For those of us who keep track of these kinds of things, I feel I must present more recent photos of my celestial steed.
Why? Because I have new Centaur shifters, a new Centaur crankset, a shorter 90 mm stem (replacing the 120 mm giraffe’s neck I had on there previously) and a more sporty position for my bars allowing me comfort in both the drops and on the tops.
lovely lovely ride
Nice countryside too (but not many hills it appears). Where is that?
Nice bike.
Is one of those bottles half full of piss?
Hey dude, save the planet. Don’t tell me you piss on the ground?
That’s classic southwestern Ontario countryside (Ontario being a province in Canada). Rolling hills and a patchwork quilt of farmland. No mountains, but lots of scrotum-tighteningly ace declines where you hit speeds of 60+ km/h if you are so, erm, inclined.
Like most long distance riders I carry 1 bottle of water and 1 bottle of some kind of electrolyte-replenishing drink, in my case lemon-lime Gatorade. I had just finished micturating on the grass before taking these photos.
To those not in the know: I used to live in Taiwan, but don’t anymore, hence my lack of input relevant to Taiwan on this site. I just can’t let go.
What? It’s already been four months between updates? I do apologize for keeping everyone hanging. I’ve made a fair number of significant changes to this lurverly Bianchi of mine, and here they are:
I got new wheels! My bike is almost completely Italian now! Yep, sold off those Dura Ace-Open Pro wheels, which I’d used for one year but felt were too Japanese somehow, and found myself a pair of Record-Mavic Reflex, wait for it…tubulars. Yes, I am now fully certifiable.
I’ve already changed the back tire. I cleverly opted not to wear latex gloves for the operation, and alertly acted quickly enough to prevent the glue from drying before mounting the tire on the rim. I now type by tilting my hands so that only my index and pinky fingers make contact with the keyboard, thus relieving those middle two fingers of the bothersome stress of having to punch keys…they just sit snugly in between the “workhorse” fingers and supervise! I have retained the use of one opposable thumb, though it will take a while for the tear in the skin to heal. Oh, maximum 170 psi, I’m running them at 140 and can really “feel” the roads.
Check out those stylin’ bottles. I finally ditched the hard, translucent plastic bottles that never fit properly in the cages, and bought new classic cages, too. I’m very pleased with the pseudo-retro look. Oh, for those quibbling about how Italian this steed is, mamma mia, I bite my thumb at you, and come clean; it’s Italian save for the Mavic rims (French), Continental tires (English), Gardin threaded stem (Canadian) and no-name Campy knockoff seatpost (dunno).
But this, fellow velotistas, is what it’s all about: Record hubs. Feast your eyes on this 10-year-old beauty, and drink in the golden hue of the cog spacers for that new Centaur cassette. Actually, Centaur is a fantastic deal for a groupset if you don’t have millions to blow on Chorus or Record. Aside from the Record hubs the rest of the componentry is all Centaur. I freely admit that I don’t race (in the physical world of reality, anyway, though what exactly, my friends, is reality?), so I’ll even confess that my favoured cassette is a 9-speed 13-23. Yep, heresy of heresies, not only do I lack an 11T cog, I even lack a 12T one. I really like having an 18T, I use it all the time when I’m in the big ring. And here’s another thing: I finally swapped out the 25-year-old bottom bracket for a new Centaur one with the correct spindle length for my Centaur crankset/chainset, so no more cross-chaining.
Apologies to those who have been hounding me for news about my bicycle-riding activities. You know who you are, whether in the world of reality or not. Though I forget which it is. Though what exactly is reality, anyway? Why, just the other day…
Looks sweet, rousseau. I’m thinking of buying some of those style water bottles soon, as the ones I have are getting a bit old and yuck.
Nice bike. I really like to get my hands on a pair of pre-'06 campy record hubs. The '07 and up look ugly in black, and they removed the external grease ports. BTW, I’m from Hamilton, so looking at the pics of where you ride makes me miss home.
There are some really sweet bikes here! Here’s what I call one of my three Taiwanese beauties (the other two being my fiancée and my 1080p 42" TV). It actually has a sticker saying “Handmade in Taiwan”. It’s a 2004 which means it’s as good as new 
If there’s one thing that I don’t like it’s that it’s a bit on the heavy side, comparatively speaking of course. The picture shows why I always lock it firmly onto something sturdy. The bottom picture shows my fiancée on a 1982 Motobecane with a wicked mixte frame that my dad fixed up a bit for her to ride here in Sweden.
