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“At least my gym work is paying off”: Hill climber launches huge effort… snaps frame; Cycling silly season continues: Roglič transfer, Jumbo merger rumble on (+ Amazon sponsorship reports) + more on the live blog
SUMMARY

Cycling silly season continues: Roglič transfer and Jumbo merger rumble on (Amazon reportedly to sponsor the team in 2024)


[Luis Angel Gomez/SprintCyclingAgency]
So, where are we up to this morning?
The big report since yesterday is that Amazon, yes our online shopping overlords, will step in as a new sponsor for Jumbo-Visma to the tune of approximately €15 million, leaving a €25 million hole to be filled. It has been suggested Primož Roglič’s sale could help, yep that’s right no Amazon Primož for the Dutch team… (credit to Ryan for that one)…
Talking of Roglič, he’s available for transfer as soon as the start of 2024, with Ineos, Movistar and Lidl-Trek linked. With the Slovenian’s contract running until the end of 2025 it means whichever team comes out on top will have to pay a buyout fee to Jumbo, and while the three aforementioned teams appear to be leading the race, Bora Hansgrohe and Israel-Premier Tech have also been linked, with Bahrain Victorious and Jayco AlUla denying interest…
Is there any team which hasn’t been linked to Rogla at this point?
— Cycling out of context (@OutOfCycling) September 29, 2023
Oh, and while all this is going on…
We start our Italian block of racing in Emilia with this team 👇 pic.twitter.com/fEQ0qoncxI
— Team Jumbo-Visma cycling (@JumboVismaRoad) September 29, 2023
Another normal day of pro cycling…
Ever had that much power?
I snapped a chain climbing on my singlespeed once.
I’ve rarely felt prouder while out on my bike.
— lukebmtb.bsky.social (@LukeB_MTB) September 29, 2023
Well I did break a spoke once 🤔
— shaun (@slow_tri_guy) September 29, 2023
Me and you both Shaun, but I think the pothole gets the credit for mine…
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Stelvio returns to Giro d'Italia in 2024


According to Italian news site Tuttobiciweb the Stelvio is back on the Giro d’Italia route for next year and will make an appearance in the final week of the race. Stage 16 has been touted, on Tuesday 21 May, with the legendary climb appearing mid-stage before a finish in Val Gardena.
Pray to the weather gods that the route will actually be useable, the 2,700m monster prone to terrible weather and snow well into the early summer…
Rishi Sunak's 'Plan for Motorists' will "rob people of choice" and force them to drive, say cycling and walking campaigners


Milan forces bus and lorries to have sensors to reduce cycling collisions


The city of Milan has introduced a policy whereby lorries and buses will be required to instal blind-spot sensors in a bid to reduce injuries and fatalities, Reuters reports. From Monday, vans, buses and lorries will be banned from large parts of the city from Monday to Friday during working hours, unless they have the sensors.
“It is very dangerous to ride a bicycle, there are several obstacles such as cobblestones, tram tracks, and the city was not designed for cyclists. Add to that the heavy traffic and the high level of stress motorists endure,” Eleonora Ciscato, a Milanese cyclist said of the dangers of riding in the city.
The changes come after a string of fatalities, five this year, leaving the mayor to say the “problem is how to make cyclists safe” and that his concern is “someone, perhaps even legitimately, may be afraid and no longer use bicycles”.
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Investigating Shimano's snapping cranksets: What happened, unanswered questions and an engineer's report
A piece of work that’s been a long time coming…


