"i knew from advertisements i had seen in the local papers that for 600 lire i could get a frame built to my measurements in genoa. out of my slender savings i took enough for the train fare to genoa and back, gave my measurements, and handed over the 600 lire. i would have to buy the fittings and tyres from my errand-boy salary. oh how my legs used to ache at night through climbing all those stairs during the day! but i'm glad i did, because it surely made my legs so strong." - fausto coppi
"when fausto won and you wanted to check the time gap to the man in second place, you didn't need a swiss stopwatch. the bell of the church clock tower would do the job just as well." - raphael geminiani
if you were only allowed one hero in cycling, there are many of us, self included, who would have little hesitation in plumping for fausto coppi - il campionsissimo. for despite almost fifty years having disappeared since coppi's untimely death from an undiagnosed bout of fatal malaria, there are few, if any cyclists who have matched the man's style, grace and utter domination on the bike, a domination that led to his winning both the giro d'italia and tour de france in 1949. there are many ways to celebrate this landmark in the pantheon of cycling: in june of this year, william fotheringham will release is incredibly long-awaited book fallen angel: the passion of fausto coppi, but preceding this issue, and available now is rapha's campionissimo shirt.
i confess that the release of this item took me by surprise for, though i knew it was coming, i hadn't expected it until nearer the tour de france.
and i like surprises.
the merino wool, short sleeved campionissimo shirt follows similar lines to rapha's previous offerings in this mode, but is appropriately coloured in light blue with a large white hoop across the chest and back. as was a feature of cycle jerseys in the time of fausto, there are two buttoned pockets on the front while the precursor to the zipped neck (buttons) are used to fasten at the collar. the trademark white hoop is present on the left sleeve. those in the know, will know you're wearing rapha.
many cycling apparel companies have been criticised for their use of overseas construction, but in the case of the campionissimo shirt, build is entirely home grown, though more mine than perren street's. the shirt is knitted north of the border and features knitted rather than stitched seams, leading to a more relaxed but more authentic fit.
quality and tailoring of this standard does not, however, come cheap. a fausto coppi, campionissimo shirt retails at £160 ($240) in sizes x-small all the way up to xx-large, and will confer sartorial style upon all those with the nous to wear it.
posted on friday 6 march 2009
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................this past weekend has witnessed yet another north american handbuilt show, where pretty much all of north america's finest framebuilders collectively display their wares and craftsmanship, joined along the way by one or two exhibitors from abroad. sadly, this is an annual exhibition that i have been unable, so far, to attend because yet again, islay could not be described as being adjacent to indianapolis, and getting to indianapolis costs money. as in previous years, many of the bikes and frames exhibited feature what are probably the finest headsets in the world, those produced by chris king. but it cannot have escaped your notice, unless for you it really isn't about the bike, that fewer and fewer bicycles are appearing in the shops with what i would regard as a proper headset: most have adopted the integrated, or semi-integrated variety, allowing oddly shaped or simply larger head tubes.
while chris king components have long been critics of popping the bearings inside the head tube, there comes a time when you just have to give in to progress and to a certain degree, compromise. in order to do just that, chris king recruited jay sycip of sycip cycles to oversee the development of the chris king inset, revealed to the world not only on the chris king stand in indianapolis, but as a component on one or two of the bikes displayed. chris king are offering not only a straight through version of the headset (same diameter top and bottom), but also one to accommodate the growing trend for tapered steerers at 1.125" top through to 1.5" at the bottom.
the bizarre part of the semi-integrated headset regime is the nature of the beast: imagine taking one of those glass-fibre kits that you can buy in any auto-repair shop and molding your headset cups into the existing head tune on your bicycle; that's a semi-integrated headset. all that is really being achieved is that of moving the bearings inside the tube, instead of leaving them outside in all their anodised glory. of course, many bicycle builders will tell you that an increased head tube diameter allows for increased top and down tube welding areas. let the stiffness begin. however, for those of us who lose sleep at night over headset specification on the next bike we're always going to buy, it is a comfort to know that it should be possible to fit a chris king in the appropriate slots.
