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what's changed?

those of you as obsessed with cyclocross as am i, will no doubt be inured to the sight of the grid front row at any televised event from the uci world cup, superprestige, exact series, or h2o badkammers trofee, where the cameraman not only shows each individual rider, but lowers the camera to portray their tyre choice for the day. said subject is also given plenty of airtime discussion between marty macdonald, jez cox, helen wyman and jeremy powers, explaining why certain riders have chosen specific treads available from their respective tyre sponsors. it's a subject given scant, if any, consideration prior to or during any world tour road race.

so while we might be informed as on which tread eli iserbyt, thibau nys or fem van empel may have garnered victory, most of us will be completely in the dark as to that which transported tadej, wout or mathieu to the finish line. that's probably as it should be, though it's hard to deny that the subject would surely offer the hapless commentators yet more to talk about on those dreary transition stages when the sprinters rule the roost. alongside the wines, bread, cheese etc., that can be acquired from the region.

cyclocross courses are frequently in the habit of providing a wide variety of surfaces over which to compete. these include, sand, hardpack, mud, grass, gravel and metalled road, each providing its own version of treachery, but each requiring different skills and ultimately, different treads. it is, of course, possible to change bicycles once or twice per lap, and during those exchanges, it might be possible to inform the mechanics that a different tread would be preferable next time round due to changing course conditions or poor initial choice.

as advised by jeremy powers and helen wyman, during the test runs, prior to the start, riders make their choices based on a predominance of conditions, opting, perhaps, to run the mud section rather than ride, since a full mud tread might compromise their efforts acorss the bulk of the parcours. different riders have differing priorities, and the skill of tyre choice has to be acquired alongside every other demanded of the professional cyclocross rider.

you and i, on the other hand, are relatively unlikely to have access to several wheelsets, all fitted with a varity of tread patterns and freehub cassettes, allowing for educated choice on opening the bikeshed door each saturday or sunday morning. a few weeks past, i opted to ride throught the woods at bridgend, emerging at south lodge, the last few metres of which are frequently inhabited by squirmy mud, even following an extended dry-spell. completely forgetting i was riding challenge chicane tyres, which feature a file tread with a few knobbles on the side, a choice certainly not one for thick mud. i did emerge successfully at the other end, but until that point, it was a tad close to riding on glass with a film of washing-up liquid. however, given the predominantly benign nature of the preceding kilometres, the chicane tread proved ideal.

but mud, gravel, sand, grass and tarmac have all been around far longer than has either you or i, surfaces that have also been an integral part of mountain biking since the early 1980s and 'cross long before that. and during that time, tyre manufacturers have implemented all manner of tread patterns, some of which surely owe more to artistic expression than to tractive properties, but by and large, you'd imagine that across the span of almost forty-five years, the available rubber choices ought, by now, to be quite exhaustive. is it not, therefore, a simple matter of producing a mud tread, for example, in an appropriate range of widths and diameters?

for example, if a tyre manufacturer has gained particular success with a tread pattern designed for muddy conditions, is it not possible that it will work perfectly well at 33mm, 38mm 40 and 42mm up to and including the 50+mm demanded by the gnarly dudes on springy farm gates? alter the diameters to include 26", 650b, twenty-niner and 700c and will not all be well with the world? at least, you'd like to think so. however, it appears that the new-fangled gravel trend has created demands all of its very own, requiring tread patterns exclusive to the genre and unable to be satisfied by transference from either cyclocross or mountain biking.

how do i know this?

well, coincidentally, but not exclusively, german tyre manufacturer schwalbe has apparently added a third tyre to its g-one r line, with the snappily named g-one rx, said to offer "the best possible off-road performance [...] the focus on off-road surfaces is particularly evident in the tread detail." apparently this new tyre borrows from schwalbe's cyclo-cross experience, which leads me to ask, whatever was wrong with the latter in the first place? in what way does gravel differ from 'cross? after all, the bikes are pretty much identical.

this couldn't just be marketing could it?

friday 13 december 2024

round in circles

many of us will have read the industry horror stories over this past year, when many major players in the cycling's universe threw up their hands in horror on realising that the untrammeled growth experienced during the covid pandemic looked as if it might not continue and how could it possibly be their fault for having stuffed the sales channels with copious amounts of inventory, ordered well in advance of civilisation returning to normality? they are, of course, not alone in their naivete; the whisky industry currently finds itself in a bit of a quandary, despite having repeatedly denied that such a thing could ever come to pass. yes, it has happened before, but things are different now. that has been the mantra recited while expecting infinite growth in an industry that relies on the whims of the world's drinkers. susceptibility to small changes in patterns seems to have been summarily ignored.

one of the cycling businesses that suffered not only a downturn, but ultimately, liquidation, was that of my good friend, sven thiele. having first met the south african ceo of hotchillee at my first attempt at their iconic london-paris ride in 2008. in latter years, he had adopted the inexplicably popular gravel meme, even introducing an offroad version of london-paris. i honestly have no insight as to why hotchillee went bust, but as with many liquidation instances, there are people left out in the cold, still owed money for services or supplies provided in all good faith.

hailed as the uk's best gravel cycling event by sigma café ride presenter, and eurosport commentator, matt stephens, the stone circle midsummer gravel festival was one of the events that fell foul of the demise of hotchillee, but, convinced by the enthusiasm displayed by previous participants, all of whom were dismayed by the impending disappearance of the stone circle ride, four former hot chillee employees (all creditors of their fallen employer) opted to take matters into their own hands and ensure that the event continued. to do so necessitated starting their own company, which is precisely what they have done. one of the four, charlotte montague, told me recently, "not sure the cycling industry is the best sector to be setting up a new business right now." leading yours truly to enquire, with reference to that statement, why she and her colleagues had done so?

