Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 at
10:56 pm
When you think of classic bike frames of the bygone era there is one main frameset tubing supplier that instantly sprinsg to mind... Reynolds.
Their 531 steel frameset has been proven as the ultimate workhorse time and time again. Whether it's in its racing guise as Reynolds 531c or its touring flavour as Reynolds 531st its been the serious cyclist's tubing of choice for classic frames that can easily stand the test of time.
The Reynolds Tube Company as we know it today was founded in 1889 by John Reynolds in Birmingham, England. In 1897, the Reynolds had patented the process for making tubes which are thicker at the ends than in the middle, which we now call butted that allowed frame builders to create frames that were both lightweight and strong. The double-butted tube-set was the 531 which Reynolds introduced in 1934. Unfortunately Reynolds 531 tubing is now only available on special order so if you want a 531 frame you'd be better off looking back to the classics.
There were different variations of 531 tubing for different use -
531ATB and Magnum- Designed for Mountain, All terrain, Off road
531C - Racing- Road, cyclo-cross, track and time trial.
531OS - Oversize
531 Professional - Superseded 531SL, for road racing and time trials.
531SL and Professional - Special lightweight (SL) tubeset
531 Speed Stream - 531SL Oval shaped aerodynamic tube for time trial bikes
531ST and Super Tourist- Stronger touring tubeset
Reynolds 753 tubing was made for professional level racers. It's essentially Reynolds 531 heat treated to increase its tensile strength and with a reduced wall thickness to keep the weight down. It will only be found on frames by built by master craftsmen approved by Reynolds.
Reynolds 653 tubeset came about with the input of former campione di campioni Eddy Merckx. He instructed Reynolds that a vanilla 753 frame was too harsh for certain stages of the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia. Combining 753 stays with 531 forks and main tubes which were actually a slightly thinner walled version of regular 531. This combination worked well for the racers and resulted in an ultra stiff efficient frame while at the same time providing a forgiving ride when needed.
Reynolds 853 was a newer addition to the ranks as a seamless air hardened heat treated tubeset that also came in an OS oversized flavour making it very popular with mtb purists.
Reynolds' latest tubing development is the 953 which they have been designing with Carpenter Special Alloys. Based on a stainless steel alloy with very thin tube walls it is currently only used by a few specialist builders.
Monday, November 2nd, 2009 at
10:57 pm
Fixed gear frames have become extremely popular lately due to their ease of maintenance, elegant construction and the beautiful ride they give. Experienced club riders have long since switched to riding a fixed gear through the winter as it gives them a more maintenance free ride when the weather is bad and makes them a better rider through developing souplesse.
Couriers have made fixed gears fashionable again for city and suburban riders with many opting to ride custom lightweight frames kitted out with some of the lightest aerodynamic components ever made.
If you want to put your own fixed gear bike for sale you've got several choices - buy one off the peg or get hold of a frame and spec your own components. We prefer the latter - get hold of your own fixed gear frame and either trawl ebay for cheap components or hunt out exotic rare components and make a bike that is both beautiful and unique.
There are four main frame materials you will be looking at - steel, aluminium, titanium and carbon. Our favourite is steel but each have there own pros and cons. Ideally the frame will have rear facing track ends where the rear wheel slots in and allows for adjustment to keep the chain tensioned. You can also use a frame with horizontal sloping dropouts but these can make it a bit harder to get the chain tension right.
Sunday, October 4th, 2009 at
7:52 am
Greg LeMond was one of the first ever global superstars of cycling. An English speaking rider who transcended the cycling world and drifted into popular culture. He won the 1983 world championship on the road, having won the silver medal the previous year making him one of the youngest winners ever of the event.
Lemondgot third in the Tour de France of 1984, he was second in the Tour in 1985 where he saved the yellow jersey of the leader Bernard Hinault (troubled following his fall at Saint-Etienne), even to sacrifice his personal ambitions. It is the first non-European and the first American winner of the Tour de France in 1986 after a fratricidal duel with the ambiguous and tough Bernard Hinault.
