You like photography? You into the TdF? You are going to love this.
Many unseen Magnum vaults photographs from past tours plus a great commentary from Danish journalist and film maker Juergen Leth who has covered and documented such great races for decades.
See more here.
That’s right my friends. Spinwell Projects No.2: The ‘Very Well’ Tee will be available from Monday – the 1st of March.
Keep em peeled on here for details on how you can get your mitts on this fine piece of attire and just in time for spring too.
It’s another Speedbicycles banger!
There are so many amazing details on this bicycle, I cannot show all of them but if you would like to see more just peep the link.
Our homage to one of the great Monuments of the sport, Paris-Roubaix, will be an adventure along the lanes, bridleways and dirt-roads of Hertfordshire. Although it won’t have as much pavé as northern France it will be tough and potentially filthy. Muddy terrain and bumpy ‘rough stuff’ will be encountered as we celebrate the Queen of the Classics over 100km.
I am doing it ( all things crossed ) and if you are in the area and up for muck you should too. Do so here.
That caption is brilliant.
Photographs from a collection by the late Bernard Thompson taken between 1960 and 1985.
See more of this great set here.
Or not to renovate? That is the question.
You see, my bicycle, lovely as it is, just doesn’t have the lustre it had 34 years ago when it was wheeled out of the Ilkeston cycle works. The blemishes it has dotted all over it mar it’s appeal to some degree and it is for that very reason I have this mental tussle.
But why would you want to paint out all of that history? Sure it has a few scratches here and there but those scratches allude to it’s racing career and it’s time before me and to paint it would seem like I would be erasing it all. Like the hypnotist in the 2003 film Oldboy removing Dae-Su’s memory for the better. Or is it actually for the better? A friend recently said it would be “like buying the Mona Lisa and having her smile adjusted because you liked it better that way”.
That said, the owner of the previously mentioned Mona Lisa painting would be the owner so that individual could do with that paining as they saw fit. Right?
Wrong. A part of me believes that something of history, a classic item ( so long as it is not completely and utterly in need of renovation with blemishes that are of detriment to itself ) should not be tampered with and the possessor of such an item has somewhat of a responsibility of ensuring this. If not for the sake of him/herself then for the sake of the future because once that original paint and original decals are removed, they are gone, for eternity.
But then would a renovation not become part of the frame’s history in itself or would it devalue the item in another 34 years when it is discovered that the frame’s enamel jacket is less like a tube television and more like 30″ plasma screen? In viewing terms the tube worked just fine, showed TV programs, videos no problem but now we need plasma because it ‘looks’ better.
I think if I were to paint my 1976 Raleigh track frame ( SB numbered 969 ) I would completely regret it. It would ‘look’ better, I know it would but I would feel like I have wronged the earth in some way, like I had just removed a facet of it’s workings. I would also ( knowing my love for tradition ) grow to dislike the bicycle and end up selling it. This because in my eyes without it’s o.g jacket it would just be like most other resprayed professional racing frames out there: Void of any sort of credibilty of racing history or heritage.
And is racing history and heritage not the very reason we all love these classic, vintage bicycles in the first place?
Indeed it is and for that reason my bicycle, as it stands gets to live another day in it’s original condition. So like the very 19th century wooden framed windows that I peer out of on this cloudy day, history remains.
Not sure where I spotted this but it’s a damn good idea don’t you think?
Christ, we could not get away with this now in 2010, absolutely no way! Brilliantly visionary for the time though.
Taken from the book Death on the Streets – Cars and the mythology of road safety.
Seen.
The photographer, who specializes in endurance sports and outdoor pursuits, was born and raised in Falmouth, Massachusetts. After completing a duel Master’s in creative writing and history at Dartmouth, Milliman has remained in Hanover, where he lives with his wife and two daughters. Despite his associations with his home region, Milliman rarely points his lens toward local subject. An exception to this rule, a series of stills capturing an afternoon of ice fishing posted on the Freeman Transport site, opened my eyes to Milliman’s work. Traveling the world, Milliman has built an impressive portfolio of commercial and editorial work related to the cycling industry. His clients include Cannondale, Craft, Gary Fisher, Giant, and Ibex. Impressive, in part, because photography is something of a new venture for Milliman.
Via Selectism.
Chris Milliman website.
Ouch!
Found this brilliant website dedicated wholly to broken carbon bicycles and components.
Now the thought had crossed my mind to ditch steel and go carbon for this summer’s build but scrap that, Busted Carbon has turned me right off!
I picked out Timm’s work recently in my acquired Rouleur photo annual 2009 ( thanks Sam ) and I must say he has to be one of my favourite photographers taking pictures of cycle sport right now.
In my opinion he seems to capture the energy and feeling of this sport that not many others can.
Visit Timm’s website here.
Loving the utilitarian look of number two The Morton and the Flamme Rouge is a beast too!
Beloved framesets are the physical manifestation of the Cycle Works Oregon mission. Handcrafted for each individual, they are balanced, purposeful, elegant, confident and capable. We use steel because it has all the mechanical and ride qualities we wish to evoke – French Constructeur inspired simplicity at its very best.
