Stay tuned. Hopefully it’ll be done by mid-spring.

Well, the Della Santa returned from the painter recently, so it’s an up-and-runnin’ bike now. Roland refers to it as “a street whore” as he doesn’t usually (like, ever) allow this amount of frivolity and nonsense on his bikes. You know, stuff like,

Ossobuco chainstays with stainless steel inserts (20+ hours of buffing)
Columbus “Star” profiled tubing (wacky!)
“Gambler’s Special” lugs (Diamond, Heart, Spade and Club cutouts)
Campagnolo Portacatena-drilled dropouts
Paint accents galore, like pinstriping, grey panels and white cutout highlights (all which drive Roland crazy. Hehe!)

The bike also hosts an array of interesting, unusual and one-of-a-kind components, including,
Campagnolo Hi-Lo rear hub
Portacatena shifter and chain holder
Cinelli EXA 6-sided bars
Cinelli 1-R “Special” stem (with extra “fixer” bolt pinned into the bar)

Frankly, I love the bike. I do admit it’s not for everyone, but I’ve always wanted Roland to pull out all the stops.That being said, I’ve no doubt ruined it for everyone else who would like their DS pimped out, and for that I apologize. It might be years before he allows anyone to even choose their own color anymore…

It’s amazing just how much this setup weighs (over 100 lbs). Still, the bike/trailer combo is actually quite ridable. Of course the opinion just shared comes from folks who spend their time on 1930′s balloon-tire bikes, so maybe they aren’t the best critics…

I just got back from a ride on one of the favorite steeds in the collection, a 1984 Fuji Touring IV. Not only does it ride smoother than creme fraische, the bike also holds a special place in my heart, a flashback to the early 1980′s when I was a bike-monk working at College Cyclery, the local Fuji dealer here in Reno. The Touring Series bikes (the III, IV and the rare V America) were the top of the heap back then. If you strolled into the shop wanting to elude society’s grasp and hit the road, you were going to get pitched on one of the  Fuji Touring Series, depending on your particular needs.

Touring Series III- Looking for a bike to handle lightly loaded day-trips or overnighters? “The Three” was just perfect.

Touring Series IV- If you were planning a trip down the Oregon Coast or were going on a multi-day unsupported trip, this was your pony.

Touring Series V- Three words. “Hello Nova Scotia!”

This Touring IV is what I’d consider the perfect combination of old and new. Whenever possible, the original parts have been left intact. The only time a component has been changed is if a modern version could help with overall comfort. Thus, the original narrow bars were mothballed for newer Albatroses; the hard plastic saddle was exchanged for a Brooks Flyer Special. Honjo fenders were added, though I admit I’d be kidding myself if I thought I’d ever take it out if it were even a chance of rain. A Schmidt dynamo hub and headlight made the bike functional any time of day, and the Surly rack could hold a king’s ransom in gear.

There are also tons of other, smaller changes, some to make the bike more diverse, and others just for the aesthetic. …And of course, triple cages with the appropriate containers to hold a ride’s worth of water plus a litte Woodford Reserve.

The bike now has a new front Campagnolo derailleur, rear Campagnolo Rally, new chains (3 of them, because of the length), new Michelins, new Brooks saddles, new brake levers, cork tape, cables, housing, and on an on.

Look for it on ebay soon.

Now, it should be noted that Rollie’s  frames have always been the essence of aesthetic simplicity; they ride like the wind, but aren’t overly carved or overtly detailed. A frame made from pentagram tubing is flashy by Roland’s standards.To this day I’m still left wondering why he even had a set of the stuff. Pestering can be a very powerful tool, though and I employed it whenever I thought it might have a positive outcome. Eventually my framebuilder friend cracked under the pressure and he agreed to make me a frame out of the stuff.

Now that I had him wher I wanted him,  I decided to see what else I could get away with. One day while visiting the shop I  innocently asked if he’d consider making my Star frame a ”Gambler’s Special”, Roland’s pet name for any bike where he carves card suits into the lugs. Not seeing the slippery slope he was on, he walked over and wrote “Gambler’s” on my work order. Ah, ha!

Next:  6 months ago Roland had started offering the option of drilled chainstays. I knew a traditional frame with narrower stays wouldn’t fit his jig though. Of course I still asked, but my stays just couldn’t be done, at least not with his current jig. The holes would be too large for the stays. Plus, his jig couldn’t hold my stays correctly, which meant that they would chatter and flex when drilled. Not wanting egg-shaped holes, I’d given up, though the idea was still in my head. While discussing the chainstay problem with machinist, friend and fellow framebuilder Ed Gresham in early 2011 the solution presented itself. Ed had made the original Ossobuco jig and understood what it would take to drill my stays. In the end, Ed ended up making a custom clamp for the stays and the holes were drilled using his mill, without the benefit of a jig.

At Rollie’s this week, I saw Star tubing in the frame jig. Close by were the custom-drilled chainstays. It’s looks like it’ll only be a matter of time before the “Lucky Charm” bike, as it is affectionally known, will be done (Hearts, Diamonds, Stars, and Circles all present). I guess I should start thinking about what color I’m going to try to talk Rollie into painting it…

I’ve pretty much stopped watching racing, something I used to really enjoy. Back in the LeMond era, we at the bike shop used to listen to daily live reports of the Tour de France transmitted through the shop speaker phone. It was a pay-per-minute deal and as you might guess, pretty hard to hear what with all the ambient noise of the shop in the summer. Nevertheless, we poor bicycle monks would pool our money and listen, taking in the flavor of racing a half world away.

The thing was, we knew who to root for. Nowadays, I’m at a loss. So many times I’ve picked a new favorite rider, only to discover that I was pinning my hopes, which were often childlike in their innocence, on a doper. Eventually I gave up, as it became too demoralizing. Even I learn from my mistakes.

…And that’s how I ended up on Talk of the Nation yesterday. The young Callahans and I were in the car running errands, and as usual, we had NPR on. The topic was doping in sports, brought on by the Barry Bonds trial. I have my opinion about Bonds, but I was content to listen (I have a fear of talking on the radio, or more precisely, of sounding stupid on a national radio show).

That is, until cycling came into the equation. I listened to callers, some of who railed on doping, while others defended riders like Lance Armstrong. Something popped. Arriving back at the house, I was in the bedroom and on the phone before I could talk myself out of it.

I can’t remember exactly what I said to Neal Conan, being utterly flustered at finding myself actually on air. I do know that generally, it felt good and I’m glad I got to say it out loud, for others to hear. Making my nominal case over the airwaves has served as a small brand of tonic, as well. I doubt I’ll be hanging my hopes on any rider in the upcoming cycling season, but who knows, maybe some day it will change: Cycling could change. Maybe someday, I’ll find myself actually sitting down to watch a race with the boys. …And as some young rider breaks off the front of the pack on a monumental climb, I’ll be able to look at both of them and say ”You watch him, boys. He’s the real thing.”