Hee hee…I lived in the North End and then near Upper Paradise and Stonechurch, and went to Sir John A for high school. You?
your bianchi is rather nice, Rousseau.
great wheels, a lot like mine on my old colnago… i now run tubulars on all my bikes and love the feel and grip. those contis are not bad tires (but they’re german, in case that worries your aesthetics ). i find most contis really difficult to get on a rim, even with pre-stretching. vittorias are much nicer handling, even the cheaper rallyes, and the evo corsa are light and fast to boot.
Oooooh, are you suggesting I switch to Italian tires?
Done! Well, I mean, as soon as I can justifiably justify the expenditure to my wife.
By the way, with the lighter wheels my bike now weighs 22.5 lbs, which is 10.21 kgs. That’s still a far sight heavier than the whiffly carbon and plastic bikes that the racers ride these days weighing in at 15 lbs/6.8 kgs, but being a more substantial lad I wouldn’t really want a bike like that. Not at present, anyway.
Erm…how much does yours weigh?
my Colnago weighs in at about 8.4 kg, and my Giant TCR is a shade over 7 kg. light wheels and tires make much of the difference between our steel bikes, plus the fact that i am cheating a bit as it’s been converted to a single speed and therefore lacks derailleurs. it’d probably be 9 kg if i make it up as a 12-speed again.
actually, it’s a non-speed at the moment, it’s totally disassembled and getting repainted. the fork (and various bolts and wheel skewers) has returned from the chrome factory and it’s all shiny again.
Man those pics take me back to when someone gave me a Bianchi racing frame. God, I worked a paper round for more than two years to get that bike rebuilt, painted, etc. All Italian parts. It was a work of art. I took it to a party down my street on the very first day I finally got it on the road and the host’s father backed all the way into it in his Range Rover and completely pretzeled it. I never did actually get to ride the thing apart from the 300 yards to my friend’s house, but it sure was nice, especially since my other bike was a wartime bike – it even had the blacked-out headlight. Can you imagine? All my friends got bright yellow Raleigh Choppers, and my dear old dad got me a fucking butcher’s delivery bike. Well, it DID have a smaller front wheel. Not quite the same, though. I suffered slings and arrows aplenty over that bike. Wish I had it now, though. It would worth a bob or two. My first experience of a Brooks Brothers leather sprung saddle.
It looked a lot like this, although thank god he removed the basket frame off the front before he gave it me. Plus, mine had one of those dynamo things that ran off the back wheel to work the lights.
Rousseau, I lived on Upper Paradise road. Went to Sir Allen MacNab for senior high. What a small world. BTW, here’s my new ride, sold the Cinelli to my friend to partially finance this baby:
I do some cycling and have got two cheapish bikes (Giant folding bike and Merida mountain bike, too lazy to take pics) but I’ve always wondered about those racing bikes … aren’t the seats really unconfortable. I mean, they look like they would go right up your crack they’re so narrow. I’ve also heard that too much cycling on narrow, hard seats could reduce your sperm count and even render you impotent … any truth in this?
Sorry … way :offtopic:
Here’s my baby. :lovestruck:
However, because I live on the fourth floor without an elevator and have two other (cheap) bikes locked up down below, which I use, this one never gets ridden. So, I’m selling it. Details, including contact info are posted HERE , at Taiwanted.
Nice choice of componentry on that Cervelo, MotorcycleRider. I heartily approve. I gotta say though, on aesthetics alone I liked your Cinelli much more. I don’t know how the new Cervelo compares with your old Cinelli performance-wise, though.
I flirted with tubular tires this fall, but after too many flats and a confounding inability to get rid of a shudder coming from the front wheel at speeds above 30 km/h, I gave up on them. I got a pair of used wheels with Mavic Open Pro rims via eBay, which I transferred to my Record hubs–yep, I built my first pair of wheels the other day! Great fun, it’s knitting for men, I suppose, but I like it. I’m also glad to be back on clinchers. I never got good at gluing. I like the fact that clinchers have a lip for you to line the tire up with the rim. I also prefer the ease of clincher replacement/repair on the road.
Winter has come early this year, and here in the lee of Lake Huron we’ve gotten absolutely pummelled with the white stuff–one metre of it already. It’s still green one hour east in the Golden Horseshoe. Sob. My winter riding has been severely curtailed. Here’s the basement alternative:
You have to cover up during these cold days. Black keeps the heat in, so you can see by the photo that my head is nice and warm.
I bought this Fuji Newest 1.0 for 5000NT second hand. I’m told it was a good deal, cost 1000NT to fix two spokes and the rear deralieur though. Currently looking for nice places around Taipei to ride, am thinking about going out to Bali this weekend as the inner city paths are all clogged with sloowwww bikes.
