What Gianni humbly omitted from his last article is that once he finishes ranting about sock color (actually, the lack of need for any color other than than white), he recovers quickly and we wrap up the Keepers executive board meeting with him tearing our legs off on the ride home from the bar with his magnificent stroke. Because after all, he is Rule #72.
But I digress. All the chit-chat Gianni’s article generated, and the timing of it with a new shoe purchase on my end, has me ruminating on Rule #8. Matching saddle, handlebar tape, and tires is, for the Velominatus at least, quite the no-brainer as it were. The only really poignant question I recall ever being raised is whether Vittoria Open Pave’s have an exemption because they are awesome and scream hardman tire (I think they are acceptable).
But what of shoes? They are the one piece of kit that most often throws a rider’s coordination out of sync. Of course this has traditionally been fine as shoes are such a personal matter that expecting one to match one’s shoes with the rest of one’s kit is hopeful at best. That being said, I wonder if shoes are less kit and more equipment. They transfer power directly from rider to bike and thus they are mechanical, they are engineered by smart people using fancy computers, and they render the machine virtually unrideable without them. In fact, I’ve often wondered why retailers list them under “clothing” and why online review forums don’t put them under “drivetrain” instead of “clothing and accessories”.
So if you don’t accept my premise, at least humor me here. If shoes are equipment and not kit, why would anyone buy a pair that didn’t match the rest of their bike? Surely, with the abundance of shoe choices on the market these days I would think one could make every effort to find a pair that fits, has the features and performance characteristics sought, falls within price range, and matches the rest of the bike.
I happened upon this concept casually deliberately this week. You see, I’ve been sporting considerable carbone over Fi’zi:k’s new shoe line ever since they were introduced (you might say I have a thing for shoes). So when a new pair of R3’s fell into my lap for number 1 I was forced to shift the Yellow Princesses over to number 3. The yellow decals and accents on the Serotta look awesome with the YP’s and the new R3’s are oh so sublime with the BMC. Splendid, indeed.
So I’ll put it to you, the Velominati. Does Rule #8 need amending? Are shoes equipment and not clothing? Do we, perhaps, need a new rule pertaining to shoe/bike matching (I think not but a suggestion might be in order). These are the things that keep the Keepers up at night.
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@wiscot
A good explanation but my inner pedant takes exception with describing the sides of the bicycle as "right" and "left." Proper terminology is "drive side" and "non-drive side."
@Nate
My apologies for the erroneous nomenclature. Twenty lashes for me tonight with a non-drive side skewer!
@frank
Affirmative. The stem and bars were a donation to my build from my cycling sensei. Plan is to replace them with Ritchey WCS to match my saddle and seatpost. Don't quite understand how I'm going to flatten stem and keep spacers to 10mm max and still make it fit right - will it just lower my upper body to a racier position?
@Tartan1749
I know this is an often debated topic. I'm an ex motocrosser and mtb'er so it's a big step!! And my wife is already complaining about my cycling obsession as it is (which I interpret to mean I'm on my way to la Vie Velominatus)
@Ali McKee
Nothing wrong with the stem, just flip it and see how it feels. Give your self some time to adjust and see if you like being lower. You can always put the other spacers back under the stem to come back up a bit. But in all seriousness, don't do it if its not comfortable.
You may find, however, that you're more flexible than you think (many people just *think* they can't go down) and you'll also find that with the lower position, not only are you more aero, but more stable. For me, when I finally went really low, my back pain went away - the back pain wasn't, as I though, from reach or from bending over too much, it was from not bending over ENOUGH - with the higher center of mass, I had to stabilize the bike more with my lower back and that was causing the back pain.
@wiscot
Now that could leave a mark.
I think that in addition to flexibility, another thing that gets overlooked in maintaining a low position is good functional core strength. If you've got a strong core, its your core that is holding much your upper body in position, not your arms. It is also doing much of the work stabilizing you on the bike. I see so many cyclists (including one every time I look in the mirror) with complaints of shoulder and back pain, much if which could most likely be alleviated by a dedicated regimen of core work. After a lower back injury last season, I know its something I'm really trying to focus on improving this year.
Back to the shoes - what the fuck is with these smurf-kickers?
Check out the special fizik R1s Alessandro Ballan is kicking for il Giro:
@The Oracle
No fun if there's no pain!
@Nate
Is there a map of Denmark on the other side?
@The Oracle
Looks like no.