How can we not talk about the Tour? After Sunday’s stage it’s hard not to be a little excited. Until yesterday the most thrilling thing I had seen was Mark Cavendish’s mad man chase back to the peloton after a late-in-the-race crash. He needed to get back quickly as the race was hurtling toward a sprint finish he was supposed to win. Happily there was a TV moto trying to follow him. For much of the chase he was without teammates, picking his way through the following convoy at high speed, jumping curbs, drafting cars very close, zipping around everything with millimeters to spare. He is a sprinter. These scenes are happening during every stage but the TV viewers miss almost all of it.
And now the rant…
Are all carbon monocoque bikes getting uglier as their computer aided design becomes more and more functional? Engineers are designing for a combination of aerodynamics, weight, stiffness but badass looks are not a design parameter. BMC has been crowing about some new software that produces the best design after a zillion Monte Carlo simulations but man, that damn thing is not pretty. All the monocoque frames must be heading toward the same computer derived solution, but not quite yet.
I’m sorry to offend Pinarello owners but the new Dogma is incrementally uglier than all the other preceding ugly Dogmas. It pains me to say this. I am a devout Italophile and longtime admirerer of Pinarello bikes. And I’m the one around here lecturing about form following function, but this bike is wrong. I realize the kinky stays and fork blades are shaped that way for performance, aren’t they? The frame looks like it stayed in the easy-bake oven too long and everything got a bit wobbly before it cooled. The front fork is a horror, the seat stays are bent the wrong direction, the chain stays don’t match.
The all carbon-weave clear coat frames are boring. Pinarello takes a lot of pride in their paint and for that I salute them. Luckily Sky’s and Movistar’s bikes are painted glossy and dark. It’s harder to see just how nasty the front fork is. With all the frame designs stuttering toward the same solution, it’s the paint that sets them apart. Matte black Orbeas and Bianchis look nearly identical until the orange or celeste paint goes on.
Trek has also been into the paint for its frames. Thankfully one doesn’t see a carbon clear-coat Madone. They have a new weight- saving paint this year and for the Tour they unleashed a beautiful mono-pantone “lei ‘o pard blue” (not to be confused with leopard blue) for the Shack rides. Now that is a paint job! The new Madone is ugly. There, I said it, but the damn paint saves its kammtail ass. Its head tube, or what used to be the head tube looks clumsy. At least the Trek bikes have a proper front fork and it’s painted that great color, as is the seat mast. Would I like the Pinarello if it was painted up like this? Yes I’d like it a lot more but I can’t get around the wavy fork. The first time I saw a steel Colnago with straight fork I fell in love. It shouldn’t even work but does. I’d never considered that a front fork could be straight. Straight fork yes, wavy fork no. Is it just me? Obviously it is as every Pinarello has a noodle fork and they are selling nicely. What does Ernesto Colnago say about a Pinarello? Believe me, I wish I knew. The Colnago C-59 is a fantastic looking bike and if that was painted completely “leopard” blue, my head might explode.
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View Comments
@Paul 8v
I agree - change the fork to white, and go "normal" colors on the stem, seat pin, and bars, and you're starting to look at a decent plain job. Its too much as it is now!
They stand out in the bunch, though.
@Gianni
Thank goodness someone was able to bring up a decent subject around here for once. I have to disagree with you that the Trek is headed in the right direction, but its better than many of the other abominations. Straight tubes, please. They don't have to be round - just don't fucking bend them, unless its for putting some rake into your fork for fucks sake.
@Cyclops
Johan disagrees.
Just mount them and stop whining about it. Then, when you ride them for the several months before you need to deal again, enjoy the superior ride.
(By the way, contis suck to glue on, but after gluing a dozen or so tubs, you pick up some tricks that make it way easier. Like laying the tire on a workbench, not holding it in a figure eight. Or dripping some glue onto a tray and using a small brush to apply the glue instead of the lid-brush abomination that comes with the Conti tub of glue.
Get some fizik microtex or performance tape. I cleaned mine once last year. On my rain bike.
Try shifting into your 53x25 or 50x21-23. You are spinning too high, prematurely causing your redline.
Oh, and Rule 5.
I have a Di2 S5. I got it for an insane deal, which is the only reason I bought it. However now that I have it, I really love riding it, and the looks have certainly grown on me. I have it parked next to a black Merckx EMX (w/chorus/record) so the two can exchange parry and blow (or hairpull and clawing) over who is prettier.
the bottom line with aero bikes, is that they're a product of indisputable function. Whether that's worth the price in looks or not, I'm sort of over that argument (like I am over campy vs shimaNO), PROVIDED THE LOOK IS LINKED TO THE PERFORMANCE. I don't buy that any of Pinner's awful curves are necessary - an aero seat post is a hell of a lot more beneficial than the curves in the fork or seat stays, yet they neglected it. Cervelo's engineers pretty much have the patent on aero-effect. For all the hoopla over Specialized getting their own wind tunnel a couple of months ago, they turned down an offer to match the venge to the S5 for aero.
I probably don't need an aero bike like this. In fact, I know I don't, but goddamn is it fun to zip around on. Also has made me an electronic convert.
@xced those stems are awful.
Why I ride a custom made (for me) frame, made from Columbus Spirit oversize tubes, TIG welded and sharp as.
That Dogma looks like its melting...
And why are those Treks painted in Celeste?
Here are some proper curved stays. They are both hawt and functional.
Trek team bike is a good example of why Rule #8 exists!
I'm not a huge fan of aero bikes. I much prefer the classic lines of the of Cannondales and Cervelos. And the Tarmac.
There seems to be a reversing trend away from sloped to level top tubes with an angry curved period of mannerism.