"It was actually a no brainer for us. When Hotchillee closed we were all shocked. We were a small team of employees, and all four of us found ourselves as creditors of the business. Quite quickly we were inundated with people asking what was going to happen to The Stone Circle event specifically. Knowing how much people loved it, as well as how much we loved putting it on, we decided to start a new company and go for it. And with a combined thirty years industry experience it’s been fun. We've gone into it with the view that it's a labour of love… none of us are going to pay off our mortgages, but we hope that people will appreciate we've taken the leap and continued something unique in the UK gravel scene."

hotchillee began its career in the early years of this century facilitating riders from across the world, the opportunity to ride from london to paris in organised pelotons, marshalled by motorcycle outriders, a lead car and backup mechanical assistance in a following vehicle. essentially it fostered a similar culture as existed in the professional peloton, without the need to ride at superhuman speeds. and though this new company begins with gravel, have charlotte and her partners any future plans to encompass road events?

"Although there are no current plans to put on a road event, we will be putting on free regular group road, as well as gravel, rides in the build-up to The Stone Circle. What was great about Hotchillee was the community, and we wanted to offer an opportunity for the regulars to continue to meet up. Everyone is welcome, whether they're signed up for The Stone Circle or not. Just join our mailing list and we'll ping you the info.

a large portion of the contemporary cycling industry seems convinced that gravel is the place to be at present, including the world tour, which now demonstrates a predilection for adding gravel sections into as many road events as it feels it can get away with. other than this faint voice in the background, there's nothing to say they're wrong. and while reviving the stone circle ride is a gift horse that probably ought not be avoided, does charlotte see gravel as the future?

"It's certainly having a moment of very strong growth which should continue for another few years. The ever-growing number of cars on the road makes gravel more enticing. It's a safer space for beginners and also has a great vibe - somewhere between the fun of mountain biking and the endurance challenge of road riding."

though charlotte and her companions may have initially been feeling dismayed at the abrupt end to their former employment, there's no denying hotchillee's success in building a catalogue of intriguing and successfuly bike rides. is charlotte aware if there still exists a strong market for the rides previously offered by hot chillee?

"The trademark Hotchillee format of rolling closed roads was difficult to sustain. The high ratio of support crew needed, combined with the cost of permissions, meant closing roads was the biggest challenge financially and logistically. But we want to continue with the vibe and ethos in the best way we think possible."

at least one of the reasons cited by sven thiele for the economic difficulties encountered by hotchillee was that of brexit, a disentaglement with europe that has created a substantial increase in the formal paperwork and bureaucracy encountered by many businesses in their commercial undertakings with mainland europe. in the light of this, does the new company plan to remain steadfastly based on this side of the channel, or is europe still a possibility?

"It's very much a possibility. The biggest hurdle for Hotchillee events (both logistically and financially) was transporting bicycles for riders during the event. We're exploring a series of international events, let's just say I've been to Sweden a few times recently, but riders would arrange their own transport and bike transfers to the start. Watch this space."

now that the dust has settled, they've taken the plunge and riders are handing over their hard-earned, where do they go from here?

"Quality over quantity. There's a reason why we're regarded so highly in only our third year of staging this particular event. The small team working on The Stone Circle really, really care about it. We can't and we won't lose our passion. So wherever we go from here, we go there fully committed."

for those who fancy a shot at gravel riding in proximity to stonehenge, pop over to www.stonecircle.cc

thursday 12 december 2024

dear hugo - herbie sykes. rapha editions/bluetrain publishing hardback. 127pp illus. £17.50

biographies and autobiographies form a closeted section of the publishing world, possibly both fiction and fact in the same breath. both rely on some degree of recall, whether gleaned from a series of journals, or simply at the behest of individuals with a far better memory than that of yours truly. it has frequently been related that there is a book inside of everyone, but if that proves to be true, i can guarantee that the one deeply hidden within will not be an autobiography. i remember matt rendell telling me that his biography of marco pantani set out to be at least a celebration of the hapless italian's life, but in the course of his research, the outcome of the book took on a far less optimistic hue.

i recently worked as editor on an autobiography with a high profile gent in the whisky industry, and while i don't doubt the veracity of his recollections, i've a sneaking suspicion that there may have been at least a soupcon of elaboration along the way. to an extent, that's almost inevitable, and probably even more so when time comes to compile a biography of a subject no longer with us. where any variations seen in an autobiography are but one stage removed from the truth or reality, heaven knows what may have intervened when gleaning information from a wide variety of sources. italian-based author, herbie sykes has obviously come to a similar conclusion, with a more pertinent perspective than the average man in the saddle.

"I've talked to (and written about) a lot of old cyclists. I've concluded that they're almost all fantasists."

given the universe that the world's great cyclists inhabit, there's every reason why herbie's contention ought to be viewed as true. in fact, it's possible that the early years of the predecessor to today's world tour preconditioned its inhabitants to the worthiness of exaggeration. it has been frequently noted that reporters following those early tours de france were rarely in a position to verify every twist and turn, but then neither were the consumers of their every word. why let the mundane truth get in the way of an embellished account of events? in which case, is it entirely necessary to publish a strict biography of in this case, hugo koblet? could the same end result perhaps be reached in a manner more slosely resembling a novel, for instance?

