Keirin training 1994, image from Numerius’ flickr page.

images from Barreda Museum’s shutterfly

Byron sent me this link, which seems as if Manolo Saiz, the former team manager of ONCE, Liberty Seguros, and Astana professional cycling teams, is selling off his personal collection of bikes. I don’t know if it’s legit or not, but I don’t really care since I don’t have $50K to advance the bid nor do I have room for 57 bicycles in my studio loft. But the array of bicycles listed is just amazing, almost 2 decades of cycling exotica. Sure, Saiz might be a pariah now, since the Operacion Puerto, but the advances he brought in other aspects of cycling are frequently forgotten.

Giant for hill climb TT. 650C wheels

image source

There’s been some head scratching on the configuration of the new Dura Ace 9000 brake caliper. Velonews speculated that there are 3 pivots hidden in the caliper above. What’s kind of weird is the spy photo from Japan (about a month old) seems to show a full production model, while the shots of Team Sky Pinarellos at the Giro this week have logo-free examples, as if they were prototypes. I would say that the new caliper most likely just has two pivots, but instead of Shimano’s previous (and widely copied) configuration of a central pivot and a secondary pivot, the DA9000 looks to have to equally spaced pivots. This would mean that the mounting bolt is not a pivot at all, that it simply holds a centre piece with a pivot at either end.

In essence, the DA9000 would be a cross between a centre-pull brake and a side-pull in that there are two pivots in roughly the same position as a short reach centre-pull, but the cable pulls along the side instead of having a straddle cable and yoke. Seen below is the Paul Components “Racer” centre-pull (from paulcomp.com)

The similarities between the two also might explain the “direct mount” brake that Velonews discovered on a leaked tech document. Paul’s offers a “direct mount” version of the Racer which does away with the central bracket and instead mounts the two arms directly to a pair of brazed-on bosses, the arms pivoting there on. With a number of aero frame manufactures building bikes with integrated brakes, the DA9000 direct mount most likely has a similar purpose. However, bikes like the Willier Twin Foil that I have written about before have pivots that would not accommodate centre-pull-like brakes. The TRP brake that fit the Twin Foil are a variation of linear pull/cantilever arm brakes much like v-brakes, and the mounting boss sits below the rim’s sidewall (ie between the rim and the axle) rather than a centre-pull which has the boss above the rim. Also, I’m not sure how the cable arms and barrel adjuster would work on a rear brake, which on aero bikes is frequently jammed up behind the bottom bracket. Such as position would have the barrel adjust and the chainrings competing for the same space.

This photo from Paralympic Cycling World Championships, Feb 2012 in LA. The UCI officials actually had to check the carbon fibre prosthetic leg to make sure it did not violate the 3:1 aspect ratio rule.

Some of these athletes are just unreal; there was a British guy (Jody Cundy) with no legs below the knee who went 1:06 for the Kilo!

Actress Daniela Bianchi played Bondgirl Tatiana Romanova in the classic film From Russia With Love. Anyone else notice that she’s wearing celeste?

Trivia Fact: A former runner-up for Miss Universe, the Italian Bianchi’s voice was dubbed over in the film by an English actress.

image from thefabweb.com

Gingers, Bianchi bicycles, and lip hair…..2 of these 3 I find very appealing. In this case here, that’ll be good enough.

image from 1dayrobot.com

Above is 3T’s new Mercurio carbon aerowheel designed by Richard McAinsh, seen below at last year’s Interbike. The Mercurio was one of the most interesting designs I saw, and I was lucky enough to get the word right from McAinsh. More pictures and story after the jump.

I’m testing out the Endur-o-Matic helmet from France’s Urge. Targeted toward enduro, all-mountain, cross country, and urban riders. Standout features are the ultralight and flexible visor (designed to flex rather than break in a crash), “gangsta” padding to wick away perspiration, and the surprisingly effective “internal venturi effect” cooling vents. 2 sizes, ~ 320gr. $100-110 retail.

This is a comfortable helmet that isn’t too bulky. It’s unexpectedly light, and the styling is a lot different from the rest of the market. I’ll be using this helmet primarily for urban riding: commuting and playing around on “my kandy raver” BMX mutant.