Monday, July 11, 2016

Title Omitted for Extra Weight Savings!

First of all, did you see this over in the right-hand margin?


That's FIVE WHOLE DOLLARS off registration for the NYC Century just for reading this blog!

Indeed, I may hop into the ride myself this year, though I may also decide to stay put and heckle it when it passes through my neighborhood instead.

In other cycling news, the Tour de France continues to tour the France, and while I'd be lying if I said I had any idea what was going on I did read that somebody rolled a tire:


The rider and his teammate George Bennett, who stopped to help Kelderman, were quick to absolve the mechanics of responsibility for the wreck, saying the extreme heat on the stage caused the glue holding the tyre to the rim to fail.

"We're riding on very small climbing wheels," Bennett said. "It looked like Wilco's wheels were so hot that his tube loosened. The glue was totally melted and I burned my hands on it when I grabbed the wheel."

Of course this probably wouldn't have happened if he'd been using disc brakes, but so great is the peloton's fears of dismemberment that they're still using rim brakes:


So here's the current state of affairs: The riders who should be using road bikes with disc brakes (that's the pros) can't, whereas the rest of us schlubs who are perfectly well-served by rim brakes probably won't be able to find replacement parts for them in two years.

And no, you won't be able to buy a bike with rim brakes soon.  Even the new entry-level Specialized Sequoia comes with disc brakes, for chrissakes!

The new entry-level Specialized Sequoia is purpose-built and engineered to spend the rest of its life unridden in a suburban garage, and indeed many purchasers will probably return home only to find the previous iteration of the Sequoia already there:


("Oh yeah, I was totally going to take up cycling 13 years ago, I completely forgot about that!")

It's a good thing they never rode it, because those rim brakes are unsafe at any speed.

Anyway, it's also somewhat surprising to me that the pros are still using tubular tires, and I can only imagine it's because the team mechanics still insist on it:


("Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit gluing tires.")

After all, you can service a racing bike with about three hex keys, and if it wasn't for the arcane process of gluing tires the riders could just service the bikes themselves and the mechanics would be out of a job.

Speaking of disc brakes and high performance, meet the Cat 6 folding bike of your dreams and/or nighmares:

Someone should probably tell the Lios Nano riders that the Bromptonauts aren't even racing, but I suppose that sort of utter cluelessness is what defines a Lios Nano customer in the first place.  And just check out these specs:

Designed and developed in the UK, all versions of the Nano get a carbon frame and fork with disc braking and a belt drive transmissions as standard. The lightest of three available specifications even comes in at sub 8kg (17.6lb).  As you probably suspected, entry to the Nano range is for those with deep pockets only as pricing starts at £3,250 (international pricing TBC).

That may sound expensive, but keep in mind that in a post-Brexit economy £3,250 is only like nineteen bucks.

Just don't burn your calves on those rotors when you tuck the Lios Nano between your legs on the subway (and yes, I realize that sounds vaguely dirty):

Shimano SLX hydraulic disc brakes with 160mm rotors take up an almost comical amount of space at the centre of each small wheel to provide all-weather stopping power that’s exceptional in this segment. Nano frames are available in one size only and with each version getting an identical carbon handlebar and seatpost.

I'm not sure why a folding bike needs disc brakes at all, let alone 160mm rotors.  Seems to me that with those tiny wheels you'd grind the rotors on the road surface while leaning into a left turn--and lean you will when you're Cat 6-ing on the special limited "Monaco" edition:

Lastly there’s the £5,000 limited edition Nano ‘Monaco’ edition, which can be considered a no-expense spared version of the Nano Superlite. Among other upgrades, a switch to Rotor’s 3D crankset, Shimano’s top-end XTR brakes and carbon DT Swiss hubs takes the all-black folder down to just 7.9kg (17.4lbs).

The Lios Nano is definitely targeting a tight niche but for those who want a genuinely fast folder then it could be the best choice out there.

Hilarious.



All right, now that's pretty cool.  

I kind of want one now.