"...that's why I had to write it as a book of imagined correspondence [...] be assured it's much better and much more accurate than the biography I'd been minded to write."

the cover wrap makes everything a deal more plain, characterising an 84 year-old widower who emrges from his cellar, "...clutching an old mechanical typewriter" (subsequently excusing the frequent typos deliberately included in the author's narrative) on which he produced a litany of personal letters directed at hugo koblet. the basis of this subterfuge is that, following koblet's suicide in november 1964, broken and penniless, these letters are all that tangibly survive as testimony to the rider's time on this earth. illustrated with cuttings and imagery from the swiss rider's career, what we have been presented with could be referred to as a do-it-yourself biography, allowing us to draw our own conclusions based on the (fictional) author's correspondence, allied to reputedly official missives from the swiss cycling federation.

those who are familar with previous works by herbie sykes, including the short articles once published by the former proprietors of prendas ciclismo, will know well not only his occasionally eccentric style, but fascinating empathy for the cyling milieu. if anyone could succeed in writing and publishing an admittedly fictional biography, herbie's your man. of course, while fictional it might be, a truthful appraisal of the life of the winner not only of the giro d'italia (1950) but the tour de france (1951). there is every likelihood that, on finishing this novel, you will be as well-versed in koblet's life and career, as you would be, having watched the 2010 film 'pedaleur de charme'

dear hugo is certainly the most idiosyncratic biography i've come across, but nonetheless fascinating for all that. while the frequent typos and misspellings could certainly be said to add a level of authenticity, i'm afraid i tired of them rather quickly; it may have seemed a good idea at the time, but... that aside, quirky it might be, but why would i expect any less?

definitely worth owning.

dear hugo-rapha editions

wednesday 11 december 2024

aesthetics

in the 1950s, when bicycles were built from steel tubing and joined by silver-soldered lugs, the latter frequently doubled as a brand signature, differentiating one set of tubes from another. though not exclusively, tubing came from either reynolds or columbus, possibly even a combination of the two in certain cases. seamless steel tubing tended to be drawn to similar, if not precisely the same diameter, hence the once ubiquitous seatpost diameter of 27.2mm. obviously enough, the manufacturer would emblazon their name on the downtube often against a colour chosen by the purchaser. a current lack of the once wide colour palette available is only one aspect that changed forever on arrival of carbon fibre. it is far more likely nowadays that any given bicycle will be available in only two colourways.

it can be viewed as ironic that where elaborately carved or cast lugs were once employed to curtail visual conformity, almost seventy years later, even highly developed carbon frames have become almost indistnguishable from their peers in the peloton. only now, the lugs are conspicuous by their absence, removing the last vestige of differentiation. tapered, oversize headtubes, flattened top tubes, dropped seatstays, are all aspects of frame design that have become so common as to be unremarkable. lugs, in the era of steel tubing, formed an intrinsic means of joining those tubes; any decoration of the former was simply that: decoration. elaboration played no part in the process of building tensile strength. that particular situation is all but paralleled today, where many of the carbon adornments are also of dubious engineering value.

once again, it behoves me to point out that few, if any, of the comments made here have any basis in engineering theory or practice. it may be argued that the similarity between present day bicycle frames surely demonstrate common mechanical assertion; in other words, bicycles frames appear the way that they do, because engineering principles dictate that they do so. it will surprise you not that i am less than convinced; my money is firmly on the fashion theory.

we are a society that barely stops short of demanding continual change. the iphone 16 might feature a similar form-factor to that of its distant ancestor, introduced 17 years ago, but there have been many subtle changes introduced since that first iteration. the iphone 16 had only been introduced for a matter of days, before the online world was already speculating what might constitute its successor in september next year. not only does apple need to bring another version to market within a twelve-month period, simply because it does, but the fanboys and girls already expect it. it's a trait that encompasses the majoriy of western civilisation, and is no less applicable to velocipedinal matters. frame and component manufacturers will already be feeling the pressure.

however, where those decorous steel lugs once provided aesthetic enhancement, still much sought-after today, the world of carbon fibre, married as it is to real or professed technological advancement, seems frequently to be headed in the opposite direction. if evidence is required for such a contention, surely there are few, if any, who find world tour time-trial bikes to possess any vestige of pulchritudity, with their abrupt angular conjunctions and slab-sided tubing. road-racing is often claimed to be 'the beautiful sport', which may or may not be true, but if judgment were to be made on contemporary frame design, it would no doubt be found seriously wanting.

disappointingly, but thankfully, it is no longer necessary to take my word for it, particularly following yesterday's release of colnago's y1rs, apparently 'built to defy wind'. and in order to justify its apparently cubist construction, colnago cites collaboration with politecnico di milano and khalifa university. one can only assume it was not the art and design departments of either. it is, of course, the very item of machinery on which tadej will presume to continue his bid for world domination. it would be unfair to point the finger of accusation solely at cambiago and its emirate overlords, for there are several other occupants of the professional peloton that precede colnago in its design turmoil. though colnago would likely argue otherwise, there is a distinct aura of form over function to behold, particularly around the seatpost cluster '...a novel design that optimizes both aerodynamic performance and rider comfort'

and where would we be without integrated bottle cages?

it would be useless to deny that i was once in thrall to colnago; i own a colnago master and original c40, the latter with an art decor paint scheme. both feature a cloverleaf cross section on their lugged top tubes - stylish yet different. while i'm sure i would delight in possession of a steel arabesque frameset, cementing the finest of colnago's italian heritage, the y1rs, for me at least, is several steps too far, and very much in the wrong direction.

