Mimic those who are better than you; this is the underlying principle of nearly everything I do in life, whether in my work, in sport, or hobbies. The less I know about something, the more inclined I am towards this, and the more faithfully I mimic. As my skill and knowledge develope, I mime less and reason more, applying my own mistakes as well as those of others to the process we commonly refere to as becoming ‘experienced’. This process continues until I grow into an opinionated sponge; while I continue to mop up any and every piece of information and advice I can get my hands on, I follow the path that is influenced still by advice, but dictated largely by the unique journey that lays behind me and the lessons I’ve learned along it. But still the underlying premise remains: The Pros must be onto something.
So it was that I became obsessed with classic-bend bars; Gilbert, Hushovd, Basso, Potato, Cadelephant, the Brothers Grimpeur – many of my favorite riders cruised into my heart aboard classic-bend bars. Not to mention the likes of Coppi, De Vlaeminck, Merckx, and Maertens – none of whom had a choice but rode them nevertheless. Over time, the swooping curve of a classic, round drop has found its place alongside the Quick Release, Delta Brake, and Record Hub as some of the Most Beautiful Bits of Kit.
I love the way the bars sweep up from the drops and position the hoods at an elegant, upward pitch as the bar continues it’s journey upward to meet the stem. Each classic-bend bar does this, yet the particular sweep of the 3T Rotundo does it more elegantly than any other; the exact radius of its bend and the pitch of its rise is perfection. I have another set of classic 3T bars which predate the Rotundo whose radius of the bend is within a millimeter of that of the Rotundo and yet the aesthetics are not it’s equal. Like all things of sublime beauty, there is something intangible about its curve that sets it appart from others.
But aesthetics are only skin deep, and the real measure of the bar is how comfortable it is. Since getting ahold of my first Rotundo, I’ve moved to classic bend bars on all my machines. I was apprehensive about the move from an ergo bend, which I’d always ridden, to the round bend of the Rotundos. Whereas I had always assumed that a flat section of bar would be more comfortable to grab hold of, this turns out not to be the case. Evidently, my hand is not straight and is in fact quite good at bending and forming to various shapes. Riding in the drops, wrists pointed inwards towards the V-Locus, my fingers grip the curved surface of the drops perfectly. The classic bend also reduces the reach from the drop to the brake lever, which means that long descents with frequent use of the brakes are also much more comfortable.
The positioning of the hoods is a slightly different matter and depends somewhat on the groupo. Bikes Number 1 and 2 both wear 10 speed Campa Record, while Bike Number 3 wears Dura-Ace 7700. The design of the Campa hoods resemble the Power Triangles of Merckx, while the design of the Shimano hoods more closely resemble pegs. The transition from the bar to the hoods on my Campa bikes is smooth like Keith Stone, allowing you to choose multiple positions along where bar meets hood. The design of the Shimano levers, on the other hand, cause them to stand up from the bar more abruptly, meaning that there are fewer comfortable positions available. It’s not really a significant issue, but it does provide less positions which can play a factor on longer rides.
As an aside, the matching 3T ARX stem meets nearly every expectation one can have of a stem; it’s light, stiff and simple. My only complaint is that it is only available in a 6 or 17 degree version; those of us who pay careful attention to how low or how high our bars are find that these two combinations don’t provide enough flexibility to dial in the position; I’m running the bars on Bike Number 3 and am stuck riding my bars about 5mm higher than on my other bikes. To be fair, this is not a shortcoming of the ARX stem in particular; very few manufacturers offer choices outside 6 or 17 degrees. However, for perfect positioning, 3T and others should add an 8 or 10 degree stem to the mix.
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@harminator
I meant the guy who can't see where the hit is coming from is the tough one. Because Aussie Rules isn't a "back and forth" game, contact is far less predictable.
Ice hockey is about the only other contact game I can think of where players can come from anywhere on the field.
My "pussy" call was a gag by the way - I have played a bit of rugby too...
@marko
A Fucking +1
If I wanted to talk about AFL, I sure as fuck wouldn't be looking at this website. I hate how they glorify a bunch of guys that never have to grow up beyond high school both in intelligence and social skills. ...And, they get all the chicks. WTF?
@mouse
Funny thing is, you just did talk about it... Can think of plenty of non-cycling threads around here - so don't get too worried. Just think - if you are from Melbourne - so the story goes, Bernie "Superboot" Quinlan and a few other footy players were the guys who founded the Hell Ride.
As to them getting the chicks and (presumably) not you, well I can't really help you there...
I am responsible for this. Nothing like spoiling for a fight due to having a shit day at work and finding Marcus pop up first post after you log in. I think God was smiling at me.
@minion
He was smiling at both of us.
@Ron
@Ron Just slap some carbon paste on it. I use it on alloy and steel parts. It allows a lower fastener torque to get the same retention (or more retention from the same torque).
(Did anyone else rub handfuls of dirt onto their slipping MTB seatpost back in the day, before you could buy the same compound in a tube for $30?)
The only problem I have found is that carbon paste doesn't allow components to slide over each other if this is necessary during the tightening process. I have a Bianchi seat post clamp made up of 2 pieces that falls into this category - carbon paste was NOT the solution. Just plain grease allowed the parts to move as they should.
@marko
Just think - if you are from Melbourne - so the story goes, Bernie "Superboot" Quinlan and a few other footy players were the guys who founded the Hell Ride.
As to them getting the chicks and (presumably) not you, well I can't really help you there...
Not from Melbourne, though been here a while. Suspect that's part of the issue as I didn't go to school here and thus was not indoctrinated. I just don't happen to like the institutionalised violence both on and off the pitch. I'm soft as a kittens cock though so could be it.
As for the chicks; harsh but fair.
@snoov
Rugby isn't as anaerobic as American football, the players are on the field for 80 minutes unless they get subbed off (permanently) then they're on the field. No offensive/defensive teams, and the positions will dictate the body shape. Forwards tend to be around six foot to six five and 90 - 120 kilos. Backs tend to be faster and lighter though still big by man on the street standards. It's my understanding that those walking trucks who slam into each other in American football would all be significantly bigger than all but the biggest rugby players, they do their thing then shuffle off for a sit down. No running, scrums and tackling for them for the next 80 minutes.
@mouse
I'm soft as a kittens cock though so could be it.
You what ???
First Frank said something was the cat's cock, now it's feline paedophilia. Is there some veterinary porn site where you get this stuff from ?
And you forgot the apostrophe. I'm not sure which is worse TBH.
@Minion
American footbal may be anaerobic in that it is played in short in intense bursts but there is certainly a great deal of anaerobic activity in rugby. The general passages of play tend to be aerobic but if you find yourself in a prolong passage of play with no breaks in play such as line outs or scrums then you're more than likely to go anaerobic. Certain positions are more likely to do so, such as the backrow who are expected to scrum and ruck like forwards but also get to to the breakdown first and support the backs in running play. The differentiation between fowards and backs in terms of speed and size has lessened alot since the game went professional.
I'm not trying put down American football but it is a bit girlie. If you google American football armor one of the first links is a wikipedia page for John Cranston who "was also the first football player to wear protective "nose armor,""