Cervélo

Announcement - Updated

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 03:30:00 GMT

Cervélo has entered into a financing arrangement with PON Holdings BV. In addition, Cervélo and PON have signed a Letter of Intent that enables both parties to agree on a sale of Cervélo in exclusivity.

Updated information: Thanks to everybody who commented on our message that we're contemplating a sale of the company. To answer some of your questions, here is a bit of background. Cervélo has experienced exceptional growth and success since we started 16 years ago. A potential sale of the company allows us to continue to grow Cervélo without changing any of the things that make it special.

Cervélo will continue to be based in Toronto, with the same team of people, with the same desire to engineer the best bikes on the planet. It will stand by old products and create exciting new ones, starting with the new P5 which will be launched next month. Stay tuned.

The winter solstice approaches

Sun, 18 Dec 2011 18:28:49 GMT

Well, the winter solstice is just a few short days away and soon the daytime will start to get longer again. It also marks pretty much the end of the cycling season and the start of the next. Soon, the Tour Down Under will herald in the New Year along with the new pro season. While some of you will definitely take time off the bike, I will be trying to ward off the annual weight gain by tackling the mountain in the living room. Having done just a couple of rides on the trainer this weekend, I know I am way off my fitness as the last previous run in the spring was 7 minutes faster. Ouch! Now I just need to suture the mouth shut for the next couple of weeks and I should be good.

When I got the R3-SL in 2007, I was able to try it out within a fortnight on a real mountain. Can’t say that with the R5ca. Unfortunately, it hasn’t seen a mountain or a serious climb of any nature which is too bad. Not being able to get away for any stretch of time is the real culprit here.

Since building up the bike in early August, I have been able to put just over 4,000 km on it using pretty much the original components used on the initial build except for the replacement SRAM cassette and the 3T seatpost. Unlike a standard bike components, lightweight components are definitely not designed with the same wear characteristics and as a result tend to be a wee bit more prone to having issues with longevity. When they last longer than you expected, that is when you know you got really good components.

I have been riding the Reynolds RZRs even into December with the near freezing conditions of some of the rides. This is the longest I have ridden tubulars and the first time in such conditions. A couple of the pictures are from the last couple rides when I have started out in the morning. Almost makes you want to go back home and jump back into bed.

All the components seem to be working well even when the temperature is just north of that magical frigid point. If it is below freezing or wet, you won’t see me out on the road; my hands just don’t take very kindly to the freezing temperatures especially with the wind chill. In about a third of the time I would normally do a Donut Ride, I can get the same workout on the mountain in the living room.

People have asked what I do when riding the trainer, do I watch the television or what? Well, basically, I just set the bike up at the window and look outside or the computer screen to see how I am performing. Looking out on the poor dog owners taking out Fluffy to nature break in the really cold weather is sometimes comical. Watching some of the owners trying to get their animal to do its business while they stand there freezing their heinie off, well, is just priceless.

It also affords me the opportunity to work on pedalling technique. I pretty much try to pick a cadence to go with and a heart rate to match. If I can do that for the distance I have picked for the ride without going into the red zone, I will have done a good job. That picture of the computer screen is what I am focusing on. I am not doing one of the pre-programmed classic rides but a given slope over a given distance.

Now, how close the resistance of the trainer is to a real 8% climb, I am not sure. I really need to find a good climb to create some baselines again. What was a baseline in 2007/2008 wouldn’t apply now as my weight and fitness are radically different.

So, what is up for 2012? I am really interested in getting my hands on the Brim Brothers power meters. It sounds as though they are getting closer to getting them out the door. And, we will have to take a look at the new 2012 SRAM Red components to see if they offer any performance/weight benefits.

Thanks for following along and hopefully I will be able to get away, maybe even on one of the Cervélo Travel trips. All of us here at Cervélo would like to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season and great 2012!

Cervélo S5 wins cyclingnews.com best team bike

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 22:12:37 GMT

For the seventh year in a row, Cervélo has won the "Best Team Bike" in the cyclingnews.com annual reader poll.

More details can be found on cyclingnews.com. For more details on the Cervélo S5, click here.

Giro di Goodwood

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 03:00:51 GMT

Three years ago, I was in Italy preparing for the Gran Fondo associated with the Giro di Lombardia which is commonly known as the race of the falling leaves. It being fall here in southern Ontario, we were treated to an amazing day for riding with the temperature soaring to 27°C (80°F). We decided to do a civilized version of the race of the falling leaves except we left out the race part.

While we didn’t have the Madonna del Ghisallo at the top of one of our climbs, we still were able to do about 1,100 m of climbing today and that is without any mountains. Not as much as you would have with the Giro di Lombaria Gran Fondo, but about 300 or 400 m more than a typical donut ride.

We started out as usual from Jet Fuel and of course, Thorben and Ireen were late. I’ll bet an espresso that Thorben will be late submitting his PhD thesis when the time comes. We were joined by Mike, who was on the previous Goodwood trek, and by Mo, who is a regular on the donut ride and who lives in nearby Cabbagetown. We did our usual exodus out of the city via Kingston Road and were joined by Joe again near the Toronto Zoo. At least this time we didn’t have to stand around waiting for him to find us.

When we finally got outside the city, we had a quick conference as to what route to take to Goodwood. Mo bid us farewall as she needed to get back to the city and we finally agreed to head east along Whitevale Road to make our way over to Westney Road North which is a hardpacked gravel road. Unlike the previous gravel road adventure back from Goodwood a month ago, this one was well travelled and had no boulders, just a few pot holes. Another major difference was that it was all uphill. While not 7 or 8% in slope, more like 2 to 3%, it was still up hill for 10 km. This will probably be the closest I get to a long sustained climb this year. Although I am tempted to email Francesco to try to get me into the Giro di Lombardia Gran Fondo and fly over for a weekend to really try out the bike, I don’t think I can quite pull that one off.

Yes, as you can tell, I really would like to be able to test the bike out on some real climbs. Having straightened out the issues with the head set (a missing washer) and the seat post (well kind of, I got myself a 3T DORIC LTD seat post for the time being while I get the Schmolke seatpost hopefully sorted out), the bike is doing really well. Since the original build, I have put 2,500+ km on it according to the Garmin 500. I have close to 2,000 km on the Reynolds RZR wheels and am having a hard time taking them off the bike. No, it isn’t that kind of hard time as in a problem; it is that they have performed so nicely that I don’t want to take them off! Even with the heavier Vittoria tires, the wheels perform really well. Yes EVO Corsa CX tires add an extra 150 or 160 g to the bike but I would rather have the durability over the weight while pedalling around this berg!

One of the more interesting developments in the last month is that I will probably pull the trigger on getting a power meter. Damon has been pestering me to get a meter almost from the time he started with Vroomen•White•Design except that I have always balked at the weight of these animals. Mike was even complaining that when Thorben gave him his old PowerTap wheels, it added a whack of weight to the bike.

I know the Garmin folks have announced their Garmin Vector pedal-based power meter but that may require a switch from the Speedplay pedals I have which have allowed me to dial in a position which works almost perfectly. It is a very clever wireless system which from the looks of it doesn’t add much weight to the bike.

However, I did stumble across a system which is still in development from a small group of engineers based in Dublin, Ireland. Brim Brothers have come up with a brilliant system which adds zero grams to the bike! Yes, zero! Me like that! It is a shoe based measuring system which has the sensor located between your cleat and the sole of the shoe. A wire from the sensor runs on the outside of your shoe to the meter/battery/transmitter which then transmits the data to an ANT+ device such as the Garmin cycling meters.

They showed off the meters at Interbike this September and hope to have the system ready for some time in 2012. The beauty of this system is that if you have multiple bikes with the same pedal system, you just clip in and go. No swapping pedals, wheels or cranksets. So, from my perspective here, it would be neat to be able to use these to compare the R3-SL with the R5ca on a couple of really unpleasant climbs.

Now, one of the more pleasant surprises so far is that PowerCordz are doing really well! While we were not able to use them with the THM Fibula brakes (which by-the-by are doing quite nicely in their own right), the shifting is doing nicely both front and rear. The cassette on the rear is the KCNC Ti cassette and it doesn’t always play nice with the SRAM rear derailleur. Mind you, I have never been able to get any non-SRAM cassette to play nice to date. Down shifting, no problem, but up shifting, that is a different story and depends on where you have the chain on the cassette when you do try to up-shift. I will be swapping out the cassette soon for the normal SRAM cassette which does have the special grove in the cassette to aid in the shifting.

