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endura fs260 bib threequarters

endura fs260 bib threequarters

rather than beat about the bush, i shall just come straight to the point: i'm a bit of a wimp. well, quite a big bit of a wimp. although we have apparently reached that point of the year when the honed athlete should be donning a pair of bibshorts prior to the sunday ride, i still cosset myself with bib threequarters. outwardly i would like to pretend that this is to emulate those belgian hardmen who fearlessly plough through the early part of the season dressed similarly, but really that's a pose that is becoming harder to defend as the sun (when it's there) rises higher in the sky, and the thermometer reaches new levels of centigrade.

however, it was the wimp in me that rejoiced at the arrival of a pair of endura's fs260 bib threequarters since, purely in the interests of my readership, it would mean spending several more weeks (months if i can get away with it) with less than half of each shin exposed to the elements. and the elements have had more than their fair share of input to this review, since the first excursion - to jura - enjoyed several millimetres of rain, yet rides this past week, first thing in the morning have been sunny and warm.

wearing threequarters in rainy weather brings more than just a modicum of acceptability; you'd hardly expect small children to point and giggle. but the folly of wearing such in a warm, sunny and (for islay) virtually windless climate, even had me questioning my logic. but these are no thermo roubaix lined bibknickers (why does that word always make me laugh?), but composed of fieldsensor material; hence the fs in the product name. therefore even when the ambient temperature could be described as cosy, overheating is not something the rider is likely to experience. ok, climbing mont ventoux in mid-july wearing these is not something that i'd recommend, but scotland's west coast can hardly be described as comparable in that respect.

while endura's website description mentions a coolmax double layer knee panel, the production versions have arrived bereft of this feature, and to my mind, are all the better for it. the fit is exemplary both in the leg department and in the mesh bib, while the multi-density pad is as excellent as that featured in endura's other pro shorts range. there's some of that efficient silicon gloop around the hems that keeps the legs super-glued in place, and it's encouraging to note that endura have seen fit to add a small rear pocket, recognising that while pro is in the name, few of us actually are. some of us have loose change, house keys or half a peanut butter sandwich to conceal. and at the risk of repeating myself for the umpteenth time and creating my own cliche, when easing along into a 40kph headwind at a speed mark cavendish can only dream of (leave me to my fantasies please), you really wouldn't know you were wearing them.

now that the temperature has taken a nosedive today, it may well be that the wimp in me will be rejoicing again this weekend: if you can admit to similar tendencies, lose the pride, keep the pose and order yourself a pair of these. it won't be long until autumn.

endura fs260 pro-bibknickers retail at £69.99 ($112) and can be had in sizes ranging from small through to xxl

endura.co.uk

twmp

posted on friday 5 june 2009

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ruth is stranger than richard

paul fournel

thewashingmachinepost has provided me with many friends from the world of cycling that i would have been unlikely to have, had i not had the temerity to sit myself down of an evening and write seemingly endless streams of words or consciousness with sometime tenuous connection to the job in hand. one of these esteemed friends is matt seaton, he of former two wheels fame, currently employed with the guardian website as an editor on commentisfree. matt is still an extremely fine cyclist both on a road bike and cross bike, as well as the writer that both daniel pasley and i aspire to be.

when matt started his two wheels column in the guardian's g2 section, i inadvertantly started a weekly correspondence that continues to this very thursday. after reading the column each thursday morning, i would e-mail observations, comments or more likely, utter nonsense which would result in a brief on-line conversation for a part of the day. it still goes on, but today matt responded with a link to a highly relevant article on the commentisfree pages about the french prisoners about to embark on their very own tour de france, something that has been so well covered elsewhere that i elected to leave the story out of the post.

that was still my intention until i noted just who had written the piece in question: the very excellent mr paul fournel, author of need for the bike which contains some of the finest and most acutely observed writings on the bicycle it has been my privilege to read. chapters from this admired volume have been serialised in past issues of rouleur, often illustrated by the equally superb jo burt.

so having originally decided to by-pass the story about the french convicts, i am now happy to relent and provide the following link to an article by someone whose writings will leave you with a fine sense of well-being and satisfaction. i hope.