"At least my gym work is paying off": Hill climber launches huge effort... snaps frame
Ever had so much power you’ve written off your frame?
It’s a no from us too on that question, obviously…
“High torque from a standing start, did it within the first pedal stroke and just slid to a stop undramatically,” Calum Brown explained on Instagram.
Hill climbs are short events at the best of times, let alone if you don’t make it past the 10m mark. Fortunately seems like the wrong word when we’re talking about this level of damage, but fortunately this was only Calum’s recce of the Monsal Hill Climb course, up the painfully steep but invitingly short Monsal head ascent, where he’s won the event twice.
Perhaps the hardest part of this year’s will be finding something to ride it on? Nah, scratch that, the hardest bit will definitely still be the standard hill climb double-digit gradients, lungs burning, tasting blood, legs like cement, collapse to the roadside…
“End of an era for that frame, was ridden to over 20 course records. Not good prep for the weekend but at least my gym work is paying off,” he joked.
While we’re on the topic, that’s a quite impressive level of damage… snapped chainstays and seat stays, take a bow.
What’s worse, this has happened to Calum before. In 2017 he completely destroyed a crankset at the Bank Road hill climb. Don’t worry Shimano, he was using SRAM that day, modified with chainrings not recommended by the manufacturer and leading SRAM to amusingly comment, “the configuration is outside of the Red crankset’s intended use” but “2000+ watts is an incredibly impressive amount of power to generate and we applaud Calum’s strength”.
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I did a multi-day ride many years ago with someone who was a better cyclist than me by every conceivable measure but this one. I remember watching them up ahead on a quiet road trying to teach themselves - snatching brief seconds with their hands off the bars before losing balance and grabbing on again. 'Watch this' I said to the rest of my group, before I accelerated to catch them, then nonchalantly sailed past them uphill riding no hands. Very satisfying. I've been able to ride most of mine hands-free, but had a Specialized Allez that really didn't cooperate. Haven't been brave enough to try it on a Brompton or cargo bike though. And still can't do a wheelie, or any of the other things on Jo's palmares.
@Hamster now that is an exciting development. I do remove/amend signs but reporting them for flyposting is much more satisfying.
@Slartibartfast If the sign-maker can be caught in the act then the council Environmental Health can get a report for littering/fly-tipping. Hours of endless fun for that person trying to explain away a conviction. Don't report unless you're prepared to go to court though. Or remove the litter and put in the nearest bin with a sticker explaining how littering is a crime.
What would make driving safer for motorists is if they stopped driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol and driving faster than the speed limit.
Some good ideas there. One point tho. Whilst I love those Wera Allen keys for steel bolt heads, they can be risky on alloy socket screws. Not ideal, IMO, for Rochshox fork axles as they eat into the alloy and lock into the socket. Play soon results. The hex+ system seems to be based on an inside out adaptation of the Snap On “Flank Drive” spanner or socket - and that’s a great idea, but sadly the design seems to overstress alloy socket head screws. Could it be that the profiled section on the end of the tool doesn’t have enough penetration on a fork axle? Maybe. All I can say is my axles last a lot longer using a regular Allen hex key. (Ideally on a torque wrench I guess). Ooh and ChrisA is right - a “Vernier Caliper” relies an a sliding scale more like a slide tile. Digital is way easier, but battery dependent.
@Rendel Harris - ginger ale can be alcoholic when it's traditionally brewed. Not nearly as strong as mead, though.
@tomlew Don't disagree. That makes me at a system weight of 85kg more dangerous at 20mph than a 100kg rider on a 20kg eapc at 15.5mph! Except that I'm in control and only do that sort of speed on the road, not shared used paths etc
@Smoggysteve - I got a similar one from AliExpress advertised as a Xiaomi brand (I have my doubts) for under £30. It's great for drying my bike chain and also getting rid of coffee bean chaff from my roaster.
It can't provide any insights about things to follow up on as regards policy in the area of ebike usage, though, since it didn't study that. And yet it claims to do so. It might, as you suggested, provide insight that helps guide trauma response in a clinical setting, but it doesn't mention that at all. Generally, the way science works is you use a study to inform the thing that was actually studied.
@SecretSam I use the blower nozzle connected to my air compressor, but only to dry the chain so that I can lube it immediately.
7 thoughts on ““At least my gym work is paying off”: Hill climber launches huge effort… snaps frame; Cycling silly season continues: Roglič transfer, Jumbo merger rumble on (+ Amazon sponsorship reports) + more on the live blog”
Sunak expected to limit
Sunak expected to limit powers of councils in England to curb car use
Apparently 20mph speed limits are against British Values®
What’s a 504 error? Is that
What’s a 504 error? Is that a consequence of a DDOS created by Howard Cox?
It’s a timeout error – the
It’s a timeout error – the back end server isn’t sending a response back quickly enough.
Could be due to traffic congestion in the internet superhighway 🙁
The irony’s not lost.
It’s beginning to look like incompetence the length of time it’s been going on for.
Mr Hoopdriver wrote:
Either that or they are being hacked – could be a ddos issue.
“Proper cyclists don’t need
“Proper cyclists don’t need bike lanes”
That’s a new one for the anti-cycling bingo.
But to counter-point, for argument’s sake:
Bike lanes are not designed for “proper cyclists”. They are designed for the regular average joe to have a safe alternative to cars for short journeys that are beyond walking range. As in everyone else.
It’s a shame you can’t tax/cure/criminalize stupidity.
Nah – it’s the historical
Nah – it’s the historical oddity that is “vehicular cycling” back from the past, like L-shaped cranks. (“Cranks” being apt in this case.)
A small correction – “cycle paths” please rather than lanes! Separate from the main road, with none of the protection that isn’t eg. paint or wands and orcas you can hit. Nor the inevitable road crud, leftover potholes and corduroy road at bus stops… Also taking more than an afternoon to “rip out”!
Sea otter video is flawed
Sea otter video is flawed with a bike shown and a cantilever brakes is used as part of the description. The brakes shown are most definitely centerpull brakes, not cantilever ( or “canti’s”) brakes as described. Fifty years ago centerpull brakes were on most of the top racers bikes, since Campagnolo didn’t release their superior Super Record sidepull brakes till 1974