darkmoon

I love this kinda column

It teaches me new words, PARDON, FLAHUT.

cobbles, dirt paths, mud, rain, gale-force winds,
they are beautiful words for cycling fans, only

fair weather and mirror-smooth road, but gale-force wind
hmmm, very Flanders
another digital copy

steelbikeguy

It does seem like cycling does require a certain tolerance of suffering! Very important for the competitor, and a helpful attribute for bike commuters and recreational riders.

No cobblestones here in central Illinois, but we do get some wind and nasty weather. It's good to be able to slog into a 20 mph headwind, because there are plenty of days where you'll have to do it if you want to get out for a ride.

At this time of year, the winds can also be combined with a bit of the white stuff...



Of course, there are days where I get out the cross-country skis instead of the bike!

Steve in Peoria (enjoyed a nice 30 mile ride in 40F (4C) temperatures today)

darkmoon

Weather of Pacific coast of Japan is much better than central Illinois.
Northern part, Hokkaido and Tohoku, it snows, but not much.
Tokyo and farther south area, it snows a few times every winter.
Fair weather almost every day.


Yokohama's New Year's day with beautiful Mt. Fuji




A family grows lemon.
Sun-kissed lemon

steelbikeguy

very scenic!

No mountains in central Illinois.
We do have some spots that weren't scraped flat by glaciers, and they provide some entertainment and challenge....



If you ride these hills in the correct direction, it's sort of like a roller coaster.
This is Brimfield-Jubilee road, on the north side of Jubilee College park, just to the west of Peoria (if you want to explore with google map)

Steve in Peoria

steelbikeguy

LeTour Heros
Do we love the riders that win constantly and predictably, or do we love some drama, tension, and style?? Sure, we admire Eddy and are amazed at his achievements, but was it any fun to watch a race when you were nearly certain of the outcome at the start? Roger takes a look at some champions of the past who won despite difficult circumstances or odds.
(as a resident of the USA, I'd put Andy Hampsten into this category too, mostly because of events during his win on the Gavia in the 1988 Giro d'Italia)






Steve in Peoria

darkmoon

Cycling, more so than any other sports, needs 'panache', showmanship.
If feeds on brilliant moves and a race must be fought with spirit to capture the imagination of the crowds.
A great career cannot be built without dash and daring.
I have always said that it's not the number of victories that counts, but their quality.
~Eddy Merckx The Fabulous World of Cycling~


The race is a spectacle.
I never liked those who are evasive, who calculate, who economize their efforts.
Gauging the course by the millimeter detracts from the quality of the performance, and a victory without a stroke of brilliance has only an ephemeral value.
To start to sprint seventy kilometers from the finish is obviously not reasonable, but reason and panache never do mix well.
Nevertheless, this didn't stop Guillaume Driessens from lecturing me on prudence.
Prudence?
What's that?
Winning the Tour des Flanders by more than five minutes ahead of Gimondi was the first small folly of my career.
~Eddy Merckx, on his 1969 Tour des Flanders The Fabulous World of Cycling~



I don't ride to please the crowds, but to win a race.
~Bernard Hinault~
(But he won the last stage of Tour de France, Champs Elysees, twice, 1979 and 1982. How about his 1980 Liege-Bastogne-Liege victory in the snow, riding alone for 70km, 2nd Henni Kuiper at 9:24?)

steelbikeguy

Making Light of Things
The early days of titanium frames were exciting! After a century of steel frames, this expensive high tech metal promised less weight and higher speeds. Roger looks back on his experiences with a Speedwell titanium frame and at the company's history.







Steve in Peoria

darkmoon

Very interesting article and fun

One day, I asked Masatoshi Ichikawa, Japan's first pro road racer, about the bike weight.
"Lighter is better, absolutely. Even 10g, or 0.35oz, is a big difference. I can feel 10g difference. I would always pick a 10g lighter bike. Light is right"
His sense of bike weight took me off guard and surprised me.

Eddy Merckx 1969 Tour de France bikes, with drilled and milled parts, were stunning and cool.
I got them right, what they meant, when Ichikawa taught me about the bike weight.

steelbikeguy

Carbon fiber frames and components have really changed what it means to build a light bike nowadays. I'm not even sure what has been achieved lately... but I just assume it would be frightening to ride.

