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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@frank I require a map or names of the gravel routes you rode. I'll be there for two weeks next month.
Also, I found a bunch of nice gravel routes in Cle Elum, only 90 minutes from Seattle. Have maps.
@Deakus
Hmm just discovered a bulge in N1s rear tyre (pays to do the pre ride inspection!) but it does mean I am in the market for a new set of rubber hoops for the lady. Any ideas? I know this time round (having tried the vittoria open corsa winter tyres) that I definitely want an open cotton tyre so was thinking vittorias or veloflex but I am leanding towards the latter because they do a gumwall version in the "Master" but wondered if anyone knew what these Giants were running (yes I now they will be tubs) because that gumwall looks almost yellow!
@kixsand
The Lion of Flanders had this set up on his steed back in April. He didn't like it much - only for pros with full time mechanics.
@Ivor Campbell I heard similar sentiment from the guy at my LBS. He said they were cool looking, good for aero, but a cast iron bitch to keep maintained.
@Ivor Campbell
My buddies who race for Trek Midwest all complain about modulation - while giving the performance edge to the DA over the Bontrager version. The word is you get too much too soon when applying the levers. I was hoping Trek would offer a traditional side-pull option for 2014, but it is not to be.
@gregorio
perhaps its cleaner, but in a way, it'll be a pain if your on a rainy day, or anything comes up from the road, then it will tend to pick up alot more grime
like said above, if your name starts and ends in Spartacus, with a full time wrench, go for it. only his guns would appreciate the drag effeciency of it being down low like this
With all the colour schemes to choose from the project one collection it's a shame they didn't go with a more flashy one, like the blue flamey one on my madone. which i have a photo of but can't upload.
I could not agree more with @frank on the straight tubes point - especially when it comes to the top tube. What looks worse than a bike with a curved top tube is an entry level bike with a curved top tube and external cable routing, with the straight line of the cable under the tube somehow looking completely out of place. Very unclean, in my humble opinion.
@gregorio
Is the rear brake cable internal? Silly old school question, eh? Of course it is. Those seat stays do look rather tidy, it's a weird sight, seat stays without a brake bridge. I think even most track bikes have something across the stays even though they don't have a brake. As far as having the brake caliper "way down there", I guess it's not too much wetter and road grimy under the chain stay than above the seat stays.
But yeah, I like it's basic clean look, one step closer to what disc brakes will look like.
@kixsand
I remember back in the 80s a lot of mountain bikes had u-brakes behind the BB. Of course, it probably worked just fine in sunny, dry Marin County but try riding on a muddy track in Scotland for a while then see how well your rear brake works and how easy it is to clean! I can't ee it being too much of an issue o a road bike though . . .