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Style and Fashion

Michele Bartoli, possibly the pioneer of the small frame and slammed stem.

The difference between Style and Fashion is that Fashion changes, but style is something that persists through the ages. You can’t buy it, and you either have it or you don’t. In other words, you can get all the best and expensive kit and still look complete crap if you don’t have Style. Conversely, you can wear the most crap kit possible and make it look good if you have the gift. That is why photos of Anquetil, the Prophet and Roger de Vlaeminck still blow our minds even though they are wearing completely outdated kit. This is also why Pantani could wear lycra jeans and Cipollini could wear a Zebra suit and make us contemplate trying our hands at it. (We should not.)

If there was an upside to the EPO era, it meant that a number of riders who had immaculate style may never have risen to the top of the fish bowl if it weren’t for EPO. Allegedly. Michele Bartoli was a prime example of a rider who was so doped up that he had plenty of bandwidth left for a complete and total commitment to Looking Fantastic at All Times. Allegedly. Let’s face facts (allegedly): the Mapei kit would have been lining the rubbish bin if it weren’t for riders like Bartoli and Frank Vandenbroucke. And Michele pioneered the mini-frame with long, slammed stem and a meter of seatpin.

I think we all agree that doping is wrong, but it doesn’t feel so wrong when they looked so good. We owe him a weighty debt for his contribution.

Shameless Plug: come down to the Rouleur Classic this week to listen to me cover this topic in greater detail. And then head to the pub with me afterward to hear me do it louder. My speaking schedule is as follows:

Thursday 19th – 22:00: Host Ned Boulting and I will talk about Style.
Friday 20th – 19:15: Host: Matt Barbet and I will talk about what is Cycling means to us as a lifestyle.
Saturday 21st – 13:30: Matt Stephens and I will discuss the dichotomy of being a profoundly innovative sport while at the same time being fiercely protective of our history and culture.

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:

Nov 20 2015 at 7:29 am

@KogaLover

@chris

If there is a handshake, it must be for some inner circle that I’m not aware of. I do recall pictures of the Keepers doing some sort of Spocklike V hand signal.

This is all I could think of:

And I did have a chat with Frank about Dutch courage before, so he must have had quite a bit of it yesterday then. Any recordings btw?

A bit like that, but like this.

Frank was going easy on the free recovery beverages (some decent IPA and Pale Ale from Look Mum No Hands), he'd been warned off them by the organiser and she checked that he was in a decent state before he went on.

I haven't seen any recordings, yet.
Chipomarc says:

Nov 20 2015 at 8:36 am

@RobSandy

@Chipomarc

Beer and movie night !

Ok, he didn’t win the TdF seven times, but rode pretty well back in the 80’s

What’s that shit you’re drinking?!

That thar would be none other than your 'Nectar of the Gods'.

Not some malty pretentious hipster ale.
Clank says:

Nov 20 2015 at 11:11 am

@wiscot

@Clank

Some subjectivity at play here. I once walked through our lounge room past my teenage daughter and five friends après ride in my absolute black best with attention to every detail and fine gossamer of perspiration sculpting every chiselled muscle. Not only did I suck every sound from the room but she didn’t speak to me for four days.

Clearly they were dumbstruck with admiration. Your daughter’s friends left wondering why their Dad’s don’t look so awesome.

Perhaps. Although in the long fashion critique that followed resumption of communication 'awesome' didn't feature once.
Clank says:

Nov 20 2015 at 11:32 am

@Owen

@Clank

Some subjectivity at play here. I once walked through our lounge room past my teenage daughter and five friends après ride in my absolute black best with attention to every detail and fine gossamer of perspiration sculpting every chiselled muscle. Not only did I suck every sound from the room but she didn’t speak to me for four days.

To be fair, you could have walked in looking the balls in a perfectly tailored Italian suit and gotten the same reaction from that group.

True enough. Four days in the freezer I can handle. What really hurt was having my immaculate and carefully selected Santini kit compared to underwear.
Ccos says:

Nov 20 2015 at 1:49 pm

@Chipomarc

@RobSandy

@Chipomarc

Beer and movie night !

Ok, he didn’t win the TdF seven times, but rode pretty well back in the 80’s

What’s that shit you’re drinking?!

That thar would be none other than your ‘Nectar of the Gods’.

Not some malty pretentious hipster ale.

Why is he about to pour it into his eye?
Chipomarc says:

Nov 20 2015 at 3:11 pm

@Ccos

@Chipomarc

@RobSandy

@Chipomarc

Beer and movie night !

Ok, he didn’t win the TdF seven times, but rode pretty well back in the 80’s

What’s that shit you’re drinking?!

That thar would be none other than your ‘Nectar of the Gods’.

Not some malty pretentious hipster ale.

Why is he about to pour it into his eye?

He's a construction worker, too much welding torch fumes
osbk67 says:

Nov 20 2015 at 10:05 pm

@davidlhill

@EBruner

Sorry, but I have to post this again. Style.

I’ll be the party pooper: if you didn’t know who he was, would you still seriously say he’s a style icon? So much is wrong, bar the “f you” expression.

If I didn't know who he was I'd say he was off to fly a red Fokker Dr.1 triplane rather than ride a blue Gios Torino...
frank says:

Nov 20 2015 at 11:44 pm

@Skip

Skip!!
Skip says:

Nov 21 2015 at 11:47 am

@frank

@Skip

Skip!!

Hey. Been lurking for a while but hadn't posted. Re: all the style inputs, there's still a big difference between the theory and the actual results when I kit up. But one can still dream. (I just don't look in the mirror before a ride and reality won't rear its ugly head.)
Ron says:

Nov 21 2015 at 2:55 pm

@frank

@RobSandy

@chuckp

“Cipollini could wear a Zebra suit and make us contemplate trying our hands at it. (We should not.)”

I’m less offended by the zebra suit than I am by that helmet.

That was one of the coolest helmets ever. I’d totally ride in it if I could still get one that was safe!

I've been thinking lately why some companies don't just roll out their old products anew. I used to love the S-Works helmets but now I think they look terrible. And though he's now in Oakleys, image Sagan racing as the WC in some mid-80s Rudy Project Masks? My god.

Quite a few helmets and shades I wish companies would start producing again. Why not take a tip from shitty Nike and their reissue of seemingly every model of Jordans ever made and roll out awesome old products that were the business and just rake in the dough?

Oakley has seen the Nike light with their reissuing the Razors, man, I'd like to see some older Rudy shades rolled back out.