commentisfree | paulfournel.com

twmp

posted on thursday 4 june 2009

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neo plasticism

piet mondriaan

piet mondrian was born in 1872 in amersfoort in the netherlands. his father was a qualified drawing teacher, so the young pieter was introduced to art from an early age, particularly as his uncle, fritz mondriaan was a pupil of a member of the hague school of artists. in 1892, he entered the academy for fine art in amsterdam, having already qualified as a teacher. this latter qualification started his career as a primary school teacher, and during this period, he started painting, with most of his output from this period being naturalistic or impressionist.

through his various stages of artistic development, in 1908 he became interested in the theosphical movement launched by blavatsky, and his subsequent works throughout his life became inspired by his search for spiritual knowledge.

around 1917 he joined with fellow artist van doesburg to form de stijl (the style) leading to a series of essays on painting theory which he described as neoplasticism. this, in essence is the syle for which he is best known, constructing lines and colour combinations on a flat surface. through this method of painting he felt it possible to express general beauty with the utmost awareness. incidentally in the early 1900s, he changed the spelling of his surname from mondriaan to its more recognisable, modern form.

la vie claire

it is highly unlikely that la vie claire bore any of this in mind when, in the 1980s, they wore team jerseys which relied heavily on mondrian's neo plasticism. apparently this look was commissioned from a designer at benetton who's first attempt in all black was rejected as too absorbent of heat in the french summer sun.

however, whether fans of bernard hinault, andy hampsten, steve bauer or greg lemond had the faintest idea of who piet mondrian was (he died in 1944), there can be little doubt that the jersey is amongst the most iconic of recent years, and has now been faithfully resurrected by those fine chaps at prendas in both short sleeve and long sleeve versions.

the jerseys can be purchased along with team cap, musette and socks, should you feel like emulating any of those previously mentioned, at least visually. the short sleeve is available at £49.95, with the long sleeve costing only ten pounds more. sizes range from xs to 6xl and prendas are currently offering free delivery in the uk.

is it at all possible that neo plasticism could replace fartlek as a means of training?

prendas ciclismo

twmp

posted on thursday 4 june 2009

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rouleur 13

rouleur 13

every time another issue of rouleur appears, or more to the point, every time the advance press release comes in, i think that i'll probably give it a miss - not the magazine, you understand, because i really couldn't be that monastic, but there always seems something fundamentally wrong with promoting a magazine through these black and yellow pixels, particularly since i probably only criticise the others on the newstand. but, without being too sycophantic, each issue seems to have bettered its predecessor by quite some margin, and i only wish i had whatever it is that guy andrews has, that would allow thewashingmachinepost to achieve the same degree of improvement.

that said, the inclusion of an article by still the highest placed scot in the tour de france, and the only english speaking winner of the king of the mountains has already intrigued more than just i. mr andrews has managed to feature robert's description of stage 17 of the 1984 tour de france without screaming exclusive all over the cover. the cover does, however, allude to the contents of number 13, a cover which, as a graphic designer, appeals in its bold simplicity. whoever says they buy rouleur purely for the writing is probably telling fibs; i have every intention of printing out my pdf version of that cover and blanking yet more square inches of the office wall.

rouleur 13

of course, the magazine provides more than robert millar alone: herbie sykes, author of the superb eagle of the canavese gives us his appreciation of the mortirolo, and the other article which i cannot wait to feast my eyes on is rohan dubash' essay on tubular tyres: everything you always wanted to know.

apparently the issue is currently available from the rouleur website at the regular price of nine pounds. go order at least one copy now.

rouleur.cc

twmp

posted on thursday 4 june 2009

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the bicycle: the myth and the passion. francesco baroni. white star publishers. 303pp illus. £30

the bicycle: the myth and the passion

coffee table books - you either love them, or you hate them. or maybe you have no real views on them one way or the other. it never ceases to amaze me just how many examples of this genre are produced each year, and i don't just mean books about cycling, since they seem to invade all walks of coffee table. secondly, and very much to the benefit of those of us who hand over credit card numbers to amazon, is that such enormous volumes seem to have become cheaper as time has rolled by.

the latest book to arrive at washingmachinepost towers could virtually be used as a coffee table on its own; add a leg in each corner and it would cover most of that fireside rug. and unlike many i could mention, this one really is worth owning, reading and viewing. the foreword by felice gimondi (now there's a man with style) attempts to place the bicycle in some sort of historical perspective, alluding to its adherence to orginal values while continuing to progress technologically. doubtless the uci have differing views, but essentially this is all true. while visually there is a world of difference between henry ford's model t and jenson button's brawn formula one, the modern day bicycle continues to utilise the double triangle design that originated around the end of the 19th century.