And finally, the overall look of the bike does garner stares. Tuesday while trying to get in a late ride before the sun went down, I decided to try to do a ride on the Leslie Street spit. Little did I know that they were filming along Unwin Avenue so I was held up for a few minutes waiting for them to finish a car scene. When they finally came to our waiting point, the film crew pulled over to the side of the road and the car being filmed had a female driver who upon stopping looked over to where I was waiting and noticed the bike. I was very surprised to see the expression on her face as she nodded in approval the bike I was riding. Well, I didn’t make it to the spit as I shortly discovered they had repaved a horrible section of the road and decided to do loops which many cyclists used to do before the bridge was closed (and since replaced) and the just paved section in question previously beaten into submission and made horribly un-ride able. So, doing loops of Commissoners, Cherry Street, Leslie and Unwin, I encountered the filming a few more times and only afterwards realized it was Piper Perabo who is the lead actor in Covert Affairs.

Just another donut

Sun, 18 Sep 2011 23:30:36 GMT

Well today was supposed to be the day to finally put the new bike through its paces. Instead, I had to settle for the good ol’ donut ride. Yes, it was kind of a bummer not be able to do the Centurion given the great weather but after discovering the source of the saddle slip yesterday if I had have done the ride it would have meant a possibly difficult and arduous ride.

Yesterday, I did a reverse donut ride where I rode the route in the opposite direction I would normally have done it. I changed the course ever so slightly but it was essentially the same route. When I did the 2007 L’Etape de Tour, Gerard was concerned that I was riding the same route in Switzerland too much and that I wouldn’t be prepared for the Etape. I have kept that in mind to always try to look for unknown, but, safe routes so I could become experienced with an unknown conditions and to learn how to handle them without expending too much energy.

It certainly was different. Lots of different slopes and views I wasn’t used to. It certainly made for an interesting day. And, it was from that ride I discovered the problem with the saddle slip. The bolt hole through the post was becoming enlarged and the vibration of the bike going over the rough roads was causing the saddle to both enlarge the hole, through stress, and to loosen the saddle. I only did a 100 km (60 mi) ride and by the time I had returned home, I had tightened up the saddle once mid-way and at the end it was loose again. I rode the last 4 km out of the saddle as I didn’t want to tighten it any further possibly creating a bigger problem.

Once home, I swapped out the seat post using the one from my R3-SL which is an AX-Lightness. No slouch in the weight department, it comes in a few grams heavier than the Schmolke. It was a tight fit trying to get the post into the R5ca to where I almost did not need the seatpost clamp. Nevertheless, the clamp is still tightened up to the correct spec.
I just wonder how on earth I am going to get that post out when the time comes to do that!

The donut ride today was much smaller than usual as most of the crowd was doing the Centurion. Even though I would have liked to have been freezing my butt off at 7:30 am this morning (reported temperature was 5°C (41°F)), I still enjoyed today’s ride and wasn’t going to sulk about it. A ride is a ride. It was with my weekend friends and we all made it home with our fingers and toes.

On the way to Gramma’s Bakerey, I got to see a hawk perched on a telephone pole which is not an everyday occurance. And on our way back down Kennedy, we were able to get a really nice pace line going between four of us. Yep, that is Cheryl out front again trying to rip our legs off on our way back through the city streets.

I guess I will need to figure out how to really test this machine before the snow flies. Or look at trying to get to Europe to ride an epic ride there.

You can receive instant updates on the Crazy Light project by following me at http://twitter.com/#!/cervelomatt

Also, to read the original blog series, you can check them out at http://crazylight.cc

Collingwood awaits

Fri, 16 Sep 2011 18:39:20 GMT

It is now just a couple of days before the Collingwood/Blue Mountain Centurian. Hopefully my body will be in as good a shape as the bike as I came down with a mild cold at the beginning of the week. As Scott (who was on the Lake Simcoe ride earlier this summer) mentioned to me, who will also be doing the ride and whose legs I will always take pride in ripping off, my body should be back at its peak because it had just finished fighting off an illness. Let’s hope so. I don’t know if my legs will agree to that or not.

Thorben helped me glue back on the tubular which was a problem last Saturday. I adjusted the value and made sure it was holding air. A trick that most people won’t know about is to use plumbers Teflon tape on the threads. It is a very, very thin tape which plumbers will wrap around the threads of a pipe to help seal against leaks. If you use a little bit of this on the threads (the new Vittoria tubulars have a replaceable valve now which allows you to use the appropriate length value for the rim without having to use a value extender), it will help keep the air in the tubular.

Again, I watched in amazement just how easily he was able to put the tubular with glue on the rim. No struggle, no bother. Man, talk about pathetic pencil neck geek! I guess I will have to go down into the weight room and try to bulk up those spindly arms of mine.

Here are the final specs and weights for the bike build (beauty build that is AND please note the frame weight includes all the naughty bits and pieces, the raw frame weight can be seen here):

Component	Make	Raw Weight
Frame	Cervélo R5ca	779
Fork	Cervélo	363
Head set	Cane Creek	36
Handle bar	Schmolke	147
Bar plugs	Veloflyte	2
Crank	FSA K-Force Light	420
Brakes	THM Fibula	137
Chain Rings	Carbon Ti	102
Chain ring bolts	Carbon Ti	9
Front derailleur	SRAM Red	69
Rear derailleur	SRAM Red	146
Seat post	Schmolke	79
Saddle	AX Lightness	66
Pedals	M1 Racer	76
Cassette	KCNC	115
Shifters w/cables	SRAM Red	324
Cable housing	SRAM Red	187
Cable	SRAM Red	38
Bar tape	3T	40
Risers	Extralite Delrin	7
Chain	KCNC	257
Stem	Extralite	90
Stem top cap	Schmolke	2
Bottle cages	New Ultimate	26
Cables	Power Cordz/SRAM
Front rim w/tire	Reynolds RZR	508
Rear rim w/tire	Reynolds RZR	664

		4689 g
		10.3375 lbs

As you can see by the pictures above, the final weight when the steerer tube and cable bits and pieces are trimmed down, the weight is under the magical 10 lb mark, just. The only thing we had to change to make this happen were the pedals. We used the M1 Racer pedals which are essentially just the spindle. Also, the Reynolds RZR wheels come in a 398 g for the front and 552 for the rear. The tires are Tufo track tires. Yea, yea, I know, I know, not a road tire, but guess what, they are probably tougher than some road tires. This tubular saved my bacon three times in Europe in 2007 and are half the weight of normal tubulars. In fact, I have a pre-glued one I use as my emergency spare. It comes in around 135 g fully glued and saves me about the same weight over the same tire glued to the rim. So, in terms of this, we saved the weight of one tubular or about 260 grams.

The version everyone can see at the Cervélo booth in Collingwood tomorrow afternoon has the Vittoria EVO CX tires. I was using the Vittoria Crono tires but found that the tread on the rear was wearing very quickly. I presume that was why I was having puncture issues during the summer because of the tread wear. Other than that and the pedals, it is pretty much the same as with the beauty build and the Gran Fondo ride I did at the beginning of the month which Michael Barry was at. It is also 100 or so grams heavier due to the Garmin pieces as well, but, all told, it is in the high 10 lb range which is still pretty nice. If you are going to be at the Centurion tomorrow, drop by the booth and check out the bike.

You can receive instant updates on the Crazy Light project by following me at http://twitter.com/#!/cervelomatt

Also, to read the original blog series, you can check them out at http://crazylight.cc

Off to Goodwood before the Centurion

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 00:15:44 GMT

Just a little over a week to go before the ride in Collingwood at the 2011 Blue Mountain Centurion. Trying to get the bike dialed in for the ride and make sure everything is up to snuff. Well, those were the plans.

I got a call from Thorben last night asking me if I wanted to join him and a few others on a ride to Goodwood, just north east of the city. The destination there is one of World Tour rider Michael Barry’s favorite stops, a small restaurant/bakery with some really artery clogging stuff. Yes, that is a destination to go to all right!

We started out from Jet Fuel, one of the local coffee hot spots whose owner John is bike crazy. His shop has sponsored the Jet Fuel cycling team for a long, long time. Thorben was a rider on the team a few years back.

