Peachy!
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Just about to step out into a new wilderness for me, namely the 21st century road.
I had a very productive year in 2021 health wise with a huge loss of weight and the reversal of my type 2 diabetes, this years challenge though is to continue that good work and keep the weight off!
I like mucking about off road but I've also always enjoyed road riding (ps I'm one of the polite ones who believe in riding sensibly, defensively and at all times I try to consider other road users and will always acknowledge any other rider!)
The road is obviously convenient if you wanna pop out of a lunch time for a quick spin etc but near the end of last year I thought I should step it up a notch and join a local club just to see if I could hack it.
Contrary to popular belief my local club was on the whole very friendly, but we had a bit of a miss-communication over what we regard as a "RetroMod". My idea of using a steel 80's Claud that's been re-spaced to accommodate a predominately 2005 DuraAce 2x10sp group-set didn't line up with their idea of a frame from the naughties with a group from 2015+
Although they were all very nice, some did feel the need to suggest I joined a Vintage club and it wasn't long into the ride that I was unceremoniously "dropped". Never mind, it was what I had expected.
The next gang I tried was a local FaceBook "FLAB" group (Fat lad/lass At the Back) their Strava averages on their social rides were a lot closer to mine (14-15mph over 30 miles) and they also promise to never leave anyone behind, so I signed up.
What a relief, I've met a great bunch of people, some a little younger, some a little older and none seemed to care a jot about my bike & I kept up with them easily.
So Peachy, why the plastic fantastic? Well I still want to push myself and attend some faster/longer rides, so to do that I wondered if I should have a go at a more modern bike. Obviously I'm going to look at a Claud first, and although by far the majority of the Claud range from the turn of the millennium have pretty much all been shockingly low end fare but at mid-range prices, one has always stood out and that was the full carbon Torino.
Someone at Falcon had the idea of re-introducing a proper top of the range bike, and took the Torino name from the late 60's Campagnolo Record equipped Holdsworth Claud range topper.
In 2005 the "Mk1" in 3K Carbon had a more traditional geometry, but in 2009 the 12K Carbon "Mk2"arrived looking a lot more sexy and was initially introduced with the very respectable 2x10sp Shimano 105, but of course, the predictable happened and pretty soon the group got down graded to the decidedly average 9sp Tiagra.
Why it was never introduced with a full Campagnolo group is beyond me.
Here's a BikeRadar review by Simon Withers
Published: July 19, 2011 at 8:00 am
A comfortable ride with decent frame and kit. Tiagra groupset and budget WH500 wheels do the job, but the bike could easily take an upgrade
Claud Butler is a famous old British name now associated with budget bikes. But what’s this? Only a lightweight carbon fibre road bike sporting Claud’s signature in an Ernesto Colnago-like flourish. Okay, it’s from the Far East, not Butler’s original London, but we think Claud would have been happy.
It certainly looks the part, with bold graphics, and even the wheels boasting logos on the semi-deep rims. The kit is quite modest, coming with Shimano’s nine-speed Tiagra groupset and budget WH500 wheels.
We put these through some pretty serious testing though, not just tackling post-winter potholes but also bouncing them along some rough canal towpaths to see if we could knock them out of kilter – we couldn’t. And it wasn’t a bone-jarringly hard ride, the carbon frame and fork and 27.2mm seatpost taking the sting out and keeping teeth intact.
The Torino probably isn’t one for the dedicated competitive rider, its wheelset being a little heavy. But it doesn’t have the extended head tube that some comfort-orientated bikes are specced with, so you could use it for the occasional time trial or triathlon with a set of clip-on tri bars.
The Tiagra kit doesn’t have the cachet or the looks of 105 but its non-concealed cables contribute to a very light shifting action. The compact 50/34T chainset and 11-25T cassette provide a good gear range, and if you want more help on the hills you could go up to a 27T sprocket. Ritchey supply a decent bar, stem, seatpost and saddle, adding to comfort.
Handling is reassuring rather than lightning quick but the bike corners confidently and deals with rapid changes of direction through traffic well. While it’s not super-quick on climbs there are no problems on descents. This isn’t an out-and-out racing snake but it manages to be more than the sum of its parts. It’s a very enjoyable ride, well set up for long-distance leisure and fitness riding.
That line "but the bike could easily take an upgrade" of course had me thinking, so I had a hunt around and found one in amazingly good condition, cheep as chips on FaceBook Marketplace, only an hour & half down the road. Another un-required Covid-lock down reject, I offered an even lower price and the deal was done. With a 22" seat tube it's possibly a little short for me (sizes in old money were 20-3/4", 22", 23-1/4". I'll probably keep one eye open and an ear to the ground for the slightly larger version, but for now I'm going to give this a go.
Plans for an upgrade, well initially I'm thinking of trying out the 2015 Campag Super Record group I've just removed from my lads Colnago (its getting a face-lift) and see how much difference that makes. As it currently weighs in at 20lbs 8oz I think a few choice swap-outs of bars/stem/seatpost/saddle and of course the full group and wheels should make a difference
. I'm going to record some back to back rides for comparison.