the chris king inset is not a proprietary standard: if the frame you own, or are about to own has the correct bore diameter (in the case of a 1.125", it's 44mm) then it'll fit. however, chris king are underlining the fact that reaming and facing of the head tube is absolutely essential, and they will soon be offering the necessary tools to accomplish same. the inset is due for release in june of this year, and i have heard a starting cost of $129 mentioned, though quite what it'll cost in the uk, we'll just have to wait and see.
posted on thursday 5 march 2009
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................i will readily admit to having sung the praises of cycling.tv in past years, not least because it worked on a mac, but lately, i have found myself with fewer and fewer good words to say about a service that seems hell-bent on self destruction. the very first iteration of the cycling.tv website was pretty simple to use: if the feed was free, the picture appeared in front of you at browser up. choosing which subscription channel to watch was also pretty simple. ah if only progress had borne in mind this initial simplicity, a simplicity that was clearly demonstrated by the amgen tour of california last month. granted, the on-line feed of this american status symbol was free to view, but how incredibly simple it was to view.
unlike cycling.tv and eurosport, atoc relied on adobe flash for broadcast: the flash plugin works identically on both macs and windows platforms; whatever you think of the relative computer systems, it makes little sense to rely on a system produced by a mega corp that also provides one of the operating systems. apparently cycling.tv will soon switch its broadcast media to silverlight, a technology that operates similarly to adobe flash, but is owned by microsoft - maybe better streaming, but we're surely no further forward on platform issues. for technical reasons that i don't pretend to understand, the eurosport online experience is confined to internet explorer, which is no longer available for apple computers, or firefox. and like ctv requires windows media player (via flip4mac on apple computers).
however, i have no wish to turn this into a discussion of the merits of the myriad of computer technologies which leave most of us for dead. the simple fact is, all of us would just like to type the web address into our browsers, then sit back and watch some seriously good cycling. that's pretty much how it worked during the tour of california. compare this with the cycling.tv experience (and while i have yet to pluck up the courage - paris-nice loometh on the horizon - to subscribe to eurosport's online presentations, initial steps have been less than encouraging on the usability score). login has to be completed everytime the browser is re-started, something happily missing from the original site, and there seems to be a myriad of inexplicable browser windows opening, but achieving little in the way of viewing pleasure.
jez and i whizzed up the road to watch at least a portion of het nosebleed on saturday past on ctv: while the media player displayed all three streams as live, none presented any viewing pictures. rifling through the technical forum, it seems we were not the only ones experiencing no cycle racing, but bizarrely enough, on what i took to be a technical support area, i found no answers from any ctv technical staff. many correspondents were seriously questioning their subscription costs and there was no-one there to salve the pain. we eventually found a free-to-air, belgian broadcast of the race which we watched to the finish. if you've paid money for any type of service, you should be entitled at the very least, to having the breakdown explained, even if there is nothing that can be technically retrieved at the time. ctv's customer service is sadly lacking in this department. even their online community, the innertube, offered no explanation that i could find.
i know not of the economics of operating something like cycling.tv; i am aware that the commentary is often presented by two of the finest in the sport (morecambe and mcwise), and as far as i am concerned, that alone is worth my money, but not if i can't get to watch or listen. since the channel became part of the jump.tv stable, things have seemingly gone from bad to worse: not only are the subscription prices now listed in dollars (how difficult would it be to show more than one currency?), but it is seemingly at the discretion of the faceless powers that be, whether we have one or two commentators for a race. let's be clear about this: two commentators are a necessity as far as we, the audience, is concerned because like it or not, this is entertainment.
i popped back on sunday to watch kuurne-brussels-kuurne to discover that my subscription had lapsed. disappointingly, it's going to take a lot of persuasion to get me to renew. and that is very, very sad.
while it doesn't resolve the usability issues, a few minutes after writing this article, but before posting, the following e-mail arrived from cycling.tv:
Dear customers,
We are aware of the intermittent video streaming quality issues that impacted on our valued customers' viewing experience during the weekend of Feb. 27. We have been investigating these issues, and unfortunately these problems related to the Cycling TV content distribution network which is managed by a supplier.
We are working closely with our content distribution network partner to ensure that every effort is being directed at resolving the issues and improving the consistency of our live stream quality this week.