The group consisted of Thorben who used to be in Customer Service at Cervélo and is now doing his PhD at York University, his wife Ireen, Mike who Thorben knows from his PhD studies and who just finished his own PhD, Hans, another PhDer (geeze, I am suddenly feeling very under-educated here), Cheryl, who also just finished her Masters at York. We road east along Kingston Road to the Toronto Zoo where we were finally able to get out on country roads. There we were to meet Joe who also used to ride with Jet Fuel.

Joe got lost, well kinda. Living out in that area he was used to riding down from his place to meet people riding out of the city. He mistook the route Thorben relayed to him and automatically took a route with so of the old Jet Fuel riders would use to get out of the city. Once we finally got our signals matched up, he joined us just outside of Stouffville. From there we rode up to Goodwood at a nice steady pace. You see, Thorben while probably being the best rider in the group, doesn’t really like to go fast on rides like this. A nice steady pace between 30 and 35 km/h is just his espresso (he doesn’t drink tea, just a lot of double espressos).

As we pulled into the bakery in Goodwood, a few other cyclists were already there partaking in the offerings of the bakery. Once inside, Thorben, Hans and Mike suddenly realized as a sandwich wrap was picked up by a customer they could have a sandwich. So, they order up a full sandwich and wait for it to be served to us outside. I just go for a pecan butter tart. Probably gained a kilo just from that.

That is Thorben and myself just before we start back with his new/old bike and mine. His weights probably close to 10 kgs (22 lbs.) whereas mine is half that. He just built up the bike and it is an old steel frame with the down tube shifters and funky stem. It is a gorgeous looking bike and very deceiving. It looks really like, but, it isn’t. Not even close. Even on that bike, he is quite able to rip your legs off.

Once suitably fueled up, we head south over a gravel road. Yes, it was interesting to say the least. Not a supreme bike handler like Thorben and Joe, I watched as they and most of the others noodle off into a dust cloud. Me, I am crapping my drawers because of the lack of riding experience on such roads. The only other who isn’t with the group is Cheryl who I assume didn’t like the road either. We finally catch up on a paved cross road and I check the back tire and it is soft as a marshmallow. Even before the ride, I was concerned over the air loss of the tubular and was quite surprised to see that after just 5 hours it was really soft.

Luckily, Joe had with him a good pump and we were able to get enough air into the tire to make it ride-able. Also on the way back, depending on which gear I was in with the back cassette, it would make a horrible noise. Not sure if it was just a setup issue or because of all the dirt that made its way to the chain and cassette. I will have to get out the cleaning brush tonight for that.

I was hoping to do the Ride for Karen tomorrow which is where all this stuff started from in the first place but really can’t afford the full day it will consume. Just too much work on the plate. So, tomorrow will probably be the last ride on the road before next weekend as the weather forecasts are showing rain for most of the week. Looks like I will need to drag out the trainer to keep the legs nimble.

You can receive instant updates on the Crazy Light project by following me at http://twitter.com/#!/cervelomatt

Also, to read the original blog series, you can check them out at http://crazylight.cc

No thanks to Irene that was brutal

Mon, 29 Aug 2011 00:31:31 GMT

Just finished a Gran Fondo just east of Toronto where local boy Michael Barry of Team Sky honoured us with his presence today. Given there is no precise translation of Gran Fondo from Italian to English, today it meant “Idiots Ride!”

While the eastern edge of North America was being hammered by Hurricane Irene, we only had to deal with the edge of the storm and really only with very strong winds. On the ride up to Jet Fuel to meet Billy, who drove us out to the event in Ajax, you could see the flags had been freshly washed and starched they were that stiff in the breeze.

The main trick today was to stay safely sheltered in the group. If it was only that easy!

For the first part of the ride we did a relatively slow pace. Once we got to the first rest stop, the group split between the Medio and Gran Fondo groups. It was after that point the speed jumped a good 10 km/h faster. When we weren’t heading directly into the head wind, we were 90° to the wind. Now what made this even more interesting was that I was riding the final wheel set, the Reynolds RZR. I’ll bet you all saw that one coming given I have been riding the Reynolds wheels since my first trip on the R3-SL to Switzerland.

To be honest, everyone was having trouble today with any deep dish wheel. There was even one rider on a full set of Zipp 808s. Yikes! Twitchy was an understatement. But again, everyone with deep wheels said the same thing. They are robust and do cut the wind well. I did hit a couple of pot holes on some of the sketchier roads and I made it back with all my fingers, toes and wheels intact.

Where everything went south for me literally was just after Michael rolled up and asked how much my bike weighed. I told him the number and he commented just like everyone does, “that is crazy light”. I mentioned to him while we were talking that I bought my first “real” bike from his father back in 1980. So, it was really neat to be able to finally do a ride with him. I was only able to talk with him shortly as it was at that very moment everything was getting blown apart because of some short rollers and the nasty north wind which was gusting up to 50 km/h (30 mph).

Now, here is why it was the “idiots ride” as Abi, who is seen in the first picture with Michael holding up the bike (Michael and Abi used to race together when Michael was a cadet racer and Abi a senior racer; Michael would win his age category which started before Abi’s age group and then go ride in Abi’s age group and win that too), so aptly called it yesterday when he emailed me to say that he was joining us. I got caught in no man’s land for 8 km trying to chase back the lead group. Pride is a strong motivator in trying to catch that group ahead. It also is a synonym for idiot.

Eventually one other rider caught up with me on a short incline and we traded turns fighting the head wind for about 3 kms, cranking out a pace of 20 km/h (12 mph) before we turned west and then battled the side winds. We rode about 10 km before the group behind us caught us and after that the bigger group made it a bit easier getting back because others were able to set the pace every now and again.

Once we made the turn going south bound with the wind at our backs the wheels really did come into their own. I was for the most part able to keep up with the kids who are at least 20 years my junior. Except for when they really put the pedal to the metal, I was able to keep up. I didn’t bury it in the red zone rather I ran out of legs and gears. Every now and again the compact runs out of steam on those really fast sections even when you are glued on the back of someone’s wheel.

Accelerating was awesome. Climbing equally so. The wheel set with the frame makes everything seem so effortless at times. It was somewhat interesting that at times, I was able to easily pass riders on some of the smaller climbs and not really have to exert a lot of energy. Accelerating on the flats or on shallow inclines is very noticeable which leads me to believe that there is a huge difference in the power transfer through the bottom bracket from that of the R3-SL. The easiest way to observe this is not by getting out of the saddle but by staying in the saddle and pedaling without a lot of exertion. I noticed that in bridging gaps and on short inclines.

Once we made it back to the event location, we able to get something to eat and to talk with Michael who was there with his wife Didi, their children and Michael’s parents. I guess word got out about the bike as people started coming over to pick it up. The second picture is one of the other Gran Fondo participants picking up the bike along with Billy, who is a long time Cervélo rider (even riding some of the prototypes), Michael and myself. The weight of the bike never cesses to amaze people and they were equally amazed to see that it was totally ride able in an event like today’s.

You can receive instant updates on the Crazy Light project by following me at http://twitter.com/#!/cervelomatt

Also, to read the original blog series, you can check them out at http://crazylight.cc

Sea Trials - Oh what fun!

Sun, 28 Aug 2011 02:50:34 GMT

The shakedown cruise continues. I have been trying the bike out on all training hills to see what it can do. No final verdict yet regarding the building until I do these same training hills with the carbon clinchers. That way I will be able to definitively know if some of the easier climbing and acceleration is due to the tubular tires or is the complete setup.

Okay, my training hills are pitiful. I will admit that. But, being a flatlander and at the bottom of the city, I really don’t have much choice in terms of what I can use for sustained climbs. I know, I know, move to somewhere that has mountains. Well, that ain’t going to happen any time soon. Just trying to figure out when to go over to Europe is a major undertaking.

So, here are the hills. The first picture is Mount Bayview. It is a nice climb of about 6% for around 700 m. That is the start of the climb and the second picture is about 150 m into it. As you can see, they are doing major construction there. It used to be easy to turn around at the bottom but from the looks of it, not anymore. In Toronto, THE CAR RULES! Piddle Pots!

The next picture is Mount Sunnybrook Stables. Now, this is where you will see me doing most of my hill training. It is a short relatively steep climb of 10 – 12 % about 300 m long. I do 25 repeats of this animal just going from the bottom to the top and turning around. Here I am trying to keep the heart rate up to simulate a longer mountain like climb (ya right, who am I trying to fool?). It seemed to have worked as I was able to lose 10 kg (22 lbs.) last summer doing this climb.

