SBS Cycling Central Feed - A Quick Review

I posted this in my updated podcast listing, and thought I should talk a little more about it.  I'd intended to do a proper review, but realised that the Tour would end before I wrote that, so I'm dashing this off instead.

Essentially this is a feed with three podcasts on it - there are regular stage updates, about three minutes long that just recap the result and GC.  There's also the Sag Wagon, a daily 30 minute show, and interviews (usually conducted by Anthony Tan).

The Sag Wagon is the one I wasn't sure about in my podcast listing.  It is an odd format, most of the talking is done by host Sam Pang, a journalist whose background is football, olympian Dave Culbert (who I'd assumed was a cycling olympian, but was actually a long jumper),  and a cycling journalist, Sophie Smith, who is deferred to when results, stats &c are needed. 

I have to say, I'm warming to the Sag Wagon - it is flippant, but it's more good natured than my first impressions of it suggested, and I like the interplay between the hosts.  Is it the place to go for incisive post race analysis? Probably not, but it's good fun, and I'm now looking forward to their intermittent features (Chateau of the Day, the Battle for the Lanton Rouge, Where Did Tony Martin finish today, and so on...).

If you're of a serious frame of mind, the interviews will make this feed well worth adding to your podcasts.  You might remember Anthony Tan as a somewhat, er, disruptive presence on last year's Cycling News tour podcasts.  He's far better in charge of the microphone, I think, and worthy of particular note are his interviews with Colombian journalist Luis Barbosa, author and journalist Richard Moore, and Cycling News' Dan Benson.

In short, I think my first impressions of SBS' Cycling Central podcast offerings were wrong - add the feed and see what you think.

Posted via email from monkeyphoto's posterous

From Bikehugger: Bicycling Magazine: Lance Profiteers Either Way

For more than a decade now Bicycling magazine has been positioning itself as the “rah rah” supporter of the Lance Universe. Cover stories have drooled over Lance’s various comebacks. They have produced multi-page guides to watching Lance in the tour (sometimes made ironically irrelevant by broken collar bones). They’ve sold books about Lance written by their own Bill Strickland who, in turn has been one of the biggest Lance supporters in print.

One issue I checked and found the word Lance present on every other page of the front of the book (the part of a magazine before the feature articles start). Chris Carmichael for more than a year included the word Lance in the first paragraph of every column. The magazine has taught us how to ride like Lance, climb like Lance, train like Lance, descend like Lance and make a comeback—you guessed it—like Lance.

Finally, if Lance did dope, magazines like Bicycling are partially culpable. His revenue, his fame, his notoriety was borne on the back of their rising circulation numbers and any illicit drug use would have been to keep that very same fame and fortune alive.

read more at bikehugger.com

Interesting piece on Bikehugger - reminds me slightly of the Cyclocosm piece about the post-Lance tour;

"Can you even imagine it? No more armies of dentists dragging the LBS out of the red each year with Lance-replica Trek purchases. No more Chris Carmichael promising phantom results to middle-aged racers about to train themselves out of love with the sport." (that piece is here, http://cyclocosm.com/2010/07/welcome-to-le-tour-2-0/ )

Cyclocosm's piece is from last year, and tries to figure out the shape of a post-Lance bike culture in the US - perhaps the apparent repositioning of Bicycling is the first glimmer of it?

Posted via email from monkeyphoto's posterous

Podium Café: What You Need to Know About the Giro del Piemonte

What You Need to Know About the Giro del Piemonte

by Chris... on Oct 14, 2010 2:00 AM EDT in News

First, it has a killer logo:

Beautiful foliage, grapevines, hilly terrain... and gruppo compatto. 

More fascinating insight along these lines... on the flip!

via podiumcafe.com

It's a lovely logo indeed - good article on this upcoming race over at Podium Café - follow the link for more.

Posted via email from monkeyphoto's posterous

STUFFE

THE BEST CYCLING PICTURE EVER, CONTINUED
I have no idea what the story behind this shot is, or was, but no one can deny that this guy has it going on. Chopper bike, checked trews, and a lady looking on admiringly.

That's HOW I ROLL, BABY. (He might be saying).

(Found on Bike Hugger, original image from the Smithsonian)

HEART ON YOUR SLEEVE - AND CHEST
Of course, the sun has disappeared the very instant I began to think of these, but Howies have a stylish "Vive Le Tour" t-shirt as their t-shirt of the week.