In spring 1987, a hunting accident where he was accidentally shot by his brother-in-law nearly ended his life and kept him away from cycling for two years,leaving him with 37 pellets in his body for the rest of his life.
After 2 years of mixed performance in 1989, he again won the Tour de France by taking the advantage in extremis Laurent Fignon: both men were virtually tied in time for most of the race, the yellow jersey alternately passing on the shoulders of one then the other. Before the last stage, one runs against the clock to only 24.5 km, LeMond has fifty seconds behind the Frenchman Fignon. He came in ahead by the famous 8 seconds, which is still the smallest gap ever recorded in a large tour between the winner and the second placed rider.
The same year he again won the world championship road in Chambery, after a decisive attack against ... Laurent Fignon.
The following year, LeMond won again in the Tour de France by beating Claudio Chiappucci of Italy by 2'16, taking the yellow jersey at the last time trial against the clock. This victory caused controversy since LeMond won by elimination, not by domination (all the favorites collapse) and the American., too busy to catch up on opportunistic Chiapucci (10 minutes gleaned from the 1st stage) did not actually win any stages.
In 1991, he finished over 13 minutes behind Miguel Indurain. He later said to have had the feeling of not being able to express himself fully on the end of his career because of competition from riders doped with EPO product which then made its appearance in the peloton . He is the sole winner of the Tour since 1947 to have never been involved in a doping case.
Greg LeMond also brought some of the innovations most used today: he introduced thetriathlete handlebar and aero helmet and he popularized sunglasses designed specifically for cycling.
Unlike previous winners of the Tour de France, LeMond was the first to base its season just around this event. He was followed later by the eventual winners of the Tour, such as Miguel Indurain, Jan Ullrich and Lance Armstrong. However, relativisons noting that it proceeded in this manner until 1990 following his success in the Tour de France 1989 Giro after a mediocre (39th).
Greg LeMond has a good popularity among the French public despite his victories over Bernard Hinault and Laurent Fignon, the last two French winners of the Tour de France. His naivety in the race and his outspokenness may be the cause of his strained relationship with Jonathan Boyer, Bernard Hinault, Laurent Fignon, Claudio Chiappucci or recently Lance Armstrong, with whom he distanced himself after the publication of the book LA Confidential . About His criticism of the seven-time Tour de France lead the company that sells Trek bikes bearing his name to file a court application to terminate the commercial contract between them which was a great pity as Lemond bikes were very highly, much like Greg was as a rider.
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Saturday, October 3rd, 2009 at
12:42 am
Laurent Fignon was one of France's greatest latter day professional cyclists. He began his professional career in 1982 after taking more than 50 wins in the amateur ranks. He amazingly won the Tour de France in 1983 during his first attempt, then in 1984 when he beat Bernard Hinault on the back. Fignon spent eleven years riding as a professional during which he won a total of 81 races including the Fleche Wallonne in 1986, Milan-San Remo in 1988 and 89 (the Italians have awarded him the title of "professore" for his double), the Giro in 1989 (2nd in 84) and the Grand Prix des Nations the same year. Finally, he achieved the No. 1 professional cyclist UCI World Ranking following his fantastic 1989 season.
In the eyes of many english speaking fans he remains probably most famous for having lost the Tour de France in 1989 to Greg LeMond in the final stage timetrial between Versailles and Paris for 8 "small" seconds after over 3 000 km of racing. With his flowing pony tail and exposed shoe laces he gave Lemond the chance he needed to take the yellow jersey with the aid of an aero helmet and aerodynamic triathlon handlebars.
His career was marred by two positive doping tests for amphetamines in 1987 at the Grand Prix of Wallonia and in the 1989 Grand Prix Eindhoven.
