Categories: IrreverenceKitMusings from the V-Bunker

The Punter

Socks over the booties? Please say it ain't so.

They say you can measure the quality of a man’s character by his ability to admit when he’s wrong. That in itself seems wrong, since it would obviously be better to be right in the first place, but I’m probably missing the point because I’m Dutch and everyone knows Dutch people are 97% more righter 84% of the time than the rest of the world.

I must confess to a certain hubris when it comes to kitting up for a ride; I’ve been doing this for a long time, and I’ve gotten accustomed to making good decisions about what to wear and how to wear it. But today I strayed from the path: my socks were carefully and deliberately pulled out over the tops of my overshoes. Not only is it the most concrete evidence that my socks are too long, it looked like I had two orange gaskets stuck to my ankles. Not to mention that this resulted in only a tiny amount of my shins being exposed between my knee warmers and socks.

Sometimes we must stray from the Path in order to understand where it lies; today I have wandered far indeed but have found my way back. Do not lose faith and always seek to return to the Path.

VLVV.

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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View Comments

frank says:

Dec 3 2015 at 8:14 am

@Craigyboywonder

Velotoze are an absolute abomination and one should choose to have their toes frozen and amputated before succumbing to wearing those atrocities.

@RobSandy

@Craigyboywonder

@RobSandy

take the insoles out and tape the holes underneath, most shoes seem to be made for Italian summers!

Velotoze are great, but meant only for racing, says on the packaging don’t expect them to last. you also have to put them on before you put your shoes on, still don’t last that long though.

Yep, done that, water gets around the tape. I wonder if another coat of tape is in order.

Also, I was expecting Velotoze to be slightly fragile, but I’d also expected them to last more than one ride.

That goes in the category of ‘not fit for purpose’ to me.

Sounds like the company understands exactly how shit their product is.
frank says:

Dec 3 2015 at 8:20 am

@wiscot

@osbk67

Here was I thinking Kelly started early in wool and never wavered…

Photo by E A W Koestal from “Kelly” by David Walsh.

And you didn’t want to get wet wearing that shit. Wait, they’re in Ireland. Rains all the time. What Kelly is wearing on his lower half, I have no idea. Single chainring up front and full mudguards says “winter ride.”

Not to mention that toque!
RobSandy says:

Dec 3 2015 at 8:39 am

@frank

@Craigyboywonder

Sounds like the company understands exactly how shit their product is.

Saw them with a decent review in Cycling Weekly, and for £15 I thought they were worth a go. They were so full of holes halfway my first and only ride with them they let the water in anyway. I must admit I was in some doubt about whether they'd work, and am not astonished to find that the answer is that they, in fact, don't.
wiscot says:

Dec 3 2015 at 8:44 am

@frank

@wiscot

@osbk67

Here was I thinking Kelly started early in wool and never wavered…

Photo by E A W Koestal from “Kelly” by David Walsh.

And you didn’t want to get wet wearing that shit. Wait, they’re in Ireland. Rains all the time. What Kelly is wearing on his lower half, I have no idea. Single chainring up front and full mudguards says “winter ride.”

Not to mention that toque!

And the both have frame-fit pumps too! However, neither have a bottle - must have only been doing 6-7 hours. Kelly's bars are pretty rad shallow drop for back in the day.
Ron says:

Dec 3 2015 at 9:09 am

Any company tossing a "z" into their name/product to sound cute is total bullshit. That means you, Velotoze.

Sock length. Far before it was stylish, I wore mid-calfs for sports and in the summers. My legs from ankle to calf are chickenesque and I prefer to spare the world from seeing them.

Kelly looks far from Kingly there. We all have bad days.
Mikael Liddy says:

Dec 3 2015 at 1:40 pm

@RobSandy

@frank

@Craigyboywonder

Sounds like the company understands exactly how shit their product is.

Saw them with a decent review in Cycling Weekly, and for £15 I thought they were worth a go. They were so full of holes halfway my first and only ride with them they let the water in anyway. I must admit I was in some doubt about whether they’d work, and am not astonished to find that the answer is that they, in fact, don’t.

If they had lasted through that first ride, you likely would have cleaned them off on your return home, thereby removing the powdery residue that is key to keeping the latex from sticking to itself, and ensuring that if you tried to use them again it would take nearly 15 minutes to get half way near getting them on...or so I've heard.

I know Apple catches some (well deserved) shit for their inbuilt obsolescence within iProducts, but to design a product as single use & then sell it at that price takes a fair bit of gall.
bea says:

Dec 3 2015 at 4:55 pm

@frank

@bea

Basically, tendons don’t get blood flow so have no good way to keep themselves warm. Since the tendons in the knees are carrying most of the power, the risk increases for tendon injuries.

Possibly reliable source I just googled:

http://www.wholeathlete.com/assets/documents/winter_knees_01-09.pdf

Thanks! I'm going to get knee warmers...

The article sounds reasonable, with only one remark, tendons are very hard and stiff, they are not elastic.
Ron says:

Dec 3 2015 at 5:32 pm

Knee warmers are your good friend. Keep the Guns happy. A sweaty brow can besmirch the super slick shades, but no Rouleur ever complained about hot knees (especially when not racing).
frank says:

Dec 3 2015 at 6:33 pm

@RobSandy

They are some prototypes and then every time we do a run I always order some stuff just to make sure everything is still as I expect it to be. It adds up, apparently.
chuckp says:

Dec 4 2015 at 7:55 am

Well, whoever did the order at the LBS my wife works at ordered the "wrong" shoe covers. Instead of Pearl Izumi Pro Barrier WxB shoe covers, I now have Pearl Izumi Pro Softshell WxB shoe covers. Actually nicer (also pricier). Instead of fleece lining, primaloft lining so should be warmer (supposed to be good for down to the low 30s).. Still screaming yellow (but with more black). Temps for tomorrow morning's ride are supposed to be in the 40s (won't get to 50 until after we're finished) so will see how they work with my toes that get oh so cold oh so easily.