The Ides of March

Beware the ides of March certainly seems apt seeing as both gritting trucks and potholes sizeable enough to cause serious rim and rider damage are constant features of the local landscape. The latter are so deep that even the Univega with its beefy 1.75-inch rough stuff touring rubber is reminding me to skirt round them.

This is rather disappointing, as I’d hoped to start clocking up some sunny day miles aboard the ever evolving Teenage Dream which now sports Shield guards (Zefal’s answer to SKS Race Blades), genuine Cinelli Spinacci-outlawed by the UCI in 2000 but alive, well and subtly modified to incorporate Torch LED end plugs for making best use of those spring and summer evenings. Tempted by tape, I chose to wrap the extensions in redundant inner tube, giving better purchase in full finger gloves and coordinates with the existing cockpit surprisingly well.
Less casual observers will recall plans to machine the Thomson post by point two of a millimetre. The initially sympathetic local engineering firm turned the work down having seen it in the flesh, although this doesn’t come as a complete surprise. Declining work is their right but the time to do so is at the point of initial approach. This inconsistent attitude means I wish them well but shall refrain from passing any future business their way. Never one to wish my life away (afterall, time’s the most precious resource we have and there’s so much to do) I’m looking forward to more temperate conditions and reliving the summer of ’91, tractor racing, enjoying the six am starts, swooping into sun-kissed descents before the ever maddening crowd have chance to rouse from their slumber and command the highways from their Mondeos, Modus and MPVs. Colour coordinated twenty-four millimetre Vittoria tyres add the perfect finishing touch too but to date there’s been insufficient opportunity to put them through their paces, although they take the crown for most difficult tyres to mount, snapping two tyre levers and dealing the fatal blow to my beloved Speed Lever (Thankfully 2pure have taken pity on me, agreeing to supply a replacement as a goodwill gesture). While generally conscious of others’ sensibilities, coarse and agricultural language flowed freely as blood seeped from beneath my thumbnails and tempered frustration bit deep. Rummaging for replacement tyre levers saw these ITM Olympus Tri Bars emerge from the spares box albeit sans fitting kit and tracking down an original is leading me along some very dead ends. Deathly silence from distributors and retailers alike is encouraging some lateral thought and there’s a good chance another brand will operate to similar specification and have a compatible/pattern bracket. These are intended for the Holdsworth seeing as the Spinacci are standard road diameter whereas the Holdsworth’s pursuit types are totally incompatible, oversized, flat sections. Assuming a suitable donor can be found, some trimming of the tri bars will shave a few grams and keep cockpit clutter to a minimum.
I recently acquired a very unusual (and not altogether welcomed) training aid… a didgeridoo no less which isn’t the easiest instruments to play but in keeping with most things it’s about technique rather than brute power. Cycling and wind instruments seem to hold a good symbiosis. Long steady miles and plenty of hill climbing seems to improve my ability to produce something tuneful while half an hours’ daily practice seems to improve lung capacity and my ability to enjoy rather than simply tolerate the climbs. The rider who thundered past me on Sunday morning on his Rosso red crosser complete with a cheery greeting might well sport a very broad inner smile at this suggestion. I could pontificate defensively about taking in the scenery, portly 1.75 tyres adding 800g a piece, not to mention immeasurable rolling resistance but that’s not me-he was simply a faster rider over the lanes seemingly fashioned from treacle. On the subject of fashion, nostalgia, or retro as the marketing folk brand it looks very much here to stay whether in reaction to huge technological change, or the psychological comfort sought in a bygone era perceived as less economically challenging and more socially cohesive. I love and loathe “retro” in equal measure. I love that I can readily acquire production road fixer framesets and components without necessarily paying bespoke prices. I love the availability of stylish, yet practical alternatives to Lycra- continental style plusses, jerseys, caps etc. However, there comes a point where the balance tips and the economics of supply turn bandit on the humble consumer and prices go through the roof.

Non aero brake levers are a case in point, time was when bike shop bargain bins were bulging with cheap but often extremely worthy levers that didn’t demand a change of bar wrap come cable changes, providing better braking thanks to free flowing cables. Slowly but surely supplies are dwindling thanks to the craze for older components, firms such as Dia Tech producing extensive lines of reproduction parts with the obvious cost implications, although in fairness these are typically of superb calibre.

Three speed fixed hubs that weren’t overly popular fifty odd years ago have made a return, albeit given a modern twist but looking into my crystal ball, there’s every chance these will vanish into obscurity just as fast second time round. However, lets not pour too much scorn on these things, fashion is also fun, take what you like, leave what you don’t.

Take Paul Vincent’s second frame building project. Another fixer, made again from fillet brazed Columbus; it sports the visually stunning and technically divisive twin lateral design, which he says handles remarkably given such frames are regularly criticised for their inherent lack of lateral stiffness. But more on that later.....