The Velominatus’ machine is their own manifestation of personal taste and demonstration of adherence to The Rules. We each, in our own way, meticulously maintain our bicycles and adorn them with the essential, yet minimal, accoutrement. Yes, we must Obey the Rules pertaining to bar tape, tyre selection, saddle choice, stem height, color matching and so on. But within those parameters there lies flexibility and choice.
Furthermore, this site is a refuge we turn to for brotherhood, community, and belonging. However, cyberspace is a vacuum in that we apply and practice our craft apart from one another, spread to all corners of the globe. With this in mind, I offer an experiment, Il Gruppo Progetto, inspired by Brett’s Il Progetto: Bosomworth. The intent, dare I say charge, of Il Gruppo Progetto, is for our community of Velominati to come together in designing my new build project, a Serotta Colorado AL.
I picked up the Serotta frame and fork recently to further my adherence, em, obsession over Rule #12. Although not a top shelf Serotta (think of it as Maker’s Mark as opposed to The Glenlivet), it is a platform worthy of respect, care, and craftsmanship. As fall arrived I found my foul weather steed in need of replacement and the Serotta was the perfect combination of material, style, and economics. My mind was flooded with ideas of how I might build her up. Then I thought of all of you, your experience, ideas, and of course, passion.
So as fellow Velominati, I humbly ask of your counsel for this build. The basic platform is as follows:
As you can see from the list above this worthy steed is in need of much more. Bars, stem, bar tape, saddle, seat post, possibly a fork, tires, chain, headset, and cables. Please keep in mind the following:
So there you have it. My proposition is for us to come together in a modicum of further connection than what cyberspace allows. My hope is that the finished build will be a tangible symbol of our collective wisdom and a reminder to me of what we, the Velominati represent, as I ride this bike.
Thanks in advance for playing.
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@roadslave
You don't need to be right - just don't be in doubt. Haven't seen the photo but just tell them it is the Aubisque. The Tour went there in 07. Those arty fvckers won't know any better.
@roadslave
No need to go into the psychic red zone here. Your team will deploy its maniacal attention to detail and knowledge of cycling history to delivery you mechanical-free to the line.
@Brett
Remember your own sins before you start chucking rocks, Mr Roubaix with the disco bunny bar tape and (eugggrh...HTFU) zertz.
@roadslave
Looks to me like it's The Galibier, which, given that it's 2007 was Stage nine, won by Mauricio Soler with Rasjuicin' in Yellow. It screams Galibier at me, in any case. Anyone think it's the l'Iserand?
Yeah, yeah... I've repented. Roubaix, as you well know, is sold; much like you sold the sweet 853 Condor with Chorus and bought a plastic bike with (eugggrh) Ultegra!
@frank
@roadslave
I'm leaning more towards l'Iseran, with more switchbacks near the top than the Galibier, from what I can glean from a search of images. But I'm probably waaay off... Oli, this is right up your alley!
@frank
Methinks you might have got it in one. The peak looks about right, and some of the scenes of the mountain in this video seems to corroborate. Maybe L'Iseran, but I'd put my money on le Galibier (that should be a rule, incidentally: that all French, Spanish, and Italian iconic mountains should maintain the pronoun of their language of origin). It's a pretty interesting picture, but I'm not quite sure what makes it worth six figures; does it come with Soler's bike and a Barloworld team car? Even then, it seems as though it would be several dozens of thousands of dollars overpriced. But that's why I'm not in the art world...
Incidentally, and à propos of nothing (and wildly off-topic), is Soler the tallest dotty jumper winner in Tour history? (I know: let me google that for you).
@roadslave
I thought for some reason this was the Restefond, but it wasn't in the 2007 race.
Now that I can focus some deductive skills on the task (and see the photo) a few facts are immediately apparent:
(1) it's a high, high climb in the Alps. It's more desolate, like the Alps, not the Pyrennees.
(2) It's a col, by the way the road dissapears over the ridge. Not a climb up a mountain to a ski station, like Alpe d'Huez. This rules out Tignes on Stage 8.
(3) Switchbacks. Neither the Colombiere nor the Roselend have a bunch of switchbacks right near the top. The Iseran has a couple, but not a lot.
Frank is right, it's the Galibier.
@Nate, @Steampunk
I'm pretty sure it is; all the little trails that cross are a big giveaway that it's the Galibier as well. In fact, they do a mountain bike race on those.
Brett, your link doesn't work, but I think that's the shifty developer's shoddy coding's fault, not yours. I'll work on that.
I am anxious for Oli to chime in! In fact I believe that Bugno ran into a spectator in '93 on one of those turns near the top, riding a bike that very nearly resembles Oli's TSX.
@roadslave
Regardless of the mountain, I get a huge climbone staring at that picture. Not a $100k climbone though.