Also worthy of note, and not so time limited, are Brian Opsal's lovely cycling inspired shirts, including this Bernard Hinault inspired number, and (perhaps for Lamby) this Pantani shirt.

And of course, no round up of bike shirts would be complete without the artwork of Richard Mitchelson, whose "Tete De La Course" series are really nice. (Series 1, Series 2)

Urban Cyclists could do a lot worse than check out City Cycling's Red Bubble store, which does include some pro-cycling shirts, one of which is a Maillot Pois (Polka Dot) shirt subtle enough to not write cheques your legs may not be able to cash...

HOW TO EMAIL
Nedroid Picture Diary has some invaluable advice.

ISO TRUSS FRAMES
Cozy Beehive blog looks at these unusual Carbon Fibre frames. in this post.

VELO ORANGE
They've updated about their "Grand Cru" cranks, in this post. One paragrpah caught my eye in particular;

I do apologize for being out of so many items. The super busy spring season really cleaned us out and we've once again seen growth beyond what I'd anticipated and planned for. The good news is that we should have two containers of products, including several new items, sailing in July.

In some ways, that's a pain, after all, we all want our stuff. But looking at it another way, a company like Velo Orange, who make nice things that they care about making well, is so successful that they (briefly) can't meet demand - that has to be a good thing, and more power, and more success, to them.

SHUTT & ALWAYS RIDING
It's also good to see nice chaps, and manufacturers of top quality gear Shutt Velo Rapide going from strength to strength - their latest venture is a tie in with Always Riding;

Shutt Velo Rapide, UK manufacturer of fine handmade Sportwool™ jerseys, has today teamed up with online e-tailor Alwaysriding.co.uk to create a new range of cycling jerseys inspired by the heyday of British Motor Sport.

BING MAPS TOUR DE FRANCE APPLICATION
Podium Café has an article about this, which will include commentary from Podium Café on the stages. Click a stage in the sidebar to see the route map and profile - move your cursor along the profile to see a rider follow the route. The application also includes weather forecasts for the stages!

It's better seen than described, so click here to check it out, it's very impressive.

SCIENCE OF SPORT TOUR DE FRANCE ROUND UP
If you don't already read the Science of Sport blog, it's well worth a look. They're looking forward to the tour like most cycling fans, and they've collected some relevant prior posts, and some new commentary here - do add them to your rss feeds if you're following the tour this year.

CYCLOCOSM
A single heading for two good posts, first a bit of pre-tour talk, including a look at the "Radioshack won't start" rumours, and an interesting snippet on pre-tour coverage in the US;

I’m sick of the sad-music-for-Lance, evil-music-for-Contador recaps of last year, the LA vs. AC previews...

Which struck me as a bizarre spin on things from the broadcasters, given that a lot of the acrimony and division in the Astana camp last year seemed to stem from the Armstrong camp either not supporting, or lending only half hearted support to Bert as the self evidently stronger rider.

Cosmo also looks at the rules related to bunch sprints in this post, unpicking what the UCI says about what it's ok to do, and not do in the race for the line.

LE TOUR DES VINS
For a different look at the Tour De France, you could do a lot worse than Jack Thurston's "Tour Des Vins de France", a meander through the tour's stages sampling hop and grape. Mrs. Monkey has personally approved this approach to the tour, and is following Jack's articles with great interest.

WOMEN'S CYCLING
Podium Café have an interesting round up of the field for the Giro Donne, which runs from 2nd to the 11th of July. It's a treasure trove of links, related to the Giro Donne in particular, and women's cycling in general - have your bookmarks folder open when reading it.

INFOGRAPHICS
Information is Beautiful looks at the work of "Always with Honour", a duo you may not have heard of, but whose work you'll almost certainly recognise if you're a fan of Good Magazine's "Transparency" features.

Also well worth a look is this FIFA player value infographic, examined by Flowing Data - what would you do to improve it?

CHAPEAU
To Karl on Sea, who completed his Ironman triathlon. You can read his race report on his blog, and still sponsor him (a surer proposition now, if you were wavering, as you know he's completed the race) here. Monies will be going to Macmillan Cancer Support, an excellent charity that provides practical, medical, emotional and financial support to people affected by cancer, and advocates for better cancer care.

