Bike porn

you missed one shot

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Those 2 Pinarellos are quite possibly the most beautiful bikes in this whole thread.

Ooh yeah! That paint job is fucking nice. And shiny. Mmm. Shiny.

A nice pair of Tektro R200As, possibly leaving the crosstops in place, would make the bike more comfortable.

I have been ignoring this because I really don't care what you think of my bike but this keeps popping into my head because it's such a bizarre suggestion so I want an answer.

Why on earth would I want four brake levers? Even ignoring the fact that that bike is set up for fixed in London and s/s outside... why would I want four brake levers?

it's such a bizarre suggestion so I want an answer.

Why on earth would I want four brake levers?

Same reason everybody who bought cross top levers for their intended purpose would - so you have access to the brakes regardless of where you're holding the bars. The suggestion is far from bizarre, your incredulity is what's bizarre here. For the sake of a couple of hundred grams and about twenty quid, why would you* not *want several additional riding positions?

If I just had levers on the hoods I'd hardly be limited to one riding position. My understanding of drops was that they provide additional riding positions by their shape, not by their extended capacity for levers.

Still, maybe I misunderstood.

My understanding of drops was that they provide additional riding positions by their shape, not by their extended capacity for levers.

You're partly right, but the brake hoods open up a whole range of riding positions which are not available on a track bike, for example. Road-bike geeks get quite worked up about the precise transition from the bars to the hoods, as there is a set of curves there which can make or break your ride comfort. Look at where Pro road racers hands are for most of the race if you want to know how much the brake hood has become a key part of riding, it's a long way from its origin as a bit of rubber padding on the brake lever bracket. This page http://www.diegoweb.net/montan/bon.htm has a good selection of different 'on the hoods' positions from Ronde van Vlaanderen

Tricity is obviously right. I recently got Salsa cross top levers on my road bike just because I find it quite hard to use the hoods levers but I think it is down to the fact that I'm still not confident on the bike or I have weak hands. The cross levers are much easier to use (for me). They are beautiful but don't look so hot on the bike.

Cross top levers do rather fall into the 'crude but effective' category, but there are good reasons for having them. I wasn't deriding the cross tops, just pointing out that you don't get the full benefit of drop bars if you don't have normal drop bar levers, either instead of or in addition to, cross tops. It is the case that the cross tops are 'supplementary' levers, having arrived on drop bars after the normal levers and, by design, in addition to them.

i can see cross top levers and brake hood levers being very useful for cycocross actually.

I think what VeeVee has done is perfect, they look quite nice on the Gios and it means she can ride it with more confidence, hence enjoying herself more. Nice one all round methinks!

having both hoods and crosstops for cyclocorss is pretty common. ive just set mine up like this on wide midge bars and its really very good. on the rough surfaces with obsticals its very handy having constant access to the brakes at all times, but i cant see this being all that useful on the road bike. on the road bike with only hoods its not really an issue reaching for the brakes fast with on tops, you do it all the time to change gear.

theres somthing i find really appealing about that look roadbike!

that shiny pinerello, is lovely, i have an old condor frame id like to get done in a shiny shiny shiny job liek that.

im sure the brooklyn/element bike is ace to ride and great for tricks, but it just looks like a MTB conversion to me, so i really dont did the aesthetics at all. is there anything about it which has any relation to element? it doesnt seem to have any of the brands style/design whatsoever.

oh sorry, I hadn't realised I'd actually built a cyclocross bike

Look at where Pro road racers hands are for most of the race if you want to know how much the brake hood has become a key part of riding,

Same reason everybody who bought cross top levers for their intended purpose would - so you have access to the brakes regardless of where you're holding the bars. The suggestion is far from bizarre, your incredulity is what's bizarre here. For the sake of a couple of hundred grams and about twenty quid, why would you* not *want several additional riding positions?

You seem to be missing one important factor here...Rosie's Denti isn't a cyclocross race bike or a road race bike...it's for general riding...not off road, racing, or traffic dodging.
You yourself state that the hoods have 'become' a key position....so you must know that they weren't always, so it's no more bizarre to not use them now as it was back in the day. Gears are seen as a progression too, but it doesn't stop me favouring fixed and singlespeeds for on and off road. Same with MTB suspension...i still favour fully rigid.
Having raced cyclocross for a few years i never once used cross top levers and never once wished i had them...i rode in certain positions for certain sections of the course...i never had to panic to reach the levers.
As i've said several times before...everybody rides differently and finds certain positions comfortable. Rosie managed just fine riding 270+ miles on drops with a single top mounted lever a few weeks ago. She rides in traffic with the same setup....if she feels like changing position then she does.
Just because you feel she's missing out because you or even every other cyclist in the world thinks so it doesn't mean she is. It's her bike and she knows what works for her.

very nice

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red lorry, yellow lorry.....

+1

Magnesium wheels

yeah!