but that should come as no surprise to anyone.

uk prices for a complete bicycle commence at £11,207

colnago y1rs

tuesday 10 december 2024

the avant garde

i note from the upcoming broadcasts on eurosport/discovery+, on 19 december we'll learn the route of next year's vuelta, commencing in piemonte on 23 august. it does seem rather late in the day to be announcing a grand tour race route, with chistmas mere minutes away, but, following the recent tour de france route announcement, it'll complete the set for the new year. we already know that la ronde de vlaanderen will take place on 5 april and paris roubaix the following weekend; for many, that's all we really need, despite the fact that the remainder of the cyclocross season has yet to play out, despite cancellation of the cabra, sardinia world cup round this past weekend due to adverse weather conditions.

to a certain extent, the predictability of the cycling calendar is one of comfort. whether you intend attending any of the above in person, or simply watching from the convenience of your own armchair is of academic record. their weekend positioning offers regular escape from the humdrum, and something to look forward to when getting back to the office on monday morning. we are recognised creatures of habit, possibly as a result of a self-fulfilling prophecy; if we have been brought to this state of habit by our socialisation, then subsequent actions are likely also to be guided by that mindset. but one of the problems of being subjects of habit is that the latter might conceivably have become more of a prison than a comfortable armchair (with a pair of furry slippers and a basset hound by the fireside).

of course, this is a view from the inside only; those who are not part of the cool set probably still regard the cognoscenti as lycra-clad eccentrics. after all, who in their right mind would choose to wear garish colours, ride funny looking bikes and some clothe themselves as 'men in tights', the last sight of which was probably robin hood and his merry men. dressed in such apparel and heading into the teeth of the latest named storm, is probably not the sort of actions undertaken by the creatures of habit alluded to above. but the problem with that is, no matter how the velocipedinal crowd choose to represent them(our) selves, we're still going to be viewed as a bit different, and therefore outside the societal norm.

though the phrase "come the revolution" has been oft bandied in these very pixels, it's a revolution highly unlikely to impinge greatly upon the world at large, though in essence, that's hardly a reason not to continue with it anyway. so is it possible that cycling could foster an avant garde, not to impress the innocent bystanders, but maybe just to shake things up a bit? i'm not necessarily suggesting that we simply petition the uci to change the dates of their race calendar; after a year or two, that would surely lead us back to the same situation. but it seems to me that development in cycling is constrained predominantly to improving the features of carbon fibre matting and the methods of fashioning it into bicycle frames. however, that often appears to rest more upon fashion than pure development, and rider evolvement may have peaked given that it has provided greater speeds, now being queried by aigle, midst suggestions that those velocities are creating more problems than they're solving.

the avant garde in music and art predicates its growth and change upon that which preceded it; a dialectic, if you like. cycling, or at least aspects of it, have frequently been described, even euphemistically, as artistic, so is it possible that we could take a look at the exploits and artistry of fausto, jacques, tom, eddy, greg and even tadej and jonas, using that to forge a cycling for the future? and though i have (inadvertently) based all the foregoing on the sporting aspect, i see no reason why the same appreciations couldn't be applied or considered towards cycling as a whole. because at the moment, we seem stuck in a rut of asking government for better and more cycling infrastructure, requests that, despite variations in active travel funding, still pale in comparison to that provided for the motorist. if we're realistic, that's probably not going to change much, if at all. a fundamental change of sorts may or may not alter that trajectory.

unfortunately, that's about as far as i can get at the moment. quite what avant garde cycling might look like is only a corner of my headspace at present, and hardly something i could transfer to paper or pixel. maybe somebody else has the intellectual nous to understand what the heck i'm on about?

monday 9 december 2024

i don't care

i am of the generation that bought actual records; those black circles of vinyl with grooves which demanded ownership of at least a turntable and speakers to listen to our musical favourites of the day. there's no denying that records, to which they were referred, took up quite a bit of space, particularly if you owned a reasonable collection of the blighters. the idea was that you would visit a record shop (somewhat of a novelty nowadays) and ask to listen to your choice in advance. unless, of course, your fandom brought you to purchase on faith, in which case you could probably dispense with the pre-listen process. the point was, however, that you listended to the entire album at each sitting, even the tracks you found to be less to your taste than the others. i cannot deny that such was made easier in my teens with the advent of so-called progressive music, a genre of music in which one track occupied an entire side of an album.

or was possibly even spread across two or three records concealed within a lavishly illustrated gatefold sleeve.

in those halcyon days of yore, concentration was more upon the band, as a collective entity, rather than upon individual singers, guitarists, keyboard players et al. thankfully, by the time i had made it to college, i had already begun to distance myself from the world of rock and pop music. granted, it was the style of music i was in the habit of playing at weekends, but my still rudimentary record turntable was becoming accustomed to the sounds of bebop jazz, an entirely different musical world in more ways than one.

the mid-seventies had begun to see a merging of styles, with some of the more adventurous jazz musicians harbouring desires of the fame and fortune being achieved by their rock'n'roll peers. hence the likes of the mahavishnu orchestra and return to forever amongst several others, paving the way for the once dyed-in-the-wool rock aficionado, to become an insufferable jazz know-it-all (a trait which, according to those in the sunday peloton, has not only yet to desist, but probably become much worse).

