'm not looking. announced at interbike this year, but not available until march of next year, are a set of limited edition, handbuilt wheelsets from headset supremo, chris king.

the portland, oregon purveyor of 'pretty and strong' pink components will be offering standard road and cyclo-cross wheelsets as well as standard, disc ready and singlespeed mtb wheels utilising the sought after pink hubs and premium brand rims. all will feature a 32 spoke, three cross build, except the classic road and mtb wheels which will have front wheels built two cross.

prices start at $699, which at current exchange rates would make them around £350, though doubtless westminster will have to add a few pence on top.

chris king products are imported to the uk by bromley bike but they tell me they are unlikely to be importing the wheels due to the high cost of doing so, making them prohibitively expensive for the uk market

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forward planning

in search of

in the second weekend of june 2006, not long after the islay festival of malt and music, a group of ladies in port ellen held the first annual port ellen book festival.

why am i telling you this?

well, jez and i hope to organise a mini bike festival in june 2007 to coincide with national bike week, and we thought we'd have a neat segway from the book festival to bike festival by inviting richard moore to give a talk at the book festival, before the week's pedalling begins in earnest.

who's richard moore? well, if you're asking that question, then you've not been reading the robert millar pages. richard is currently writing 'in search of robert millar' to be published by harper collins at the end of may 2007. so if you fancy listening to and meeting richard, then make arrangements to be at the old kiln cafe, ardbeg distillery, islay in the evening of sunday 17th june 2007. with a bit of luck, we might even show the granada tv documentary 'the high life' beforehand.

if you need more info, e-mail me.

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culture club

part of the guiding philosophy behindflanders, october 2006 thewashingmachinepost (what d'you mean you didn't know we had one?) was to try and make sure that the offroad guys didn't get all the fun. if you've checked the singletrack website, read any 'mint sauce' cartoons or seen the collective's dvds, you perchance know what i mean.

now, whether we have achieved this or not is open to debate, but along with mick and andy at prendas, simon and his cohorts at rapha have managed to create corners of culture for those of us on skinny wheels. and as if to underline the continuance of what can only be regarded as a successful philosophy, a new poster sized winter 'catalogue' has reached the post's letterbox.

every bit as collectable as their two previous offerings this shows much of the recent rapha clothing photographed by ben ingham in flanders during october of this year and featuring bicycles from peter nisbet at colnago uk and also from condor. rene and claire will no doubt be happy to issue you with a copy along with your rapha purchase.

do tell them we sent you.

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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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