Cavet the guy's eruptor!

   The title of this week’s entry is courtesy of Peter Brady (of the “Bunch” fame) and is a distortion of one of his father Mike’s golden nuggets of wisdom. Caveat emptor is Latin for “Let the buyer beware”, which is a bicycle lesson my wife has learned the hard way – although losing $25 is not so bad a blow, compared to potential problems I might have with the big-buck-bikes I deal with regularly.

   One of our neighbors, who is also a co-worker of Sue’s, had never bought a bicycle herself and was a bit intimidated by the prospect. She didn’t necessarily need something new and definitely didn’t want to spend a whole lot of money!

   Sue had found a really nice mountain bike for one of the neighborhood kids – on the Yahoo Freecycle user-group, no less - and was confident that she could come up with a similar find. During one of their Saturday morning yard sale circuits, she and son Carrick saw what seemed like an unbelievable bargain at only $25.

   I was a bit stunned (in a good way) at first when I saw what they had brought home, a 1995 Specialized Hardrock Sport GX mountain bike that cosmetically appeared to be used very little. The tires had rotted away while in storage, and the handlebar grips had cracked, so I immediately ordered some replacements, thinking this would be a simple fixer-upper.

   However, things quickly went downhill from there as I started to go through the normal tune-up procedures. I gave the front wheel a spin, and it seemed reasonably straight, but the center-pull cantilever brakes were off center and rubbed on the rim. These were the type of brakes that have an adjustment screw only on one of the brake arms, and when I went to turn the screw, I noticed the plastic collar that encloses the springs was cracked (see photo below). I immediately checked the back brakes, and sure enough, the collar was cracked there too.

   I’ve seen this problem before and know that with this cheaper level of components, ordering the part is almost as costly as finding a complete set of brakes in good, used condition on eBay, so I found replacement Shimano Altus cantilevers. From my initial check of this bike on BicycleBlueBook.com, I knew this bike was worth about $90, and considering Sue’s buying price, with the new tires and brakeset, we were still making a few bucks.
   That is, until I gave the rear wheel a spin – YIKES, the rim wobbled at least a quarter inch off center in both directions! The spokes were all intact, so I assume something was on top of or leaned against the bike for a long time while it was in storage.
   I gave the rim about ten minutes of work until I realized the effort was pointless. When attempting to true a rim, you turn the spoke nipples opposite the outwards warp, increasing the tension on the spokes to pull the rim back in line. However, I was struggling to even find a normal center line and was maxing out the threading on the spokes before achieving any reasonable results. Again, at this level of components, buying a replacement was a similar cost to any alternative fixes.
   When I explained to Sue that her “eruptor was cavet-ed”, she suggested just putting the bike in the trash. I reminded her that such an act would go against her anti-landfill beliefs then pointed out that she was trying to do something nice and was out only $25. If I fixed the bike and sold it to her co-worker at the posted online value, the replacement parts would still find her down about $25, but at least someone would have a bike to use!
   Within the handful of years my bike biz has existed, I’ve experienced a few situations when I don’t quite get the expected return on a bicycle sale; however, I usually find a bit of balance from the good feeling of someone wheeling away on a “new” ride! I’m pretty sure our neighbor’s excitement will help ease Sue’s pain.

   I had forgotten Peter worked in a bike shop – he was incompetent and Mr. Martinelli fired him within a week, but still… 

il Belle Paese

   Last week I was talking up Lucca a bit, as it is a wonderfully bike-friendly Italian city. Today, as I was watching a stage of the Giro d’Italia travel along the Ligurian coast, I was reminded of how beautiful, but very bike-UNfriendly, the area is, mostly because the roads weave over narrow roads, up and down brutally steep grades! I recalled the first time my wife and I visited the Cinque Terre in 2005, and she commented how I would have to give up cycling if we lived there - or learn to love hills. “Oh, I’d find some way to manage!” was my answer.

   The peloton certainly wasn’t doing any sightseeing during this short, but brutal stage (plenty of terrain like that pictured above) that was being ripped apart by attacks. The production crew wasn’t sure which group it wanted to stick with, the first breakaway, the small group in “no-man’s-land” in between, the main peloton that contained the favorites or some of the suffering pretenders (including the current wearer of the leader’s Maglia Rosa, pink jersey) as they were spit out the back.
   The action was so furious that the camera crews didn’t have much time to linger, as they usually do, on some of my favorite landscapes in Italy. Well, as Eurosport commentator Magnus Backstedt so rightly pointed out, “I don't think there are many areas in this country that aren’t stunning!”
   The Cinque Terre, as the name implies, involves five towns that lay just over five miles apart (as-the-crow-flies), along and atop the rocky cliffs above the sea. Travelling northwest from Riomaggiore, the other villages of this UNESCO World Heritage Site are Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso al Mare. Except for the popular beach area of Monterosso, there is no auto traffic (only small delivery vehicles allowed in the mornings), with the most convenient mode of travel being a 10-minute train ride from end to end.
   Some travelers are a bit disappointed that the mostly tunneling rail route denies them the beautiful views, but considering that a car drive, which would only bring you to parking areas above the towns anyway, would take about four times as long, and over some harrowing roads, the relaxing train ride is well worth it. Not that I would have called them a convenient alternative, but unfortunately many of the spectacular trails that used to connect the villages were wiped out during tragic flooding and landslides in 2011.
   The towns have recovered well from the horrible event, and tourism is strong again in the area (probably too strong for some of the locals), but I still have trouble watching the video of nature's destruction of this amazing area. There are some things that are probably gone forever, like the Via dell’Amore, which was a walkway cut into the cliffside, providing a beautiful 20 minute casual stroll between Riomaggiore and Manarola.
   We were having some computer issues recently, and I was going through some photos and files to back-up. I thought in honor of today’s Giro locale, I would share some images that I came across from visits to the Cinque Terre.

