Does this make it right?
I kind of like the fact that I still have to look up what number certain Rules are. Some stick in my mind, usually due to their relevance to my everyday riding and living situation. That’s how I could justify hairy legs over a ride-barren winter, loose-fitting (I refuse to call them baggy) shorts for gravé rides, and a frame pump on my road bike. I can hear the howls of derision now. And even after Gianni’s public flogging for using a saddle bag, I’m still gonna go there, girl.
It occurred to me while watching the Tour that the main reason we eschew the EPMS, like most things, is that they don’t look good. Fair enough. Yes, they are functional, and while that usually doesn’t sit high on our list of priorities, it has been making a bigger blip on my personal radar of late. I guess that’s what happens once the floodgates are opened by the likes of a frame pump; “shit, this works really well, and you know what, no-one else is running it, so I’m kinda unique. Maybe even a trendsetter.” OK, maybe not, but justification comes in many forms. Anyway, from watching the Tour and not being able to avoid the fact that every bike was running the electronic timing GPS device under the saddle, I had to ask the question: do they make the EPMS acceptable?
Probably not, and those howls of derision are hitting peak decibels now, I’m sure. But there is a new crop of bags out there which are swaying me to the dark side. Stop howling! Maybe not on my road bikes, but with a new gravé machine imminent, I’ve been looking at all manner of add-on carrying devices. Frame bags, TT bags, handlebar bags, and even the EPMS. My good friend the Bike Bag Dude has been commissioned to customise a camera bag for the bars that can handle an SLR, and a slim frame bag that can also accomodate my Silca Impero. And those purveyors of the pump that has its own Rule caveat may have just released another Rule-breaker with their new Seat Roll Premio. See, it even sounds cool. It uses the BOA system to secure it to the rails and looks more like a wallet than a small piece of carry-on luggage dangling under your arse.
Now that Frank has turned 40 and Gianni and I are well north of that, could there be a softening of the Rules going on? Shit no, we’re not completely senile just yet. But there are increasing ways to gently skirt some of them, while others are sacrosanct. And when our colostomy bags turn up, you know they are going to be Rule compliant. Otherwise, it’s just a shit time, and no-one wants that.
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@ErikdR
You've got me wondering the same thing, although they are correct for the bike's age. The short mudguards/ fenders were de-rigeur back in those days, don't think we ever questioned what purpose they served.
@ErikdR
Yeah it is a pretty long wheelbase and as you say is rock solid on the road. Actually it corners pretty well but that might be because it has a very short stem so the two counteract each other on the handling.
When I rebuilt it it did have a triple and I managed to find a Campy Rally cage to fit to a Nuovo Record body to pull enough chain. I've since fitted a compact equivalent using a vintage Stronglight crank that has 96 BCD but not yet put the old cage back to see if I can pull enough chain with a 36 inner on a Nuovo Record - as I suspect not. With the weight of that thing and a small block combined with the age (and state) of my knees I needed a triple till I did the pseudo-compact.
The mini fenders were a tribute to my Dad from when I had the bike originally "You have to have mudguards" so these were the compromise and as @steveTrice says - they were the biz back then. I've ended up removing them though as they rattle something awful.
The full story is here.
I'm going to discuss my own rule breaking - for my commute this morning and dressed in my usual kit (club kit) but put some nice new plain black 'baggies' over the top. Reason? I drop my son off at school on the way in and don't think walking through an infant school playground in bibshorts is the way to go.
Still wouldn't dream of putting a saddlebag on though.
@Teocalli
Thanks! I now remember having read the Butler story earlier, but no matter: it was certainly worth reading again.
I've had a soft spot for Stronglight gear ever since I purchased my first Peugeot: that particular bike came with a cottered crank set with a three-point 'star' and steel chain-wheels that torqued and twisted terribly when force was applied to the pedals (with the chain noisily rubbing the insides of the 'Simplex' front mech). A 'five-point-star' (and alloy) Stronglight crank set was the stuff of dreams for me back then.
The Koga Miyata Road Speed I posted above was also the stuff of dreams - so the day I finally got my hands on one was a memorable one. Mine is a 1980 model, and the color that year was referred to as 'Champagne'. Very nice, but to be honest, I'm still lusting for a similar model, but from 1981 or 1982, when the color for Road Speeds was "Indian Red", like the bike @KogaLover was riding at the Limburg Eroica...
Heck with it: it's only a 148 kB JPEG image, so it won't break the Interwebs, I reckon. Here goes:
@ErikdR
Always a pleasure to see my #2 = #9 on this site. Thanks for posting!
@KogaLover
You're welcome, sir.
@Teocalli
Good read, and 30 quid for a NEW bike made an excellent investment! Before or after Brexit.
FFS, didn't I write this article a year or two back and was publicly crucified?
@Gianni
Kinda a case of plagiarism is the worst kind of flattery?
I gotta say, the juxtaposition of colostomy bags with EPMS's in this article certainly put some... unusual imagery in my head.