jazz, i'm sure the majority would tend to agree, is yet another genre of music which encourages listening to an entire album, rather than individual tracks. depending on your level of musical involvement, you may have observed that jazz artists rarely release individual tracks as singles (as we oldies are in the habit of referring to them). but as we approach modernity and the present day means of listening to music, i note that apple's itunes often features immediate access to individual tracks on pre-order albums. whether this is the choice of the musicians, the record company, or apple, i really don't know.

having no children of a certain age at home anymore, i confess i am unaware whether the once compulsory smash hits magazine is still published, but i do recall that, at one time, it encouraged obsession with particular 'artists'; their likes, dislikes, family members, favourite colour, middle-name etc. rather obviously, none of the above could conceivably have had any influence on their recorded output, for once the sixties, seventies and eighties had passed, many of the chart songs of the day tended to be written by professional songwriters, with the 'artist' required only to sing in front of a group of session musicians. and, since the advent of auto-tune, it's not even necessary to be able to sing.

much of this will be old hat to many, and of no particular interest to most, but i fear that it has become my perilous duty to point out that at least some of the above appears to be pervading the professional peloton, or at least its perceptions in the minds of some. sadly, i am unable to explain why.

apparently, tour de france, giro d'italia and one-day classic wunderkind, tadej pogacar, provided a rundown on social media of his most played artists on spotify. pogacar's meteoric rise to cycling's upper echelons has undoubtedly brought with it the trappings of success; colnago providing personally painted frames, mywhoosh wanting their name on his backside and probably hundreds of professionals and amateurs eager to learn of his training and nutrition methods, in the hope that they might emulate a few of his abilities. what seems highly unlikely, is that learning the slovenian listens to eminem, rammstein, siddharta, masayah and drill, would be of any assistance whatsoever (the only one of which i've heard is eminem. and given my dislike of the latter, i'm in no hurry to hear any of the others)

i don't recall anyone showing interest in whichever albums eddy favoured. for that, i believe, we can be truly thankful.

sunday 8 december 2024

where others fear to tread

in the late 1980s, early 1990s, scotland boasted a funding organisation referred to as the hidb, an abbrevation for the highlands and islands development board. it's an organisation that sort of still exists, though now known as highlands and islands enterprise. the funding strategy once promoted by hidb has altered somewhat across the decades, with the need nowadays to feature as at least a small to medium enterprise (sme) to be considered worthy of receiving financial assistiance, whereas in the halcyon days of yore, individuals even such as yours truly, were considered worthy of apportioning funds (not that i actually received any, you understand). what hasn't changed dramatically over time, is the need to fit within a certain context or category in order to access any available funding.

where nowadays covid has effectively straightjacketed the majority of funding applications into headings such as community, well-being and mental health, in the days when none of the above were high on anyone's radar, the hidb quite frequently required that the object of any funding application ought best demonstrate at least modestly innovative pretensions, a term that many will recognise as somewhat subjective in definition. therefore, whatever the value of your application in real terms, were it not to be viewed as innovative by the selection panel, there was a strong likelihood that you would be just as poor by the closing date as you were when submitting the original application.

you would quite rightly expect that this attitude received justifiable criticism, but perhaps not the amount it perhaps deserved. this was a state of affairs possibly and inadvertently created by the acquired status of the organisation; nobody wanted to rock the boat too hard on the basis that, at sometime in the foreseeable future, they might be looking for funding too. as a practising artist at the time, a colleague and i applied to the hidb for a small level of funding to assist us in presenting an art exhibition in a glasgow gallery. this request was refused on the basis that the suggested exhibition was not within the hidb funding region. had we, perhaps, opted to exhibit in oban, for instance, the funding request may have been looked upon with greater favour. that seemed quite clearly (to us at least) to miss the point. for while my colleague and i resided within the defined area, the market to which we hoped to sell existed outside its boundaries. had there been a recognised art market in oban of the type into which we wished to sell, all would have been ginger-peachy, but as we thought we had demonstrated, that particular market existed solely in glasgow or edinburgh.

apparently only an oban exhibition would have been considered innovative, a contention that may well have proved true, but not necessarily one that would have proved commercially viable.

so has the notion of innovation made any further inroads into modern society since those heady days of the early 1990s? well, possibly or possibly not. it still remains a subjective matter, a word that can be invoked to give the impression that any particular venture will deliver more than just the humdrum. and though i have frequently admitted that i remain woefully uninformed as to the nooks and crannies of present day mountain biking, once more i have fearlessly opted to tread where i probably shouldn't.

to all intents and purposes, in britain at least, mountain biking is a child of the eighties, since when, it has made leaps and strides in a wide variety of directions, not least in possessing three defined wheel sizes. however, that serves only to illustrate what might be defined as innovation in bicycle design and manufacturing, not specficially as innovative towards mountain biking in general. you would, therefore, wonder what innovation is left to realise after over forty years of existence. think how you might react if the uci contended that its future steps would entail innovation in road racing. granted, the addition of a few gravel stages in the grand tours and one-day classics could be interpreted as innovation, but apart from continual bicycle development, road racing has remained largely unchanged for over 100 years. it's why continual attention is paid to cycling's rich heritage.

so why, you might wonder, am i interested in both innovation and mountain biking all at the same time? well my concern surrounds the announced change of plans relating to the proposed mountain bike innovation centre project, based in innerleithen, near peebles, southwest of edinburgh. the original plan had apparently been to make use of the empty buildings that constitute the caerlee mill site. but structural surveys of the latter have revealed more problems than originally envisaged, leading to a subsequent proposal to demolish the mill building and build a new centre of innovation.

