Recent comments

Bike porn.

I'm pleased to report that my 'seat' is fine!
Completely fine in fact!!

And thank you for the incredibly generous donation

I've been reading Herbie Syke's book on the Giro over the last couple of weeks, and reading your post made me thing of Giovanni Gerbi and the story of how he first bribed - and then later had his associates tie up - a signalman, to prevent the riders behind him from catching him in the 1906 Giro Di Lombardia. He eventually won by 40 minutes, but was banned for two years after his actions came to light. At the time there were big protests as the fans saw Gerbi as simply being more clever than his opponents - to them cycling was about "stealth" as much as stamina.

I think your point that cheating has been a part of the sport since the get go is an important one, but I do kind of wonder whether that's because the world of cycling, and the extreme demands the race calendar places on the riders is so conducive to doping that it basically becomes inevitable. Isn't it institutionalised already? Doping was rife in the peloton in Tom Simpson's day, and it seems like little has changed in nearly 50 years. While the global shock that would accompany any fall from grace that might befall Armstrong could be enough to bring real change to the sport, I can't help but think that until the cycling world sits down and actually recognises the link between the doping of the past half century, and that of today - and sees how the institution itself is as much of a cause as a trigger - the UCI will always be chasing after the next target.

Yes, full mudguard and rack mounts.

yeah thats my fear too, and through someone elses negligence i'm going to loose out, even if they have admitted it. I would be happy with the old bike back to be honest. I am not looking to "gain" as the insurance company were implying... ill keep you posted too.
good luck with it all.

oops I have been a bit slow, seatpost now sourced, many thanks for everyones help.

I truly sympathise pwake there are loads of things I for one would much rather be writing about - and I really wish Agent Novitzky would just get on with it.

The problem is we can't really look away. Many of the year's now in question were at the time hailed as vintage ones for cycling, vintages that now look tainted.

And before we get too starry eyed about the present vintage let's not forget that the rider currently topping the GC at the Giro and likely to go on to take the win could well have that victory, and his 2010 Tour title, stripped from him by the Court for Arbitration in Sport not more than a few days after the Giro ends.

Don't succumb to the baloney - Livestrong spends more than $11m/yr on legal fees vs $9m/yr on 'promoting cancer'. And there's also the fancy offices, executive salaries, private jet and PR to pay for. Tell me what 'good' is this is doing for cancer sufferers? How many plastic wristbands is is going to take to bankroll the defence against the Feds, or are you telling me that's a 'worthy' cause?

Team btw.

I'm sorry Carbone no longer available.

I've been running a Vaya for a little while now, and am a great fan. I bought the frame only, and am running it with SRAM Apex (same gear range as the bike tested) and Avid BB7 discs.

I've settled into a rather lower position than the bike tested. Bars are standard drops rather than the Bell Laps, and the stem is slammed to the headset and flipped downwards. The resulting position is considerably lower but still high compared to a race bike and very comfortable.

I've used the bike so far (amongst other things):

- extensively for long days out, running schwalbe maraton 32mm tyres and mudguards;

- for the Las Vegas Institute of Sport 100km audax, running 25mm Conti Gatorskins;

- for the Hell of the North Cotswolds, running Maxxis Locust 35mm tyres; and

- for a brief credit-card tour of Wales using Schwalbe Kojak 35mm tyres and carrying my overnight gear in a Carradice Longflap Camper SQR.

Very much agree with Dave's review. This is a lovely bike to behold. Aesthetically, my groupset, wheels and finishing kit are black, which works fine with the brown (and would be borderline needed with this year's orange paint).

Steering is certainly leisurely. Riding fast in a group on the audax I had a couple of hairy moments before grasping just how hard it was necessary to steer to get round a tight bend at speed. It's fine, but it will not behave like a racer at speed.

By contrast, the steering and posture feels marvellously confident descending on the rough tracks of the HONC and some of the bad roads south of Bristol, and even more so descending on rough roads with a saddlebag on. Very, very confidence-inspiring.

Excellent brakes and some big tyres help with that of couse. My favourites on the road have been the Kojaks - a good compromise of comfy volume and fast rolling.

It's definitely possible to make it go quite fast. With road-going tyres on it will skip along, and the acceleration is far from dreadful. It will do for club runs and the odd bit of audax/sportive riding I think. There doesn't seem to be a huge amount of flex, and the dead weight isn't horrendous on the flat. If one wanted to really get silly with it, I suppose the position could be altered by putting a stem with a lot of negative rise on it, but you're working against that enormous head-tube and it isn't really the point!

Weight is noticeable on the climbs, and I've a ptreference for climbing standing up, as this seems to minimise the feeling of dragging an anchor which I have felt at times. Echo Dave's comments about gearing - even with just a saddlebag of overmight things on, 34:32 is too high. I'd want a proper granny ring for camping loads or big hills. Interestingly, this year's full bike drops the big ring down from 50 to 48 but doesn't change the cassette ratios (although it's SRAM Apex this year).

A word on braking. I was sceptical of disc brakes on mountainbikes, and have since been fully converted. I was sceptical of the point of discs on a road-going bike, and am completely sold on it. The ease of single-finger, beautifully modulated braking particularly in the wet is certainly worth the weight penalty as far as I'm concerned. The confidence having the power available gives on bad surfaces or in bad weather is wonderful. You sometimes hear that it's too much power, and clearly it's perfectly possible to skid the bike if you must. However, it's more than possible to keep the braking power under control and use it properly. I certainly haven't been sliding it down the road because it brakes too well!