At the end of his sporting career, Fignon launched a company organizing cycling events. It has included, through the "Laurent Fignon Organization" the Paris-Nice in 2000 and 2001, before selling the rights to Amaury Sport Organization, the organisers of the Tour de France.
The brand name "Laurent Fignon is owned by Auchan, which markets bicycles under that marque. Fignon was subsequently a consultant for a very long time on Eurosport France.
He revealed in an interview with the TV show "from 7 to 8" on June 14, 2009 on TF1 that he suffers from an "advanced cancer" of the pancreas, but did not know if this can be linked to taking performance-enhancing drugs that it took, as everyone says he, throughout his sporting career.
During his sporting career, he was considered the "intellectual" of the bunch, because of his glasses and the fact that he was one of the few holders in the peloton of the baccalaureate.
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Tuesday, September 29th, 2009 at
11:19 pm
If we ignore the cheaper supermarket style high tensile steel frames and look at the classic steel alloy frames which are often a mixture with chrome, manganese, nickel etc we can see the the recent successful utilization of aluminium and carbon fibre meant that steel had to raise its game to keep up in the bike frame business.
Go back to the 80s and Reynolds 531 and 753 and Columbus SL and SP dominated the racing market. Look at the 1990s and beyond to see Reynolds and Columbus joined by a multitude of other tubing manufactuers whilst expanding their own offerings of tubesets to satisfy a greater demand of rider's requirements. Touring, mtb, track, time trialing all require slightly different tubesets.
In addition to the wider selection of steels consumers are also faced with a wider choice of tubes made from the materials. Plain guage and double butted have been supplemented by a wide selection of different buttings and profiles.
To a great extent steel had become unfashionable amonst riders which means it becomes fashionable for restorers. Newer materials are often pushed as being 'better' , however its certainly worth remembering that good steel tubes remain eminently suitable for bicycle frames. They also usually offer the answer when the question is quite simply "what frame should I get?"
For: Strong, Cheap, Stiff, Repairable
Against: Rust
Good examples of steel frames for restoration projects
Easy: Raleigh, Bianchi, Colnago, Merckx, Peugeot
Harder to find: Masi, Botecchia, Pinarello, Moser, ciocc, wilier,
Great if you can get one: Legnano, Roberts, Mercian, Hetchins
Monday, September 21st, 2009 at
1:45 pm
The name Atala was considered one of the great manufacturers of Italian bicycles, particularly racing models of the past. It was founded by Cesare Rizzato in Padua, Italy.
Since the early twentieth century Atala ran its own cycling team, participating in the first editions of the Tour of Italy and having success to win the unusual competition for teams of 1912.
Following a high period which saw many victories on the road at some of the world championships in the 80s the company hthen experienced a period of crisis, being sold by the Rizzo family in 2002, forming the new group Atala, owned by a group of owners of Milan and Banca Antonveneta. It is currently owned by the Turkish company Bisiklet Bianchi, with Turkey being almost the entire centre of production, so famous an Italian brand with production in Turkey.
Today Turkey produces mainly a leisure bike with various lines, but imports from China also accessories, spare parts and items for fitness.
Atala also diversified like many other manufactueres into motorcycles.
From 1938 to 2002 was a remarkable motorcycle production in the field of small displacements and some models were powered by the electric motor.
From our point of view looking at classic bikes Atala was definitely a full range manufacturer. They did produce entry level models and during the 1970's bike boom these models were barely above department store models. These bicycles left a lot to be desired, but they attracted the customers, because the Italians made sure they emphasized the cosmetics with lots of chrome and elegant paint. During the 1980s there were many lower mid-range model made which can still be picked up today and restored into an interesting project. During this period many of the Italian manufacturers simply named the bicycle based on the tubeset and/or grouppo eg Atala Aelle Triomphe. It may have been Campy Triomphe or Gran Sport equipped but more likely it was Campagnolo derailleurs mixed with various Miche, Gipiemme, Modolo, Ofmega and/or Universal componentry. If you are lucky enough find an old Italian frame to work on you might want to consider sourcing these components to keep it unique.
