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flandrien - stephan vanfleteren

stephan vanfleteren - flandrien

guy andrews showed me a copy of this book when i visited rapha in april, and i wanted one then, but it took a while to track down. i e-mailed vanfleteren himself to ask how to buy, and he put me on to exhibitions international in belgium, where it is possible to order a copy (or it is now that the book has been re-printed). however, an exhibition of vanfleteren's photographs entitled hard men and heroes runs from 20th june to 31 july at london's host gallery, and it is possible to order a copy from there for £20 - there's a signed copy available at £25.

i agree that it's a bit topsy turvy to give all the purchasing details before reviewing the book, but i'm so sure that you'll want to buy a copy of flandrien that i want to make sure you know how.

it's a book you'll fall in love with before you've even opened it. measuring about six inches square and cloth bound, it features an enigmatic portrait of alberic 'brick' schotte on the cover with the word 'flandrien' copper embossed below. inside, it is dedicated to schotte. stephan vanfleteren has been photographing the cyclists and races of flandria over the past ten years, resulting in the beautiful selection contained within.

the photography consists of monochrome portraits (merckx, museeuw, van looy etc.) several oblique and idiosyncratic views of cycle racing, and some highly evocative shots of the flandrien countryside and the inevitable muddy, cobbled roads - there is even a double page spread of cobbles from paris-roubaix (a poster if ever i saw one). the only text is an index of photographs at the end of the 117 pages, and a brief list of acknowledgments. as such, it is a book that happily suspends time - you (i) could look at this for hours and never notice the minutes passing. vanfleteren's black and whites retain one's faith in cycling as the beautiful sport it can be - just try keeping the colnago in the bike shed after this.

there's also a feature on vanfleteren's flandrien photographs in the current issue of rouleur

posted friday 15 june 2007

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in the material world

bicycle summer school

if you've been paying close attention, you may find a thread of carbon fibre lust running through these columns. now i didn't set out to be a carbon acolyte, it just sort of crept up on me, and i'm somewhat loathe to admit that most of it is due to the rather cool looking weave that the material requires to do its job properly. and it's the amount of development that has gone into producing stronger and lighter bikes from varying moduli (i think that's the correct word) of the black gold that has continued my fascination.

granted, carbon fibre is not just an endemic material in bicycle production: last year the bicycle industry was warned that there would be a carbon shortage due to the amounts required in the construction of that whacking great airbus that hasn't quite been delivered, though it doesn't really seem to have had the adverse effect on supply that was apparently threatened.

however, carbon has become 'diluted' with alternative, and perhaps greener fibres such as flax and carrots, so it will be interesting to watch the progress of carbon as the years go by. and perhaps the first real step towards making this something that britain plays a part in is the previously mentioned materials in bicycles conference being held in the institute of materials, minerals and mining, carlton house terrace, london, on the eve of the tour de france prologue.

speakers at the conference include cannondale's advanced project engineer, chris dodman, chris boardman and mike burrows. but perhaps the more intriguing offshoot that precedes this conference, is the de-construct:re-construct bicycle summer school hosted by the royal college of art and imperial college. it's open to undergraduates and graduates studying industrial/product design, textiles, innovation or other relevant courses in the uk.

now i'm not suggesting that you unearth your matriculation cards and e-mail for an application form, but it is of great interest (to me at least) that the construction of bicycles and associated clothing and accessories is being spearheaded by an art college rather than an engineering establishment, and it's also encouraging that an all but cycling agnostic nation has had the perspicacity to initiate such a workshop. mike burrows, designer of the lotus carbon bike will play a leading role in affairs.

unfortunately location and other factors mitigate against my being present at either of the above two initiatives, though i have made enquiries as to whether thewashingmachinepost could be informed as to the outcomes from either or both.

posted thursday 14 june 2007

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promotion

rene groot

the post ran a brief piece on the wonderful claire wilson who recently left rapha for pastures new. claire was rapha's first employee and was charged with making sure that us cycling obsessives were regularly supplied with copious amounts of rapha gear, as demand and sales increased. so what's happening now that claire's not there anymore? the first batch of fixed t-shirts literally disappeared out the perren street door almost as fast as they arrived, so who do we rely on to make sure all this happens as smoothly as before?

enter the recently promoted rapha sales manager rene groot. rene has been at rapha for what seems almost as long as claire and has obviously inherited and complemented her skills. so this is by way of saying congratulations on a well deserved promotion, to the man who also looks after the rapha uci continental women's team (more about them soon, hopefully).

posted wednesday 13 june 2007

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it's an ill wind...

fulcrum racing one

well, apart from the perennial islay wind, there is not any ill wind at the moment. with a colnago c50 on test (you may already have read the review), a few variations presented themselves and i thought i'd share one or two with you here.

the c50 arrived at washingmachinepost towers wearing a very nice pair of fulcrum racing one wheels, very quickly changed for the rather superb lightweight ventoux carbon wheels (well, wouldn't you?) for the bulk of the road test. however, the lightweights had to move on to publications new, leaving the c50 with its fulcrums. so you will hopefully agree that it seemed a sensible idea to test the bike again (any excuse) with the sort of wheels that you and i are more likely to have on our colnagos in the first place.