Back in the 70's, when aluminum was still the most exotic metal (or material) to build a bike with, light weight was achieved by what was removed, and not by how parts were designed. At least that was the philosophy at Panasonic, where they removed enough material to bring a track bike's weight to 10.5 pounds (or 4.77 kg). It is impressive how well they considered the details of what metal was essential and what was not.





Steve in Peoria

darkmoon

Another "I wish I wouldn't dispose of bike mags"

New Cycling mag of Japan planned an article of "Challenge to 0.0g"
Build extremely light road bikes and time trial of Mt. Fuji Subaru Line hill climb, about 25km.
Was it a time trial or just rode up Subaru Line, I'm not sure.
It was a literally uphill battle.
It was held in 1977 or 1978, I suppose.
3 took part in it.
Yoshi Konno, founder and president of 3Rensho, Mr. Makino, working with 3Rensho, and Mr. Hasebe, working with Shimano and assigned to Superior team of Belgium.

I don't remember the details.

From the deep of my memory...

They used Ishiwata 015 for the main 3 tubes and other thin walled tubes of Columbus and Reynolds.
Derailleur adjustment screws were changed to plastic screws.
Most bolts and nuts were aluminum.

Mr. Makino's bike was given from Yoshi Konno.
He modified details.
The bike's crank set was Sakae ESL with a aluminum BB axle!
(Yes, aluminum, not titanium)
Teeth of chain rings were cut off alternately, which means 52t is 26t and 42t is 21t.
To shorten and lighten the ESL seat post, the seat tube was extended 10 or 15cm from the seat lug top.
The seat lug clamps were cut off and new clamps were brazed on the top of the extended seat tube.
The chain was Regina titanium, extremely high price in those days and I hadn't see it in the bike shops.

Mr. Hasebe used some Shimano's test products, which would be Dura Ace EX, or 7200 series.
They were brake set and crank set, I suppose.

Yoshi Konno bike : about 6.02kg
Mr. Makino bike : about 7.00kg
Mr. Hasebe bike : about 7.50kg

And they ride Mt. Fuji Subaru Line with their bikes.
Yoshi Konno's bike BB loosened and bearing dropped one by one, couldn't finish.
Others finished successfully, but I don't remember their time.

They were as light as modern carbon bikes.
But too whippy without doubt.
Pro cyclists' smooth pedaling was a must.
Ishiwata 019 and Tange #1 tube are thicker than 015, but are whippy.


Added Jan. 14 2023

I found the last page of "Challenge to 0.0g", which says :

Yoshi Konno's bike weighed about 6,400g.
It took about　450,000yen.
(Current price range would be 3 times, 1,350,000yen)
He used some test products to reduce 600g.
With easily available parts, it would weigh 7,000g and be 300,000yen.
He wanted try the next year for his satisfaction, and he believed it would help improve products

In my memories about bike prices, hmmm, De Rosa with Campy Super Record was about 370,000yen.

steelbikeguy

Off the Pace
What could be more interesting and frightening than track racers closely following a motorcycle around the track and reaching speeds around 70mph?! This is a description of motor-paced racing. In this article, Roger looks at the history of motor-pacing and the possible end of it in the near(?) future.







Steve in Peoria

darkmoon

For Japan's old cyclists like me, motor-pace races are well-known, at least more than younger cyclists.

Yoshi Konno of 3Rensho wrote a report of demi-fond frame building for New Cycling mag.
It said he could write radical things about demi-fond bikes because nobody would build one

And Bordeaux-Paris.
Herman Vanspringel won 1978, riding Superior bike, of Belgium, which was built by Miyata in those days.
And tubes were Ishiwata 017.
Parts were Dura Ace EX, or 7200 series.
Ishiwata's ad of New Cycling, "Ishiwata won Bordeaux-Paris" was bigger than a race report

Le Peloton du Cyclisme #4 , New Cycling was Bordeaux-Paris.
Pierre Chany wrote a brief history and major episodes of the race.
The episode of 1965 race and Jacques Anquetil was very interesting and touching.
He won Criterium du Dauphine Libere and started Bordeaux-Paris after 6 hours.
At the start line, he looked as though he'd already been dead, pale face, lifeless look.
Nobody could expect he would win in 15 hours.
Proud Ancquetil couldn't give up and won the race.
He showed "panache" unintentionally.

steelbikeguy

Track racing in the USA is limited to a small number of cities with velodromes. Even there, I don't know when they last had a motor-paced event.
My exposure to this style of racing is limited to old magazine articles or historical publications.