the myth and the passion manages to marry those two words by exploring the origins of the bicycle from the french celeripede in 1791 through the various hobby-horse stages, and the still admired and ridden penny farthing. there are many inventions from yesteryear to which claims are made from varying nationalities, and i feared the worst from an italian author; however, francesco baroni seems to agree with all those north of the scottish border, that the earliest true bicycle was the brainchild of dumfries's kirkpatrick macmillan in 1839. the book also points out that macmillan was also the first cyclist to receive police censure, having knocked over a young boy when cycling to glasgow in 1842.

the bicycle: the myth and the passion

there are numerous books available that will educate the interested in the history of our beloved bicycle, but few, if any, illustrate this history so well. many of the graphics, drawings, posters and early photographs i have not seen before, but even those that i have seen, benefit greatly from the size of reproduction in this large format book. its affinity with those of us self-confessed roadies cannot be overestimated, particularly when reaching the chapter progress and the birth of the legendary races. it's all very well professing our undying fascination with the great classic races, but most of us simply accept that the word classic is a word applied by others, without ever understanding how or why such a state of affairs came about. the black and white photography in this section would keep a rouleur subscriber entertained for hours, if not days. this may even cure bikesnobnyc of some of his more cruel finger pointing.

the bulk of the pages concern themselves with road bikes, but not exclusively so: there are chapters on the evolution of both the bmx revolution and that of the mountain bike. and the book is modern enough to pay tribute to what is referred to as the guardians of the flame, an epithet that could have been just as effective as the framebuilders' alliance, namely the chaps and chapesses who continue to utilise steel as their modus operandi, constructing extremely fine examples of the modern, individual bicycle. leading light in this chapter is the excellent mr richard sachs, though sadly it concerns itself with far fewer of the top builders than i'd like to have seen. still, a line has to be drawn somewhere, or the myth and the passion would become a real piece of furniture.

the bicycle: the myth and the passion

the only blatant error i noticed throughout the 300 plus pages came in the section on the great races of the world, where the vuelta al pais vasco is mistakenly called pais basco unfortunately in the large type used for the chapter's heading. but as gary hitchen will readily testify, we all make mistakes even during the third or fourth proofing.

this is a superb book; although the plethora of photography and illustration far outweighs the written word (as is often a major feature of a coffee table book), the latter is no second cousin to the former - as much has gone into the writing as the visuals, and this raises the book to several levels above its competitors in this area. at a recommended retail price of only £30 ($35), it's an easy decision to make - and fathers' day is only a few weeks away, so be sure to leave the browser on the family computer open at this review.

twmp

posted on wednesday 3 june 2009

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alright on the night

edinburgh

there have been many words written in the cycling press of late regarding the running of cycle races on britain's roads; or rather, not running cycle races on britain's roads. with the increase in costs of providing police motorcycle escorts and the apparent reluctance to run even a rolling road closure, it is unfortunately ironic that, at the time when there are more professional teams in the uk than there has been for many a long kilometre, races are disappearing from the calendar like snow off a dry stone wall.

and if you have watched any of the premier calendar races on british eurosport, the number of folks standing at the side of the road cheering on the guys on their bikes is minimal at best, apart from possibly around the finishing lines. since cycling relies perhaps too much on commercial sponsorship, at least some must be wondering just how many people are getting their lycra emblazoned message. of course, the very fact that there is television coverage will help ease the financial pain for the sponsor, but few could disagree that the sight of racing cyclists whizzing past multitudes of cheering spectators gladdens that beating heart-rate monitor. many civilians will compare british races with the enormous crowds seen at the giro d'italia, and wonder why.however, there are a couple of examples of lateral thinking abounding at present, one of which has telly coverage, the other bereft of same but curtailing itself to a series of three; enter the rapha condor sponsored nocturne races, the first of which took place last saturday in edinburgh, the second of which will run at smithfield this coming weekend, june 6th, and the final event in blackpool on saturday 1st august, the evening before the ride of the falling rain. this has the advantage, if such is needed, of having a variety of races held over a four hour period, round a short, but challenging course (1.1km in edinburgh, complete with pave), making it easy for spectators to watch from whichever vantage point they deem suitable. and the fact that the races take place in a city centre (as indeed does the tour series) means that there's every chance of gaining a few converts from the passing multitudes (though there were a few passers-by in edinburgh who took exception to having to walk an extra few metres to a designated crossing area).