the funding required to achieve this (a total of £450 million) has been provided by holyrood, westminster and other partners, and while mountain biking is not in my particular wheelhouse, it's always nice to see such large amounts of financial largesse being directed towards any genre of cycling. however, despite recognising all of the foregoing, i still find myself none the wiser as to the actual purpose of the announced innovation centre. is this a tacet admission that mountain biking has reached a plateau and is thus ripe for innovation, or is it actually a reprise of the early days of the highlands and islands development board, where innovation was simply a box ticking exercise to acquire such substantial funding?

assuming all goes to plan, and the project comes to fruition, perhaps we'll al learn what mountain bike innovation looks like. and whether it was actually needed. my remaining worry is that someone, somewhere, is currently hatching plans for a gravel bike innovation centre.

saturday 7 december 2024

oblique strategies

in my daily turmoil, it is quite common to receive advertisements from islay hotels for placement in the local newspaper, bereft of any contact details, particularly undermining any requirements to book a table or event in advance. of course, there has been the odd other placement from various sources that has omitted the date or time, or once or twice, the location of any specific event, but it seems peculiar to hotels, for whatever reason, to refrain from including a telephone number or e-mail address. in our striving to be a responsible community newspaper, i have invariably added in the missing details, but it has caused some wonderment within the office walls as to why this state of affairs has, in fact, become quite so common?

currently it remains one of life's (not so) great mysteries.

however, it has become apparent over the years, that marketing and advertising strategies have veered remarkably close to the obscure, a commonality that surely presupposes some rational explanation. have there been customer focus groups confirming that an all but incomprehensible advertisement, whether in print, on tv, or on social media, is the most effective means of putting across the desired message? i'm well aware of the desire not only to present an advert, but to encourage discussion of said advert amongst one's peers, but might that simply result in misplaced popularity?

particularly at this time of year, there lies a tangible degree of anticipation preceding the christmas adverts from the major players, such as aldi, lidl, marks & spencer, tesco and john lewis to mention but a handful. but truthfully, how many are ultimately identifiable? i have witnessed the majority, but i'm not sure i could tell you which was which. and as for the fragrance adverts, i seriously wonder what it is their marketing agencies have been smoking, prior to commencing work on the latest message. but despite my scepticism, i can only presume that such means of getting the message across has proved of some success; were it seen to be otherwise, one would imagine they would have changed tack many years ago.

perhaps a bit like the unveiling of jaguar's electric concept car, available in barbie pink or a less vibrant shade of blue. whether you think it the shape of the future, or a hideous mistake by the design department, presumably matters little at present, because at least it's being talked about. i can't say i've noticed the same number of column inches devoted to a kia or peugeot. whether that translates into subsequent sales of a particularly expensive motor car, remains to be seen.

many times i have castigated the major bicycle manufacturers not only for their published advertisements, but for their apparent reluctance to expand horizons. instead of preaching to the converted in cycling weekly, cyclist, bike radar and road.cc, i have frequently wondered why they have not ventured even a small advert in the likes of autocar, top gear, the radio times or even wired, to name a few. those of us who are immersed in the velocipedinal world already own (several) bicycles, which will either be replaced when financial wherewithal allows, or when a new model can be purchased in the same colour as the current bike, to keep the addition hidden from him or her indoors.

most bicycle adverts tend to fit into the 'we make these, buy one' category, but are only aimed at existing cyclists. if you want to grow the market, i'd imagine you'd also need to advertise to those who currently don't own bicycles.

but perhaps it's possible to go too far in the wrong direction. only a day or two past, a friend sent me the image featured above, apparently included in a recent issue of the financial times supplement htsi, the meaning of which remains un uknown quantity. however, a quick perusal of the website would tend to suggest the supplement is aimed at style icons and fashionistas, a great many of whom, i'd be inclined to suggest, have little or no idea what a colnago actually is. and given the recent reveal of their latest eyewateringly expensive branded clothing (£2,018 for a trench coat), i'm beginning to question whether i know what a colnago is these days.

i currently own two colnagos, and there are three members of the sunday peloton who also own cambiago's finest. but i confess that the chances of my acquiring a third colnago at current prices are extremely slim. and i believe that the current owners of the marque seem to be pursuing a level of exclusivity that seems more than slightly out of place even within the excessive prices charged for carbon fibre from others. and not just carbon; how is it possible to justify a price tag of £17,000 for a steel bike (the limited edition steelnovo)? however, those are mere rantings; nobody is forcing me to buy a colnago to continue my velocipedinal journey, and the lack of an order for a new one from the twmp household is unlikely to harm colnago's bottom line.

however, to return to the advert displayed above, its existence would tend to paint those local hotels with missing phone numbers in a far better light. if the point of advertising is to inform a target audience of the availability of a product or range of products, it is surely necessary to provide some means of taking matters further. yet colnago's oblique strategy could just as easily be advertising the garment worn by the model, as opposed to the almost invisible bicycle. sadly, they've not even included a web or e-mail address that might elicit more details.

tadej might know.

friday 6 december 2024

selling out

in 2017, i was invited to participate in the etape loch ness, a ride slightly in excess of 100km around loch ness in the north east of scotland. the invitation came from the organisers, who not only waived any entry fee, but provided accommodation as part of the deal. in the face of such velocipedinal generosity, i could but accept their invitation, but i cannot deny that it took a day or two to confirm my acceptance. my temporary reluctance was caused by my dread of riding alongside several thousand other cyclists. in fact, as matters transpired, the number pinned on my back was 6550, though i'm unsure whether there were actually another 6549 accompanists.

