Cycling is a mighty sport with a rich and complex history. Every company, racer, piece of kit, and component has a legend, a story behind it; in many cases it also has a personal and nostalgic connection to our lives. While this particular sport is steeped in tradition, it is also fiercely modern, a fact that serves only to deepen its complexity.
All these factors combine to provide an unique atmosphere and breeds devoted and loyal disciples of our great sport. We are of a peculiar nature; we seek out the highest mountains and the roughest roads on which to worship at the altar of the Man with the Hammer. Our legs are what propel us; our minds are what drive us. We refer to our shaved legs in the third person – the legs – and speak of distance in kilometres and measure sizes in centimetres regardless of what country we are in. We adhere strictly to the Canon of Cycling’s Etiquette: The Rules.
A Velominatus is a disciple of the highest order. We spend our days poring over the very essence of what makes ours such a special sport and how that essence fits into Cycling’s colorful fabric. This is the Velominati’s raison d’être. This is where the Velominati can be ourselves. This is our agony – our badge of honor – our sin.
I have a unique way of looking at bicycles. A good bicycle and it’s components are beautiful things to me. I’m not just talking about appearance, but also how the frame and components show the dreams of those who made them.
– Gianni Bugno, Hardman and Italian cycling legend
Perhaps we are too wrapped up in the past, but the Velominati don’t believe that to be the case. After all, the greatest lessons can be learned from the past and those lessons can then be applied to the present and may then allow us to more fully experience the future.
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Velominati.com is less about the articles and more about the conversation. Those of you who read more and poster more, become an integral part of the discussion and help carry the momentum forward. There are several levels of Velominatus*:
Level 4 Velominatus: The casual observer and occasional poster.
Level 3 Velominatus: The regular reader and casual poster.
Level 2 Velominatus: The devoted reader and regular poster.
Level 1 Velominatus: The most committed of reader and poster.
Gray, Black, and Orange Order Velominatus: Once having passed Level 1, the inducted among the Order wear three color badges, based on their rank.
We strive to foster an open, fun, critical, and censure-free environment. Any criticism of our writing, spelling, grammar, or intelligence is welcome and nothing said will ever get you suspended from the site. That said, the code of conduct is governed by Rule #43 and the Piti Principle. Members consistently exhibiting behavior that falls outside these parameters will be warned to check themselves; should warnings go unheeded, we may elect to issue a suspension. The first offense will result in a one-week suspension, the second in a two week suspension, and the third in a three week suspension. A fourth offense will result in a lifetime ban.
Velominati reserves the right to edit posts with the express interest to preserve the spirit of the conversation and the community. Regarding posts that address a grammatical or typographical error, Velominati may elect to take their input, correct the error in the articles where appropriate, and editing posts that point them out. This editorial action is not to serve as a censure entity, but to preserve the spirit of the conversation. That said, we endeavor to only edit those posts that point out a minor issue and only in the event that we make the edit before the post has yielded further discussion. Furthermore, when possible, we will strive to acknowledge said poster for their correction.
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*Levels are calculated based on the previous year’s activity.
View Comments
@davidlhill
Yeah, that puzzles me too.
His single post in January this year as if nothing had changed before vanishing again just makes me more confused.
@eightzero
Have V T-shirt, not sure to wear "proudly" out. Also as supplier of the V Cuff-Links, do I remove them from my steads? BTW The Lion of Flanders has V-plugs on the end of his bars.
Recently ended up rolling along with this bunch - aka Rule 5, with my Rule #19 done, I asked what was Rule 5 all about. Comrade started to explain about the V Site and The Rules.
As I rode with the Rule 5 bunch I observed and asked about the violations of Rule #1, 2, 3 29, 33, 41, 45, 74.
Agree, The current state of this website makes me sad.
Wish the Keepers/Founder would roll with Rule V!
too true - a distinct lack of Rule V application!
I wonder if it is the money, the kit order? From my perspective I was (more or less) happy to write it off as the site had/has given me way more than USD130 worth of pleasure. But with Frank's general COTHO behaviour I'm getting pissed off it's efectively been stolen.
I still wear the V Kit - I have to confess it's the best looking piece of kit I have!
@davidlhill
Ditto. It was out in the sunshine this morning.
@sthilzy
If you still have cufflinks, pls let me know. They were part of the last order that never came. Still me needs 3 pairs: 2 black and 1 white.
who made the name decals and the caps?
@davidlhill
i don’t really know anybody involved with this debacle, and i didn’t order any kit, so i reserved my opinion on the matter until around the time the post showed up asking for donations to bail Frank out of the kit mess, last fall. i thought it was a bit tacky to ask for money to bail Frank out, when the people that were missing the order were the ones in need of redress. sure enough, that was a bad omen, things fell completely apart shortly thereafter. it is a shame, after having obviously expended SO much effort, and had such good results, that he just walked away and let things die on the vine, so to speak. it would have been better if he had just cut the site off. no matter how much fun we that remain are having hanging out, here, it makes the whole thing look messy and sad, by contast.
@davidlhill
Gianni and I have tried everything over the last year or more, we don't even get replies to emails. Not even a "sorry I've spent all your book royalties and all the kit order money". Embarrassing for us to be associated with the site and brand when we all get lumped in with his doings. We're sorry to everyone who got fucked, we know how it feels too.
@Brett
Any thoughts to you and Gianni starting up a new site? I am sure the community would follow you. I can’t imaging this site will stay up indefinitely - in fact I thought it was dead a few days ago. It would be nice to have the same type of forum and even allow for new content as opposed to just reposting old articles.
@Brett
I don't know the story behind the royalties, what happened to the kit money or why Frank's dropped of the face of the internet but as far as I'm concerned you and Gianni don't have anything to be apologising for.
With any luck we'll still bump into each other outside a beer tent on a hill in Flanders or on the cobbles somewhere. I'm not sure what the plan is for next year, the lad wants do do Flanders again but I fancy Roubaix. Maybe both with William and Alex.
@KogaLover
The caps were made by Apis, the Italian firm that produces caps for a lot of the pro teams. I looked into them for our club last year but from memory it was a minimum order of 300.
@davidlhill
It's great looking kit but mine is only used on the turbo these days out of fear of a Rule #53 violation.
Despite what anyone thinks for the rules these days, that's one that stands the test of time and should never be violated.