the racing in edinburgh was excellent, from the category four support race all the way through to the professional elite race, via cat 2/3/4 races, youth race, the previously mentioned folding bike race and rollapaluza sited in the centre of the circuit. if you want to catch the attention and enthusiasm of the unconverted, variety is the spice of life.

the presence of cameron meyer and david millar from garmin in the evening's elite race was perhaps a bit unfair on the bulk of britain's professional peloton: millar was fresh out of the giro and concentrating on his form for le tour next month, and theoretically at least, on home soil. he and meyer effectively rode away from everyone else after a few laps, though tribute must be paid to rapha condor's kristian house who crashed on the first ascent of the cobbled climb of the flowermarket, changed his bike, and still managed to pip meyer for second place. those two were some considerable distance ahead of the chasers, with millar a clear winner in the distance.

edinburgh nocturne

the fact that i didn't have to stand in one place to watch any of the races was a great boon to my evening. to simply watch a string of cyclists pass at speeds i can only dream of from a single vantage point, is not quite my idea of fun. with such excellent (volunteer) marshalling, clear course design and the wide variety of observation points that edinburgh's old town provides, i can only echo the hope of commentator hugh porter that edinburgh city council agree to invite the event back next year.

complaints? very few. it was a bit disappointing that press accreditation did not allow access all areas because the top part of the hospitality area would have allowed for some good photographs and better close-ups of the riders. and one or two folks mentioned that while plenty of cyclists were well acquainted with the existence of the event, there seemed to have been very little general advertising around edinburgh. we arrived on the bus from glasgow, and there were no posters that we noticed in the bus station - even a poster on the citylink buses would have been good (ironically the event programme featured an advert for the emirates rugby sevens at murrayfield being held the same weekend. i wonder if the rugby programme reciprocated?) still, it's easy to criticise from the outside looking in, and this was the nocturne's first time in edinburgh: the pros easily outweighed any minor irritation. james pope and face partnership can settle down of an evening and reflect on a job well done.

a grand evening out.

the good news is that edinburgh folding bike race winner, graeme raeburn, has bowed to peer pressure and entered the same race at this weekend's smithfield nocturne. if you're in the area, nip along and cheer him on.





nocturne series | face partnership

twmp

posted on tuesday 2 june 2009

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graeme raeburn is my hero

graeme raeburn

getting to edinburgh involves a boat and two buses, then two buses and a boat on the way back: in order to watch four hours worth of the nocturne, it took two days worth of travel. and boy was it worth it. the only similar type of event i've attended before was the criterium racing round george square in glasgow prior to the start of the tour of britain several years ago, but with no disrespect to glasgow, the edinburgh circuit was far more challenging and, dare i say it, a sight more picturesque.

edinburgh's grassmarket area is mostly cobbled, including the somewhat steep climb up flowermarket, a part of the course that came into its own during the professional race at the end of the evening. if i work my pink topped socks off between now and tomorrow, i should have an overview of the whole evening's proceedings and yet another short video, but the star attraction of the evening, if only because i fancied taking part myself, was the folding bike race sponsored by dahon.

for those unfamiliar, this consisted of three laps of the circuit following a le mans type start. the riders are required to fold their bikes and place them at the side of the course, then line-up several metres away, attired in shorts, suits, ties etc, ready to run to their bicycle on starter's orders, assemble the bicycles and race off into the distance. while the nocturnes are co-sponsored by rapha and condor cycles, i don't think attendance is compulsory for staff of either; however, rapha's graeme raeburn travelled up from london with his pink brompton, signed, incidentally, by bradley wiggins, to compete in shirt and pink tie. graeme is the guy who designs much of rapha's clothing and is not long back from a week's riding with the rapha continental. daniel pasley must be proud.

and graeme won.

graeme raeburn

by quite some margin too, partly because he misunderstood hugh porter's commentary and thought there were still riders ahead of him. and almost emulating sir chris, he managed to snap one of the teeth off a rear sprocket at the start, in his hurry to make up time after assembling his bike rather slower than hoped for. since british road champion and rapha condor rider, dean downing, pulled out of the elite race after several laps (wasn't going too well on the cobbled hill) i figure that for the smithfield nocturne this coming saturday (6th june), downing ought to be replaced by mr raeburn for the professional circuits in london.

i hope you are reading mr herety...



thank you to david crighton for the top photograph

nocturne series

twmp

posted on monday 1 june 2009

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