Now the next picture shows a real nasty climb, Mount Thorncliffe Park. This monster is 14 % for about 150 m. This really hurts after having done a bunch of Sunnybrook Stable climbs.

Finally, a new climb I had to introduce into the routine because of all the construction, Mount Don Mills, which is about 4% for 800 m. This is a nice hill to do a hard finish on.

A couple of other hills which are just as nice are either under construction (Pottery Road which is about 12% in spots) and Beechwood (10%) which is now hard to get to because of construction in the area used to be part of the training ride which would see me do about 10 km or so of climbing over a 50 km ride.

I have to admit, riding on tubulars is a much different ride than clinchers. However, I have punctured twice on the Sunnybrook Stable hill and this last time tried to use the injection sealant patch. Well, that didn't work and it was a long walk over to Enduro Sport to get a new tubular. You would have thought I would know better (obviously I don't) that I should be carrying a spare Tufo track tubular with me as that tubular saved my bacon numerous times in 2007 in Switzerland and Italy. Duh!

Tomorrow sees the final bike build with final wheels. It will be interesting to get the reaction of a local boy who is part of the pro peloton, Mike Barry. He is in town and will be out riding which a Gran Fondo group east of the city. Should be an interesting day. More on that after the ride tomorrow.

You can receive instant updates on the Crazy Light project by following me at http://twitter.com/#!/cervelomatt

Also, to read the original blog series, you can check them out at http://crazylight.cc

Sea Trials - Day 2

Sun, 14 Aug 2011 04:00:00 GMT

Just before ship builders hand over the new ship to the owner, they perform a series of sea trials. Well, I am doing something similar by trying the bike out on some of my tougher training spots. Not having the legs for another Donut Ride today and looking at the early weather radar, I figured I would do a short ride.

I decided to head out to Bluffer's Park Marina which is just below the Scarborough Bluffs on the eastern side of the city. Getting there is a nice steady uphill ride with a couple of long (long is a relative word here as this is Flatland) low slope hills that take Kingston Road to the top of the Bluffs. Going out along Kingston Road is not bad, coming back is brutal. The road conditions on the way back are more suited to a mountain bike with full suspension. There are parts of the road to make some of Italy's nasty roads look down right smooth in comparison.

One of the "climbs" is a 750 m climb of around 4%. Even with a slight head wind, the climb was smooth and relatively easy. I was even able to snap a picture of the Garmin while doing it (I was doing 25.3 km/h and the heart rate was 144). By the time I hit the top, the legs were the only thing hurting but considering yesterday, that was somewhat understandable. The second picture shows the view up the road.

When I got to Brimley Road, I made the turn to go down to the marina. From a high point of about 178 m down to 90 m at the bottom of the hill, the grade of the road is generally 9 to 11% over the 800 m. The cassette on the bike at the moment is an 11-23 with a 50-36 compact crank. So, no cheating on this one.

The last two shots above show the start of the climb. Given the difficulty of the slope and the lack of easy gears, there was no way I was even going to attempt a picture during that climb! Also, the road is not the smoothest as it undulates making the climb even more difficult.

Much to my surprise, I didn't really have to dig deep even with legs which weren't in the best condition. Usually, I have to get out of the saddle on that climb (my R3-SL has an 11-23 cassette as well) but this time I didn't. And another surprise, the Garmin showed that my heart rate maxed out at 166 which while in the red zone wasn't quite at the maximum.

Now, this doesn't mean I am about to start doing mountain climbs with an 11-23. I am dumb, but not stupid.

The climbing sea trials aren't done yet. I still have 3 or 4 more hills to go play on. One set I did on Friday during the intial shake down but this time I really want to give them a go now the bike setup is getting dialed in. And thanks to Alistar for reminding me to set up the brakes. Adding some toe to the pads definitely helped the shudder. Now it is only shuddering at low speeds.

Now, here is something the reviewers aren't going to tell you about. This will probably one of the easiest bikes to clean. I noticed the bike was dirty (but not needing a full bath) when I was adjusting the saddle height after the ride so I went and got a damp cloth to clean the spots off of the frame. Lo and behold, I was able to get into all the tight spots like between the BB and rear wheel and seat post which on the R3-SL were very hard to get at unless you had tiny fingers. I very much doubt that the engineers were thinking about that when they were designing the frame, but, hey some of the design decisions resulted in greater clearances. Bonus!

You can receive instant updates on the Crazy Light project by following me at http://twitter.com/#!/cervelomatt

Also, to read the original blog series, you can check them out at http://crazylight.cc

The First (real) Ride

Sat, 13 Aug 2011 04:00:00 GMT

Just got back from the first real ride on the R5ca. As I have done on previous builds, I would do the Donut Ride to really see how things performed.

This one was no different except for the fact I followed the hammer heads up Jane Street to Kettleby. The frame did very well as did most of the components. Except for some minor shuddering (which I had real problems with during a couple of very short shakedown rides yesterday where it was quite pronounced); rear derailleur up shifting; and loose seat bolts (my bad), it did very well. Too bad the old body wasn't up to it!

On the way out, about 20 km into the ride, I started to notice some rattling as I would go over bumps and cracks. It was getting worse and I thought it may be with the headset which I had initial problems with yesterday before we reseated it. At a light I started the old routine of bouncing the bike on the wheels to see if I could locate the rattling source. First the front wheel and then the back. I could feel the seat being loose so I had found my culprit. Only problem was, my multi-tool was in the saddle bag on the R3-SL back home. Now, I had to start asking people in the group (luckily it was a BIG group) if someone had any tools. Luckily Cheryl came through with a tool and Kevin, another long time Donut Ride fixture like Cheryl, had of all things a formal set of allen keys in his jersey pockets.

With saddle firmly bolted down, it was into chase mode to catch the group. When we made it to Keele, Kevin suggested that we take the über bike up Jane, so off we went. This is usually a group of the strong riders and sure enough Darko, probably the strongest rider in the group (and many time provincial champion) came with us on his time trial bike of all things! We knew we would be in trouble as Darko was looking to some quality time on the TT bike.

Expectations were suitably met as the average speed up Jane was 38 km/h. There was one 5 km stretch that the Garmin 500 showed us doing 45 km/h average. Jane is a slightly rolling road but mostly flat. I have the feeling it was Darko on the front for that stretch.

Once we passed through Kettleby (that's the remainder of the group making the turn in the picture), it was over to Keele and back down to 17th Sideroad through a series of real rollers. It was at this point the restrictor plate popped in my engine and I got dropped. As would have it, two other guys popped around the same point so we were able to work together to get us back to the bakery but not before everyone had already left.

Kevin was still part of the group who made it to bakery as the last group and we decided to try to time trial it over to Kennedy along Bloomington. Only this time we were into an east head wind. Kevin hauled my sorry butt over to Kennedy (probably repaying me for buying him stuff at the bakery in the past; always plan ahead folks!) and we were able to catch the group as they were about a kilometre from Bloomington after just turning onto Kennedy from Vandorf Sideroad.

Down Kennedy we roar on our way to Unionville. It was a group about the same size as that going up Jane but luckily this time without any of the players who could rip your legs off without getting their heart rate over 130.

As you have probably surmised, it was a fast ride. A very fast ride. The current setup accelerates very nicely and climbing seems to be easier even with tired legs. So it looks like Richard and Don did a very good job of engineering and building this frame. The THM brakes work very nicely. If I can localize the shudder during braking with the front brake, these brakes will do very nicely. I actually locked up the rear wheel a couple of times without really having to apply a lot of pressure.

Shifting, well, either that is with the cassette or the cabling. Not sure. I think I will get Chris to swap out the cable for regular cable to see if that solves the problem. At least it will eliminate one variable.

BBright? Well, how much is BBright and frame, I don't know. But as I mentioned, the bike is zippy and accelerates really well. I know I had a 15 m gap to close at one point on Jane when people started popping and I must admit this was one time I wasn't worried about catching the back rider.

And the wheels, yes the wheels. Why the Reynolds DV 32 ULs? Quite simply, those are the only tubulars I have at the moment. I am hoping to get a new set shortly. Which ones will they be? Well, you will just have to weight and see (sorry about the bad pun there).

You can receive instant updates on the Crazy Light project by following me at http://twitter.com/#!/cervelomatt

Also, to read the original blog series, you can check them out at http://crazylight.cc

R5ca - The Build

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 04:00:00 GMT

Well, I finally got ahold of a scale to use for the initial weigh off thanks to Chris. He included his scale when the dropped off the glued wheel.