Friday, September 18th, 2009 at
12:25 pm
It is thought there were around a million two-wheelers operating in Europe in the late nineteenth century, but at this point nobody had yet built one in Italy until a young mechanic in Milan could be classified the equivalent of what Henry Ford was for the United States, came up with the most revolutionary idea of his time, to build high-quality bicycles.
His name was Edoardo Bianchi and he was born in Milan on 17 July 1865. With no news about his origins or his family he grew up in the "Martinitt" (of which he was throughout his life one of the most generous donors) where he had been taught the rudiments of mechanics. The young craftsman had a premonition about the future of mechanized transport when, in August of 1885 he opened a shop in Milan, in Via Nirone n.7 to and between medical and wheeled carriages, bells and kitchen equipment, he happened to have to repair bicycle.
He understood immediately that the velocipede, with its efficiency, simplicity and self-propelled engine would be the future of transportation and he concentrated all his efforts on it, developing a philosophy: to only build high quality with the best materials available.
Already in 1888 his reputation had spread throughout the city so he had to expand with a factory opened in Via Bertani. Business was good and his reputation grew in tandem with the advances of his bikes. He was, for example, the first to adopt that very year, the invention of Scottish veterinarian John Dunlop's inflatable tyres and to offer its customers this avant-garde product.
He again expanded his store by moving to the Via Borghetto when they happened on two occasions he was able to exploit surprise and achieve a turning point for his company.
The first was when Queen Margherita, on holiday in Monza, called him to the palace. The request was to teach her to ride a bicycle. Edoardo hastily built a bike for the sovereign which was of course adorned with blue and gold crest on the frame of the House of Savoy, It also had knobs of ivory and Edoardo Bianchi took her to a wooden box lined with red velvet .
The impact of this was dramatic. Bianchi was awarded the title of "Official Supplier to the Royal Household" and it was even necessary to form an assembly line to meet the demands of bicycles the same as that of the queen who also came from Spain, France and Portugal.
Thursday, September 17th, 2009 at
12:15 pm
Legnano (pronounced Len-yan-o) has been one of the largest manufacturers of bicycles in Italy and is also known for having long had a vrey successful cycling team.
In addition to making high end race bikes, Legnano also produced leisure bikes, keeping unchanged for a long time the colors and graphics on the frame, a particular color green which even today is associated with the Italian brand.
The image of the company was a badge which represented an effigy of Alberto da Giussano, which until the 1960s, models were made of brass and affixed the head tube. Over time this was subsequently replaced by badges or stickers.
The brand Legnano has been taken over by fellow Milanese bike producers Bianchi, who today continues to produce a line of racing bikes under the Legnano brand aimed at the medium level racing market.
Present as a team since the first editions of the Tour of Italy at the beginning of the twentieth century, Legnano emerged in the decade preceding the Second World War thanks to riders like Gino Bartali. In the late '30s he was hired as an amateur along with Fausto Coppi, who, past professional won the Giro surprisingly in 1940.
The success that pro racing results bought Legnano meant that it still has a place in the heart of many Italians of a certain age. For those growing up during the 1950s and 1960s a Legnano bicycle was the machine to aspire to and with a price of several months the average wage it was a dream for many Italians to own one.
Wednesday, September 16th, 2009 at
12:18 pm
You've got to wonder what inadequacies seem to be affecting TV cookery host James Martin for him to use his motoring reveiw column in the Daily Mail to not only write disparagingly about cyclists but also to admit to deliberately causing a dangerous traffic incident while road testing a Tesla Electric Car.
But whenever I drive to London, dutifully paying my £8 for the privilege (on top of my road tax, petrol tax, parking and all the other rip-o ffs), without fail a cyclist will rap on my window and make some holier-than-thou comment, before zooming off through a red light where he knows I can't get him.God, I hate those cyclists. Every last herbal tea-drinking, Harriet Harman-voting one of them. That's one of the reasons I live in the countryside, where birds tweet, horses roam, pigs grunt and Lycra-clad buttocks are miles away. But recently, there's been a disturbing development.