STUFFE

DEPT OF WOW
A couple of things from Phil Plait's excellent "Bad Astronomy" blog;



This amazing picture shows the launch of the Space Shuttle Atlantis.

Secondly, he discusses the finding of evidence that life *could* exist on Saturn's moon Titan. It's not so much that, as the fact of Titan itself, the solar system's second largest moon, and bigger than Mercury or Pluto (PLANETS, ffs)! The universe is an amazing place.

COMICS
Today's "The System" is pleasingly recursive.

PVP comments on today's landmark release of "Invincible Iron Man" (digital and print editions on the same release date). The fact that the digital copy is priced at *more* than the print edition shows just how badly publishers are still missing the point (imo, anyway).

WORLD CUP
I have to admit, I'm already sick of the World Cup, largely because everyone keeps telling me how much I love it (thanks, popular culture). When the tournament starts, I may start to feel better disposed towards it, admittedly.

However, there will almost certainly be something of interest at the Science of Sport Blog, which is beginning a series related to football and the World Cup this week.

Non-fans may also find this "World Cup Translated into American" guide of use.
Germany, for example, are The Dallas Cowboys;

"They may not have won the big game the most times, but they’re close. And no one’s been to that game more than them. They’re hard to root for if you’re not from there, moreso than France, even. That’s partly cultural, sure, but it’s mostly because they do so much damn winning (especially in the '70s and '90s). The team is always made up of a combination of straight-laced leaders and absolute looney-tunes. It’s dysfunctional but seems to work. One of the all-time great squads, like ‘em or not."

Also related to the world cup, I saw Greater Manchester Police's "Football Hero" campaign on a couple of busses today. Reading the poster, it seems being a Football Hero is easy, just don't get plastered, and if you do, don't then kick someone's head in (although on the experience of last time, even this may be beyond some "fans"). You can read more about the campaign, and get a free World Cup planner/poster here.

GET THIS
There is a new Velocast. Do I really need to say more?

There's also a new As It Occurs To Me (AITOM!) - it should be said that this isn't for everyone, within the first ten minutes there'd been blasphemy, sexual swearwords, fictional incest (you get the idea) it is VERY funny though.

RIDE TO EAT?
Salsa Cycles have interviewed nutritionist Namrita O'Dea about eating for riding. Apparently it goes beyond sticking some winegums and a bit of soreen in your jersey pockets, who knew?

PRE TOUR TUNE UPS
Cosmo has a good round up of the pre tour races here. As he points out Vacansoleil continue to show the UCI & ASO that they're deserving of a place that sadly, they don't have.

STUFFE

6 MUSIC
The BBCs unorthodox "We're axing it" promotional campaign for excellent digital station 6 Music has paid dividends, with latest figures reporting an increase of 300,000 or so listeners to the station. That's 300,000 extra people who might shout "Just Coming!" back to your "Stephen" folks. This comes on top of the station winning two Sony Gold awards this year.

More (less flippant) detail at Love6Music.com. As well as details of what you can do to stand up for the diversity of content and choice that the threatened stations represent.

EXTREME HUMAN POWERED DELIVERY
The Oil-Drum has a piece on bikes being used to transport things, as opposed to just the rider;

"But also important for functioning cities is moving goods around, and most of the above options would seem to have severe limitations when one considers the variety of things that need to be moved. How does one carry a sheet of plywood across town? Surely not on a crowded subway. But a recent trip to China demonstrated for me that almost anything is possible."

Of course, it's not just China. This is a great video of moving the stone for an ornamental path by bike and trailer - old, but well worth a watch if you've not seen it.

"A lot of people say it's really hard to go shopping on your bike. I agree - NEVER shop for anything bigger than a sidewalk."

COMMUTING
Cycling Inquisition has been musing on commuting, prompted by spotting a Southern Comfort t-shirt, empty Budweiser bottle, and Aerosmith cassette at the side of the road. Either someone was cleaning out their car (onto the roadside, ccertainly common practice in Cheshire, judging by the amount of crap on the verges) or they have THE WORST parties where he rides.

FACEBOOK
From Information is Beautiful, this New York Times infographic breaks down Facebook's 170+ privacy options.

There's a useful step-by-step guide to getting some control over all this stuff on ZDnet, here.

I have to admit to being on the point of ditching Facebook - I use it less and less, and the issues around what they do with my photos and data are worrying, to say the least. The walkthrough above at least gives me a way to lock some of it down, and still stay in touch with the folk I know who use the site.