Even before we could get a weight, we knew we wouldn't be near the weight we want to be at due to the older wheel set I have. They are a great wheel set, don't get me wrong, but there are now lighter wheel sets out there for the taking.

As you can see in the second picture, we came in at 4.82 kg or 10.62 lbs. Our in the box weight was 4.96 kg or 10.94 pounds which makes sense as we cut the steerer of the fork, dropped a few chain links and trimmed the excess cable.

This isn't the über light build with the Becker saddle and the M1 Racer peddles. I suspect that when we get the new wheels we will be down near our goal of 10 lbs or 4.53 kg.

As for the first ride, I haven't been able to get out there yet. Chris dropped the wheel off at my place Tuesday night and the concierge crew forgot to tell me it was there for me to pick up so it sat there all day yesterday. I just finished getting the cassette on and put together over the lunch hour so the first ride is still to come. And, at the moment, it is blowing outside at 55 km/h (32 mph) which is not my idea of a controlled first ride especially with a new brake system.

So where is the extra weight you ask. Basically in two places: the fork and the crank. The fork is much heavier due to the extra requirements we have with regards to safety. All our bikes meet the CEN standards which are pretty thorough. We kick some of the tests up a notch or two. One of them is the front impact test which is a more strenuous test then the CEN test suite. We also impact and fatigue the steerer which is not part of the CEN tests. As a result, some additional carbon layers are necessary in the forks to make sure the forks meet our test requirements.

The second is the crank. Given the current crank on the R3-SL is the THM Clavicula which is $1,210 (Fairwheel Bikes) or 918 € (starbike.com) and the crank here is the FSA SL-K Light which is $560, you can see that you will pay for the lighter component. There is about a 120 g difference in weight between the Clavicula the SL-K Light. THM haven't come out with a BBright version of their cranks and there is no adaptor for it either. As they say, it is what it is.

With at least 150 g of extra weight in the components alone, this is a really good weight for the bike. This pretty close to the weight I had when I did the Giro di Lombardia at the end of 2008.

You can receive instant updates on the Crazy Light project by following me at http://twitter.com/#!/cervelomatt

Also, to read the original blog series, you can check them out at http://crazylight.cc

One slight glitch

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 04:00:00 GMT

Well, you can look at it in one of two ways, it a minor glitch or I have the world's lightest bike. I don't think it is the later unfortunately. Thorben called to give me the bad news regarding the scale he borrowed; he broke it. So I can't get a weight on the final (actually semi-final) build.

Also, I am waiting to get back the wheel which Chris is gluing on a tubular to before trying to get a weight. This will be a weight using the Reynolds DV32UL tubular wheels.

So, I am still a few days off from doing the first test ride. But at least the frame is out of the box!

You can receive instant updates on the Crazy Light project by following me at http://twitter.com/#!/cervelomatt

Also, to read the original blog series, you can check them out at http://crazylight.cc

T-Minus 24 hours

Sat, 06 Aug 2011 04:00:00 GMT

In about 24 hours, Chris will be dropping by my place with his lovely and talented assistant, Tulu, to build the bike. Well, that is a bit of an exaggeration, Tulu isn't lovely and not too talented regarding the mechanics of a bike. Tulu, who is an old university friend of Chris, is a former varsity football player who was somehow brainwashed into cycling by Chris. One thing is for sure, we know the bikes are well built as Tulu is a pretty big boy; not a line man, more like a tight end.

I weighed all the parts yesterday to get a rough idea of bike weight. You have to remember that these weights are not trimmed weights like the fork or cables. Also, the cables here are the stock SRAM cables and not the Power Cordz.

Component	Make	Weight w/ tires	Weight w/o tires
Frame (includes bearings, derailleur hanger, bottle cage bolts, seat post clamp, raw frame weight is 682 g)	Cervélo R5ca	779	779
Fork	Cervélo	363	363
Head set	Cane Creek	36	36
Handle bar	Schmolke	147	147
Bar plugs	Veloflyte	2	2
Crank	FSA K-Force Light	420	420
Brakes	THM Fibula	137	137
Chain Rings	Carbon Ti	102	102
Chain ring bolts	Carbon Ti	9	9
Front derailleur	SRAM Red	69	69
Rear derailleur	SRAM Red	146	146
Seat post	Schmolke	79	79
Saddle	AX Lightness	66	66
Pedals	Speedplay	167	167
Cassette	KCNC	115	115
Shifters w/cables	SRAM Red	324	324
Cable housing	SRAM Red	187	187
Cable	SRAM Red	38	38
Bar tape	3T	40	40
Risers	Extralite Delrin	7	7
Chain	KCNC	257	257
Stem	Extralite	90	90
Bottle cages	New Ultimate	26	26
Cables	Power Cordz
Front rim	Reynolds 32UL T	614	439
Rear rim	Reynolds 32UL T	742	567

		4962 g	4612 g
		10.94 lb	10.17 lb

You can receive instant updates on the Crazy Light project by following me at http://twitter.com/#!/cervelomatt

Also, to read the original blog series, you can check them out at http://crazylight.cc

T-Minus 2 days to lift off

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 04:00:00 GMT

The Hostess Twinkies and Pepsi have been ordered. The pizza shop below me is on standby. We are a couple of days from the build as "da crank is in the house!"

The crank arrived yesterday back from being stripped and repainted. It lost 1 gram between here and the paint shop somewhere on the prairies. A gram is a gram.

Like the last build we did in 2007, we will probably weigh the stuff before hand to see how much we didn't carry over to the final build.

I will try to weight the components (sans wheels) and post these weights sometime tomorrow. Sunday looks like that is when we will try to do the build as it should be raining. You won't catch me out in the rain as the last time I was caught out (which was last Sunday), I pooched a set of ceramic BB cups. Not really interested in doing that again.

You can receive instant updates on the Crazy Light project by following me at http://twitter.com/#!/cervelomatt

Also, to read the original blog series, you can check them out at http://crazylight.cc

Everything is in a box

Mon, 01 Aug 2011 04:00:00 GMT

Well, we are progressing, couriers willing. All the parts for the bike are on a container of some sort. The key one is somewhere on the Canadian prairies right now in a box with a bunch of R5ca frames that Chris Dekerf just finished painting and is sending us. I guess I can't complain too much as I am saving some money as the crank is hitching a free ride back here.

The frame is still in its box. All the other components are safely packed in the plastic box you see in the picture. The only thing that won't fit in the plastic box is the handle bar. It really is interesting how much air makes up the bike.

It has only been out once when Thorben, who used to work in customer service at Cervélo and is now doing his PhD in planning at York University, dropped by with his wife a week ago to scope out my place to see what it looked like after I had renovated it and to pick up some maple syrup I got for them. Thorben goes, "that is $10,000 in your hands" to Ireen after he handed it to her. Now, Thorben is one of those riders not easily impressed and is one of those riders who can effortlessly make you suffer while his is sitting upright cleaning his glasses going up a 3% grade. But, even he was impressed with the quality of the frame especially the paint job. So, that I guess is a good sign.

The ride in Wisconsin is out as the bike won't be built in time for that. Blue Mountain will have to do for this showdown. Don has been awfully quiet though. I am guessing he is secretly gathering his parts together now.

Now the only component I still have to figure out are the wheels. Need to find some wheels that are lighter than the current tubulars I have which I got back in 2008, the Reynolds 32 UL T. They came in at just under 1000 g without the cassette. Reynolds does have their new Rzr 46 which are around 900 g. Leightweight also make some nice wheels which are sub 1000 g. I guess it may come down to availability.

You can receive instant updates on the Crazy Light project by following me at http://twitter.com/#!/cervelomatt

Also, to read the original blog series, you can check them out at http://crazylight.cc

Zephyr

Sat, 16 Jul 2011 04:00:00 GMT

Well, it took five years to repeat the trip, but I finally made it back to Lake Simcoe last weekend. Knowing that the round trip to Jackson's Point is pretty close to 200 km, I have to make sure that I don't have any pressing work commitments before I undertake the adventure. The entire trip including breaks will generally take at least 8 hours depending on the who else is on the ride.

The first time I did the trip it was with Aaron, who was visiting from Australia, Gerard and Victor. If you have read the previous blogs on the Crazy Light project (http://crazylight.cc), you will know that riding with Victor is always an adventure.