Each Saturday, a big black truck appears at the bottom of my road, with bikes stuck to the roof and rear. Out of it step a bunch of City-boy ponces in fluorescent Spider-Man outfits, shades, bum bags and stupid cleated shoes, who then pedal around our narrow lanes four abreast with their private parts alarmingly apparent. Do they enjoy it? They never smile. I'm sure they just come here to wind me up.
So far so good. Well a journalist writing in the Daily Hate Mail has got to have something to try and cause trouble over otherwise it would be out of keeping with the rest of the rag.
But then he goes on to tell us what happened as his Tesla test run continued
“Twenty minutes into my test drive I pulled round a leafy bend, enjoying the birdsong - and spotted those damned Spider-Man cyclists. Knowing they wouldn't hear me coming, I stepped on the gas, waited until the split second before I overtook them, then gave them an almighty blast on the horn at the exact same time I passed them at speed.
“The look of sheer terror as they tottered into the hedge was the best thing I've ever seen in my rear-view mirror. I think this could be the car for me."
Nice guy. No mention of whether he stopped to check if any of them had cuts or grazes. No look back to see if there were any broken bones or worse still, life threatening head injuries.
So what is there to do about this? Pro Sprinter Robbie McEwen has advised this poor excuse for a journalist that physical violence will be coming his way if he meets Robbie. Bradley Wiggins has spoken out against Martin. Short of keying up his car every time cyclists see him out in town what would be the best way to deal with this?
Simple. Email the BBC and ask them if they think hat this sort of behaviour is becoming of an employee of their corportation. Other presenters have been sacked or reprimanded for being caught taking drugs at parties and other antisocial behaviour. Willfully causing road accidents and then boasting about it should be no different.
Tuesday, September 15th, 2009 at
10:49 pm
Colnago is an Italian manufacturer of high quality racing bicycles founded by Ernesto Colnago in 1953.
Originally set up as a workshop over the years Colnago have become one of the leading global manufacturesr of racing bikes.
Colnago split the early years of his career between working in the shop and participating in various bike race competitions including the Tour of Italy. Later on the Colnago factory was putting out such mechanically very high level bikes that they were even used by the Italian national team. They evn produced bikes that brought great champions to victory in stage races and world championships.
In 1970 the company took a new symbol, the ace of clubs which is now throughout the world associated with the Colnago.
In 1972 the bike was produced for the record hour attmempt by Eddy Merckx. It was very innovative for its time with a great deal of materials research behind it, thanks to special tubing and the use of components extremely relieved and thanks to the work Colnago staff to file the welds, it came to weigh only 5500 grams.
In 1974 the name of the Colnago was associated for the first time with an entire professional team and in particular, that of Giuseppe Saronni, who got the biggest wins of his career on Colnagos
In the eighties Colnago took a very thorough job of researching new innovations in materials research resulting in them coming to use carbon fiber and even a collaboration with Ferrari since 1986 in research.
At this time dates the start of production of the Colnago Master, a frame that has made history, with its tubing cold drawn, particularly from the "star", which Saronni won the Giro d'Italy. Particularly the fork introduced then, which had the feature of having the stems straight and not curved as in all other bikes. This feature became a prerogative of the Colnago since then.
In 1989, the collaboration with Ferrari, was born on the C35, a frame to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the founding of Colnago, available in both a racing model and mountain bike.
The use of the material changes dramatically in subsequent years, moving from steel to aluminum, but especially to carbon fiber. However, Colnago retains its role in the market for top of the range bike, with the production of C50 in 2003, the fiftieth anniversary of the company.
Now for a little conundrum...Should you ever put Shimano components on a Colnago or is it heresy to have anything other than Campagnolo on it!?
