The Correspondent's Bike

Regular readers of this blog (all 4 of you) will notice that I have regular comments posted by a certain person. I like to call this person 'The Correspondent', he is my equivalent of Dr Hutch's Bernard. Oft he throws his morsels of wisdom on my comments plate and I gratefully gobble them up (even though they do give me acute indigestion). Unfortunately he got knocked off his bike the other week. I say 'unfortunately' because it meant that his insurance payout has gifted him a complete upgrade and I have had to live with the regular phone calls, texts and picture messages - 'Guess what I've just got?', 'Guess which wheels I've got?' and so on, and on, and on....So, today, behold the finished article (another picture message, hence the shoddy quality). Quest frame ('He's a mate', he says), Reynold's Assault wheels ('Deep section carbon, so quick'), Campag Super Record ('It's a solid as a Swiss watch') and Deda white carbon fibre bars ('Flash' (that's my comment)). All in all I have to admit that it is a very nice bit of kit, albeit in a 'European' sort of way and, though I hate to say it, he was apparently quite a good rider in his (long departed) youth and possibly worthy of this indulgence. Of course the problem now is that, much though I deny it to my beloved, I feel an arms race in the offing. Mmmmm.......what first?

QUEST BIKES

Best left un-spoken

Whilst doing a bit of over-the-shoulder reading on the tube this evening (rest day today - I'm back in 'training' but more of that another time) I noticed a picture of a bike of the future - ooooh. Needing to know more I actually sought out one of the annoying free-rag waving touts ('You touch me with that thing when I walk past and I'll ram it down your throat') to get a copy so I could read the piece properly. As ever it was littered with 'could be's, 'if's and other such uncertainties which dominate these mind-numbing, public space littering tatsheets and I duly disposed of it (responsibly) after having read the piece. However, I do remain fascinated by spokeless wheels. I still can't work out how they work or what is the point. I did think of 2 possible advantages - 1. The ability to confuse kamikaze cats or squirrels determined to shred themselves through your spokes and 2. There would be nowhere for the Hoxton fixed wheeled twats to put their 'oh so cool' flyers. Mmmmm....maybe not such a pointless design after all.

I've Mappedmyride

For those of us too tight to splash out on a Garmin and not out of contract with their existing mobile so unable to get their hands on an i-Phone, here is a good quick fix - mapmyride.com. Simply plot your route googlemaps style (but actually more intuitive) and it works out your total distance, climbing and descent all for free! It even gives you a profile of your course just like the ones that show the Tour stages (little tip - if you drag and condense the profile box you can make even the flattest of rides look like an Alpine stage to impress your friends). There's loads more things you can do on the site and you can save your ride and send the link to whomever might be interested just like the one below that I did today.

METROPELOTON'S SUNDAY JAUNT

Skin up, baby!

The weekend is here and it's not raining (at time of this posting)! Time for a bit of pimpage on the pride and joy methinks. I've read good things about Lizard Skins bartape so thought I would indulge myself (and £25 is a definite indulgence) as it was about time I changed the greying white tape that was currently gracing the bars. After a little bit of cursing and then a little bit more cursing I eventually made a half decent job thanks to the stretchy and tacky nature of the tape meaning I could wrap and rewrap to my hearts content. Job done I went for a little spin and 'Oh yeah' I said to myself 'this is good stuff'. Grippy and with loads of shock absorbancy it is the most comfortable tape that I have used. Highly recommended.

LIZARD SKINS

Honest Andy

Whilst I might ride a PM I still hugely admire the Brompton in all it's myriad of colours and specs. No matter how common they are becoming on the streets of London, they never fail to make me look twice as every owner seems to put their own mark on their bike. Another thing about them that I admire is their open minded honesty towards the market they operate in. How many commercial websites of any industry would openly direct you to their competitors site so that you can make a more informed opinion about your purchase? Chapeau, Brompton.

HONEST ANDY'S BIKES

Good Italian design (with a dash of Italian sexism)

I was walking home this evening, full of the joys of a clement summer's evening when I happened upon this rather nice saddle sitting atop a tastefully specced fixie (I should point out now that i am not really a fan of fixed wheel riding on anything other than a track but I can appreciate their pared down aesthetic when done well). It's got a sort of crocodile skin effect but not in the least bit flashy. Anyway, I had never heard of the make, ISCA Selle and did after a little search it seems that they are a bit of a fixie thing. A direct search send you to the website of Gipiemme who have one of those sites that's got an English link but tells you absolutely nothing (nice pictures in the 'About Us' section). However, I did find this wonderfully sexy(ist) picture from an old advert which was probably art directed by Berlusconi himself.



PS - I'm changing how I lay out the pages of the blog as the left indent thing is starting to annoy me. This may evolve as my knowledge of blogging grows

GIPIEMME

MILANO FIXED (an Italian fix for fixie types)

Art(?) on a Sunday

In a move to appease my beloved (after my regulation weekend ride) we decided to take a day out to a nearby National Trust property, Polesden Lacey. No cycling related stuff there surely, she thought and she was right. However, they did have a sculpture trail so we walked around the beautiful grounds of the house admiring the (often dubious) 'art' on offer from the Surrey Sculpture Society. Just as we had gotten towards the end of our little trot, low and behold the beauty that you see above. At first glance you see a reptilian specimen worthy of Robot Wars but NO!, this is the work of Daren Greenhow, he who creates amazing works of art from old bicycle tat. He's so clever is our Daz that he uses hubs for the tail, bits of chain for the claws and, no, surely not, cassette rings for the scaly spines. The man is a genius I tell you and you can buy a piece of the genius for just £795!! Rodin, Moore, you are nothing.

Anyway, once I had recovered from this truly seismic moment we moved on (after possibly the best chocolate ice-cream to date) in order to show my beloved the other nearby attraction of Box Hill (no ulterior motive here, honestly petal). 'This is the Alp d'Huez of Surrey' I told her, 'just you wait, I did this the other week from both sides'. Sadly she was nonplussed by the 'Giant of Dorking', as was I when driving up it. Still, any climb with a few hairpins gives enough material to pretend one is leading on an Alpine ascent.

Overcome by altitude sickness I felt the need to pull into a nearby car park to catch my breath where, low and behold by total coincidence, there was a bike shop! As far as I am concerned Cycles Dauphin has the most edited selection of bike porn that I have yet to see. Perfect in size and selection, I would highly recommend it for retail therapy to anybody who challenges themselves to climb the Box - it's just a shame that it has been shut both times I have been there!

DAZ'S WORK

CYCLES DAUPHIN