When we did this ride back in June of 2006, his longest ride to date was around 70 km. Going to Lake Simcoe with Gerard, Aaron and myself, he really didn't know what he was in for. When we got to Zephyr, we stopped at the local gas station/convenience store. Zephyr is a typical country location with just four corners, two of which have stores. We were about 140 km into the ride and still some 60 km away from home at this point and Victor was already running on fumes. We all watched in amazement as Victor polished off a bag of potato chips and upon finishing proceeding to turn the bag inside out to only start licking the inside of the bag for the salt. Where were the camera phones when you needed one?

We finally hit the edges of civilization (not sure about that term as the countryside with no stop signs or lights every 20 feet seems must more civilized!!), we stop for a pee break at one of the malls. While we traded turns guarding the bikes, Victor goes into the Shoppers Drug Mart and exits with a tube of cream. Squirting huge gobs of this stuff into his hands, he immediately proceeds to smoother his legs with it. When we finally determine what he was using all over his legs, we couldn't contain ourselves in laughter. Victor had come back with a tube of BenGay and for the next 30 kms, whenever we were downwind of Victor, all we could smell was the BenGay and immediately we would all start giggling uncontrollably.

Fast forward to 2011. Alas, this trip to Lake Simcoe wouldn't be with Victor. Victor now knows his limits and sticks to them! This time it was with Scott, Brian and Bob. Scott is the husband of our previous credit manager, Christy and he organized the ride which meant we all would meet at his house. So that meant riding out east 30 km to the starting point (which also meant riding back 30 km from the finishing point, nice way to start and finish a ride!)

Initially, it looked like it would be just three of us until Bob showed up. That proved to be golden as Bob, being the youngest and a teacher with lots of recovery time on his hands, pulled us all the way up into a head wind to Lake Simcoe via Zephyr. To me, not stopping at Zephyr would have made the ride seem incomplete (Scott is the one in black outside the general store in Zephyr).

After stopping at the local Tim Horton's, which had a line up out the door and into the parking lot, we headed back down into the city. Going down 9^th Line, we passed through Musselman Lake where we stopped for ice cream. We had a tailwind coming back down from Lake Simcoe until we hit Stouffville were upon the wind switched 180°. It was at that point we started to drop Scott on the inclines reminding me of Victor who always would start going backwards on every hill. For me, that is ego boosting moment as Scott is in a profession where part of his day is intense training and this a man without a gram of body fat and also a least a decade younger.

When we got back to Scott's house, we trundled off to Victor's place, who is just down the street from Christy's. There we had a special presentation of a box of Ben Gay which made its way to Switzerland in 2007 where I was going to give it to Victor but forgot to give it to him each time we went out for a ride.

Better late than never.

Being the good sport he is, we all had a good laugh and great memories about that ride in 2006.

As for the R5ca build, we basically have all the parts. Well, we did momentarily. I was able to get the parts from the warehouse earlier this week and upon doing so, immediately shipped off the crank to be refinished. With the paint scheme of the R5ca, we have decided to strip down the FSA SLK Light and give it a simple coating of the same finish of the frame. We are using the same paint shop we send some of the frames to, Dekerf Cycles in Richmond British Columbia. Not quite sure when I will get it back, but at least it will not stick out like a sore thumb. So basically, the only color on the bike will be the logo on the head tube and the SRAM decals on the shifters. Everything else going on the bike, including the chain rides will match the paint scheme very nicely.

Also on order is the tracker trailer of Twinkies for the bike build itself. Have to keep the bike builder well fed.

You can receive instant updates on the Crazy Light project by following me at http://twitter.com/#!/cervelomatt

Also, to read the original blog series, you can check them out at http://crazylight.cc

My new bike ? Narrow-minded

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 04:00:00 GMT

The last component I added to my new bike were the handlebars, but one point I did not address yet was the width. I get asked on the “right” width from time to time, and as much as anybody just wants a simple answer, the problem with simple answers is that they are usually wrong.

You may know the rule about handlebar width matching shoulder width. Sounds logical. Then you ask yourself: “Why would my handlebars have to be the same width as my shoulders? There’s quite a bit of arm in-between!” Personally I like narrow bars, they make me feel compact and fast. Wide bars make me feel like I’m riding a cruiser.

Does bar width make a difference in my performance? Aerodynamically, the narrow bars probably are a bit better. Other than that I doubt it makes any difference. Some worry about the ability to breath, but with your arms free to take any position, I doubt that’s a real problem. It’s a little different with aerobars, where your elbows are locked in and hence if they are too narrow, it could affect the shape of your chest. But with dropbars that problem doesn’t exist.

What’s your favorite bar width? Let me know via twitter @gerardvroomen.

Trait 4 of champions

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 04:00:00 GMT

OK, picking this list back up again from Toby Stanton on the 11 traits to being a champion. Plenty of this in the Tour de France:

Tenacious: Certainly one of the primary traits that all champions show is tenacity. They just keep on coming whether it be a part of their training, a race or another part of their lives. Adversity is only a step in the process rather than an impassable hurdle.

Race vehicle follow-up – team cars

Wed, 13 Jul 2011 04:00:00 GMT

Many of you agree that the team car can go, which is quite surprising to me. You like the idea that such a change would likely encourage bike manufacturers to put more emphasis on durability, which has real benefits for regular cyclists. The most concern people seem to have is for the sponsors (thank you), on issues like:

“A sponsor would not be happy if a rider wins on a neutral support wheel or bike”. First of all, this happens already, albeit rarely because the team car is usually there. But the principle won’t be new, just the frequency.Secondly, this is exactly what you would want. If the sponsor is unhappy that the rider used neutral support equipment, you can bet they will focus on durability more. As a result, the neutral support equipment use will shrink, and everybody will be happy again.
“How can you fit a rider on a neutral bike with different pedals, etc.” No doubt, this may be a bit tricky. But then again, it’s just an incentive to make sure your stuff doesn’t break. And you can put pedals on a bike in 30 seconds, that’s a lot better than being out of the race.
“Each team has its own energy drink sponsor, you’ll need tons of neutral support to give each rider their own bottle.” Maybe, maybe not, if it’s just about bottles, then quite a few different ones can fit on a motorcycle. Alternatively, there could be one central energy drink sponsor (like in Ironman races for example) supplemented with team support in feed zones (similar to the special needs bag at Ironman). If you’re afraid feed zones are too dangerous too, toss in a maximum speed (like the F1 pit lane).
“Teams have energy drink sponsors, so revenue will be lost.” This revenue is quite small, so it would be a very small price to pay for safety. In reality, this set-up would allow the race to sign a large energy drink deal, and create a revenue-share with the teams for probably a net-zero or net-positive result.
“Where do all the rain jackets go when the weather changes?” Well, where do you put yours when that happens? Doesn’t seem to be a problem for millions of cyclists to carry their rain jacket. Some cycling jerseys even have pockets in the back! :-)

What do you think? As usual, let me know on twitter @gerardvroomen.

Race vehicle follow-up – photographers

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 04:00:00 GMT

“Too radical, won’t work”, some say about the idea to have fewer vehicles in the peloton (though fewer say that today than when I first posted it in May). But the idea isn’t really radical at all. I’ll go into some more detail in the next few posts, based on your feedback and questions:

“But we love the photography”. So do I, and my proposal would not reduce the number of photos you see in the media and hardly the variety.
“You need this many photographers in order not to miss anything.” If the goal is really not to miss anything, then you should spread them out. But instead many want to be in the same place to shoot the same photo, and that’s exactly where the problem occurs. You can’t let 16 photographers into the race for wide coverage, and then have them all in the same spot “because that’s the photo the media want”.
In reality there are two groups of photographers; those who capture the actual racing, and those who capture the special moments, the artistic side. You don’t need too many of the first group, as is proven already today. Right now, only 3 photographers are allowed to work the final portion of each stage, and they then share their photos with the rest. If 3 is enough to cover the most exciting part of the stage, wouldn’t it be enough for the rest of it too?
“Variety will be less”. Given that these photographers are all fighting for the same spot to take the same photo, there is no variety now. In fact, photo quality probably suffers because of the fight needed to take it. Plus there is the other part of the proposal:
Assign 2-3 photographers to take the artistic photos (and no, I don’t mean another sunflower shot), not in the thick of the action but around it, where they won’t affect the race flow.

Bottomline, the sport needs to take decisions for the betterment of the sport. Those decisions shouldn’t unduly penalize photographers or anybody else, but on the other hand we also cannot allow the sport to be hurt for the benefit of these other groups.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments section or via twitter @gerardvroomen. To ensure you get tomorrow’s follow-up post, you can subscribe here.

