I NEED A LOAN FOR NEW TOY!

Ishrub said:

You never cease to amaze! Pre-lycra days when you rode in lightweight hessian or was that canvas?

My cousin in Canada, Phil White, co-started and has now sold Cervelo which started making Olympic rule testing 'Barrachi' track bikes using the design cues he had from an Aero Engineering degree, going on to full Tour de France team sponsorship etc.

History - cervelo.com


Cervélo Cycles was created in 1995 when two engineers, Phil White and Gérard Vroomen, decided to market their work developing faster time-trial bikes. Having been involved in bicycle and human-powered vehicle design since 1986, they started a bike design from scratch when a top-ranked Italian pro cyclist approached Gérard to design the fastest possible time-trial bike for him.

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Pete, Hessian clothing?
I do still have a wool road "gurnsey" and wool "Weinmann" knicks. My "Swift" track bike built by Mr Carl Rogers at Williams, Dredge and Hayden is Reynolds 531 tubing and Nervex (shaped and filed) lugs .... even now a beautiful if redundant piece of technology. Unfortunately my Road bike was stolen years ago but I fondly remember the beauty of its Campagnollo "Grand Sport" equipment. I actually won the inaugural Southern NSW Junior Track Championship at the opening of the now old Canberra Velodrome. The concrete was still green on the opening day and there were lots of falls. Most of us had been riding flat tracks but I had a bit of experience from the old Camperdown track and surprisingly Moree had built a 6 to the mile velodrome by digging a big hole and adding bitumen ....... great days. Got told as I was training for the Seoul Olympics that I could never ride for Australia because up to 16 years old I was a member of the League of Wheelmen - the Pro Body even though they had let me into the Amateurs under amnesty .... bloody cream puffs (we used to call them).

Next time you ride this way I'll show you the bottom shed ..... beside the Aladdins cave of metric motorcycle parts there are my youthful dreams .... but they went on ... 18 years ago when I moved up here I gave up being the High Development Coach at Lidcombe Cycle Club in Sydney.

I have only worn hessian when I dress up as a Nun .... to quote Black Adder .... I just love the feeling of the hessian underthings.

Longrider said:

Pete, Hessian clothing?
I do still have a wool road "gurnsey" and wool "Weinmann" knicks. My "Swift" track bike built by Mr Carl Rogers at Williams, Dredge and Hayden is Reynolds 531 tubing and Nervex (shaped and filed) lugs .... even now a beautiful if redundant piece of technology. Unfortunately my Road bike was stolen years ago but I fondly remember the beauty of its Campagnollo "Grand Sport" equipment. I actually won the inaugural Southern NSW Junior Track Championship at the opening of the now old Canberra Velodrome. The concrete was still green on the opening day and there were lots of falls. Most of us had been riding flat tracks but I had a bit of experience from the old Camperdown track and surprisingly Moree had built a 6 to the mile velodrome by digging a big hole and adding bitumen ....... great days. Got told as I was training for the Seoul Olympics that I could never ride for Australia because up to 16 years old I was a member of the League of Wheelmen - the Pro Body even though they had let me into the Amateurs under amnesty .... bloody cream puffs (we used to call them).

Next time you ride this way I'll show you the bottom shed ..... beside the Aladdins cave of metric motorcycle parts there are my youthful dreams .... but they went on ... 18 years ago when I moved up here I gave up being the High Development Coach at Lidcombe Cycle Club in Sydney.

I have only worn hessian when I dress up as a Nun .... to quote Black Adder .... I just love the feeling of the hessian underthings.

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I just sensed that last statement!
Anywaaay, back on topic re 'New Toys' and 'hessian' - eventually.

Strangely when I started my Public Service career at the Patents and Trademarks Office in 1980 we used to have morning tea in a Dept tea room where everyone attended for 15-20 minutes twice a day at the ringing of bells. Real old school - teas ladies, urns and biscuits. I used to sit with a group of young patent examiners who assessed the patent applications - some of them were very amusing (examiners and patents).