63 comments:

Tom G. said...

Podium!

Unknown said...

150. As we mentioned in paragraph 134, industrial society seems likely to be entering a period of severe stress, due in part to problems of human behavior and in part to economic and environmental problems. And a considerable proportion of the system’s economic and environmental problems result from the way human beings behave. Alienation, low self-esteem, depression, hostility, rebellion; children who won’t study, youth gangs, illegal drug use, rape, child abuse, other crimes, unsafe sex, teen pregnancy, population growth, political corruption, race hatred, ethnic rivalry, bitter ideological conflict (e.g., pro-choice vs. pro- life), political extremism, terrorism, sabotage, anti-government groups, hate groups. All these threaten the very survival of the system. The system will therefore be FORCED to use every practical means of controlling human behavior.

Jasper said...

Early doors

Everbody said...

Podium

winky said...

Bolt-on bakefeets is indeed very cool.

cdinvb said...

I just drag my feet when I want to stop.

FR8 said...

I always race when riding my Brompton; I'm determined to come in last!

Dick Breaks said...

Omitting the titties will produce weight savings, but why would anyone ever want that? Titties are awesome.

By the way, fuck fake Ted K.

clyde said...

TOPPUS X

JLRB said...

woke up this morning with a bakfiets in my hand

N/A said...

You could turn your husky Marin into a fatfiets!




The robot proving thingy wanted me to pick 3 cars. One of them was a Crapillac Escalade. Weird.

Serial Retrogrouch said...

...if Lios shagged a Lift, they could make a Lil'Lift.... or perhaps a Lioft?

Anonymous said...

I wonder how you make the front brake work? Prolly don't just switch back and forth I guess

Unknown said...

vsk said ...

Up there in the early times.
This riding shit is working !!

vsk

Matt said...

Thank goodness the Monaco edition comes w/ XTR disc brakes! Because I'm quite sure the people who would pay that amount of coin for a tiny folding crapon-bike will be taking that baby to the trails where the XTR brakes would show their worth. But what tire pressure are they running? With those tiny wheels we need a whole new chart. Does the Monaco edition have those wireless tire-pressure thinggee-ma-bobs (that die in a year or 2 from a dead battery and need to be replaced at over $100 each like most new cars)? It would be quite dangerous if it doesn't.

JLRB said...

By the way, what time is today's afternoon post?

Grump said...

Snobby, don't tell me that you raced on clinchers, at 50 psi when you were doing cyclocross.



Lieutenant Oblivious said...

18th hole, I gotta eat, can't be waiting around at lunchtime!

BikeSnobNYC said...

Grump,

Incredibly I managed to race cyclocross on clincher tires at a sensible pressure. Granted, I sucked, but I assure you it had nothing to do with lack of traction, and I rarely if ever flatted. Meanwhile people were rolling tubulars left and right.

I did use tubulars for awhile during the Peak Fred phase of my road cycling career, but in retrospect I have to admit it was mostly an affectation.

--Wildcat Rock Machine

Lieutenant Oblivious said...

Can you add the build your own Bakefiets to a Surly Long Haul Trucker? Sometimes you still need to put junk in the trunk even with the wheel barrow thing in front.

Anonymous said...

Ted K, that kick starter is going to require stores to allocate a considerable proportional increase of bike parking. You know that people just don't know how to behave in parking lots these days.

Anonymous said...

the sequoia look like the AWOL with a shorter head tube. I have one and it's a good bike with lots of utility. I use it for my daily commute and also as a road bike and is good on mixed surfaces (dare I say the G word). Somewhat heavy, but otherwise good. On tubulars, I have those on an old road bike that I picked used and haven't bothered to change the wheels to clinchers, as that would cost more than the bike. The only good argument I can think of for tubulars are no pinch flats, otherwise completely impractical. I do get flats much less often than on my other bikes, but when I do it's a pain in the ass and expensive.

Anonymous said...

Flat a tubular, keep on riding.