Race vehicle nonsense (Crossing off the Crostis)

Mon, 11 Jul 2011 04:00:00 GMT

In the Giro, the Crostis climb was taken out at the last moment. The reason was not the safety of the riders, as more than 300 trees were cut and barricades were put up to ensure that. Nope, the reason was that the team cars can’t go up that climb and that having just one support motorcycle per team was considered too little. Hence the concept was introduced that “the sporting value of the race was in danger” because a mechanical could have a big impact on the race.

Tell that to the guys who had to weld and forge their own parts back together if something broke in the formative years of cycling. Apparently in retrospect, there is no sporting value in those early races!

When you watch cycling nowadays, there are hundreds of cars driving like crazy to let 200 guys ride around. This is nuts. I see four major problems with all these cars:

It endangers the sporting value of the race (ha!) when you have the sprinters hang on the cars for dear life as they did up Etna.
It endangers the sporting value of the race (ha! ha!) when the combination of team cars, VIP cars, motorcycles and assorted other transportation regularly hinders the riders, especially on the bad roads of the classics and in the mountains. Many a breakaway attempt is foiled not by the other competitors but by a vehicle that is supposed to be a inert part of the race.
It’s plain dangerous as sports directors often drive like idiots. Most countries have passed laws that make it illegal to talk on a cell phone while driving. Many sports directors do that while at the same time talking into the team radio AND watching television. They seem to think they’re such great drivers and invincible, which makes matters only worse.
It kills any notion that cycling is an environmentally conscious sport (and cutting 300 trees for nothing doesn’t help).

Tomorrow I’ll share a proposal to bring some sanity back into the sport and bring it down to a human level.

(Originally posted May 25th, 2011)

Race vehicles recap

Mon, 11 Jul 2011 04:00:00 GMT

You may expect a post today about the ridiculous stage from yesterday, but honestly I’m lost for words.

Most of you already know my opinion on vehicles in the race and I think it would be best to just stand by the words written with a clear mind back in May rather than just jumpng on the latest fad. Here are the links to that series:

Anyway, let me just finish by saying how proud I am of Thor’s accomplishments in the first week. Simply amazing work by him to keep the jersey as long as he did. Too bad he lost it through such a crazy stage but that actually only highlights his character.

On the theme of magnanimity from last week, Thor is the only rider I can think of who has now twice waited for fallen riders and thereby given up a jersey. Remember that last year the waiting on stage 2 cost him 30 very dear points for the green jersey. Respect.

I goofed (regarding stage 1 crash)

Sat, 09 Jul 2011 04:00:00 GMT

I goofed. Thanks to Steven who pointed out an error in yesterday’s post. I said there that since it was a uphill finish, the 3km crash rule shouldn’t apply. Steven wrote in the comments that stage 1 was not classified as an uphill finish in the Tour book. I don’t have the Tour book 2011 handy, so I will take his word for it.

Also, if the finish is uphill and classified as such, it is still possible to fall under the 3km rule if the crash occurs on the flat run up to that climb. This is obviously a grey area, and the commissaires are the ones who make that call. Here are the exact rules:

[the standard 3km rule]
2.6.027 In the case of a duly noted fall, puncture or mechanical incident in the last three kilometers of a road race stage, the rider or riders involved shall be credited with the time of the rider or riders in whose company they were riding at the moment of the accident. His or their placing shall be deter- mined by the order in which he or they actually cross the finishing line.

If, as the result of a duly noted fall in the last three kilometers, a rider cannot cross the finishing line, he shall be placed last in the stage and credited with the time of the rider or riders in whose company he was riding at the time of the accident.

(text modified on 1.01.05).

[the uphill exception]
2.6.029 Articles 2.6.027 and 2.6.028 [which deals with a TTT rule] shall not apply where the finish is at the top of a hill-climb, except if the incident occurs before the climb. Every discussion regarding the qualifications «at the top of a hill-climb» and «before the climb» will be decided by the commissaires panel.

(text modified on 1.01.05).

Top-5 videos from the Tour (so far)

Fri, 08 Jul 2011 04:00:00 GMT

Five moments from the first week worth watching again on video (for as long as the Youtube powers will let us). You’ll notice that a few are about jury decisions, which I talked about in my post yesterday.

Stage 1: no, not that crash

OK, we’ve all been talking about the crash with 8km to go that took Contador down (It’s actually right at the start of this clip. But to me the more significant one happens at exactly 8mins of this video.

There is a crash with 2km to go, there are many favorites in it but in the end they are all given the same time as the group they crashed out of. The 3km rule you say? That rule explicitly does not apply to uphill finishes, and stage 1 was exactly that since there was a point for the polka dot jersey at the top. While it’s true that the climb hadn’t started yet when the crash occurred, there’s nothing about that in the rules and hence not relevant.

The Video starts with Contador crash, the 2km crash is at 7min57.

Stage 3: Thor rounds the final corner

David Millar (@millarmind) tweeted about this: “Thor-inspiring = Blind corner at 600m to go. We’re at limit on inside, Thor barrels round outside and takes over.”

Watch what David means here.

Stage 3: Thor and Cav dance

Much ado about nothing, but 10 points in the green jersey competition gone thanks to the intermediate sprint that saw Thor and Cav getting disqualified for questionable reasons.

Thor “deviates” from his line? The road bends to the left and EVERY rider in the video deviates from his line. Thor moves over about half as much as the two riders in front of him, so they should have been doubly DQ’d? It’s true that the two in front of him don’t have another rider next to them while Thor has Cav there, but I do not believe that makes any difference for the “keep your line” rule.
Cav’s “headbutt”. You may know that I have little patience for headbutts and thought Renshaw’s DQ was justified last year. But this is a lean, not a headbutt. If Cav leans with his shoulder (as he is supposed to do), he leans into air. To lean against Thor’s shoulder (as he clearly had to do to stay upright and out of the barriers), he can only use his head. Next time he’ll have to wear some ginormous shoulder pads.

Unfortunately, since I wrote this all videos of the sprint seem to have been removed from the internet. If somebody can still find it, let me know (It may still be available in your country as there are geographical restrictions).

Stage 4: Feillu drafting off the car

Everybody knows that when a rider comes back through the caravan, he hops from car to car to catch a draft. But having your own team car drop back to pull you all the way back, while you’re giving the driver hand signals to dial in the exact speed, that takes it to another level.

Watch Feillu here.

What has been your favorite piece of video so far? Let us know in the comments below or via twitter.

Stage 5: Motorbike takes bicycle with him

What is there to say, just watch the various crashes of that stage here.

Bonus: Cavendish interview before stage 4

I already wrote about it, but it’s much funnier when you see his expression (plus my transcript was not very good as I did it from memory hours later and missed half the words to begin with due to my bad internet connection.

Watch Cav on Sporza here.

What’s been your most remarkable moment in the Tour so far? Let me via twitter @gerardvroomen.

Cycling copies Football/Soccer

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 04:00:00 GMT

Cycling often looks at soccer with envy. The teams are rich, the federation is rich, doping scandals disappear before they get any traction and 7-figure donations are made from the federation to WADA instead of 5-figure donations from the athlete to the federation. So it’s disappointing that what cycling seems to be copying from football right now is the one thing we all detest: incomprehensible refereeing.

First we saw stage 1 time losses still being adjusted 3 days later. Then there was the Cavendish-Hushovd intermediate sprint, now there is the Rojas-Boonen sprint. Not only the calls themselves raise questions, the timing makes it all even worse. If you have an intermediate sprint at 2pm, can you really not review the tape and make a decision before you have the jersey ceremony at 6pm? How long does a video review take during an (ice) hockey or (American) football game? 30 seconds?

Any fan with a Twitter account and a Youtube connection can make these calls more efficiently (if they were calls to be made to begin with) than is currently happening. That said, if it takes five hours to review a video, we shouldn’t be surprised it takes 12 months to review a doping case.

Top-5 comments on Fake Magnanimity

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 04:00:00 GMT

Just today, two posts. The first post today was on what cycling unfortunately seems to be borrowing from soccer. Below is the second post.

Great comments and tweets from you regarding Fake Magnanimity (I used that title because according to the blogging experts you’re not allowed to use “difficult words”. Blog traffic would indicate you are no ordinary blog readers!) Here are the 5 comments that kept coming back:

Comment 1: There is no reason to wait for Contador

My perspective: I fully agree, there isn’t. This is racing.

