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news
Alain Prost and his cycling watch (Richard Mille).jpgBuy a (£655,000) cycling watch and get a free Colnago
We know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that even if it does come with a free bike, you’d only drop two-thirds of a million pounds on a cycling watch if it were for some reason dedicated to a retired Formula One driver. Well, you’re in luck. The RM 70-01 was developed in collaboration with Alain Prost.
The limited edition watch, from Richard Mille, was developed because Prost is, apparently, an avid cyclist. According to GQ, each of the 30 watches that will be sold will also come with a carbon fibre Colnago C-60.
Cycling features of the watch are an asymmetric shape that is meant to accommodate the typical position of a cyclist’s wrist while riding (this means it has to be worn on your right). It also has a mechanical mileage counter that can record distance up to 99,999km.
But Alain Prost? Since when has he been synonymous with cycling?
The Frenchman says he came to the sport relatively late in life. “I ultimately turned to cycling through a concatenation of circumstances that took place during my sabbatical from driving in 1992. My physical therapist at the time, Pierre Baleydier, was crazy about cycling.
“A former racer himself, he convinced me that the sport could be an alternative to my training method, especially since I was having problems with back and knee pain. Since I didn’t quite know how to improve myself physically for my return in 1993, I began with mountain biking and decided to take on the challenge.”
Prost quickly made the transition to road cycling and it sounds like he became addicted.
“Even though it’s a difficult sport, I loved it right away. It was good for me physically and provided a challenge as well, accentuated by the competitive aspect with my friends and the other riders in cyclo-tourism events. I noticed that thanks to Formula 1, where your heart rate can often reach 160 or even 200 beats per minute, I already had a good foundation.
“My legs suffered, especially in the beginning, but once you develop the right muscles and maintain them, you can enjoy yourself. I very quickly began feeling good, to the point where I was unable to go without cycling and the endorphins that it produces.”
In contrast, watchmaker Mille says he’s loved cycling since childhood – “I’ve probably ridden on every road in the Var region of France”. He adds that only for the last ten years, in large part thanks to his friendship with Prost, has he also been a fan of bike racing.
While acknowledging the feats of the riders, he seems captured by the technological side of the sport. “As a tech and innovation fanatic myself, I’m well placed to appreciate the many subtleties involved.”
Then, with great humility and a complete lack of pretentiousness, he concludes: “The intersection of haute horlogerie and cyclosports, two disciplines in the midst of remarkable developments, could not but lead to thoughtful reflection, followed by an especially inspired watch.”
Yours for £655,000.
Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.
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28 comments
Love the new Colnago head tube graphic....
Animal watches share the same space in history as Naf Naf hoodies, Chippie trainers and Global Hypercolor
Wrong!
1869b24e6ed0e8e4349dfa5d5d1575ed--cheetah-animal-boyfriend-watch.jpg
Anyone remember when Animal straps were the coolest things, I had a £25 swatch and the best £5 spent was a fresh animal strap.. god those things used to get so grubby.. and the stink...
What a bargain. I just couldn't do without the manual odometer so I had to get one of these. Now I can see at a glance how far I've cycled (provided I remember to wind on the numbers after each ride).
I think you have to wind it on after each kilometre, otherwise it’s not manual. You can make your butler wear a Garmin and tell you when you’ve cycled the kilometre.
I have more practical question? Is it a feature or a f@$%up that crown is on the elbow side of the watch? Isn't it supposed to be on a wrist side for comfortable operation?
I'm guessing the latter as it would be on the correct side if it were a watch designed for a right handed person/to be worn on the left.
if I had to guess, I’d say that the crown is at 3 because that’s how all wristwatch movements are designed - you could rotate the movement to the other side but all the subdials would have then move to the “wrong” position. It would be very expensive to design and manufacture a lefty specific movement for such a small market, and I guess this particular watch has to be worn on the right hand as a result of that, to stop the crown digging into the back of your hand
Yepp, I'm another right hander who wears a watch on the right hand as well. Shame, I could have gone for that watch otherwise...
I too have always "known" that watches shoud be worn on the left (although I can't find anything about it in The Rules). So I'm not going to buy one.
Price is fairly reasonable for a tourbillon with an unusual complication like that odometer
I have to ask the question "who the hell rides a road bike with a watch on their wrist?" Least of all one that costs £655,000...
Cavendish rides with a Richard Mille, Nadal plays tennis with one, Van Niekerk and Blake run with one, Massa and Loeb drive with one, etc, etc
I dodn't suppose any of them paid for their watches.
No wonder he's not winning much. Should have stuck with a racquet.
Um, he is No.1 in the world at the moment,,,,
.
Will Lewis be able to get a real one, instead of drawing one on his gloves, when he grows up?
there used to be an official whose job it was post race to hand out the drivers watches so they could wear them at jaunty sponsor photo friendly angles on the podium,but havent seen him lately, and they dont wear them in the race anymore, Prost's era they did, because its what nearly half a kilo of unnecessary weight worth probably tenth of a second per lap.
and Im another right handed watch wearer fwiw
Who wears watches on right wrist?
I do, always have, why is that such a big deal for you?
Because freaks are scary.
huh? what is wrong with you BehindTheBikesheds??
Left-handed people.
Who wears a watch on the wrong wrist?
I could've done with one of these the other day when I found myself wondering what the time was as I wandered around the streets of Hackney - I asked a young black child around the age of six, but he claimed to not know, saying that he'd left his watch at home, to which I replied, "you don't know what time it is boy!" - the Flava Flav reference was entirely lost on him - kids these days!
I do, always have, it's not as rare as you might think, but not when cycling... unless i'm doing a brick session, maybe.
I got used to wearing mine on the right wrist while the surgery scar from breaking the left wrist was healing.
I’m now wearing one on each wrist - a Garmin on the right, and a proper watch that doesn’t do anything but tell the time, and send out shitloads of semiotic signification about my exact position in the ranks of the society of the spectacle.
"Cycling features of the watch are an asymmetric shape that is meant to accommodate the typical position of a cyclist’s wrist while riding (this means it has to be worn on your right)."
What a total load of old foaming badger's fetch.