A death is a painful thing to experience. Particularly, I imagine, for the one doing the dying. For those left behind, it takes time to mourn and come to grips with the change; it is an unpleasant process, but such is the way of things.
The crack in the chainstay of my beloved Cervelo R3 had been weighing on my mind ever since I discovered its existence while cleaning my bike in Hawaii. Assuming the crack was superficial, I continued to ride the machine and took it with me to Belgium to rattle along over the cobblestones during Keepers Tour. It was during this trip that Andrew, a carbon fiber engineer for B’Twin, pointed out that the crack was not superficial and in fact quite serious.
I continued to ride it, and slowly made peace with the fact that my favorite-ever road bike was destined for retirement. Denial turned into anger, anger turned into grief, grief into acceptance, and acceptance into glorious Rule #12 obsession, deliberation, and contemplation. Still, my final ride on my trusted friend was bittersweet; I was on great form that day, and together we turned mountains into hills and carved the many curves as we rode along the seaside in the somber knowledge that this would be our last day out together.
I contacted the shop where I bought it and had them reach out to Cervelo for a warranty replacement, but even if they warrantied the frame, I wouldn’t want one on account of the tall head tube they’ve adopted on their large frames. I’m very picky about my position, and loved the ride and fit of my R3, so I was left with a conundrum as to what bike to get as my new #1. Then Mark, the owner of Veloforma, pointed out that he’d designed his Strada iR based on the R5ca, along with several improvements to the design. And he could do it in a custom Velominati paint scheme. Sold to the obsessive-compulsive Dutchman in the back! (That makes two Veloformas bought in the span of a few months, the VMH pointed out when I delivered the news.)
As much as I loved my R3 for its ride quality and fit, I have never been crazy about the 73 degree head tube angle. You wouldn’t think a half degree would have much effect, but the Strada’s head tube is relaxed just a hair to 72.5 degrees, and it really smooths out the handling compared to the the Cervelo. Aside from that, the dimensions are similar enough to my Cervelo that the first ride on the new steed felt like a reunion with my lost friend.
This thing is embarrassingly light at 6.3 kilos. For a 61cm. The head tube is nice and short at 19.5cm so I can get as low as I need to but tall enough that I still get to slam my stem. I also got a new carbon Pro Vibe stem whose paint job accidentally matches the markings on the frame’s custom Velominati paint job. It is almost too glorious for my tiny little brain to handle. Also, the front derailleur hanger is mounted at a slight angle which brings the derailleur cage in perfect alignment with the chain rings, which results in lightning-quick front shifting. Its little things like that which really impress me about Mark’s attention to detail when designing the bikes. Now that I think of it, both my Veloformas have the best front shifting performance of any bikes I’ve owned. Finally, the internally routed cables makes it astoundingly quiet; the lack of rattling cables makes this machine the high water mark in my quest for the Principle of Silence. And that paint job, oh that paint job.
I haven’t ridden the Strada a whole lot, but I did the V to V Cogal on it which consisted of two long days in the saddle and featured a lengthy session with my old friend, the Man with the Hammer. I’m happy to report that she climbs and descends like a monster. The bike has the road feel of my R3, but is more responsive with a stiffer BB and steering column. But the relaxed head tube makes it handle like a Merckx; the descent off Mount Saint Helens had some seriously sketchy tarmac in places and her handling probably gave me too much confidence in light of my Schleckian descending skills.
What started as heartbreak ended in a love affair. Funny how that works out some times.
[dmalbum path=”/velominati.com/content/Photo Galleries/frank@velominati.com/Strada iR/”/]
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First of all - what a beautiful steed Frank! I suppose it had to be that good to suit your position of authority but you pulled it off with panache! Touché indeed.
Second of all - @Greg - some of this is totally logical. Unfortunately a lot of the time I personally find riding bikes is totally illogical (as evidenced by this fine establishment) and how special would those frames feel and/or inspire you to ride? I ended up with a Parlee Z5 after looking at lots of cheaper options. Best decision I ever made
Third of all - all this talk of carbon failures confirms Rule#12 and the need for a metal bike, no?
A wee it late top the party here.
Dr C - I posted on Mini-Phinney's ride the day he did it in the Rides section. I know you've been awol for a while, but do try and get back to full speed!
Frank. I can't believe Cervelo aren't stepping up. I know you'd be the last person to say "do you know who I am:" but surely to Merckx someone at Cervelo is aware of this site and the hardcore nature of the community and the level of bikes we ride. Several years ago as I was getting re-addicted to cycling, I bought a Giant TCR C3. Nice bike but pretty basic components on a decent carbon frame. Fro the get-go it leaned badly to the left when riding no hands.I thought it was me. Took it to the LBS where I bought it. The owner swapped wheels, rode it - it still pulled. The Giant rep almost crashed it. There were no visible issues at all. They replaced the whole machine. I still have it as my #2. That's customer service.
frank: gorgeous bike. congrats! and sorry to hear about the death of your beloved cervelo. fwiw, there's a newer carbon repair facility in your neck of the woods (well close; portland) named ruckus. you can find 'em here: http://www.ruckuscomp.com/repair/ i'm not associated with them nor have i used them, i just follow 'em on IG and they seem to do incredible work.
re: open mold frames. i'd love to buy a ritte if only i could find someone to sell it to me (no local dealers, no online sales). and i know full well that they're open mold frames with - and this is the most important part - dead sexy paint jobs. also important is that ritte designed the mold, they just don't own it. so i'd rather give them my $ than someone else leeching off of their designs.
@E
Andrew was riding this little hunnie and, while not my favorite look, it certainly doesn't look like a rebadged anything. His only complaint was that it was a bit too stiff for the cobbles. I'm not surprised.
@Marcus
I had a hard time trying to imagine how you managed to walk about, much less ride a bike, with that giant chip on your shoulder. Then I realized it is balanced nicely with your hatred of Minion.
@scaler911
Those white and red Look pedals were the closest I could get to LeMond's white and red Time pedals. I loved those things, riding around with 60rpm till the cows came home.
@rastuscat
Beauty, too bad the brake lever is uncammed.
@Ali McKee
Agreed; the value isn't in a set percentage markup above material's cost. The value is in the way the bike makes you feel. Well put.
Naturellement. But be careful before you run off thinking steel is safer. Had a buddy collapse his steel fork after which he spend a night in the hospital. Steel is just as prone to failure as anything else; defects are defects and they are not any more fun to experience on steel, carbon, or alu!
@chiasticon
Hey, great tip! That's who added the second bidon cage to my Veloforma CCX; I didn't even consider they might fix the Cervelo too. I'll check it out for sure. Then maybe I'll have Mark strip the paint and do a VF scheme!
@frank
Looks fine to me
@frank
Any chance of getting Andrew to write a review of the BTwin on Velominati?