it's a rather open secret that fulcrum wheels are made by campagnolo in italy, craftily getting round the sponsorship conflict in the professional realm. however, externally you would never really know. the front wheel has sixteen flat bladed spokes (similar to mavic's ksyrium) while the rear has 21. a strange number to employ as a spoke count, but this is due to the two to one lacing pattern: the drive side aluminium spokes are built two cross to every one spoke on the non-drive side (which are radially laced).

the rims have no holes in the rim bed, theoretically allowing the use of the much vaunted, oft promised but not yet delivered, tubeless tyres. for weight saving, the rim is milled away between each spoke, giving a raised section for the spoke bed (with oversized nipple) which doubtless aids rigidity. in practice, this is very likely the case, since the wheels are pleasantly rigid and stiff in use. bear in mind i'd just switched from £2500 worth of carbon wheels to £600 of alloy, and believe me, there's quite a difference (i should ruddy hope so). however, ride on the fulcrums for a day or two and the differences start to fade in the mists of time (just as a sort of footnote, the lightweights are more laterally rigid than the fulcrums, doing their job in an oh-so-much-more subtle manner, but then, that's presumably what you're paying a very large premium for).

fulcrum racing one

put the racing ones on the c50 and we have rigidity and stiffness personified, and i mean that in the nicest possible way. stamp on the pedals on the flat or gradient and the whole kit and kaboodle moves effortlessly forward - no flex, no wasted energy. in this way, the c50 is a wonderful bicycle and well matched with the wheels. place the fulcrums on the c40, and there is a comparable difference: the c40 is a 'softer' bike. if i wasn't afraid of being tried for heresy, i'd say that the c40 was a tad sluggish by comparison with colnago's newer carbon. the c50 is undoubtedly a 'better' bicycle in the contemporary sense, but after four years, and thousands of kilometres, i still love my c40. with the fulcrum wheels on the latter, there was a perceptible yet indefinable difference between the two decades. the c40's more regular spinning attire is a pair of campagnolo protons and, to be honest, i think they are more suited to this bicycle, but that could just be the 'comfortable slippers syndrome' coming into play.

would i buy a pair? yes, i probably would - i like the rear wheel spoking pattern, which seems to alleviate some of the harshness i half expected with such stiff rims and helicopter blade spokes, though i doubt that was the principal intention. a few years ago, i'd have been scared to death to ride something with only sixteen spokes (even the lightweights have twenty), but the fulcrums gave no cause for concern at all, so now i'm going to be insufferably blase about ridiculously low spoke counts. and they do make a wonderful whooshing sound as you cheerfully ride along, though maybe this only happens on a colnago

fulcrum racing ones are available in silver or black, and retail for around £600, ($1099) though they can be found for less. claimed weight is around the 1500g mark (nearly 600g heavier than the lightweights), are available in tubular or clincher format and are compatible with shimano, sram and, of course, campagnolo. however, how the heck you fit a magnet for the polar is beyond me.

posted tuesday 12 june 2007

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impatience is a virtue

rouleur number five

if you, like me, are in the habit of keeping a list of websites that meet your fancy, and keep checking them out day after day in the hope of learning something new to your advantage, you'll know how frustrating it can be when something flags up but takes ages to arrive. i have said to guy andrews of rouleur that i'll be happy when it goes weekly, to which he replied 'over my dead body - literally'. of course it's inconceivable that rouleur would ever go weekly, or even monthly for that matter, but you'll realise how frustrating it can be when you know there's a new issue out, or at least the website says there is, but it takes a lot of long, slow days before a copy falls through the letterbox.

but believe me, rouleur five is well worth the wait. i am happy to go on record as saying it is the finest magazine i have ever set eyes on bar none (and i used to buy all sorts of arts magazines). between photography by ben ingham (see cover shot above) tim kolln, and stephen vanfleteren along with interviews: dario pegoretti, greg lemond (yes really) and andy hampsten by matt seaton, along with campag's delta brakes. this issue is to die for.

if you haven't already received a copy (maybe because you didn't order one?) then log on to rapha.cc and buy one now. you really will not be disappointed - this will totally enhance your cycling obsession.

posted sunday 10 june 2007

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it's the small things in life

campagnolo torx bolt

we all know that cycling can be a prohibitively expensive hobby/pastime/sport/obsession - within the last week i've had on test a £2600 carbon frame, £2500 carbon wheels and around £140 worth of carbon chainrings. granted we are at the stratospheric level with this sort of equipment, and you could cycle for considerably less (though it might not put such a big smile on your face), however, campagnolo seem hell-bent on making the trivial into a bank manager visiting affair.

the colnago c50 referred to above was tested with a pair of fibre-lyte carbon chainrings, which were removed from the chorus carbon chainset in preparation for the bike to return to its home, and the original rings replaced. here's where it all went wrong. my regular method of fitting chainrings is to insert all the chainring bolts finger tight to make sure all is lined up properly before torxing (in this case) to the required torque.