Comment 2: The stage 1 crash is not comparable to the dropped chain from last year’s Tour.

My perspective: Of course it isn’t, but if we have to wait until Contador drops his chain before we can judge how others respond, we can wait a long time since he is a professional bike rider. My point was not that the situations were similar, but rather that in both situations, team leaders had a choice. And the choices they made were pretty darn similar.

Comment 3: What else can Andy do?

My perspective: This is not about Andy, every team leader in the front group was given an opportunity to make a decision. And they took a legitimate one, just not the one some of them last year claimed they would take.

Comment 4: What are the team leaders supposed to do, drop out of the front group?

My perspective: This underestimates the power some team leaders have. If Andy or Cadel rides at the front and says “We slow down”, the peloton slows down. They weren’t actually going that fast at the time. And if not, at least he can say he tried (that’s the best actually, appear magnanimous and still take the advantage, see Vino in the 2010 Giro Strade Bianche stage). I’ll say it for the third time to avoid confusion, nobody HAS TO do this, they can.

Comment 5: The team leaders were merely riding in the pack after the crash.

My perspective: This sounds a bit hollow if you send your team mates to the front to speed up said pack.

Anyway, just my opinion, I realize you can look at this in many different ways that are totally legit as well. Thanks for all your comments on the blog page and on twitter, I appreciate it. As always, contact me about anything via the comments below or via @gerardvroomen.

Hurry up and wait

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 04:00:00 GMT

Well, as you can probably see, not much progress on getting the parts out of the warehouse. As a rule, the consumer orders come first, as they should. Internal orders for staff tend to be way down on the priority list and usually get processed about once a month. Operative word here is about. When things are busy, they may get pushed into the next month. Guess what, it is next month.

In the meantime, since the beginning of July, I have been putting the rubber to the road when possible as finally some nice steady weather has arrived. From July 1^st until now, I have been able to put just over 600 km on my Garmin Edge 500. Also, I am hoping to shed those last few personal floatation devices around my core. If I want to beat Don, I will have no choice but to trim down.

When I did the Etape du Tour four years ago next week, I was about 75 kg (165 lbs.). Interestingly, I peeked at 78 kgs (172 lbs.) a year ago in the spring. Last summer I decided to go on a crash course of hill repeats in an effort to lose that weight and improve my aerobic fitness. It seemed to work because by the time November rolled around I was down to 68 Kg (150 lbs.). I am now hovering around that mark now and would like to lose a further 3 kg to get down to about 65 kg (145 lbs.). The way I look at it is that for each kilogram of weight lost that is two less water bottles in am lugging around the entire ride.

As for the bike build of four years ago, here is the spec on it:

Component	Manufacturer	Weight
Saddle	AX-Lightness Phoenix	67
Seat Post	Schmolke TLO 250	85
Bars	Schmolke TLO 44 C to C	148
Bar Tape	Cervélo	59
Fork	THM Scapula Tuned w/ cap - Cut	245
Crank	THM Clavicula	412
Chain Rings 50T/34T	Carbon-Ti	98
Brake levers	SRAM Force	334
Rear Derailleur	SRAM Force	175
Front Derailleur	SRAM Force	85
Cable/Housing	Nokon	107
Front wheel	HED Bastogne w/ Challenge tubulars	860
Rear wheel	HED Bastogne w/ Challenge tubulars and 105 12-27 cassette	1390
Brakes	Zero Gravity 0G07	174
Chain	KMC X10 SL	223
Bottle Cages	B-T-P	30
Pedals	Speedplay zero w/ custom 45º Aluminum bowtie	143
Headset	FSA Orbit IS Carbon	89
Headset Spacer	FSA Carbon 10 mm	5
Stem	Syntace F-99	103
Bolts	Ti replacement bolts	2
Seat post clamp	Cervélo	9
Frame	Cervélo R3-SL 56	785
	Total weight (in grams)	5628

That build was just before the SRAM Red was released. I went over to Europe with some Zipp 303s (2006 vintage) which weren't exactly the okay as the front rim wasn't the same width at the braking surface and was grabbing at one spot when braking. Not exactly what you wanted when descending a mountain. Hence, the HED Bastogne tubulars.

Here are the components thus far. I haven't weighed them all yet and will do so shortly so I have a record of their unbuilt weight.

Component	Manufacturer
Saddle	AX-Lightness Phoenix
Seat Post	Schmolke TLO 250
Bars	Schmolke TLO 42 C to C
Bar Tape	3T LTD
Fork	Cervélo
Crank	FSA K-Force Light BBright
Chain Rings 50T/36T	Carbon-Ti
Brake levers	SRAM RED
Rear Derailleur	SRAM RED
Front Derailleur	SRAM RED
Cable/Housing	Nokon
Front wheel	Reynolds DV 32UL T w/ Vittoria TT tubulars
Rear wheel	Reynolds DV 32UL T w/ Vittoria TT tubulars
Cassette	KCNC 12-25
Cables	IO Dupont Power Cordz
Brakes	THM Fibula
Chain	KMC X10 SL
Bottle Cages	B-T-P
Pedals	Speedplay Zero Nanograms
Headset	Cane Creek
Headset Spacer	FSA Carbon 10 mm
Stem	Extralight 8º 120 mm
Frame	Cervélo R5ca 56

Hopefully, we will get the remaining parts of headset, crank and shifters. Then I can try to get this puppy built and do some comparison rides. Until then, it is the trusty R3-SL for the rides.

You can receive instant updates on the Crazy Light project by following me at http://twitter.com/#!/cervelomatt

Also, to read the original blog series, you can check them out at http://crazylight.cc

Another Cav interview masterpiece

Wed, 06 Jul 2011 04:00:00 GMT

Watching Sporza last night just to catch the next Cav interview. @Wielerman did not disappoint. I missed some parts due to my very slow internet connection, but it went something like this:

Wielerman: Quite a controversy about the intermediate sprint yesterday

Cav: [Silence]…

Wielerman: Eh, Thor Hushovd said that if anything was wrong he will accept the penalty but it should not be you.

Cav: [Silence] …

Wielerman: No comment?

Cav: Well, you’re not asking a question, are you? You’re making a statement, so there is nothing for me to answer.

Wielerman: [Silence] … OK, so if I ask you a question, would you answer?

That was the comedy part of the exchange. Just on the off-chance you’re also interested in the actual question that got an actual answer, it finally went something like this:

Wielerman: You and Thor were disqualified, describe what happened?

Cav: I don’t know what happened, I really don’t. I would like the commissaires to make a video for me to show what I did wrong and what I should have done instead. I just don’t know, what should I do to keep my line and avoid crashing? I honestly don’t know, I don’t know what I did wrong and I don’t know what I should do differently. I really don’t. Can they please explain it?

In the studio they speculated that it may have been a case of the commissaires “warning” everybody that they would be strict this year. Maybe that was necessary given some of the antics last year, but you’d better pick a REAL issue to use as a warning, not a fake one like this sprint. Because now everybody is talking about how incomprehensible the call was, not about how to sprint in relative safety (if there is such a thing).

Fake magnanimity

Mon, 04 Jul 2011 04:00:00 GMT

Now, first off, there was no reason not to take advantage of the crash on Saturday. That’s part of racing, everybody knows crashes happen. Staying in the front is part of the job in the first week of the Tour if you want to win the overall.

Yet it is a little surprising that some of the riders who after “Chaingate” claimed they would slow down if their arch rival encountered a calamity couldn’t wait to get their teammates to the front to distance Contador. It’s a lot easier to be generous in theory than in practice.

It fits right into my concept from last year that anybody is willing to be magnanimous when they know it won’t affect the outcome. Win the Tour AND look like a gentleman, that’s the ultimate.But if one of the two has to be sacrificed, it’s exit Gentleman. And why not, it’s not a butlering contest. Just don’t bore us with the “I wouldn’t have done that” crap.

Ultimately this is good news for Contador. First off, it shows he is no worse than other riders for not waiting last year (I should specify “during Chaingate”, as he did wait for Schleck during “Slipperyroadgate” on stage 2, which was also explained through last year’s concept). And secondly, if his opponents were convinced they could beat him in a straight-up fight, they wouldn’t have needed their helpers to put time into him on Saturday. So the team leaders have voted, and they think it will take a calamity to keep Contador from winning this year.

[Thanks to spanielsson for the comment that gave the inspiration for this post]