Veloforma Strada iR
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/”/]
FWIW, I bent my rear dropout on my Seven with only a few hundred miles on it. Cost some quid to get it repaired by the factory, but my LBS and the factory did make it right. My derailleur hangar is integral to the frame, but it made me think: derailleurs should be attached to the frame with some metal screws/ bolts. Aluminum or perhaps brass. Sure, you’ll shear one out on a ride, so carry a few spares and a multitool. But when you need to to pop to save the frame and components, it will.
Be nice is someone knew a source.
@xced
With respect, your comparison proves nothing.
Whilst the geometries are roughly the same, the chainstay length is shorter on the Veloforma.
It’s very easy to think conspiracy about Chinese frame manufacturers re stealing molds etc. The reality is more likely that there is a body of knowledge that has been built up in the industry over the number of years that carbon frames have been made in China and that entreprenurial types have been setting up thier own manufacturing factories.
There is 100 years of tried and true geometry angles that make up modern bikes. It’s pretty hard to fuck it up unless you’re really not paying attention.
As to quality issues, I suspect you would find that the quality would not vary a great deal for off the peg Chinese frames, and generally, it’s pretty good.
Talk all you like about the mystique of Colnagos etc. They’re pretty much all made in China/Taiwan/Far East…
@mouse dont you have one of these Chinese bikes? I’m interested in the quality of the wheels. All the ones are pretty heavy looking.
@eightzero
My first real race bike was similar to one of these (mine was silver tho):
Cinelli lugs and drops. Sexy chrome fork. Campa Super Record. I regret that I sold it. Anyway, I “crashed” it in the winter, hitting some black ice. Totally fucked the RD and hanger. Took awhile to source another OEM hanger, but I did and got it fixed. Whoever thought of the modern “breakaway” hanger gets big props. Simple and effective to avoid costly frame repair.
@eightzero I think replaceable derailleur hangers are the real solution to what happened to you. Most frames use them.
@The Grande Fondue
Yes. Mine does not. And note @gregorio’s story above.
@mouse http://usrehoncyclo.wifeo.com/ou-est-fabrique-votre-velo.php
I’ve only got 11 speed coz I had a 10 speed when I was a kid.
Custom Reynolds 853, 9-speed Chorus with 8-speed Gruppo brakes, Record Ti seatpost. Hard to beat a classic.
Before anyone says, the tyres were just some old ones I had in the garage to get rolling. I’m back on GP4000s and Gatorskins these days.
Amazing to even think what The Prophet would be able to do on one of todays ultra light rocket ships.
@Marcus
Though twas Pfizer who worked out how to make it in industrial quantities. Fleming knew what he had but couldn’t made a stable version of it. Fleming shared the Nobel prize with Florey (and Ernst Chain).
My (admittedly somewhat Baroque) point is that we’re now moving on from the Fleming, Florey and Chain era of carbone frames and into the Pfizer mass production phase. This is a Good Thing in my opinion.
There are several new strains of antibiotic in my helmet lining – I’m hoping for a research grant…
First of all Рwhat 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! Touch̩ 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?
@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.
@E
There’s a review of it in this month’s Cycle Sport. They liked it a lot but couldn’t understand how Decathlon could sell such a nice frame with that level of kit for that price and not make a loss.
@frank
I’ve still got those shoes in the man cave. They flex like a bastard compared even to my MTB Shimano SPD shoes – what long way we’ve come.
@Marcus
It’s a bit harsh having a go at Minion for being breathtakingly stupid if you thought that you had any chance of redemption. Having lost the first two tests, redemption could only have come by way of winning the remaining three tests. Anyone with half a brain knows that there has never been an English summer dry enough to get a result out of all five tests.
Or did you intend redemption to mean avoiding a series whitewash?
@Chris
@Marcus
@minion
My eyes and brain are hurting at all this talk of cricket. Is it even a sport? Please stop.
@edster99
Used this facility a couple of months back post crash on my Damocles. They’re CNC machined and made out of a scandium alloy that is designed to bend before the frame itself takes the stress. Only downside is they’re a little soft and you have to take extra care when transporting your steed especially in a bike bag. You have to make sure the bolts holding them to the frame are torqued properly too – I had a clunk from the rear last year which after much investigation turned out to be the drive side drop out becoming detached from the frame.
@Marcus
Pre path lab doctors tasted lots of things (usually piss) to diagnose what was wrong with their patients. Fortunately things could usually be cured with leeches.
@Ali McKee
Its a pastime
@the Engine
To some it’s more of a religion. (see above)
@Chris
I have looked on line but can’t find the review. Can you send me a link or do I have to buy the magazine?
@Ali McKee
From your username can we assume you are Scottish ?
So someone who shares in the collective shame of inventing Golf is telling us what is and isn’t sport… may God never forgive you.
@ChrisO Irish. We only do pastimes if it involves heavy drinking, e.g. Alex Higgins and that billiards game.
I know the cricket discussion is only an excuse for Marcus and Minion to have virtual flirtations and others to be racist about Australians, which is all fine. I just wouldn’t want it to detract from important bike chat.
@Ali McKee You’d have to buy the magazine I’m afraid.
What is the medically defined barrier to midget-dom? I ain’t so vertically vast, but I like to think I’m medium sized.
@Ron
You’re no midget. At the risk of perhaps offending some fellow Velominati, I would say that in cycling terms if you’re a man and your frame size necessitates 650c wheels then you may be on your way.
When I feel resentful of my genetic inheritance, I remind myself that I would tower over Dumoulin. By, like, inches.
@the Engine
No, you don’t. Not unless you took them from LeMond. Those are custom-made shoes from a mystery manufacturer with laces and made to look like the shoes you likely have in your basement. Which are also awesome shoes and you should hold onto them.
@Ali McKee
Ooooooh….that’s what they’re on about. Thanks.
Here’s my favorite bit about cricket:
PROOF that cricket can be a bit difficult to follow for the uninitiated comes from the BBC’s website which has been providing a summary of the action at the England-South Africa Test match. Reader Martin Hollis draws our attention to the site which tells us: “17.44: Rudolph offers Trescothick a full-toss and is duly spanked over midwicket for six.”
Whatever can it mean?
@wiscot
Only the British could produce a sporting lexicon so rich in sadomasochistic and homoerotic connotations. No criticism or judgment implied, mind you, just an observation on certain kinds of inventiveness.
@PeakInTwoYears
Hence Brian Johnston’s imortal line, “The Bowler’s holding, the batsman’s Willey”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cg3stiU9V_M