OH PIPPO!
Mr. Pozzato's desire to appear in ever more disturbing advertisements (exhibit one - the Sidi ad) continues with the pictured "Lego Head" ad for Lazer helmets. Another thing I'll never be able to unsee.

OH LANCE!
Compare this Mellow Johnny's jersey with the classic Molteni Arcore jersey. Homage, or Lésé majesté?

OH VALV.PITI!
Jesus god-dancing christ, can the saga of Valverde get any more ridiculous?

"We have a decision from the Court of Arbitration for Sport confirming that it is his blood, that it contained EPO, and confirms that Valverde is a cheater. And, despite all this, he is still racing," said Olivier Niggli, WADA's legal director, to AFP. However, even if the anti-doping agencies win the CAS decision and Spain is forced to ban Valverde, he could be back to racing as early as 2011 if the sanction mirrors the two-year sentence which began in Italy in May, 2009."

LOCK YOUR BIKE
Barry Mason from Southwark cyclists features in this video (on Bikehugger) detailing common mistakes in bike locking.

See also; Sheldon Brown's Lock Strategy and MIT's Bike Theft Prevention advice.

STUFFE

EMMA POOLEY
Podium Café has a good interview with Cervelo Test Team's Emma Pooley

"Though they have the support of Cervélo’s resources, the women are not entirely insulated from the difficulties that women’s cycling faces. Three races Emma Pooley won last year have disappeared from the calendar."

THE LOST CYCLIST
Urban Velo reviews "The Lost Cyclist -The Untold Story of Frank Lenz's Ill-fated Around-the-world Journey".

"Part travelogue, part murder investigation, “The Lost Cyclist” is a clear-eyed look at bicycle travel in the days before paved roads and automobiles. Herlihy mines myriad press accounts, not only to track the trips but also to explain the sometimes testy relationships among cycling clubs, the media, government officials and the riders’ own family."

The article also includes an interview with the author, and can be read here.

CYCLING AND DOPING
With the UCI's Biological passport in the news, it's probably a good time to round up some useful information on the passport system.

First, the UCI's own page "Information on the Bio Passport".

Scientific American "Can Biological Passports Root Out Doping in Sports?"

On NYVelocity - Michael Ashenden interview #1...and "The Bio Passport: 5 Questions for Michael Ashenden".

ART
I love the "Lost Myths" website featured on Drawn.ca yesterday.

Its creators describe it as

"A playful medly of cryptomythological fiction, pantheons, bestiaries, comics, art, games, readings, performances and more by Claude Lalumiere and Rupert Bottenburg."

Whilst the best title award undoubtedly goes to "Fun and Games with the Hippatocora", the alternately whimsical and sinister "What To Do with the Dead" is superb too.

INFOGRAPHICS
Flowing Data takes an interesting look at the trend for large infographics.

Big information graphics have been around for a long time. They've come in the form of maps, visualization, art, signs, etc. That was all on paper though. In the past couple of years, humongous, gigantic, and often really long infographics have found their way onto the computer screen, through blogs and news sites. Some are great. Some really suck. The volume is booming for both.

Let's take a look at when this all got started, where the trend is headed, and how much we should really read into these things.

STUFFE

The Paper Boneshaker - Original image from the makers' site.

THE PAPER BONESHAKER

Just how much does Japanese deisgner Shinichi Iwami love bicycles? Enough to have 1/24 scale kits laser-cut out of 0.5mm black paper with enough precision and detail that they require a scalpel, tweezers, glue, instructions, and nerves of steel to assemble.

More information here, at Bikehacks.

300 KM TO THE SEA
Just when I'm feeling pleased with myself for having done a couple of rides edging close to 60 miles, Redbikes puts me in my place by riding a colossal 192 miles. And this despite exploding saddle bags and having to make running repairs to his bike. Chapeau!

WHEN I WERE A LAD
BrokenTV, king of the bar chart, and producer of the epic "Top 100 TV shows of the '00s", turns his attention to board games. (Younger readers: Board Games are sort of like paper and card based Wii games. It's what we did for fun in the olden days, after telly had ended for the night, or if there was nothing on on the three(!) available channels).

This time, it's the turn of the TV Times board game. You can read the first in this series (covering the game based on Carla Lane's "Bread") here.