except it seems that i only tightened four bolts (incompetence like this doesn't just happen overnight you know) so while testing the bike with fulcrum racing 1 wheels as opposed to the lightweights, i returned home to find one bolt missing, along with the retainer that fits at the back of the chainring. you would think the incessant clicking noise while pedalling would have alerted me, but on a carbon bike with carbon bits, creaks and clicks go with the territory, so the hints passed unnoticed.

now you're probably a few steps ahead of me here, but the more common allen bolt with hollow retaining bolt doesn't fit campag's carbon chainset. the torx screw version screws onto something that resembles a threaded drawing pin. however, it's a simple process to order a replacement over the internet - well isn't it? surprisingly, not everyone carries campag chainring bolts, let alone the torx version, but i did find what i was looking for at parker international at £9.75.

if, like me, you thought that was for a set of five, think again - that's the price for one, meaning that if you had to replace the lot, you're looking at pennies short of £50. from the same retailer, a set of five dura-ace bolts costs £12.95. so now i have to ask, 'is this a rip off, or is this a rip off? ( i figure this is campag's pricing and not parker international's, so i'm not accusing them.)

you have been warned - if you're running a campag carbon chainset, check your chainring bolts before you go anywhere, and again when you come back.

posted saturday 9 june 2007

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cannibal clothing

faemina jersey

on the 17th of this month, coincidentally with fathers' day in the uk and national bike week, is the 62nd birthday of the greatest living cyclist, mr eddy merckx, and as if those coincidences weren't enough (depends on how you look at it) prendas ciclismo will just about have taken delivery of their brand new retro jerseys attributed to merckx's sponsor in 1970 - faemino.

in common with much of the prendas range of cycle clothing, the jerseys (yes, there are two) are made by santini, almost an italian byword for quality. the two jerseys comprise the standard team jersey and the belgian national champion's version (shown left), as worn by eddy. despite their retro look, the jerseys are manufactured in modern fabrics, with short sleeves, three rear pockets and quarter zip.

while the jerseys aren't quite in stock yet (give them another couple of weeks), you can pre-order these mementos of cycling history now via the prendas website. cost is a reasonable £39.95 each, and you might also like to consider kitting yourself out in the whole shebang with a faemino musette and matching faemino cap.

only thing left to do is contact fk marketing and see if there are any merckx steel frames left and you are the biz.

posted thursday 7 june 2007

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book winner

in search of robert millar

the funniest reply to my 'why i want to find robert millar' competition actually came from an ex-scottish pro who said he wanted revenge for all the sore legs robert gave him, but since i figure he's already got a copy of the book, he was quickly disqualified. but the winner of a copy of richard moore's 'in search of robert millar', is matt englar-carlson of huntington beach, california who siad he wanted to win because up until reading thewashingmachinepost, he had no idea who robert millar was, but now he's intrigued. in the states all he got was lemond over and over.

since both richard and i are keen to spread the word, california seems like a great place to evangelise, so a signed copy will be on its way after richard's visit on the 17th june. thanks to all those who took the trouble to enter, and i hope you've bought yourselves a copy of a truly excellent book.

thanks to harper collins for the prize.

posted wednesday 6 june 2007

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shady character

rudy project kalyos

towards this time of year, even islay gets sunny days - we had about six of them last week, and we've just had another two this week. and with the countdown to london-paris now standing at about three weeks, there's an even chance that the road to versailles will be paved with sunlight and shadows. or so i hope.

for years i've made do with my ordinary specs with a graded tint, but they don't block out much of the glare, so i've often thought about getting a pair of proper cycling glasses, if only to prove that i'm a proper cyclist (or even just to convince bystanders that i might be). the difficulty has been that this would involve some sort of a prescription lens.

i'm sure you've all seen the adverts for rudy projects and brikos demonstrating the availability of clip on inserts, allowing coloured lens interchangeability, but still with the opportunity to see where you're going.

the shortcoming of this has usually been finding somewhere that can provide the insert prescription lenses, because let's face it, the average bike shop knows as much about optometrics as i do about football. however, for the optically challenged cyclist, help is very much at hand.

rxsports has been online for only 18 months, but their experience in optics goes back around thirty years. and the very best thing about their site is that the prices displayed for prescription cycling glasses includes the cost of the prescription - the first i've ever found. there's a huge range of rudy project, oakley (think, mortgage), briko, nike and a number that i've never heard of. there is often a wide variety of different coloured lenses with a photo and price for each. i chose a pair of rudy project kalyos with a laser red lens at a price of £112.99.

having chosen, the website then invites you to fill in prescription details for the clip-ins, or, as i did, to phone and give the information that way. i only took the latter option because my optician's writing is not the clearest and i wanted to check that i was giving the correct info. payment was made along with prescription and james at rx sport told me i'd have the glasses by the end of the week. the glitch in this story is that the rudy projects were late in arriving from italy, so they came to islay a few days later than promised, but hey, shit happens.

as is often the case with the law according to sod, the two days after receiving them were wet and windy, but they have been satisfactorily worn since and are very pleasing to and for the eyes.

so if you find yourself in a similar situation vis-a-vis, trendy eyewear being the only thing stopping you looking like mario cipollini, check out the rx sport website for a pair that match your helmet.

last updated tuesday 5 june 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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