We are planning to migrate to a more robust CDN in the next few weeks which best meets our needs, especially given our global audience. We have partnered with marketplace leaders in the content delivery space, and we expect to see marked improvement for our subscribers moving forward. (does anyone know what this actually means? twmp)
Having seen - and received customer feedback - highlighting a marked improvement in our live broadcast over the last six months, and having invested significantly in to our technology platform, it is very disappointing to have experienced the weekend's problems.
We take full responsibility for the problems that arose, and apologize to you sincerely.
hope spins eternal
posted on wednesday 4 march 2009
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................further to my initial review of janol apin's les p'tits velos, guy andrews at rouleur magazine has informed me that the book is now available in the uk direct from the rouleur website, price £27. so now you can have a quick read at the review once again, then place your order.
posted on tuesday 3 march 2009
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................if you're a peruser of my all things colnago pages at colnago.cc, you may well be aware that colnago has decided that no longer is the way forward across the pond to have your bicycles sold to the public via an authorised distributor such is the case in the uk. colnago has decided to go it alone and form colnago-america and take care of business themselves. perhaps a bold move, but in order to underline this wholesale change (if you'll pardon the pun), colnago stepped in as title sponsor of the gran fondo san diego, and even supplied ernesto as official starter.
of course, as you may also have perceived, i am on a small rock on the edge of the atlantic ocean, several thousand miles from san diego, making it more than just a hop skip and a jump to take part personally. however, brian ignatin, race director of the univest grand prix, pennsylvania, stepped into the fray, not really on my behalf, rode the event and sent a considered report of his sunny cycle:
posted on tuesday 3 march 2009
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................without the great graeme obree, thewashingmachinepost simply wouldn't exist: let me qualify that; there would be all these black and yellow pixels on a daily basis, but it's unlikely they would have any affiliation to front loaders (or top loaders, as slate olson would have it). i have probably reiterated this story once too often, but the post's initial appearance was as a spoof newspaper front page with a story concerning mr obree, sent to a policeman friend of mine on the occasion of his birthday, and at an age that he probably yearns for as much as we all do. since the notion of using one of those olde english typefaces (have you noticed a font thread running through this week?) appealed greatly, the link between obree, washing machines and the washington post was really too apparent (to me at least) to miss. eccentricity of this order is obviously made to last - that was over fifteen years ago.
and a chance meeting with graeme last october at the braveheart dinner resulted in a delighfully animated conversation that showed graeme has lost none of that eccentric sparkle, even if he thinks of himself as a perfectly ordinary human being. and who am i to judge?
well, it seems that mr obree, after a number of years of seeming likely to follow fellow scot (and short-lived team-mate in le groupement) robert millar into self-exile, has realised at least a portion of his own great worth - world hour record holder in 1993 and again in 1994, as well as 4000 metre pursuit champion. and to illustrate this perhaps new found confidence in himself, graeme will be holding an audience with graeme obree at tramway in glasgow on wednesday 25th march. graeme will be talking about innovation in cycling and the technology behind breaking the hour record, as well as being happy to meet with the audience and answer questions relating to his cycling career.
sadly, i will be unable to attend, but if any of you happen to pop along, please give graeme my regards. it would be particularly true to say that i really do owe it all to him.
glasgow's tramway is situated at 25 albert drive: the box office phone number is 0845 330 3501 or e-mail info@tramway.org. tickets are £7.50 and proceeds are going to the riverside museum appeal.
posted on monday 2 march 2009
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................it's been a long cold lonely winter: well, maybe not lonely - you're never alone with twitter - but it has been a longer winter out here on the rock than it has been in previous years, a state of affairs that has had its pluses and minuses. minuses because there have been a number of days when it has been either impossible or certainly foolhardy to take the bicycle from its cosiness in the bikeshed; pluses in that some of the winter clothing available these days is not only less similar to pipe lagging, but also improving insulation year on year while approaching the lighweightedness (it's a word - ok?) of much of the spring/summer collections. this has meant less out and out sprinting just to keep warm of a winter's day, and more je ne sais quoi sailing past the few island landmarks not blighted by cold.
