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I still have tow clips on my old Casati. Trouble is, I can't seem to find any show that will work. I have an old pair Sidi retrofitted with 10 speed drive's slotted cleats. the turn buckles keep getting in the way of the clip. I can't ride if the strip isn't tightened. You guys will have fun with the old cranks that meet up once a month at the RoseBowl with their old bikes. They are all decked out in their 50-70s outfits along the the itchy wool jerseys and wood shorts. I remember those hard chamois after washing. Rub a ton of chamois cream to get it to soften up in the winter months. I don't do much pleasure ride but once every year or two. We hop on the old mtb that has platform pedals and do the fun ride. I still have mtb clipless on my bike, but the Shimano mtb shoes are falling apart after 20 years of sitting in the same old box. |
When I first learned about radios in pro races, I was thinking riders no longer had to think. Slowly racing become boring as attacks points were planned with coaches yelling at their every step. I remember see many of the old film, even as late as the mid -late 90s where riders read a race and attack accordingly. No more crazy attacks like they did in the old days which made for exciting racing. Times and tech marches on, I suppose. Yes, I think Henri will turn on his grave upon learning about the way bike racing had become.
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This is a gravelmonster on a budget. Looked for 2 months for a donor frame of some sort to build this without luck. Definitely needed at least 2.25 tires for the roads here - 40-50mm 700C gravel tires would be useless in the soft areas - so that narrowed it down to a MTB frame. Decided to give BikesDirect a look and found the Gravity single-speed 29er here for $329 and it was on my doorstep in 3 days :eek: Frame and component-wise, it is identical or better than the name brand entry-level stuff that are +3X the cost. 6061 aluminum frame is stout with beautiful welds, tapered headtube and heavy duty gusseted rear dropouts (probably comes out of the same Chinese factory as Trek and Specialized). Powdercoated in matte titanium. Non-brifter brake levers were tough to find. Needed long-throw levers for the mechanical discs. Got the Tektro 520s that are made for the Tektro discs. Would have cost far more to convert a used bike. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1699971989.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1699972027.jpg |
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1700043300.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1700043336.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1700043336.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1700043336.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1700043336.jpg and finally, Henri Desgrange himself :cool: http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1700043431.jpg |
Marco's TT bike..
https://i.imgur.com/Z5JL9tW.jpg |
We've got a pantini ride coming up this feb locally or something... :) -brutal!!!!
Tonights sexy (In my own mind) pannier pics- Indian fleabay motorcycle panniers, stripped of extra pockets for weight, rubbed under a wire brush in acetone and carb cleaner to strip the finish for effect, and adding green cotton ribbing for straps, dyed in cordovan leather. I will add more leather dye to the straps, and try to get darker clasp. Who the eff' does this ****e? I do!!!!! :) http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1700095592.JPG http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1700095592.JPG |
Cool visit / tour at trek last weekend. Standout was access to the race shop. Looks tip top and ideas flowing both directions under guise of marketing and advertising while creating exclusivity.
Totally green with envy. There are sonnderwusch opportunities. All just really cool. Maybe I can find a hand me down somehow someday…. |
^^^ that sounds interesting. Were you able to get any pics? I know they don't make frames there anymore, but are most Trek models painted and assembled there? Or are full bikes being sourced from Asia now?
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Hello Curt.
Sorry. I’ve been on the struggle bus loading photos from my phone. Will need to do it from my computer apparently. I was surprised to learn that a significant number of the higher end bikes are assembled there. Including aluminum frame full suspension bikes. All of the “project one” line is assembled there. Paint shop is awesome and I think most of what they do are the carbon bikes with more complicated paint schemes along with the project one. From what I gather, all the frames come from offshore. I think the Asian factories are just that good - and the economics work that way. There are over 800 employees in that building. They really do a nice job. |
Wow, had no idea there were that many employees there. I just watched an interesting video about the Chinese bicycle industry. There is no question that they can and do produce first rate frames for the name brands. There are many, many frame manufacturers there. They said that Specialized was one of the only brands to have their own facility set up inside the factory where the frames are made. The video went on to point out that production has been shifting to Vietnam as Chinese wages increase and the Chinese are highly concerned. Their bike industry is now producing their own branded group sets (L-Twoo, Sensah, etc.) and bicycle brands to stem the losses.
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Bearclaw is a highly regarded manufacturer of gravel bikes and are located near St. Ignace, Mich. They mainly do titanium frames - all sourced from China - and they are said to be as good as it gets.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1700148838.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1700148838.jpg |
The Chinese groupsets are crazy cheap and get some pretty good reviews. I guess they've got electronic shifting out now. I'd still probably go with Shimano 105 (even used) if doing a budget build, rather than this stuff.http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1700149354.jpg
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^^^ Through the magic of AI, maybe we'll know in the near future. The current racers would be easy because we know their power numbers. We know the geographic data. We know the bike data. If there were a way to estimate power for el Pirati, LeMond, Merckx, etc. it would be very cool to have an all-time all-star virtual TdF :cool:
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So here are some pics from Trek.
The cows are all custom - and show up at many Trek sponsored events. My son did around 24 races this year. All at the recreational level. A good number were organized all, or in part by Trek. The room where those pro ridden bikes are housed is the race department. Can't imagine what the budget is for equipment alone there http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1700178852.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1700178852.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1700178852.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1700178852.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1700178852.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1700178852.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1700178852.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1700178852.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1700178852.jpg |
These are a few from their design department
A couple of the product design guys gave a great discussion about that process. The room was equipped with paint chips of all of their current shades, a lot of examples, a few one-off prototypes and some past examples on a magnetic display wall. There was also an array of all the different shades on complete frames (arranged in the color spectrum). You can purchase a "Project One Ultimate" where you meet with the designers one on one, and they work out your custom paint scheme. The gravel bike is being used in their current ad campaign. I believe it's one of one. Really a neat job. Even the 'production' cross bikes are hand painted. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1700179252.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1700179252.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1700179721.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1700179721.jpg |
And here are some - including gratuitous photos of the kid on various podiums.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1700180296.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1700180296.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1700180296.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1700180296.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1700180296.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1700180296.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1700180296.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1700180296.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1700180296.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1700180296.jpg |
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