Flat a clincher, keep on riding for a couple revolutions before the tire gets unseated.

I believe I saw a rider finish a stage this year on a rear flat.

Pathetic Old Cyclist said...

N/A, 12:21

Yes, tha Captchas asks 'pick the vehicles that are most likely to run a cyclist into a dee'itch' the choices were Escalade, Hummer, BMW and Infiniti. If you chose the Sherman tank, you were wrong.

mike said...

My Brompton weighs under 8kg.Better for portaging it into the pub,where I add 5kg to myself in stout.

Anonymous said...

The peleton needs to go tubeless. Everybody's doing it.

N/A said...

I refuse to use kg. I list my bikes' weights in grains and pennyweight. This newfangled crap is bunk!

BikeSnobNYC said...

Anonymous 1:58pm,

Good point.

--Wildcat Rock Machine

crosspalms said...

In the checkout line at the grocery today, I saw a stack of "official guides" to the TdF. They were 2 slots away from the Newsweek "Star Trek" special issue. No, I don't know if that means anything.

leroy said...

I commuted on a Sequoia for about 10 years before it was stolen.

Too soon. Sniffle. (Voice cracks.) Too soon.

I just hope it's resting comfortably in a suburban garage retirement home somewhere.

(As for clinchers versus tubular, this morning, I brought a clincher to my LBS because I needed new rim tape and didn't have any at home.

I had the LBS put it on because, well, err, umm, I was riding this weekend, work is busy right now, and my dog needs attention if for no reason other than to make him stop telling folks that what I lack in competence, I make up for in sloth.

That has to be the clincher equivalent of having someone else glue your tires for you.

Of course, I also asked the LBS to true the wheel as long as I was there because did I mention my dog's observation about sloth?)

N/A said...

Those old Sequoias from the 80s were really nice bikes. Why am I hearing so much about them lately?

Ric said...

I'm really tempted to back Lift. Unfortunately, I don't think I could resist the urge to install it on the front of my Big Dummy.

Olle Nilsson said...

Maybe if they put teeth on brake discs to make them look like chainrings, they'd become soothingly familiar while ironically creating a real danger. Ow! Damn chainring!

JLRB said...

#whatglueyouhuffing

Unknown said...

Bike Snob,

Should I get a bakfiets kit for my Big Dummy?

Lieutenant Oblivious said...

For anyone really missing their old Sequoia, Tim Neenan of Lighthouse Cycles in Santa Ynez, CA, the designer of the original Specialized Sequoia, will build you a brand new lugged steel Sequoia with Mike Sinyard's blessing.

Freddy Murcks said...

The British Pound has been getting the shit pounded out of it in pound town, but 3250 GBP is still ~$4200. That's a motherfuckin' expensive folder regardless of whether you're in little England or Canada's scrotum. And that's a lot of money to be spending on stoking your Cat. 7/8 racing fantasies.

Anonymous said...

Not sure if even my Chris King headset could survive the bakfiets conversion. Seems like most headsets weren't made for that type of torque and travel, but who knows? The engineer, hopefully.

Freddy Murcks said...

Lieutenant Oblivious - Thanks for the link. I checked out the Lighthouse Sequoia, and that bike seems to raise the old philosophomorical question about how many jerks worth of semen can you fit on the head of a pin.

leroy said...

Dear Mr. Caral @ 4:47 --

My dog says you should go for it. It would be like a stretch limo. You'd make a fortune during Prom Season.

Lieutenant Oblivious said...

Freddy Murcks I just thought it was interesting that someone who formerly worked for Mike Sinyard could get his blessing on something like that instead of a cease and desist letter.

bad boy of the north said...

now to really bore you.i got a flat while on my usual ride from home to newburgh and back,on Friday.i haven't had a flat in years...I mean years.anyways...I had my spare tube...futzed(?) with the rim,tire,tube....I started using my mini pump...no how,no way..no friggin' air getting in.it's hot..it's humid...now i'm starting to hear rumbles of thunder......oh,great.under trees...near the water.well,walked home...a mile and a half to home.guess what?still had fun....Zzzzz.....hope all you have fun when you're not.

wishiwasmerckx said...