of course, as you will have gathered over a number of years and pixels, there is no point in being warm and comfortable if the style factor has been left at the rear gate, and while i am more than willing to allow for variations in style appreciation, there is still style and style. the argument used to be about how much of the latter you were willing to sacrifice in order to keep hypothermia at bay. it seems this may no longer be a continuing problem: i have been fortunate to test relatively low cost winter clothing that, while not, perhaps, emulating the fit of the pricier end of the market, it does have a remarkably similar insulation quotient.
and though the myth that the majority of heat is lost from the body through the head has been now unequivocably revoked, this is no reason to skimp on winter headgear; and it is here that variations in the degree of exhibitionism, and possibly even nationalism can be exhibited with impunity. take my word on this - would i lie to you? so it was with this degree of impunity firmly placed under the catlike whisper that my continued cosiness took on a tartan trait this weekend.
the post has featured the more regular version of the walz tartan woollen casquette in more seasonal times, but now, exclusive to the uk, is an ear cosy winter version of the tartan headgear, made by walz in california. this is the stealth version which resembles the aforesaid regular version but hides a flap that can be dropped about the ears while riding and flipped up when ordering that soya milk cappuccino. two days riding in temperatures that were colder than the forecast had forecast, one of which included two hours in the car park at port charlotte's port mor centre teaching kids to stop falling off their bikes, provided warm ears and perfect hearing (pardon?). i know not whether other uk nationalities have a desire to wear tartan about their person, but, yet again in the year of the 25th anniversary of robert millar's king of the mountains win in the tour de france (will he ever shut up about this?) it's the ideal excuse, if such be needed.
available in two sizes - small/medium & medium/large - from urban hunter at an agreeable winter price of £25.95 ($30), if your weather is following similar lines to that of the inner hebrides, there are plenty more kilometres left to wear the winter version before switching to the summer version around mid-september.
posted on sunday 1 march 2009
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................one of the books i have managed to keep a hold of, clearly ensconced in a small bookcase at the top of the stairs, is rhyme and reason: a typographic novel, just the sort of book you'd expect a former art student to own. the purpose of this book is to graphically and textually illustrate some of the finer points of typography - hardly a rivetting read if you're not particularly into typefaces or how they should be placed upon the page, but a useful little volume nonetheless. aside from which, it arrived in what i have seen described as a a shirtboard slipcase, and bound in red hardback format. the sort of book that is a prize in and of itself (if you like books - and i do).
so the arrival of a small softback book, roughly 6" x 4" from rapha gives the same pleasure without even opening the cover, so you can perhaps imagine just how much joy can be gleaned from its 47 inner pages. since time immemorial, the maestros of perren street have included cutely hidden labels inside pockets, or sewn into the garment's inner landscapes, regaling us with stories from yesteryear about the heroes of pain and suffering, or sometimes just a short epithet regarding the item lovingly purchased from the ever increasing rapha firmament.
my favourite from the rapha clothing i have had the great good fortune to wear, has to be that from the inner recesses of the touring shorts entitled campag or shimano. and the text following on from that title is not at all as you would expect. however, in similar style to the aforementioned rhyme and reason these labels do not only concern themselves with text. all are accompanied by some of the finest monochrome compact and bijou graphics that i have had the pleasure of viewing. these are not the labels that told how to wash, dry or iron; these are much more important and informative than the latter: 'angel of the mountain'; 'pedaller of charm'; 'rain'; 'commute'.
war and peace it most certainly isn't; it would likely last only one train stop, or one (perhaps two) double espressos, but to expect otherwise is to miss the point: it's a beautifully produced little volume that can be dipped in and out of as often as the desire takes you. and one of its finest features is the legend at the foot of the spine: volume one.
this beautiful little book is available from rapha for the miniscule sum of £10 ($15).
on a side note, on friday afternoon, 27th february, rapha sent out the regular weekly e-mail which on this occasion announced the availability of a modest selection from the new spring/summer range. such was the dash by the recipients of said e-mail to check rapha's website, that they nearly brought the server down - page loads slowed to a crawl or, in many cases, failed altogether. rapha staff in perren street were unable to access their own site to continue with friday afternoon's work.
so it may be that in future we need to instigate raphaworld where ceo simon mottram, dressed in a (pink) turtle-neck sweater will address the masses from a suitable stage and announce the forthcoming range, finishing with 'and one more thing'.
posted on saturday 28 february 2009
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................