Composites, microfibers, synthetics. They amaze in their qualities; light, strong, durable – unyieldingly stiff or unimaginably suple, depending on our whim. When modern components arrive on my doorstep, upon lifting the unremarkable cardboard box I often wonder whether there is anything at all inside or if perhaps the person on the other end of the postal system had allowed their mind to wander beyond the task at hand and neglected to place the product in the box before sealing it and handing it off to a worker whose uniform invokes the wrath of dogs the world over.
This was not the case when my vintage 80’s-era Selle San Marco Rolls was delivered from deep within the bowels of eBay. The box had a heft to it that hinted at something substantial within its confines. Freed from its cardboard prison, the saddle lay heavy in my hand, its heft signaling an inherent quality about it that only heavy products seem to convey. But the saddle showed its age; the leather was dry and worn, the brass trim and emblems tarnished black.
This saddle isn’t made of synthetics, it was no lost cause. This saddle is made of organic materials that require care and maintenance in order to maintain their beauty. And, when let fall into disrepair, they can often be restored to their original glory. Out came my polishes and waxes, and within a few minutes the leather covering the saddle which had only moments before been worn and gray was now gleaming with a deep, black finish. The brass, touched up with polish and the tarnish wiped instantly from its surface. Within a quarter hour, the saddle was once again a beacon of a bygone era.
These old leather saddles took a few hundred kilometers to ride in; not as long as their all-leather predecessors, but much longer than our carbon-shell, microfiber modern saddles. With time, the rubbing of chamois-clad tooshie polished the leather into a gleaming beauty which whispered of the long journey over which it had carried its rider as they forged their path together along La Vie Velominatus.
Heavy and big as they were, these saddles had character; one would somehow be more comfortable than another which was supposed to be identical. Each would develop its own unique finish as the characteristics of the leather cover and the shape of it’s rider’s backside would reveal its unique beauty over time. The saddles owned by the Pros in the 80’s and 90’s became impossibly shiny; I remember being enraptured by the sight of the gleaming saddle swaying back and forth as Gert-Jan Theunisse moved en danseuse up the Galibier in the 1989 Tour enroute to a solo win atop l’Alpe d’Huez.
If today’s saddles are marvels of lightweight and comfort, these old saddles were a looking glass into the history that rider and machine had forged together.
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@frank
Is this the bike he chucked in the ditch just before, and then never, making contact with, I think it was Tchmil, at P-R?
@Deakus
+1
When I think about advances in bike and component design over the past 30 years it has been incredible. Especially so because the vast majority of the steps have made made bikes lighter, stiffer, faster, safer, more reliable, better in so many ways. Carbon to take weight out and stiffen components up. Clipless pedals for ease of use and better power transfer. STI shifting that moved the gear changer to where the hands already were. Lightweight groupsets and wheels. Aerodynamic advances. Modern fabrics that are better in almost every way to the cotton and wool that I grew up wearing as a child. Helmets. Even cycling specific prescription eyewear. Powerful lights that make riding at night safer. So many great things.
But the price of all those big steps is that the next steps are necessarily smaller. 11 speed versus 10. 20% stiffer bottom brackets, when our existing bottom brackets are already stiffer than... well, something incredibly, err stiff.
And now electronic shifting... which I just don't place into that first set of useful, meaningful advances. It may make the change of gear ever so smoother at the front, but it's not lighter - the battery makes it heavier. It doesn't make you go faster. It's not even more aesthetically pleasing what with the battery pack that has to be packaged somewhere. It's not more reliable either with wires, motors and batteries to recharge. And it's more expensive.
Yes it has a certain cache and exclusivity, but for me that's all it's got.
@G'rilla
Yes! Yes! Yes! Thought that I needed to find and build a genuine funny bike*, but I need to trust my feelings on this and build a cross bike*. Yes! And when I do, I have all the cross craziness found here to thank. Psychlo-cross! I am perfectly fine with piling onto timbers, stumps, gravel, sand -- but not comfortable with the omen of a double-chain-loop.
@Deakus
Ah, now you've gone and done it. Magnum P.I. is back on Netflix Instant, and I've been watching the shit out of it.
@razmaspaz There is so much crap on TV these days I had been spending some time with one of my virtual friends that feeds my boredom when not riding.....Amazon!
I have recently watched Airwolf series 1 again and I have to say it has dated badly and is not good....but Magnum.... a horse of a different colour! Despite the car being a bit older now I had not realised how well written the show was, it is still very funny.....series 1 down, series 2 is on the Amazon wish list for Crimbo and bizarrely in a world of CGI and plastic actors, my kids love it too.....hence Movember is for me Magnum PI month....if only!
Magnum PI - I hate the show & am forever unable to watch and possibly appreciate it due to the fact that no matter what I was watching, once Magnum came on, my older brother snatched the t.v. control from me & would include a beat down, free of charge, whether I put up resistance or not.
Had a busy weekend, moved into a new house. Lots of hauling, not much riding or posting. VeloVita requested a full shot back on page 1. And will get a shot of the checkerboard Rolls when I head home in a few weeks; it lives on a bike stored with my Olds.
Casati with one of our cats, Hobo. (He was discovered by the VMH playing in the weeds alongside the highway and was about the size of a grapefruit. Now he's a big badass.)
And one that shows off the subtle-yet-slick paint job a bit better:
Now sporting a perforated Flite matched to some Deda Traforata tape, also perforated. Always playing with the bar height & very reluctant to cut a matching steel fork. The HT is also rather short. But need to make moves on that. Also is a 1" fork so has a shim that I'd like to replace with a silver one. Ignore the compact, it's days are numbered. Computer on the TT because I like the stem so much. Really enjoyable ride and feel on this bike, built with Columbus Genius tubing. Got a deal on the wheelset but will eventually go with black or silver OP rims; the hubs are black Records.
Hot!
Thanks, Oli!
We were discussing this the other week with the new Rules, but you can see how my saddle looks/is pointed up just a bit. Not sure if this has to do with the Campa seat pillar or if I just prefer to have my nose slightly up. I guess I enjoy turning it up at others. Works for me though, so I'll let my undercarriage dictate the position.
And we've discussed it before, but what dictates whether you can cut a fork flush with the top cap of the headset? It looks the nicest to me but I know some forks are meant to have a 1mm spacer above the stem. My cross bike was cut flush though, full carbon fork as well. Someone fill me in, please.
@Ron Isn't the steerer supposed to be cut just slightly below (3mm ish) the upper element of the stack whether it be a spacer or stem to allow the whole lot to tension/tighten/whatever proper engineering term when the bolt is torqued.
The park website shows it done without any http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/fork-steering-column-length-and-sizing. Having a spare spacer on top would allow future upgrading to a fatter stem.