Categories: EtiquetteLook ProNostalgiaTradition

Look Pro: Souplesse

Master Jacques, master of souplesse.

Souplesse. Only the French would have such a word; one you can sink your teeth into, chew on. It begs to be spoken over a plate of assorted cheeses and a bottle of vin rouge. Its exact definition is unimportant; such things conjure up an image in our minds that is cheapened by words. Souplesse is the ideal, sought by all and obtained only by The Few.

Souplesse is the perfect storm of Looking Pro; harmony between grace and power, casual and deliberate. It speaks of the entire organism, the perfectly manicured machine together with the perfectly refined position and technique of its rider. It is the combination of Magnificent Stroke, gentle sway of the shoulders and head, the rhythmic breath, and of knees, elbows, and chest converging on the V-Locus.

Jacques Anquetil is man of whom we have spoken surprisingly little in these archives. Perhaps it is because he is a man who inspires us in death as little as he did his fans in life. A calculating man, he pursued Cycling not for the love and passion of it, but for the business of it; for him, the bicycle provided a path from peasantry to aristocracy. That was all.

Be that as it may, he was a gifted cyclist whose fluidity on the bike exemplified Souplesse:

A Magnificent Stroke is more than pushing or pulling on the pedals. The stroke flows from the core and hips, driving the pedals round and belying the effort to do so.
Feet sweep the pedals around in perfect revolutions, one leg cannot be distinguished from the other – they work as one to counter and balance the forces to drive the machine ever faster forward.
The legs can not do their work without the arms, the lungs, the chest, the heart, the mind. Each unit functions independently to do its work, yet feeds seamlessly into the other. In a phrase: Fluidly Harmonic Articulation.
Move to the V-Locus; the body is folded such that legs, arms, and chest overlap but do not intersect. Knees tucked in, shoulders hunched, wrists rolled inwards, elbows angled such that the knees only just slip inside them with each revolution of the cranks.
Face calm, eyes cooly focussed up the road; a grimace is energy that is better spent on turning the pedals.

I give you Master Jacques.

More: Jacques Anquetil Part II & Part III

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

Marcus says:

Feb 17 2012 at 3:21 pm

@ChrisO
You missed the point of my pedantry.. Twas your use of "like" instead of "such as". The former is used when talking of similar words, the latter when using the subject word as an example - which you were.
Marcus says:

Feb 17 2012 at 3:39 pm

@ChrisO
Oh yes - and as for me trying to be a jackass, I wasn't actually trying. I must have souplesse
Calmante says:

Feb 17 2012 at 3:45 pm

@LA Dave

I always felt these two were good examples of it....

Check out those pedals! I had a pair. I can't think of a single example of worse pedal clearance, ever!
Calmante says:

Feb 17 2012 at 3:48 pm

Forgot to mention the excellent form in that picture by both Hampsten and Roche. I remember reading somewhere that Hampsten's drop was about two and a half inches. Very reasonable.
LA Dave says:

Feb 17 2012 at 4:30 pm

@Calmante

@LA Dave

I always felt these two were good examples of it....

Check out those pedals! I had a pair. I can't think of a single example of worse pedal clearance, ever!

Agreed! I had them as well and remember having to change my set up because my foot sat much higher over the pedal. I also remember that on my first ride in them I came to a stop at a busy intersection and tried to reach down to loosen the toe straps that were no longer there. Before I knew it I was on my side in front of a honking car full of laughing girls. Ahh the good old days.....
frank says:

Feb 17 2012 at 4:42 pm

@Calmante

When Shimano developed Biopace, they placed the longest radius of the chainring in line with the crankarm. Their theory was to speed up the power stroke and slow down the bottom and top of the stroke, and they had their supporting evidence for why that was better.
When Rotor developed their version, they placed their shortest radius in line with the crankarm, claiming that you should have your largest effective radius in the middle of your power stroke, instead.
Due different systems with the exact opposite results. I've got an idea, how about round chain rings? I'll get the best of both worlds!

I didn't know that about those two designs, that's ingesting. I did notice that Rotor has relatively sharp angles in their rings and it seems you can fine-tune where the lump in your stoke will end up being.

I'll stick with round, thankyouverymuch.
frank says:

Feb 17 2012 at 4:47 pm

@LA Dave, @Calmante

I always felt these two were good examples of it....

My goodness my Guinness to both of those things. Both riders, massive class. Especially Hoampsten. His brother builds frames near where I live. I keep hoping to spot him out some day.

I had those pedals too and they are the primary reason why I switched to Time as soon as I could! The clearance, the height over the axel, the CREAKING...woofda.
Calmante says:

Feb 17 2012 at 5:07 pm

Oh, the frickin' creaking... You shouldn't have to WD40 your cleats. [cough] [Speedplay] [cough]
mcsqueak says:

Feb 17 2012 at 5:09 pm

@Calmante

Your speedplay creak? I put a bit of teflon lube on my cleats every few weeks, and they are fine. Almost two years on the same set now.
Calmante says:

Feb 17 2012 at 5:13 pm

@mcsqueak

Nope, that's my point. I use Time; no lube necessary! I do recognize the benefits of Speedplay, though.