When Sue and I visited in 2005, our accommodations were among the buildings that line the main courtyard located above Manarola. This is the morning view from the large doors leading to the balcony outside of our room.

This is the view up to our room (arrow).

The whole family was along for the trip in 2009 - this was the inviting entrance to our Vernazza apartment.

A 2005 shot of Vernazza during a hike to Monterosso – the flooding/mudslides completely changed that small beach area behind the seawall.

The hillsides are terraced mostly with vineyards, but there are sections with other crops.

Borrowed from the ‘net, but I didn’t want to leave it out, is hill-top village of Corniglia, which is the only one of “Le Cinque” completely separated from the water.

382 steps lead up from the train station to Corniglia.

During the 2005 hike we took this fantastic shot approaching Monterosso.

A swim was a welcome reward after the hike! The pulverized rock beach in Monterosso had quite a different feel than the groomed sand we are spoiled by in Stone Harbor.

   I found a couple of other photos that I took of the Giro d’Italia peloton flying through the small hilltop town of Monterotondo. During a visit to Rome with my mom in May of 2011, I knew the race was passing close by and couldn’t resist the opportunity to catch a glimpse. I hopped on a train, where I met some folks from Texas who had the same idea, and we took a rather strenuous walk up a long, steep road in order to see about 5 minutes of action, mostly consisting of the event caravan and team vehicles. The race itself, including a breakaway and the main body of cyclists, probably passed by in 30 seconds, but hey, I can now say I saw the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France (finish on the Champs-Élysées in 2009).

The Return of the (Lion) King

   I don’t want to rehash a bunch of information I’ve provided in a past blog entry about my Saeco-Cannondale bike, the city of Lucca (above) and Mario Cipollini, so I encourage you to skim through my blog entry from September 5, 2012, for background information. However, my wife says much of what you need to know about “Cipo” (pronounced CHEEP-oh) can be gained from looking at the intro photo (below) for the website promoting his bicycle company - no helmet messing up his hair, "bad boy black" kit with cut-off sleeves to show off his guns.

   Mario has always had a reputation as a flamboyant womanizer, even proclaiming once that, "If I weren't a professional cyclist, I'd be a porn star". You might look at that photo of the 48-year-old, note how the guy really takes care of himself and assume it is probably for the benefit of the females. However, you would probably be just as correct believing he really likes to look at himself in the mirror!

   The Giro d’Italia is starting this Saturday, and the race’s stages 5 and 6 pass through the outskirts of one of my favorite cities in the world, Lucca. This means that the local tifosi (Italian cycling fans) will probably be in store for plenty of Cipollini sightings as their hometown hero takes in the race. This doesn’t mean “Super Mario” won’t be around during any of the other 19 stages, as he will take every opportunity to promote his bicycles, and himself as well.

   During last year’s Giro, I started a successful project to celebrate the late Italian star Marco Pantani. Since I had some parts around the shop that I wanted to use, I thought I might try something similar this year in honor of the great Saeco-Cannondale team, which had a roster loaded with stars like Cipollini, Paolo Salvodelli, Salvatore Commesso, Ivan Gotti, Gilberto Simoni, Danilo DeLuca and Damiano Cunego (including a young Cadel Evans in 2001). Between 1996 and 2004, the team won three national titles and one World Championship, a handful of Classics and twelve stages of the Tour de France. Perhaps most importantly they won the Giro d’Italia overall three times, as well as an amazing 34 stages in their home Grand Tour!

   At the 1999 Tour de France the team set up Cipollini (his bike pictured above) for four consecutive stage victories! At one point he approached the TV camera to say, "Cannondale makes the best bikes!" which provided an incredible boost to the manufacturer’s popularity worldwide.

   I came across a lightly-used and reasonably-priced 2000 Cannondale R4000 frame pictured below (I never cease to be amazed by the crap some folks will have in the photos for their auctions!) on eBay and intend to do my own twist to the team’s build. An immediately noticeable difference will be the black fade Cannondale Slice Prodigy fork on my bike, versus the TIME-sponsored red version on the team bicycle. I was a bit shocked to find that the Italian team had bikes outfitted with Shimano Dura-Ace, but I am thinking of going the Campagnolo route, mainly because that is what I prefer, but also because I have a set of the company’s excellent Vento wheels on hand.

   I will also leave out the “Lion King” embroidered, limited edition Selle Italia saddle, which would cost a couple hundred bucks, if I could even find one - a similar decision was made with the “Pantani” Bianchi build. I think the fear of wearing out an expensive saddle would provide a reason not to want to ride the bike! I will find a nice Selle Italia stand-in.

   I am planning on doing most of the trim much like the team bicycle, with similar yellow bar tape and Vittoria tires. I’m also toying around with the idea of splurging for the unique Cinelli Alter stem, which is somehow ugly-but-cool. I would definitely opt to leave off the pinup girl inserts that some pros chose to apply to the stem tops for added scenery during the long rides. I don’t need the Cipo-type “rep”!