Tag Archives: Richie Porte

The end of the Magic Spanner??

Dear Roulers,

I was reading a recent article in Cycle Sport July 2015 edition, talking about the end of the ‘magic spanner’. Apart from terse warnings from the UCI Commissaries, the article was a showcase for a number of nostalgic photos demonstrating the bravery of team bicycle mechanics.  Leaning out of vehicle traveling at 40 to 50 Km/h looks like an easy way to end up in hospital.   Unfortunately there is no easy way of directing you to the article, as far as I can tell, there is no online copy…boo 🙁

For those of you that have no idea what the magic spanner or its close relative the ‘sticky bidon’ are, its occurs when a rider drops out of the peloton, on the pretence of requiring an adjustment to brakes, cleats, cables, whatever, and catches a presumably well earned rest hanging on the team car.  Here’s an example of an intrepid FDJ mechanic braving life and limb. Impressive core strength, young man.

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Its close cousin is where a rider seems take a very long time to secure their grip on a bidon ie 1 or 2 minutes, before taking a drink.

Neither of these ‘tactics’ should be confused with hanging on to a motorbike…

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….which is just plain cheating.

Nor is Richie Porte’s ‘wheelgate’ fiasco, which basically cost him any chance of maglia rosa in 2015.

So, naughty, naughty, very naughty, which is no doubt why the UCI issued a reminder just before the 2015 Paris-Nice race and fined a couple of team  a 1000 Swiss Francs. The article’s author seems to make great sport of team Sky who have a number of photos included in the article.  Oh well…….

As the sole rider on Team Marv I have to say that I want one of these magic spanners.  I’ve had 3 punctures in 6 weeks and having a Team Marv support vehicle would be just awesome. My personal pick would be the Team Sky jag that’s been going around in the ‘hot lap’ that’s been going round on SBS’s Bike Lane.

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I’ll be passing the hat round shortly. Don’t be shy, chip in 🙂

Until then ride safely

Marv

Richie Porte, Wheelgate and Emergency Repairs

 

Dear Roulers,

Not much seems to be going right for Team Sky’s Richie Porte at the Giro.  He has been docked two minutes by the race jury after he received an illegal wheel change from Orica-GreenEdge‘s Simon Clarke following his puncture in the closing kilometres of stage 10 of the Giro d’Italia.  Porte punctured with seven kilometres remaining and lost 47 seconds to the main peloton, despite the wheel offered by Clarke and the assistance later provided by GreenEdge’s Michael Matthews during the chase effort.  Man doesn’t that suck.    I wonder would that have happened between Aru and some other Italian rider?

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Also is it my imagination or is Orica-GreenEdge giving him more help than his own team?….AND WHAT EXACTLY IS THE SKY RIDER IN THE FRONT OF THE PHOTO DOING?? Given that he’s out of contract at the end of this year, are GreenEdge sending not so subtle messages about which team he should ride for next year.  Time will tell.

Given Richie’s faux pas, it triggered some thinking on my part about what else he could have done to effect an emergency repair and then in general about emergency repairs.

Here’s my bumper list of emergency repairs you could do by the side of the road:

Split Tyre No tyre patches…no problem.  Wrap strong paper, plastic sheeting around the tube inside the tyre.  Wrapping tape around the tyre with tape or part of an old inner tube may help.  Remember to disable the brakes or remove the brake blocks, otherwise the tyre won’t spin freely.
No Spare Tubes You’ll love this.  Tie a knot in the tyre on the hole.  You may be able to inflate the tyre hard enough to be able to ride.  Plan B is stuff the tyre with lots of grass and spare filling such as paper.  This is hard to do and it may be more time effective to walk to help.
Broken Gears I wish has known this a few months ago….if you break the rear derailleur, shorten the chain and remove or bypass the gears.  This will result in a single speed bike. Riding will always be quicker than walking.
Snapped Gear Cable Thank God I’ve never had this happen…screw down the ‘high adjuster’ screw on the gear mechanism, so that the chain is one of the middle sprockets.  You should be able to keep going , especially if the front derailleur is still working.  If the front cable breaks, repeat the fix and put the chain on to the smaller chain ring.
Freewheel Failure I didn’t even know that this could happen…however, use zip-tie to secure the sprockets to the spokes of the back wheel.  Be really careful as you are now riding a fixed wheel track bike.  Be very careful applying the brakes.  Provided you are careful, there’s a really good chance you’ll make to assistance.
Cracked frames or forks Again if they are carbon or aluminium forget it…if its steel or titanium based you’ve got half a chance of bending it back into shape. If you cracks in your frame, again gaffer tape and strong pieces of wood may be enough to hold the frame together long enough to reach assistance.
Bent Rims Hopefully it goes without saying this won’t work with carbon wheels.   Emergency straightening can be carried out by standing on them or leaning on them against a gutter or manhole.  You’ll have to disable the brakes.  Toss the rim when you get home.
Broken Seat Post 2 fixes that you might be able to try, depending on where the break is on the post.  The most obvious action…drop the seat post until decent portion is in the seat tube, uncomfortable but doable.  Second, find a piece of wood or tree branch that can be jammed into the two halves.  Brace the saddle to the top tube or seat stays by using gaffer tape  or straps.

Hopefully you’ll never have to use any of these.

Until next time

Marv

Porte, Matthews…Marv…spot the odd one out

Well Dear Roulers,

The thing that I do in working hours to pay for all things bicycle-related is interfering with my ability to write blogs…Boo.  How dare my employer expect me to work, while at work 😉  I have to say how much I enjoyed the recent Paris-Nice 6 tour, particularly days 4, 5 and 6.

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Not the least of which being that 3 of the 6 stages were won by Australians and the Jeune Malliot was won by Richie Porte.  Porte managed his  second overall title in three years in the Paris-Nice ‘Race to the Sun’.

When he crashed on the descent off the Cote de Peille…I really though he was done for. That landing must have hurt.    Hats off to Frenchman Tony Gallopin who showed some enterprise to win stage 5.

Congratulations should also go to Michael Matthews who won Stage 3 and doubled up for a 3rd place in last night’s Milan-San Remo.  I’m annoyed that I missed the Milan-San Remo Classic last night.  I’ll have to read the news on SBS Bicycling Central  to see how the race unfolded. Unfortunately my personal time is being consumed by moving house which meant that I forgot to timeshift the event…damn.  I won’t make that mistake again.Mike Matthews finishes third in the Milan-San Remo 2015

Speaking of riding I’m really enjoying the cool, sunny Autumn mornings. The last two Saturday mornings have been fantastic. I’ve been wheel sucking on local club pelotons and this has really helped my times and average speeds.

Last Saturday was my fastest 40km round trip to Blackrock in a time of 80 minutes. This makes me only 20km/h slower than the pros.  I was pretty chuffed about that, particularly as meant passing a large number of fellow MAMILS with bikes to two three times the cost of my 2010 Villier…chuckle 😉

Until next time

Marv