Give him the hook!

   I’m afraid that was a phrase my parents heard all too often during the days I was pitching in youth baseball leagues. It seemed I was a very good practice pitcher, but fell completely apart when the gameday pressure hit me. What I’m referring to, in relation to this blog, is a somewhat imposing tool, which looked like a cross between a scythe and huge channel-lock pliers, that my local frame expert used in his attempt to extract the stem from my Yellow Pinarello.

   Peter Dreesens builds wonderful steel bicycle frames for the road, track and trails, but also occasionally puts together something exotic (see first photo below). Peter, who used to race himself, has seen athletes win eight U.S. national titles on his bikes!

   After a couple of email exchanges and a quick phone call to schedule a visit, I made the twenty minute drive to Peter’s garage shop. His throwback operation, crammed with tools, parts and dozens of frame projects in progress, was in immediate contrast with an ultra-modern Wilier carbon fiber bike Peter had in a bike stand while making repairs for a friend.

   There was no doubt the man had a plan when he snapped up the Pinarello frame and locked the fork into a table vise, wedged between wooden blocks to protect the chrome. He then pulled out “The Hook”, a strange contraption which he assured me was an actual ParkTool product. I checked – it’s called a frame/fork straightener (photo below), although his was very well-used!

   He threw all of his weight behind the tool, which caused a terrible CRACK, followed by a high-pitched shriek, resulting in a small amount of stem movement. Peter turned the tool the opposite direction and again, the awful shriek with a couple inches of twisting stem. Results! (I thought.) We were definitely getting some movement, but it was obvious some more solvent soaking was needed, so I left the frame behind.

   A couple of days later I received a call from Peter, informing me that he was getting side to side motion, but with no improvement. The operation would lock up again after every turn, and he was definitely not getting any vertical movement. He told me that this is something he has experienced before, called spalling, which he explained (after a disclaimer that he was no metallurgist) was a tearing away of the top layer of metal between the two parts. He wasn't just fighting the rust; he was twisting material off of the steering tube and stem.

   I told him that I was far more interested in saving the rare Cinelli engraved stem than the fork, which wasn’t original anyway. We agreed that the best solution was to loosen the headset and drop the fork down so that the bottom of the steering tube was exposed enough to cut it. He could then slide out the fused parts, cut a slit along the remaining tube and pry it open to release the stem.

   Carrick and I stopped by his shop on our way to class on Thursday and…

   Peter pointed out that, based on the location of the rust lines, it appears none of the solvents we used had penetrated at all! We then discussed stripping the paint, which I’ll do myself, and he gave me a very reasonable estimate for the dent repairs and for brazing on new cable guides. He revealed that he sends his frames out for professional painting, but I think, with the money I've already sunk into this project, that I will make other arrangements.

   I try to keep from focusing my blog entries on professional cycling because I realize that, although most readers are fans of bicycling, it doesn't necessarily mean they are fans of racing. However, I like to point out interesting athletes and stories, and I hope my enthusiasm rubs off on someone. I find it incredible to watch these guys regularly cover more than 150 miles at an average well over 20 mph, whether they're rolling over flat, wind-blown roads in the Netherlands, attacking ridiculously steep cobbled climbs on a rainy, cold day in Belgium or grinding slowly up winding passes up through the Alps.

   Use of the phrase “You gotta love …” by sports commentators really annoys me, not only because it’s terrible grammar, but also because viewers really don’t have to do anything they don’t want to! I would think statements like “You gotta love the way the Boston Bruins have been dominating lately” or “You gotta love the way Michael Wacha is pitching for the Reds” would find Flyers or Pirates fans, respectively, a bit grouchy.

   So I won’t say something stupid like “You gotta love Fabian Cancellara’s performance in Sunday’s Tour of Flanders”, because I know those folks rooting for Tom Boonen or Peter Sagan would strongly disagree. I will say that you have to respect the abilities of one of the most dominating cyclists in the history of the sport! The five cycling monuments (Milan-San Remo, Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Liège–Bastogne–Liège and Giro di Lombardia) are the oldest and most prestigious of pro cycling’s one-day events. Cancellara generally skips the last two because their routes are more suited to the climbers, but in the last dozen monuments he has entered, Cancellara has won five times and, incredibly, has finished on the podium eleven times – the only time he didn't was because of a crash that resulted in a broken collarbone. I guess we’ll give him a pass on that one instance!

   As in many past occasions, the Trek Factory Cycling rider came in the favorite at Flanders, everyone was watching him and he emerged victorious with tactics and sheer talent. Stuck without any teammates to help, Cancellara was in a group of a dozen riders who were marking him closely the whole race and refused to do any work in order to chase down a breakway duo up the road which looked like the possible winning move.

   The man known as “Spartacus” within the peloton because of his toughness and powerful build simply rode away from his companions, with only one rival able to hold his wheel. The multiple world time trial champion caught the breakaway and still had enough snap left in his legs to sprint around all of them at the finish line to win.

   I strongly encourage you to tune in next Sunday morning to watch “The Hell of the North”, Paris-Roubaix, and see if Fabian can win for a record-tying fourth time. If you have satellite TV, it’s on Sky or Eurosport, otherwise you can catch one of many available feeds online at Steephill.tv. The great thing about cycling is, like baseball, it’s more of a pastime. You don’t have to watch every second while you’re eating breakfast, reading the paper or browsing eBay, just glance at the screen occasionally to see what’s up, listen to the crowds or announcer for something exciting to happen and be sure to catch the final inning, or last 20-30 kilometers in cycling’s case!