Anatomy of a Photo: Sleepless in Belgium

Team Quickstep gets sleepy

I’ve got a fever, and the only prescription is more Rule #5.

Thanks to Michael for bringing this matter to our attention.

frank

The founder of Velominati and curator of The Rules, Frank was born in the Dutch colonies of Minnesota. His boundless physical talents are carefully canceled out by his equally boundless enthusiasm for drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, if it’s in a container, he will enjoy it, a lot of it. He currently lives in Seattle. He loves riding in the rain and scheduling visits with the Man with the Hammer just to be reminded of the privilege it is to feel completely depleted. He holds down a technology job the description of which no-one really understands and his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking. As devoted aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it. Frank is co-author along with the other Keepers of the Cog of the popular book, The Rules, The Way of the Cycling Disciple and also writes a monthly column for the magazine, Cyclist. He is also currently working on the first follow-up to The Rules, tentatively entitled The Hardmen. Email him directly at rouleur@velominati.com.

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View Comments

blaireau says:

Jan 8 2011 at 12:32 pm

Souleur:
@zach
Compact rings serve a limited purpose, IMHO, see Rule 5 repeatedly until it is served up warm and understood on the 53t.

Compact rings are the V.
50T ring means you can ride around all day in the hills without messing with the front shifter (here in new England we have none of this mysterious "flat" that some Velominati refer to in their posts).
34T ring is real handy when laying down the Rule 5 up sustained 18% grades in the Green Mtns.
Running 53/39 really just means hauling around several gear ratios that you never use, unless you are Jens or are comfortable pedalling at 60 RPM; I prefer that anything on my bike be something I am going to use, including cogs. If I could get a 12-23 Red cassette I would run it instead of the 11-23; I would much rather have an 18 instead of the 11. 50x12 is plenty of top end for me (yes, I do race, and no, I don't generally do badly at it).

Stepping down off chainring soapbox now....
chunt says:

Jan 8 2011 at 1:14 pm

@xyxax
Jens is Rule 5. Great guy too. Those Team CSC days were pretty special - Jens, Dave Z, Jullich, early Cancellera, Sastre, JMac...thanks for sharing those Jens Headlines.
frank says:

Jan 8 2011 at 2:07 pm

@Gianni
Why is Alexis riding a Specialized?
Gianni says:

Jan 8 2011 at 2:39 pm

@frank
I have no answer for that but I bet Cervelo will not be a happy sponsor. Maybe she just signed with Garmin/Cervelo and they were too lame to supply a bike in time? That will learn 'em.
Gianni says:

Jan 8 2011 at 3:07 pm

@blaireau
It's good to hear a real bike racer come down on the compact side of things.

I should write up the definitive (my half-assed version) of the compact vs standard argument and let all this play out once and for all. Man it fires up the posturing and chest thumping. I just put a compact on my bike and there is a lot of love down there. Stand by.
Roadslave525 says:

Jan 9 2011 at 11:08 am

@Blaireau, @Gianni... right behind you on the compact arguments... when the dust settles, I'll show you the scars and bruises I've still got from last time I tried to fight that fight on this website... Good luck, though.

Frank may even rehash his 'the aesthetics look wrong, as the inner chain ring needs to be at least 75% of the outer chain ring'
Pedale.Forchetta says:

Jan 9 2011 at 11:51 am

Compact doesn't work for my legs,
lots of friends are happy with it, especially during the hardest granfondo
like the Campagnolo or the Pantani,
but I still love my big rings.
Marcus says:

Jan 9 2011 at 3:17 pm

@frank
I think you may be forgetting possibly the coolest combo of the last 20 years - the Saeco Red Train with Cipo doing his thing at the end of it on a campy-equipped Cannondale (CAAD 6 from memory?).

And if Cipo has run it, it qualifies as cool.
xyxax says:

Jan 9 2011 at 4:03 pm

@Gianni
If you need gear-inch, meters-of-development, speed-at-cadence numbers for your write-up, I just ran across this site.
Though most of you all may keep this in your head.
There is no mention of aesthetic double-ring diameter ratios, but I think that comes in advanced-credit courses.
blaireau says:

Jan 9 2011 at 4:16 pm

xyxax:
@Gianni
If you need gear-inch, meters-of-development, speed-at-cadence numbers for your write-up, I just ran across this site.
Though most of you all may keep this in your head.
There is no mention of aesthetic double-ring diameter ratios, but I think that comes in advanced-credit courses.

Xyaxa - that's way too cool. I could waste more time fiddling with that than on Angry Birds....