the above mentioned hesitant participation has also manifested itself in any considerations i may once have harboured relating to attending a music festival. yes, i have played at 24 islay jazz festivals, but i was thinking more of musical gatherings such as trnsmt, tiree music festival, or, most dreaded of all, glastonbury. all of the above take place entirely, or predominantly in the great outdoors, where camping is usually encouraged and offer the liklihood of being jostled from every direction while attempting even to see or hear the band on stage. i think it must take a certain type of individual to spend £355 plus the inevitable £5 booking fee, (the necessity for which i fail to understand) to stand in a muddy field while it becomes muddier, potentially listening to bands or singers with which they may previously have found little favour.

however, given the subject of today's discussion, which i have yet to mention, it's worth keeping glastonbury in mind, which has perhaps more context than you'd like to think. it's a festival the 135,000 tickets for which sold out in a mere 37 minutes, a fact that has brought me no nearer to comprehending the attraction of the archetypal outdoor music festival. obviously enough, the genres of music performed at glastonbury are undeniably more popular than the possibility of going for a carefully curated bike ride, even one that involves the ubiquitous gravel. however, as a brief aside, and following a conversation with the mighty dave-t yesterday, the popularity of the latter may still be on the increase, as the great man has ordered himself a gravel bike, all the better to traverse islay's crumbling road network.

i can confidently subscribe to the veracity of my statement concerning the popularity of gravel compared to that of pop/rock music, safe in the knowledge that the uk's most popular gravel event, the dirty reiver also sold out, but took almost twelve hours to disperse approximately 1600 places. however, despite my persistent misgivings over the whole gravel thing (why did nobody think of these events when we had only cyclocross bikes?) it would appear that, as expected, nobody actually gives a fig about my opinion. doubtless there are road-race organisers the length and breadth of the country, wondering why it is that they cannot attract such an impressive entry in such an appreciably short space of time. and probably the same goes for the various regional cyclocross events, undertaken on essentially the same bicycle. i'm sure that's something with which i can assist.

it is perhaps unsurprising that the organisers of the dirty reiver are trumpeting their expertise in providing "...a first-class event experience", as at least one pertinent reason for the sold-out event, but it may well be the fact that gravel racing seems to have assumed at least some of the 'hey dude' bonhomie prevalent in certain strains of mountain bike racing, leading to the likelihood that many of those 1600 entrants have fun uppermost in their minds, perhaps only having trained sufficiently to ensure reaching the finish line, irrespective of their position in the results.

as with all levels of cycle racing (even sportives), there will always those intent on winning, taking matters seriously enough to have followed a strategic training regime in the weeks and months leading up to a late weekend in april 2025. there's also the added incentive that distances range from 65km to 200km, by way of 130km. as to why 1600 will enter for a gravel race, yet discard the thought of racing cyclocross, i simply do not have the answer.

perhaps that has more to do with semantics and marketing.

dirty reiver | image: dirty reiver.

thursday 5 december 2024

tradition

while my work for islay's local newspaper requires that i be indepndent in almost all matters, i am led to believe that a similar course of action is optional when writing my own cycling blog. this, you may be pleased to learn, does not quite extend to product reviews, where i think it imperative to maintain a certain independence of thought. in other words, if the product under consideration either fails to live up to its intended use, or simply doesn't work, irrespective of the cost of admission, then i reserve the right to say so in pixels. let's face it, a review that toes the party line would scarcely be worth the time it took to compose. and on the other side of the coin, if i figure i could write war and peace about any nominated component, then i have the freedomn so to do. unlike certain cycling print publications, the length and value of any review is unaffected by advertising spend.

returning, however briefly, to my right to acknowledge any prejudices i might harbour, given the mainstay of today's monologue, i profess myself to be a convinced fan of campagnolo products. granted, i have desisted from continuing to ride on my bora wto carbon wheels, attractive though they undoubtedly are, entirely on the basis that they are a bit of a handful in winds over 70kph. at this time of year, that's almost the default situation. however, they have been replaced by a 'proper' pair of wheels running on campagnolo record hubs, matching impeccably with the mechanical record groupset affixed to the ritchey logic. though vicenza, just like their peers are keen that we choose electronica, i still fail to see the point.

however, for the professionals, option is not a choice. signing for a world tour, pro-continental or continental team, usually entails riding whatever the mechanic hands you on the start line. it has frequently been said that the last person you should ask for equipment advice is a nearby professional rider. just like drum endorsements, whichever drumset or cymbals have been handed over free of charge, are the ones about which the drummer says nice things. though i have no confirmation, it is eminently possible that riders' contracts contain a clause demanding that they never be seen on a competitor's bicycle, nor indeed, highlight any misgivings or deficiencies in the products with which they are supplied. the current my whoosh advert intimates that the indoor cycling platform is tadej pogacar's preferred choice. if you were being handed large sums of money to feature the logo in the back of your shorts, it would be your preferred choice too.

however, as has been pointed out with almost a scarcely hidden sense of glee by both print and online media, campagnolo has been absent from the world tour peloton for at least the past year, leading to several contentions that the italian brand had 'lost its way'. as a result, the vultures have been circling ready to pick the componentry clean. yet, though there is no legal requirement for any component manufacturer to supply wheels and/or groupsets to any team of any professional status, it seems that absence must be held to account. granted, cyclocrosser, ryan kamp can be seen aboard a colnago 'cross/gravel bike outfitted with wireless super-record, but i get the distinct feeling that, in such matters, cyclocross doesn't count.

