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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View Comments
@eightzero
Ridley Damocles has fully replaceable rear dropouts on both sides. Three screws hold in each dropout. Works a treat if it all goes horribly wrong. And replaceable fronts too I think , if you get creative.
@the Engine
@frank
The chip has gotten bigger since the Manchester weather stole our chances of Ashes redemption last night.
But to the science discussion and the virtue of Italians. Instead of Anglo successes with penicillin, I give you Italian passion - in the form of Antonio Valsalva - after whom the act of 'equalizing' your sinues is named, the Valsalva Manoeuvre. His other great contribution to science, the quote,
'Gangrenous pus does not taste good'
Forget riding a bike in the name of V, tasting pus off a dead person in the name of science is another level entirely.
@edster99
You mean by changing out the fork...? Most bikes share this feature. Except those awesome old Looks.
@frank So sorry that you have to put down your beloved friend. I can't imagine your grief. The bright side is you have a sweet looking replacement (one can even forgive the portrait with the bidons in the cages for which I was summarily chastised for in my posting) The Veloforma is beautiful in full regalia and the company has scored a major pr coup that Cervelo missed and obviously couldn't care less. Look forward to tales of you and your new ride!
@frank
So now there's 7 more tests to play in the current ashes series which Australia can't win? Suppose that's typical of the fucking lazy English to take 10 days to do what should take 50.
And don't forget that Marcus is medically as close to being a midget as possible without actually being one, which makes the size and burden of said chip more pronounced.
@minion you ignorant git - there are two ashes series in a row. We have only now lost the ability (theoretically, anyway) to win the first 5-test series in England. The second series starts 0-0 in our summer. And it was the 3rd test that was just drawn, thus the lazy English have taken 15 days, not 10. The 2-0 lead of the English allows them to retain the Ashes even if Australia wins the next 2 tests.
In the on-going internal battle with your breathtaking stupidity, do you ever find yourself forgetting to breathe?
@The Grande Fondue
Duuuuuude. How did I miss this before? What happened? Was the pilot (you, I presume) ok? That's a beautiful bike...it will be hard to replace her. Yuck.
@Marcus
Cheers.
keyboard and screen now covered in coffee spray / spume
carryon
@RedRanger
Why, yes, I do.
Wheels like anything vary. What I have found from my investigations is that there are heavy Chinese carbon wheels, and there are light ones.
I don't want to talk out of turn, but you should ask yourself where most carbon wheels come from (well aside from say Zipp), it's not going to be from the artisanal workshops of Tuscany.
I have 3 sets of carbon wheels. One set 38mm deep weigh 1350grams without skewers. They are a local melbourne brand built with Chinese sourced rims, Novatec hubs and Sapim CXRay spokes. They are awesome, good finish and spin better than anything I have ridden (including 1988 Super Record).
I also have a 38mm set of track wheels sourced from an eBay seller out of Thailand. Novatec Hubs, not Sapim spokes. I don't know what they weigh but spin up well. The finish is good, but not quite as slick in the inner portion as the first set (bead is clean and smooth, bed is fine but not pristine). I managed to cross thread the hub with the lock ring (fuck), but still have enough to keep a thinner profile lockring on. Upshot is that hub material is probably somewhat softer than say Campag but I don't really know.
My 58's sourced from the same Thailand seller weigh 1450grams ex skewers. same quality as track wheels. Currently race them on the CX bike. They are strong and fast.
Upshot is that I'm a firm believer in Chinese carbon wheels and rims. I have no problem whatsover pushing them at high speed downhill.
Note that i'm about 70kg so there's that. I have heard of people in the past speak of nipples pulling out from the holes, but have never personally experienced anything like that.