Welcome to cycloretro.com Cycloretro is a place on the web that showcases the Concorde bicycle from the 1980s and 1990s, and the professional cycling team PDM who dominated professional European cycling at that time.But the website is not just about PDM and Concorde bicycles. Cycloretro is for all who have a interest in retro bicycles of all kinds and from any time.
So please explore the website and enjoy...
 
   | Unique Carbon - Colovelo I like my retro steel frames as much as the next guy, and even through they are nice to ride, they are old, heavy and no longer suitable for racing. To be competitive you need a new carbon bike, but its very hard to spend big bucks on a new bike when so many leading bike brands today are made in Taiwan. Once upon a time I wouldn't mind spending upwards of $5000 for a new bike, but back then the bikes were made in Italy handcrafted by an experienced artisan. Today the bikes are pushed out moulds and painted by robots, the love has gone.  If one has little choice but to buy a bike from Taiwan why not buy direct from a manufacturer. So I did. I found one on the web and for a few hundred bucks I got to choose the carbon type (3K weave), the geometry (race profile), the forks, added internal cabling and threaded bottom bracket. The frame weighs 1.5kg and arrived in raw carbon which is OK for some, but I like paint, so I masked out the design above and set to work. A friend came up with the name COLOVELO meaning LOVE OF CYCLING and I made up some decals. The end result I believe is just as good as any other Taiwanese made frame. Staying with the whole doing it cheap theme, I plan to build it up using Shimano 105. I'll take some more photos when its built and give my review on the ride and handling.... stay tuned.
Working out the correct frame size & seat height. Many years ago I read a lot of books and articles on finding the correct riding position and frame size. Many pro cyclists of the time like Bernard Hinault, Greg Lemond and Sean Kelly all had slightly different riding positions and opinions. After testing all theories with my own bike I found these formulas to work quite well: To find the correct seat height Your Inseam Measurement + 7.3% -------------------------- = Seat Height. (measured from center of pedal axle to top of saddle)   To work out the correct frame size: Seat Height - Crank Length - Seatpost with Seat attached Length ------------------------------------------------------- = Seat Tube Size. (based on traditional geometry) Once you have the correct seat tube size its easy to estimate the correct top tube length. To find the desired riding reach: Your Torso + Arm Length divided by 2 ------------------------------- = Riding Reach. (Riding reach is measured from center of handlebars to center of saddle)  Your Torso / Arm Reach is measured by sitting on a box or bench with your feet flat on the floor and your knees at 90º, push your bum into the corner and reach touching the wall. The measurement from your reach to the seat is your Torso / Arm Reach, divide that measurement by 2 and that measurement will = your desired Riding Reach.  I used the above formulas for most of the my riding, but occassionally I raised the seat height slightly for shorter races or criteriums. You may also find you will need to tweak the results, but the above formulas are a very good starting point - give it a try. |