Categories: Defining MomentsLa Vie Velominatus

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The Walker Hour Bike

I won’t hold liking cats against you, but if you don’t like dogs, you’re dead to me. Some things aren’t left to opinions, like whether Star Wars is good or not. You’re free to be an outlier – and I loves me some outliers and I loves me a rebel – but in some cases, being an outlier doesn’t make you clever. It just makes you wrong. Also, the Laws of Physics show that the more lightsabers you have in a movie, the better the movie. Except for Episode I and The Matrix, two anomalies which balance each other out.

Similarly, loving carbon bikes is no crime. They are light, they are stiff, and many (most) are beautiful. My stable is filled with them. But a bike handbuilt by an artisan in a small workshop is something different altogether, and each one’s singular beauty is not a matter of opinion, unless you’re comfortable being wrong. I only have one so far, and it’s the custom steel I had made by NAHBS founder, Don Walker for my failed Hour ride last summer. (I’m planning a rematch with Weather this coming June.)

At this point every bike I own is custom, if only the paintwork. But even then, having a hand in how the bike is finished bonds you to the machine in a way that off-the-peg bikes simply can’t. And my Walker, even though I don’t ride it as much as a practical bike (you know, one with gears and brakes) every time I climb on it, I can feel its magic. There is something about custom in general and steel in particular that feels uniquely magnificent.

We’re in a crisis, my fellow Velominati. The North American Handmade Bicycle Show is only a few weeks away and I just heard from Don that many of the builders who have been stalwarts of the event are struggling to the point that they can’t afford to attend, much less keep a booth there. People aren’t buying bikes as much as they were, apparently, and the bikes that are being bought aren’t custom, handmade ones. We’re buying kittens, not dogs. Cyclists are watching Star Trek, not Star Wars. It’s a fucking disaster.

This isn’t a call to go buy a custom frame, we aren’t made of money. But it is a reminder that there are giant corporations behind some bikes, and there are individuals behind others. And if you’re in the market for a bike, I’m asking you to remember that. And if you aren’t in the market for a bike but love looking at them, I’ll be at NAHBS this year (in godforsaken Salt Lake fucking City no less) and I’ll look forward to seeing you there.

Vive la Vie Velominatus.

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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chris says:

Jan 10 2017 at 11:49 am

@Teocalli

@chris

@ChrisO

I agree simplicity and reliability is your better option, although TBF that is one of the advantages of steel over carbon.

Having just watched the Pedaled film of last years race I’d be inclined to agree about steel. I’d want something a Romanian farmer could weld well enough to carry on with.

Probably not 753 then.

Probably not.

Speaking of custome frames, Angus was racing at the CX Nationals in Bradford on Saturday. Isla Rowntree was there racing in one of the Earlier races. She had a gorgeous custom singlespeed in unpainted 853. Wish I'd got some photos now.
Ron says:

Jan 10 2017 at 11:52 am

@fignons barber

@Teocalli

Apparently the G+ 25mm measure up closer to 27mm. I run them too and really like them.

Yes, I’ve been using the 25mm G+ with shamal C17 wheels (which aren’t even as wide as the Belgiums), and mine measure 27mm. My guess is that those on the Belgiums are probably 28mm. They offer a nice comfy ride, but for racing I think I prefer a mounted tire to be 26mm max. I may try the 23mm Vittorias.

I have the non-newest version of the Evo Corsas on my Ambrosio non-fattie rims. If a piece of gravel gets stuck to the tire it'll rub against the fork. Clearance on my Casati Laser is soooo small. But the ride quality if awesome! The Vittorias are so much wider than 25 mm Veloflex tires. It's pretty crazy.
Ron says:

Jan 10 2017 at 11:58 am

Frank - just mentioning this. Wippermann makes a black chain with gold pins. Might look hot as on your mostly black drivetrain and with those deep black rims.
wiscot says:

Jan 10 2017 at 12:47 pm

@Teocalli

@KogaLover

@Buck Rogers

I want, and will have, a custom steel made out of 753 Reynolds because that is my dream bike, an ACTUALLY built out of the real early 1980’s 753 Reynolds steel bike with all original bits from the early ’80’s for my Eroica La Vie Claire Hinault Eroica bike.

I know that I can get “better” steel but I cannot get “better” steel for the job that I will be using it for; i.e. riding a 1985 LVC Hinault bike at Eroica for the pure blissful feeling of knowing what it felt like to ride a 1985 LVC bike.

So thanks, but there really is NOT any better steel for the job that I want.

