Riding the stones of Paris-Roubaix, in the Spring, in crap weather (it’s possible) and finishing the ride in the velodrome in Roubaix* should be enough enticement for any right thinking cyclists to jump on to this event. It gets better, watching the race in a scrum of drunken-loud-mad-fans, everyone covered in a sheen of beer, frites and mayonnaise. It’s an experience of a lifetime. Do you still need more? Perhaps riding the last fourteen bergs of the Ronde van Vlaanderen, being your very own Boss of the Bosberg and then spectating this race, again the loud-drunk-fans, the sheen, the madness. Fabian Cancellara shall pass by so close he may wink at you as he drops the hammer on Boonen, again. How about a personal ride with the Lion of Flanders, Johan Museeuw? It does not get better than this, I’m sorry but it can’t.
It can’t yet it does, a tour of the Merckx bike factory and the Ronde van Vlaanderen Museum at Oudenarde. That is correct, we are going to museums, all right, a museum and it’s a museum about bike racing. There is much more fun crammed into this nine day holiday than should be allowed, please regard the original post for all the information.
This is the fantasy camp of a lifetime for cyclists. If not for yourself, dear reader, then bestow the holiday gift to end all gifts on your mate. The Velominati are united in a love and appreciation of cycling and the Spring Classics are a distillation of all things Hardman and beautiful.
Not to belabor the awesome factor, here are just a few more items:
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*disclaimer from our legal department: unconfirmed but in the works.
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@roadslave
I also notice that the manufacturer of these tubulars you've fitted have the labels printed in the right place a la Rule #40. Some manufacturers don't do that! How frustrating for a Velominati seeking complete rule compliance and cycling satori.
@teleguy57
uh, that would be silver sculpted hubs, not liver sculpted. Sheesh, not even sure to think about what might mean! Where is that "edit post" button....
@roadslave
Had to come back and look at your wheels again! I like the way the wheelsmith is thinking regarding the black spokes even though I think I'd want mine all silver.
@teleguy57. If you can wait until January, Chris King are finally making an R45 hub that is campy compatible, which would be gorgeous. Alternatively, all my wheels are either Royce or PMPs, both of which I love, and have served me well
@snoov. I hear you... I have been known to take a Continental GP4000 clincher back to Condor (London LBS) as 'defective' because the labels on the tyre weren't diametrically opposite. Quite frankly, I was surprised by the look of incredulity on the face of the guy who served me... Thought he'd've been used to cyclists expecting things 'just so'. I think he got the message after I made him walk round the showroom with me and pointed out that every single one of the tyres on the display bikes (GP4000s and others) had diametrically opposite labelling, with the main one above the valve... He finally allowed me to swap it out for another, if only to make me go away and leave him alone
@frank
Yup, that's what I love about cycling. For all the new-fangled materials and developments (carbon fiber, electronic shifting, etc) the basic shape and angles of bikes hasn't really changed in decades. And, quite frankly, I don't think it will. If there was a better design than the current double triangle with fork that would stick, someone would have come up with it. They haven't. That's why all the real innovation is on parts and accessories.
Speaking of which, I have a sub-6 helmet in the garage. It's the naked one that was just pure polystyrene. No thin plastic cover on that sucker. Basically impossible to get a good fit and sat really high - or at least that was my experience. It keeps my old Giro Air Attack company now . . .
@teleguy57
My set which you can find posted elsewhere in these pages was built at the builder's recommendation on Alchemy hubs for Campagnolo precisely for the DS/NDS tension reasons you mention. The wheels are super-solid laterally. The hubs come in silver among other colors and the noise from the freehub pawls is classic, not the Chris King angry hornet noise.
@frank
So, ah, is the rear wheel on that thing smaller than the front? I get the whole further behind the BB thing, to get moar power, lookslike he's leg pressing the cranks, but to use a smaller wheel? Wouldn't that F with everything?
The wheels are the same size, it's just the angle of the photo that makes you think that.
@wiscot
THE AIR ATTACK! I've been trying to remember the name of that helmet for AGES!
@minion
That bike was hanging in a shop window in Kuurne for a few years. If I remember right, Bauer was having back issues and thought the slack seat tube would be the fix. Funny, as a year or two earlier Grewal had a bike with a steeper seat tube angle as a fix for back pain.