however, campagnolo enthusiasts worldwide can hang out the bunting; in the 2025 season, french team, cofidis, will ride look bicycles equipped with campagnolo's top of the range groupset, augmented with bora ultra wto wheelsets, stretching to the bora ultra tt wheel for time-trial use. obviously enough, vicenza has laid it on thick concerning this new four year partnership. if i may quote:-

"A decision taken by Team Cofidis after the French outfit's technicians and mechanics spent a protracted period putting Campagnolo's components through their paces and then choosing them for it LOOK bikes, the team's partner company."

that particular subterfuge bears comparison with the myth that casks of islay malt whisky are matured in warehouses mere centimetres from the salt sea air that surrounds the island. most aficionados are well aware that a substantial quantity of the amber nectar is tankered off the island aboard a calmac ferry, to spend the bulk of its maturing years in a warehouse in either glasgow or edinburgh. what neither party has bothered to mention is the undoubtedly substantial sums that have changed hands from vicenza in the direction of cofidis. of course, that is one of the bizarre iniquities of cycling sponsorship, where not only are goods supplied free of charge, but the sponsor pays for the privilege of giving away a not inconsiderable portion of their daily output.

however, whatever the situation, financial or otherwise, it is particularly encouraging to see campagnolo return to the professional peloton in both the men's and women's cofidis teams for the next four years. a bit of competition for shimano and sram wouldn't go amiss.

wednesday 4 december 2024

it's (not) a wrap

there are many ways in which we attempt to emulate our heroes of the peloton; riding a verisimilitude of a team bike is possibly the the most obvious, but that's a trait that has become somewhat expensive in recent times. witness the price of a tadej pogacar replica colnago, for instance. my first road bike - an archetypal ten-speed racer - was purchased for me by mrs washingmachinepost from one of her mail-order catalogues, reputedly the very same bicycle as portrayed in the team photo which arrived along with the manual and a collection of wheel and pedal reflectors.

of course, any resemblance between the two was purely superficial. the model that occupied an early example of the bikeshed was crafted from plain gauge steel and sported a double-chainset on which the chainrings were rivetted together. and though the groupset was sourced from suntour, its specification differed drastically from the superbe pro groupset to be seen on the bicycles of the professional classes, and i have a sneaking suspicion that my wheelset alone was heavier than a complete professional level bicycle. nowadays, there's a greater than evens chance that any reputedly team issue bicycle is precisely that, evidence for which can usually be derived from the hang tag tied to the handlebar.

who amongst us hasn't harboured thoughts of draining the last drop of isotonic refreshment from a bidon, before insouciantly lobbing it into the roadside undergrowth? were it not for the fact that, for the mere amateurs amongst us, bottles cost money and that particular bidon might be the only you have, even if it does require a generous quantity of milton to clean out the black stuff inhabiting the inside, i'm sure we'd have already done so. as long as there's nobody about. and then there's the ubiquitous energy gel, which you'll have thoughtfully pre-opened before the grand départ, only to find the contents lining the inside of your jersey pocket. and into that pocket, social compliance demands that you insert the (not quite) empty packet, in order that it reinforce the sticky, gooey lining you made earlier.

admittedly, it's rare than any of us who might constitute an earnest fraction of the sunday morning peloton are subject to a pragmatic requirement to divest ourselves of unwanted packaging. as they near the finish line or summit of a particularly onerous ascent, the pros have been conditioned to dispense with anything that might be perceived as extra baggage, even if that consists solely of a squeezed gel packet, or a square of bacofoil that once encased a rice cake. throwing stuff away, generously aimed in the direction of adoring fans, was once a free-for-all, until well-meaning environmentalists forced the creation of specific portions of the parcours where it was quite agreeable to throw everything in the direction of the hapless soigneurs.

i feel i really ought to underline that no such regions exist for the rest of us.

of course, purchasing a road bike at any price has frequently been disparaged by those who see cycling more as a means of transport than anything that might be enjoyed purely for its own sake. it is possible that such naysayers might have a point; after all, how practical is a set of drop handlebars in the middle of slow-moving traffic, pedestrian crossings and traffic lights? you will perhaps note that almost all of the above are absent from uci sanctioned events. (and just as a brief side note, i have noticed that cyclocrossers, clothed in skinsuits bereft of rear pockets, have taken to secreting gels 'neath the hem of their shorts leg. i have, however, paid no attention to what they do with the empty foil packet).

perhaps recognising our enforced dilemma, mike and daniel bedford, proprietors of energy-bar purveyors, 'one good thing' have created on-the-bike protein or carbo snacks coated in edible beeswax, thus avoiding the need for foil or plastic packaging. once consumed, there is nothing left of which to dispense. though the beeswax undoubtedly means that vegans need not apply, like many a genius notion, i now wonder whay nobody has thought of this before? available in boxes of six or twelve, protein flavours available include salted caramel, honeycomb, banoffee, apple and cinnamon, or carob and orange, while the carbohydrate range sports additional flavours such as cherry bakewell, lemon drizzle, rhubarb and custard, or strawberries and cream. prices range from £1.50 to £1.80 per bar.

of course, while agreeing the veracity of such an enterprising solution to unwanted waste, 'one good thing' has unfortunately removed at least one of the means by which we might convince the innocent bystander of our aspirant professionalism.

one good thing

tuesday 3 december 2024