HOW OTHERS SEE US
Cycling Inquisition has been to London;

Instead, British cyclists look like Mr Bean, they favor day-glow attire and often ride a Brompton folding bikes.

The full article is here.

AND SO IT BEGINS?
Podium Café has a decent timeline of events in the recent unpleasantness surrounding Liquigas and Franco Pelizotti.

Liquigas have responded;

"Right now the evidence presented does not appear able to show with certainty, at a scientific level, illicit behavior by the athlete," Liquigas said in a statement on Tuesday.

Hopefully the evidence is going to be open to scrutiny, so the UCI scientists, and those in the employ of Liquigas can make their case. I'd be interested to see quite what values Liquigas are disputing.

There's a fantastic interview with Michael Ashenden on the site most of us know as the home of Toto NYVelocity, on the UCI's Biological passport system and how it works here.

"However I believe the point you are making is that if they had been doping, they should have been sanctioned via the Passport in the first place. The issue here is sensitivity - the Passport is the most sensitive tool we have available to detect doping once the banned substance has left the system. But it is not 100% sensitive - it won't catch every single rider who had doped. A large part of this is due to the margins of tolerance we must allow to ensure that riders are not wrongly accused of doping."

(My emphasis).

STUFFE

ME
Whilst STUFFE is largely about interesting things I find elsewhere, those of you who were following Mrs Monkey and I across France and Belgium last year may be interested to know that I got chance to write up Day Three of our Tiny Tour yesterday, having finally had time to sort through the pictures and tour diary. Day Three is here, Day Two here, and Day One here. Day three was our longest day in the saddle (42 miles from Brugge to Ieper) and one of my favourites. Just don't ask why I'm pulling that face.

I've also been tidying up some older posts a little (sorting out malformed tags, for the most part). Depending on how both of you read my blog, that might make posts pop up as "new" in your feedreader - apologies if that does happen.

PENCIL VS CAMERA
Lines and Colors blog features the work of Belgian painter, illustrator, caricaturist and photographer Ben Heine. His Pencil vs Camera project is a series of photographs taken with Heine's sketches of the location (often with a surreal twist) held in place in the appropriate part of the frame. It's a wonderful, fun project, consisting of 13 images so far.

(US) NATIONAL BIKE MONTH
Bike Commuters reminds US readers that May is national bike month.

There's a list of events on the site, and you're invited to add your own via the comments on this page.

DISC BRAKES FOR BEGINNERS
Disc brakes are becoming more common on road bikes and commuters. Over at BikeHacks, they've obtained their first disc brake equipped bike, a Globe Vienna. This post runs through their experience of adjusting them, using, typically enough for Bike Hacks, a steak knife.

URBAN VELO #19
Urban Velo are a regular source of bits and pieces for STUFFE - their own magazine is available now (issue 19). You can order a print copy, or read it online for free here.

Contents include: Denver’s Courier Veterans, Aiming for an Urban Cycling Mecca in Asheville, NC, Finders Keepers, I Love Riding in the City, Gallery: 2010 NAHBS, Residue, The End of Favoring Motorized Transportation, Red Hook Crit, The Lost Cyclist, Freewheel Removal, Get a Grip and Bicycle Helmet Evolution.

INFOGRAPHIC
Cosmo over at Cyclocosm has created an infographic charting 100 years of Giro Winners.

The graphic is word cloud of Giro winners in the shape of Italy, running more or less chronologically from Sicily to the Austrian border. Text sizes correspond to the number of victories, and dates are provided as well. Colors are from the Italian flag, and pink from the maglia rosa worn by the race’s GC Leader.The graphic is word cloud of Giro winners in the shape of Italy, running more or less chronologically from Sicily to the Austrian border. Text sizes correspond to the number of victories, and dates are provided as well. Colors are from the Italian flag, and pink from the maglia rosa worn by the race’s GC Leader.

The graphic is available as a poster or a T-shirt from Cyclocosm.

VIRTUAL MUSETTE TOP 50 UPDATE
Eric over at the virtual musette has updated his Top 50 riders of the modern era with points scored this season up to and including the Tour of Romandie. Commentary on the results is to follow (the post linked above is numbers only), but if you're interested to see how the landscape has changed during classics season, head over.
(See also - how the riders are scored part 1 and part 2).