Re: the clincher vs. tubular debate.

The quality of clinchers has gone waaay, waaay up and the quality of tubulars has gone waaay, waaay down.

Tubulars are not worth the pain-in-the-ass factor anymore.

Back in the day in criteriums, with a Vittoria CX up front and a Vittoria CG on the back, you could lay the bike damn near horizontal in the corners with no fear of a wash-out or a roll-off. Those tires had silk linings and cotton casings. Long ago, they changed those materials and closed that chapter of cycling history.

Haven't almost all the Pro Tour teams gone tubeless?

Matt said...

When I got my first ten-speed it came with tubulars, sew-ups we called them, and it seemed the thing to do. I thus commuted on 250g silk Clements and when I went on bike tour in 1980 switched to the heavier 290g Campionato del Mundo Setas, also silk. The tubes sewn in were very thin and porous so they'd lose about 30psi a day. Sew-ups were damn quick to change if you had a flat but were slow as the dickens to repair. Still, having just put on a set of 450g (each) tires plus however many grams the tubes and rim tape are, a 290g tire/tube combo sounds pretty cool. Of course, I also weigh a lot more now than I did then so would probably blow out $125 silk tires every other week riding to work. I haven't ridden a sew-up since about 1981.

wishiwasmerckx said...

I have considerable expertise in sew-up glueing technique.

I find this a near-perfect allegory for my relative worth in today's marketplace of human capital.

Freddy Murcks said...

You do have a point there, Lieutenant Oblivious. I too am surprised that Skinyard gave his blessing. I wasn't trying to bust on your posting of the linkway, by the way. I just $2400 is kind of a lot to spend for a semi-custom nerd bike.

BamaPhred said...

Pokemongo.
Ok, who has witnessed drivers riding around with their faces glued to their smarting phones looking for pokemons? Combined with the people walking around with their faces glued doing the same thing. A recipe for disaster.

Anonymous said...

HUFF GLUE

recumbent conspiracy theorist said...

Scranus.

Old timer said...

Huh? What?

babble on said...

WIWM, - heh, yep, I was riding those tubulars in the crtits on the Argon last summer, and they ARE sweet wheels, even if it is a stupid, expensive, waste of time changing a flat

Dooth said...

Got a couple of flat sew-ups I haven't ridden in over ten years. One was on a Fiamme, the other on a Mavic, Normandy hubs. This time of year, as an homage to le grande Tour, I'll wear a tire to work.

wishiwasmerckx said...

Wear a tire to work? That's REALLY old school.

I miss a folded spare sew-up cinched up under the saddle rails with an old Alfredo Binda toe-strap.

Anon said...

Bakfiets porn. Hard to top it tomorrow.

Bromptonaut said...

Lios Nano is Onan Soil spelt backwards. Says it all really. Spill your seed, folding Freds!

JLRB said...

If you don't have anything nice to say, scranus

Anonymous said...

@Bromptonaut:

#ObservationalWin

Dave said...

I'm definitely targeting a tight niche. But will the niche reject my tracking radar?

Maybe I am a robot after all.

Lieutenant Oblivious said...

Bromptonaut-

Onan take a look at my life
I'm a lot like you were
Onan take a look at my life
I'm a lot like you were

Freddy Murcks, no offense taken. I spend my share of obscene money in pursuit of my own Fredliness, and aspire one day to buy a sensible bike for myself. I do hope any one man frame builder can make a decent living in his/her chosen profession.

tubasti said...

Hooray for the new Specialized Sequoia.

For about seven years I've been maintaining old Sequoias that obviously get ridden, and I can never understand the appeal of the bike. Ugly, and the most uncomfortable handlebar bend I'd ever put my hands on, even without the leaking gel coming up from under the tape. Permanently caused loss of faith in Dr. Andy Pruitt and those other geniuses at Body Geometry.

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