One was a pair of underpants to improve sexual performance where your ol' fella was put in a rubber ring to hold it in place against a hessian lined 'Y' front all day to 'de-sensitise' it so you lasted longer in the sack. I should have asked who got to test it. It got knocked back anyway.

There were many other 'New Toys' in just the long 6 months I spent there.

@Longrider - just as well you are not just a 'Luggite'

Nervex Professional lugs

Longrider said:

Pete, Hessian clothing?
I do still have a wool road "gurnsey" and wool "Weinmann" knicks. My "Swift" track bike built by Mr Carl Rogers at Williams, Dredge and Hayden is Reynolds 531 tubing and Nervex (shaped and filed) lugs .... even now a beautiful if redundant piece of technology. Unfortunately my Road bike was stolen years ago but I fondly remember the beauty of its Campagnollo "Grand Sport" equipment. I actually won the inaugural Southern NSW Junior Track Championship at the opening of the now old Canberra Velodrome. The concrete was still green on the opening day and there were lots of falls. Most of us had been riding flat tracks but I had a bit of experience from the old Camperdown track and surprisingly Moree had built a 6 to the mile velodrome by digging a big hole and adding bitumen ....... great days. Got told as I was training for the Seoul Olympics that I could never ride for Australia because up to 16 years old I was a member of the League of Wheelmen - the Pro Body even though they had let me into the Amateurs under amnesty .... bloody cream puffs (we used to call them).

Next time you ride this way I'll show you the bottom shed ..... beside the Aladdins cave of metric motorcycle parts there are my youthful dreams .... but they went on ... 18 years ago when I moved up here I gave up being the High Development Coach at Lidcombe Cycle Club in Sydney.

I have only worn hessian when I dress up as a Nun .... to quote Black Adder .... I just love the feeling of the hessian underthings.

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Wow, that’s really cool Sir! Very impressive.
And I really miss the days of the Reynolds tubing, along with Italian Columbus tubing and the beautifully crafted hand filed steel lugs of those days!
Now you don’t go back so far that you used to put flank steak in your woolies for padding on longer road rides do ya?

Ishrub said:

@Longrider - just as well you are not just a 'Luggite'

Nervex Professional lugs

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Beautiful work!

EasTexRIII said:

Wow, that’s really cool Sir! Very impressive.
And I really miss the days of the Reynolds tubing, along with Italian Columbus tubing and the beautifully crafted hand filed steel lugs of those days!
Now you don’t go back so far that you used to put flank steak in your woolies for padding on longer road rides do ya?

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Only if he needs a packed lunch.

That was an old Argentinian Gaucho trick. The heat of their horse cooked a steak under the saddle during a days work.

Ishrub said:

Only if he needs a packed lunch.

That was an old Argentinian Gaucho trick. The heat of their horse cooked a steak under the saddle during a days work.

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Ya, also done in cycling shorts before they started sewing in a softened leather chamois

Had old riders talk about a steak in the shorts but I only ever had chamois. As a kid used Metholated spirits to toughen toughen up the nether regions .... Brooks B17 seat didn't give much comfort.
Peter .... the finder of things .... what a great article about Nervex lugs.
I looked at some old vids of frame building in the Triumph Meriden Factory and can't help but think of the consistency of the frame builders art. Cycling taught me about wheelbase and rake angle differences as well as a great understanding of gear ratios and power transfer.
Very few people would know about training on a 68 or 72 fixed to teach spinning and racing on a 96 for handicaps or 104 for wheelraces ..... I almost feel the ratios when riding the Rocket.
This has been a great journey but lets get on with Rocket talk or more specifically new toys.

Bought a basket case '69 Suzuki TC120 last night .... my first real bike ... I used to ride it to school and have been looking for one for years. 3 speed dual range gearbox .... used to ride it everywhere there wasn't a road. A bloke had parked it in a shed with 4500 miles on it and bales of hay fell on it. He dug it out 10 years later and sold it. The new owner dissembled bits and put them in labeled bags, sanded the tank ... sat for another 10 years and along comes me .... bloody over the moon, drank lots of firewater in celebration. Will take the ute up to Newcastle to get it on Saturday morning. My wife, who usually complains that I have too many bikes completely encouraged me and joined my revelry.