IS THERE A PLACE FOR ELITISM?
This piece at Bicycling argues that riders can be "too nice".

But all that stuff worked. It weeded out those of us who didn’t belong there, and we didn’t ride there until we belonged.

I’ve always contended that, as reprehensible as roadie elitism is, it is also valuable. A pack of racers needs to be elitist because, when you’re going 37 mph bar-to-bar you want to be there only with the elite. You want to know that the racers in front of you and on either side of you understand what’s going to happen and how to react and what is fair and expected and, even, unfair but expected.

I don't really have a view - I don't ride in groups, and if I'm honest, people sitting in on me makes me nervous (I don't know them, they don't know me). It sounds like I might have the right idea too - I ride my bike for fun these days, and tbh, dealing with this sort of stuff seems a distance away from what I want to do with my spare time.

SALSA AND THE USBRS

Take a moment and think of the transportation route system that the United States has developed primarily around automobiles. Now imagine a similar route system for bikes.

Salsa has signed on as a sponsor of the new U.S.B.R.S. fundraising campaign: Build it. Bike it. Be a Part of It. We encourage you to consider donating if you are able.

US readers can learn more, and help the campaign for the USBRS at this page.
(I know it's another US specific thing, but I love the promo graphic, and it's also further proof of Salsa's COOLNESS).

STUFFE

CYCLING REALITY

In September, Belgian TV channel Vitaya is launching a reality TV show about a group of women who are preparing for a cycling race in Italy.

The participants will be getting training help from the Quick-Step team, and ride Eddy Merckx cycles. Sounds better than "X Factor", don't you think? More details here.

MAKES YOU WANT TO RIDE

Spotted by the Epicurean Cyclist, this video featuring Rivendell's Hunqapillar makes me want to go out and ride. Wonder if I can get the afternoon off?

CARGO CONVERSION
From Urban Velo - the "Zaftig" cargo fork allows you to swap out the fork on your old beater to a new one that takes a 20" wheel, with a sturdy porteur rack as part of the fork. Lots of pictures on the manufacturer's site of this thing carrying CRAZY load. Cargo bikes are cool.

BICYCLE HISTORY
My love/hate relationship with Copenhagenize enters a "love" phase once more, as they begin another interesting series of posts (a la Dave Horton's excellent "Fear of Cycling" series).

This is another 5 parter, Iain Boal's "Green Machine" history of the bicycle.

BIKEHUGGER ASKS THE BIG QUESTIONS
"Why Do Women think cycling makes their butts fat?"

CYCLING MAKES THINGS BETTER
Spotted by Urban Velo, these lovely Schwinn ads.

There's some truth in this too. City centres and neighbourhoods that aren't tyrannised by speeding traffic are more pleasant places to be.

LAMBY ASKS THE BIG QUESTIONS
Gimondi or Merckx?

(Merckx, obviously).

STAGE RACE SEASON IS HERE
Pez Cycling news have an interesting preview of this year's Giro D'Italia. Top quote;

"Oh, and if this one doesn't end in a sprint, I'll eat a tubular."

I love the classics, but the Grand Tours will see the strong teams, and different riders come to the fore. I can't wait...

STAGE RACE SEASON IS HERE II - THE BADGER
Cyclocosm has another good piece today, this time looking at an interview M. Hinault has given prior to the Grand Tours. Are Astana a better team than they get credit for?

Also, a top quote from cosmo in the comments;

"Hinault is certainly an acquired taste. But I like that he still swings a frame pump in a sport awash in politics, tact and nuance."

ART
Lines and Colors blog has a lovely piece on the illustration of Virginia Frances Sterrett - beautiful, art nouveau inspired work.

PUNS
Doug at Savagechickens draws wonderful, limited format (each cartoon done on a single post-it note) comics. And he has a great way with a pun. Today's cartoon is one of my favourites so far.

BESTIES
I love steel framed bicycles. It also follows that I love Mercian, who've been making beautiful steel frames in Derby, UK since 1946. I see Mercians occasionally on the train I get, and they draw admiring glances and occasional chat about the bikes and frames from cyclists and non cyclists alike. The frame above (a stock 953 lugged frame) featured on the Mercian Blog recently, and is particularly lovely, a primus inter pares. Something like this will probably form the basis for my dream bike/lotto winners bike. Until I see the next piece of gorgeous metal they come up with, of course.

The Mercian Cycles homepage is here.