What’s more important: waiting another couple of years until you finally have your bike and get the paint chipped off from riding your first Eroica (and hurt/cringe) or take the short cut, which is just get a cheap steel bike that you can use for this year’s Eroica (or borrow one from @Teocalli).

Someone who posts a lot on this website, wrote “I ride as much as I can but when I ride, I ride for the open steppe, fleet horse, falcons at my wrist, and the wind in my hair. Not to crush my enemies, see them driven before me and to hear the lamentation of the women!” Now that’s an example to follow…

Coffe/Keyboard interface issue………….

Wait, Conan the Barbarian posts on here?
Ron says:

Jan 10 2017 at 12:48 pm

Oh, and almost forgot - my riding buddy just had a Capricorn cx bike built by Bradley Wilson, a fella of Waterford roots. It's AVVesome and he went with a lilac purple color. Damn, I LOVE purple, it's a stunner.
Randy C says:

Jan 10 2017 at 7:12 pm

@Buck Rogers

@nathaniel spencer mork

@Buck Rogers

@ChrisO

Most shops will not do it because it requires a builder who has taken the Reynolds 753 building course and also it needs chroming and a lot of shops will not do that, either. A few builders I spoke to said that they had never taken the course and would not try it without having done the course and that I should not trust any builder who would do it that had not taken the course.

Bit of a fix!

Buck there are more modern better alloys out there than 753.

Right! I COMPLETELY get this as I have said two or three times already in this thread (but I really cannot blame you for not noticing as I post about 20 times a day, eh?)

I want, and will have, a custom steel made out of 753 Reynolds because that is my fucking dream bike, an ACTUALLY built out of the real early 1980’s 753 Reynolds steel bike with all original bits from the early ’80’s for my Eroica La Vie Claire Hinault Eroica bike.

I know that I can get “better” steel but I cannot get “better” steel for the job that I will be using it for; i.e. riding a 1985 LVC Hinault bike at Eroica for the pure blissful feeling of knowing what it felt like to ride a 1985 LVC bike.

I have a lovely steel 2006 Lemond bike, I have a really awesome Merckx Scandium bike, I have a fucking amazing mind-blowing Hampsten/Eriksen Ti road bike (hell, I even have an original 1993 Team Motorola Merckx) but now I will have the dream bike of my youth.

So thanks, but there really is NOT any better steel for the job that I want.

A man has to have a plan ! And cheers to this one. Love it.
Buck Rogers says:

Jan 11 2017 at 12:47 am

@KogaLover

@Buck Rogers

I want, and will have, a custom steel made out of 753 Reynolds because that is my dream bike, an ACTUALLY built out of the real early 1980’s 753 Reynolds steel bike with all original bits from the early ’80’s for my Eroica La Vie Claire Hinault Eroica bike.

I know that I can get “better” steel but I cannot get “better” steel for the job that I will be using it for; i.e. riding a 1985 LVC Hinault bike at Eroica for the pure blissful feeling of knowing what it felt like to ride a 1985 LVC bike.

So thanks, but there really is NOT any better steel for the job that I want.

What’s more important: waiting another couple of years until you finally have your bike and get the paint chipped off from riding your first Eroica (and hurt/cringe) or take the short cut, which is just get a cheap steel bike that you can use for this year’s Eroica (or borrow one from @Teocalli).

Someone who posts a lot on this website, wrote “I ride as much as I can but when I ride, I ride for the open steppe, fleet horse, falcons at my wrist, and the wind in my hair. Not to crush my enemies, see them driven before me and to hear the lamentation of the women!” Now that’s an example to follow…

Right! But the one factor not taken into consideration here is not the Eroica bike (I could probably get it built up in time) but the VMH and kiddos! I'm already doing the RVV full cyclo--no way of getting off to more events this year, I'm afraid.

But I'll be there next year with my 1985 Hinault LVC bike and I will ride that fucker into the ground. She will not be a museum piece but a workhorse that is ridden and loved!
the Engine says:

Jan 11 2017 at 1:32 am

Then again, Christoph Aglert rides a pretty much standard Jaeger to race on...
KogaLover says:

Jan 11 2017 at 2:01 am

@wiscot

Wait, Conan the Barbarian posts on here?

No, it's worse...
LeoTea says:

Jan 11 2017 at 2:26 am

@Cycle72

I really agree we buy far too much from global companies and by that loose contact to the the products we buy. They don`t have a story to tell. Currently I own a Specialized Diverge. My first and last carbon bike.

Off topic, but I'm thinking of getting a Diverge for a #9 bike - do the carbon versions come with mudguard/fender eyelets?