le grimpeur

Grimpeur of the year & happy holidays!0
Guy WR posted in Climbers on December 14th, 2008

Last year, your author touted Leonardo Piepoli for le grimpeur de l’année. Noted as the only black spot on his record of outstanding climbing was his ‘positive’ doping test at that year’s Giro. This year, of course, it would seem that the farmer caught up with the old fox and Piepoli was ejected from the Tour for using the third-generation EPO drug CERA.

We may never know how long Piepoli had been doping as many unanswered questions remain about CERA (such as how long it has been available) and indeed about Piepoli himself. Once again, outstanding performances in the current season – and perhaps previous seasons as well – were thrown into doubt by the revelations of cheating. A shame. (more…)

The politics of bicycles6
Guy WR posted in Local Climbs on December 3rd, 2008

A recent comment in Bicycling magazine caught the attention of your author. To paraphrase, perhaps unjustly, the essential thesis was that bicycle buyers are not swayed by brand image but are instead focused on the frame build and components that can be obtained at various price points. Forget whether a bike is a Giant, Specialized, Trek, Colnago, or Sachs – it’s all about the specs.

It was perhaps a throwaway comment, a general observation that what a frame has on it matters as much as, if not more, than the label that adorns the downtube. Which may well be roughly correct: a consumer faced by a 105-ed Giant for the same price as a Ultegra-ed Specialized would probably chose the latter (although the price points seem to be mostly the same these days for many mainstream brands) and be unphased by minute differences in the frame.

The comment, though, did prompt some thinking about the importance of the brand in cycling. In fact, your author would go so far as to suggest that the brand of a bike plays a very important role when the buyer makes his or her decision. That this thesis is true is essentially the assumption of every manufacturer that sponsors a pro team; the company wants fans of the team to bask in the collective glory of the team by riding the same brand of bike. Witness, for example, the ‘I am Specialized’ campaign with Quick-Step’s Bettini and Boonen – that’s powerful advertising stuff! (more…)