I had a very productive year in 2021 health wise with a huge loss of weight and the reversal of my type 2 diabetes, this years challenge though is to continue that good work and keep the weight off!
I like mucking about off road but I've also always enjoyed road riding (ps I'm one of the polite ones who believe in riding sensibly, defensively and at all times I try to consider other road users and will always acknowledge any other rider!)
The road is obviously convenient if you wanna pop out of a lunch time for a quick spin etc but near the end of last year I thought I should step it up a notch and join a local club just to see if I could hack it.
Contrary to popular belief my local club was on the whole very friendly, but we had a bit of a miss-communication over what we regard as a "RetroMod". My idea of using a steel 80's Claud that's been re-spaced to accommodate a predominately 2005 DuraAce 2x10sp group-set didn't line up with their idea of a frame from the naughties with a group from 2015+
Although they were all very nice, some did feel the need to suggest I joined a Vintage club and it wasn't long into the ride that I was unceremoniously "dropped". Never mind, it was what I had expected.
The next gang I tried was a local FaceBook "FLAB" group (Fat lad/lass At the Back) their Strava averages on their social rides were a lot closer to mine (14-15mph over 30 miles) and they also promise to never leave anyone behind, so I signed up.
What a relief, I've met a great bunch of people, some a little younger, some a little older and none seemed to care a jot about my bike & I kept up with them easily.
So Peachy, why the plastic fantastic? Well I still want to push myself and attend some faster/longer rides, so to do that I wondered if I should have a go at a more modern bike. Obviously I'm going to look at a Claud first, and although by far the majority of the Claud range from the turn of the millennium have pretty much all been shockingly low end fare but at mid-range prices, one has always stood out and that was the full carbon Torino.
Someone at Falcon had the idea of re-introducing a proper top of the range bike, and took the Torino name from the late 60's Campagnolo Record equipped Holdsworth Claud range topper.
In 2005 the "Mk1" in 3K Carbon had a more traditional geometry, but in 2009 the 12K Carbon "Mk2"arrived looking a lot more sexy and was initially introduced with the very respectable 2x10sp Shimano 105, but of course, the predictable happened and pretty soon the group got down graded to the decidedly average 9sp Tiagra.
Why it was never introduced with a full Campagnolo group is beyond me.
Here's a BikeRadar review by Simon Withers
Published: July 19, 2011 at 8:00 am
A comfortable ride with decent frame and kit. Tiagra groupset and budget WH500 wheels do the job, but the bike could easily take an upgrade
Claud Butler is a famous old British name now associated with budget bikes. But what’s this? Only a lightweight carbon fibre road bike sporting Claud’s signature in an Ernesto Colnago-like flourish. Okay, it’s from the Far East, not Butler’s original London, but we think Claud would have been happy.
It certainly looks the part, with bold graphics, and even the wheels boasting logos on the semi-deep rims. The kit is quite modest, coming with Shimano’s nine-speed Tiagra groupset and budget WH500 wheels.
We put these through some pretty serious testing though, not just tackling post-winter potholes but also bouncing them along some rough canal towpaths to see if we could knock them out of kilter – we couldn’t. And it wasn’t a bone-jarringly hard ride, the carbon frame and fork and 27.2mm seatpost taking the sting out and keeping teeth intact.
The Torino probably isn’t one for the dedicated competitive rider, its wheelset being a little heavy. But it doesn’t have the extended head tube that some comfort-orientated bikes are specced with, so you could use it for the occasional time trial or triathlon with a set of clip-on tri bars.
The Tiagra kit doesn’t have the cachet or the looks of 105 but its non-concealed cables contribute to a very light shifting action. The compact 50/34T chainset and 11-25T cassette provide a good gear range, and if you want more help on the hills you could go up to a 27T sprocket. Ritchey supply a decent bar, stem, seatpost and saddle, adding to comfort.
Handling is reassuring rather than lightning quick but the bike corners confidently and deals with rapid changes of direction through traffic well. While it’s not super-quick on climbs there are no problems on descents. This isn’t an out-and-out racing snake but it manages to be more than the sum of its parts. It’s a very enjoyable ride, well set up for long-distance leisure and fitness riding.
That line "but the bike could easily take an upgrade" of course had me thinking, so I had a hunt around and found one in amazingly good condition, cheep as chips on FaceBook Marketplace, only an hour & half down the road. Another un-required Covid-lock down reject, I offered an even lower price and the deal was done. With a 22" seat tube it's possibly a little short for me (sizes in old money were 20-3/4", 22", 23-1/4". I'll probably keep one eye open and an ear to the ground for the slightly larger version, but for now I'm going to give this a go.
Plans for an upgrade, well initially I'm thinking of trying out the 2015 Campag Super Record group I've just removed from my lads Colnago (its getting a face-lift) and see how much difference that makes. As it currently weighs in at 20lbs 8oz I think a few choice swap-outs of bars/stem/seatpost/saddle and of course the full group and wheels should make a difference
. I'm going to record some back to back rides for comparison.
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