The closest I've gotten to motor-pacing was a bike displayed at a NAHBS event. Don Walker showed a stayer bike that he built. The exotic parts indicate that it is just for show, and not for actual racing. It's still intriguing just to examine and appreciate the details...









Steve in Peoria (the nearest tracks are Chicago's Northbrook and the Major Taylor track in Indianapolis, IIRC)

steelbikeguy

The Olympic Games
Roger reviews the Olympics, Great Britain's involvement, and the changes in Olympic cycling events over the decades.






Steve in Peoria

darkmoon

A friend is good at French and have been working for UCI-sanctioned road races in Japan.
Last year, worked with JOC for Olympic road races.

1964 Tokyo Olympics, Eddy Merckx rode men's road race.
The pic shows Eddy and Masashi Omiya, who was the best road racer of Japan at the time.






1984 LA Olympics licensed cup
JOC made it.

steelbikeguy

Eddy was just a kid back then! He looks so young.
I didn't even know that he raced in the Olympics. Cool!

Steve in Peoria

steelbikeguy

On the Chain Gang
Roger looks back on training rides back in the day. Who hasn't enjoyed going out with friends and riding as hard as you can? Maybe it's not as scientific or effective as a well planned session on the indoor trainer, but it's got to be more enjoyable!







Steve in Peoria

steelbikeguy

One for the Road
What does a racer do after a career where a certain amount of fame is achieve? Some use that recognition to open a restaurant where their fans can gather and socialize. Is this common to other sports too? I recall that Ozzie Smith of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team had (has?) a restaurant in St. Louis that was very popular.






Steve in Peoria

darkmoon

Bars and cafes in Europe for cycling fans.
Hmmm, I wanna go there, Holland or Belgium or England.
Because they speak English, hahaha.

Well,
Amstel Gold Race.
The course is very complicated.
Why?
Cycle Sport mag of England, circa 2004 or 2005, said the sponsor, Amstel Beer, wanted the course to pass as many Amstel Beer bars as possible.
Hmmm, it's convincing.

steelbikeguy

Pardon My Language
Bikes have their own special terminology, and the sport does too. Combine that with the fact that the sport takes place in many different countries with different languages, and with a history spanning decades, and it's no wonder that misunderstandings occur!






Steve in Peoria

darkmoon

Very interesting and I enjoyed so much

Shoe plates, yes!, shoe plates.
My first racing shoes, leather Sidi, had shoe plates.
The groove of the shoe plate is very good with the plate of Kyokuto Pro Ace.
Both sizes were a perfect combination.
I don't know about Campy pedals and leather Sidi because they were to expensive for college kids to buy.

The grooves of shoe plates were often clogged with dirt when we walked with racing shoes on.
We needed a nail or 3mm Allen key or a small screw driver to clear the groove.
Good old days

steelbikeguy

I started out with metal cleats by T.A. that were nailed onto leather shoes. Very durable, and very slick if you tried to walk on a hard floor!

I still use some vintage shoes with slotted cleats with my C&V bikes. While I try not to walk on them, there are times when I have to use the screwdriver on my little Swiss Army knife to get dirt or a little rock out of the slot of the plastic cleat. SPD cleats are a big improvement if you have to do any walking, but just don't look as sleek!



Steve in Peoria

steelbikeguy

Patrick Sercu - Racing to Nowhere
Roger looks back on the life and career of Patrick Sercu, winner of mulitple stages in the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia, as well being "the undisputed king of the six-day racing circuit".







Steve in Peoria

repechage

Note in the TdF image- Eddy's bike has a seat tube waterbottle cage and the fork crown is painted.

Sercu has a cool Gios Torino- too bad cannot observe any milling of components.

steelbikeguy

wow, you are looking at this stuff much closer than I ever did!

That does seem to be a very early use of a seat tube bottle cage, at least per my limited knowledge. Of course, he's not carrying a Silca on the seat tube either.
I did notice that his bike has the headbadge with his picture on it. Was he the only guy to ever do that?? Did LeMond ever race on a bike badged as a LeMond?? (probably not?)
Boy, Eddy was one of a kind!

Steve in Peoria