Three is a big deal. There are three constituents to an atom, there are three main classifications of galaxies, we live on the third stone from the sun, we perceive the universe in 3D, we have the holy trinity, there are three goals in a hat-trick, there are three little pigs (and bears), there’s the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (yup, three), and of course we all practice the three-point system. Basically, when there’s only three things that contribute to one thing, each one of those things is really important. The loss of one renders the other two, and the sum of their trinity useless, sooner or later.
The three things that Fi’zi:k focuses on are the contact points between the rider and the bicycle. Starting at the hands and moving down (or aft as it were), Fi’zi:k has been designing and manufacturing handlebar tape and saddles since 1996 and more recently, shoes. As gear-junkies, snobs even, you all know this. There are few, if any, bicycle equipment manufacturers that haven’t released at least one less than savory product. And in this time of big helmet-to-cleat-and-below-the-seat companies branding everything from frames to rim tape to kit there are probably fewer still who have as small of a line as Fi’zi:k (they also do seatposts). If you’re not already fully familiar with their line click on over and have a look here.
To my knowledge we have yet to write a Reverence article for an entire company. My intent here is not necessarily to review Fi’zi:k’s gear, lest I wow you to sleep with Huangisms and other musings. My intent is to declare our reverence for Fi’zi:k’s sublimely elegant wedding of style and purpose. Even if their shoes and saddles aren’t quite suited to your anatomy, and Merckx forbid one company could be all things to all riders, you must admit that Fi’zi:k has cultivated a top-shelf aesthete and makes the gear to back it up.
My personal foray into Fi’zi:k’s product line started, as most folks probably do, with handlebar tape. Previously to becoming a devotee of their tape though, I had noticed their logo on the backsides of some of my favorite riders in the pro peloton for years. Smart marketing. Place a logo on a kit where it’s either going to be frequently shot by the camera car or seen by riders as they get dropped and it’ll be remembered.
The virtues of microtex may have first been chronicled on this site here. It looks impeccable, wears well, and cleans up nice. You owe it to yourself to grace your bars with some Fi’zi:k tape. After being sold on their tape I delved into their saddles. I purchased a black and red Antares for bike number one and was immediately impressed by the perfect stitching and elegant lines of the rails and saddle platform. To this day my VMH still doesn’t understand how I can perch myself atop such a small looking saddle for so many hours. And if there was ever a saddle that epitomized Rule #61 it is the Antares. I now run the Antares on all three of my bikes. And truth be told, due to the circumstances of extended gravel rides in cellular dead zones bordering wilderness on a bike with one bidon, I frequently use their integrated/yet detachable EPMS on my gravel rig. As far as Rule #29 violations go I figure I may as well be classy about it.
That brings me to the Fi’zi:k shoe line. Recently I picked up a pair of R3’s and had a similar reaction to them as I did to my first Antares. They just look cool and are made extremely well and no other country on earth has produced better cobblers than Italy. From the baby kangaroo leather toe, to the sail cloth straps, the Italian flag under the tongue, to the “:K” logo on the baby kangaroo leather heel these things scream Italian shoemakers. When I say “scream”, I really mean get bras and panties tossed at you by not saying anything and just sitting there in that Cipo back in mid-nineties sort of way. In other words you render all who gaze your way powerless to your handsomeness. In fact, the power these shoes hold over me have led me to (in the tradition of this fine site) name them “The Aristocrats” for their black-tie look and high-end appeal.
So chapeau, er, bellissimo to Fi’zi:k for nailing the three ways we contact our machines. I appreciate your dedication to developing products that serve to provide us with one thing; connecting to our bikes.
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@frank
I hate to tell you this but think an aeronautical engineer stole your seat tube and replaced it with a wing. Does that thing help your bike generate lift in crosswinds?
A very well considered Reverence piece Marko. Fizik is Italian cool. I have gone two for three in the world of Fizik. I bought a bright green Fizik saddle for the co-owned clone Merlin, a fine saddle until 50km into a ride, then a mean mistreater. It still sits a top my Bontrager hard tail mountain bike.
I also am a fan of the hard wearing bar tape but it's your white shoes I really want. Tell me they are comfortable for the long ride?
Unfortunately, shoes and saddles, these contact points between bike and body, they have to fit one's body first, look good second. Fizik sure has the good looks, quirky Italian marketing, and the made-with-love products, everything Specialized doesn't, who currently dominate my three contact points. But they fit, damn.
I purchased the Antares VS ("I'm a chameleon!" said in my best Ralph Wiggins voice) earlier this year. The LBS I sometimes go to lets you try a saddle for free for a week to see if you like it first before buying, which is pretty sweet as you never know what'll fit your rear and what won't until you give it some miles.
Boy, am I sorry I waited so long to upgrade my saddle. It's one of the best purchases I've made for my bike. Even after 169 km, my longest ride on it, my ass is one thing that isn't really an issue.
Their microtex tape is also the cat's pajamas. I'll be due to re-wrap my bars after this winter is over, but the current white tape has held up great for a year now, with little cleaning.
Figure 1: The Cat's Pajamas. See also: Fizik microtex bar tape.
@Gianni
I wish I could tell you they are comfy on a long ride but I'm not sure I'll have the chance to wear them on a long ride until April. They are very comfortable and seem to caress my dogs in all the right places but time will tell. Since I underwent a pro bike fit I've been wearing insoles in my shoes and they've made a difference overall.
Saddles and shoes are most certainly personal. I feel like the Big Mig every time I travel with my saddle, shoes, and pedals when I can't travel with my whole bike.
@frank-I think what we have in Fi'zi:k and Sidi is the juxtaposish of understated classic Italian style and garish Italian flare.
@RedRanger
Those white ladies are giving me serious butterflies. ... must ... procure!
My first foray into Fi'zi:k was my first replacement saddle for my current steed. I got an Arione and I Love it - I can spend all day on that saddle (and have!). My next purchase will be some of their bar tape. Is this a backwards way of getting into the brand?
@itburns
Not quite; relativity just means that time is not universal and changes relative to the subject's speed. The problem with the E=Mc2 is that it means that as your speed increases so does your mass, and once your mass is infinite it takes infinite energy to accelerate. The only way to get around it is do jump a dimension, which almost has to be possible. It would also explain quantum particles, I think, if they're just bouncing around in other dimensions and not actually disappearing. Conservation of mass prohibits it, but it works if you include other dimensions for what you consider "conservation".
@snoov
Good link. I like the adjective "superluminal". I think Frank's rain bike could be described as superluminal.
The comments section there is a gas (at STP, of course).
@frank
So the faster I get the fatter I become.
So obese people are really mega fast beings from the planet Tharg who are just passing through our dimension but because we just see a brief reflection of time from that dimension they just appear fat and slow....Yes. It makes sense.
I need to sleep dammit.
@frank
Yes, infinite energy needed to reach c and everything is relative to your inertial frame of reference. Newtonian constant time thrown out when the frames of reference are different enough but good enough for every day. As G'phant observed, the OPERA people are saying they have found a particle that says "Shut up legs", climbs to the top of Mount c, then leaves the course to continue climbing in hopes of getting to Nobel first. Will be exciting, but ICARUS has already raised some doping concerns and it will probably end up taking longer than a Clenbutador arbitration before we know the official decision.
Look to CERN for more interesting results in the future. The Large Hadron Collider is at the lowest level of energy to start confirming/refuting some multi-dimension theories.
Apologies - just remembered this was a thread about Fizik, not physics, but I typed all this babble so you are going to get it.
@mcsqueak
Now that trumps the Cats Cock every time.