Paris Brest Paris PBP 2011: The Movie

Yes, it's time to start thinking about Paris Brest Paris again! PBP 2015 starts on August 16, so we all have 328 days to get ourselves and our bikes in shape and to the starting line in St. Quentin en Yvelines.

To get you motivated, here's my video of PBP 2011. The first few minutes tell the story of getting to France; jump to 7:15 to get to the start of the actual ride.



Follow Campy Only's PBP-related exploits here and on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Campyonlyguy I'll be using #PBP2015 and #PBPRUSA to help you find my posts.

Photos of the Campagnolo Booth at Eurobike 2014

Wonder what the Campagnolo booth at the world's largest bicycle trade show looks like? Wonder no more! Here are some photos from a friend who visited the show:

Total Babes at Total Cycling

Our sponsor, Total Cycling, has added some great product shots to their online portal, a www.totalcycling.com 

Definitely worth clicking over to ... and check out their extensive selection of the latest Campy equipment while you're there.

Tweet from Today

Guess I need to start eating my gel packets a little faster. #expired pic.twitter.com/X35wYUlXvC
— CampyOnlyGuy (@Campyonlyguy) August 7, 2014

Unofficial Video of the 2015 Campagnolo Super Record 11

Looks like somebody pointed their cell phone at a prototype of the new Super Record 11 gruppo and captured this video:







There's lots and lots of carbon fiber there ... and of course that ugly 4-arm crankset.

Campagnolo's New Wheels Get Faster By Getting ... Fatter

The folks at BikeRumor.com report that Campagnolo's new wheels are getting more aero in part by accommodating wider tires. Can it be that iconoclasts like Jan Heine had it right all along?

Fatties Fit Fine?

Read about it here: http://www.bikerumor.com/2014/07/18/campagnolo-bora-carbon-wheels-get-wider-lighter-plus-new-braking-surface-w-shamal-mille/

Torna il Giro 1963

Some great historical footage of interest to Campy fans in this video:







Tullio Campagnolo makes a brief appearance at about 0:30. The factory is at about 10:00. Piles and piles of pristine 1960s Campy parts--oh, to have a time machine!

Tullio Campagnolo: Cycling's Steve Jobs?

Jan Heine has written an intriguing piece on Tullio Campagnolo and his impact on the technology of cycling in the latest edition of his magazine, Bicycle Quarterly.

Jan raises some issues which have been long discussed in the cycling community, including the whether Tullio invented new products or, like Steve Jobs some 40 to 50 years later, saw value in ideas  and made them successful. Fans of cycling history, for instance, still debate whether Campagnolo invented the modern derailleur, or whether he simply made minor changes to products that were already on the market.

Heine covers this ground and much else quite well in an exhaustively researched article that draws on numerous sources (including our own web site, www.campyonly.com).

More than just discussing technology, however, Heine adds an entirely new thread to the Tullio Campagnolo story, delving into the extent to which Tullio invented not just bicycle parts but his own history. Was Tullio actually inspired to invent the quick release during a race in the 1920s? Was he even in the race? Heine has pored over 90-year-old Italian newspaper accounts to provide the most comprehensive examination of these topics we have ever seen.

We'll be asking Bicycle Quarterly for permission to reproduce the article here. In the meantime, it's worth the trouble for an Campagnolo fan to find a copy.

Summer's Almost Here!

What kinds of adventures are you planning on your Campy-equipped bicycle?

Wouldn't You Like a Vehicle Like This?

Our friends and sponsors at CycleItalia.com have this great Campagnolo-themed support vehicle following the riders on their fully supported cycling tours in Italy. All of the bikes on top are Campy-equipped, of course.

Confirmed: This IS the Ugliest Campagnolo Gruppo Ever

Campagnolo has confirmed that next year's gruppo upgrade will feature what is possibly the ugliest crankset ... nay, the ugliest single part ... ever produced by Vicenza.

Here's a photo from the official press release.

Campagnolo calls this "fresh and cutting edge aesthetics." We call is the ShimaNO-ization of the once great design house in Vicenza.

Among the benefits of the new, ugly cranksets, according to Campagnolo, is the use of a single, 4-bolt pattern for all cranks in all lines (Super Record, Record, and Chorus). From the press release:

"The new bolt pattern allows for all 3 chainring standards 53/39, 52/36 and 50/34 to be built upon the same crankset. Changing between compact and standard is now as easy as changing 8 bolts and two chainrings."

That's a great idea--the bolt pattern on the current compact cranks is inexplicably different from everything else--but the benefit is predicated on buying ... all new cranksets. All of the millions of riders who currently have Campy cranksets will have to wait 'til theirs wear out (or the peer pressure on the weekend club ride becomes too much to bear).

"Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and with the seal of approval coming from the Campy Tech Lab as well as top professional athletes, these new groupsets are now worthy of bearing the Campagnolo name."

So says Campagnolo. What do you think? 

 

Davis Double Century Workers Ride 2014

Our latest video! Nine riders set out the week before the official Davis Double Century to ride the 200-mile course. Here's what we saw:

Newest Record Group the Ugliest Campagnolo Ever?

We here at Campy Only wonder if ShimaNO has infiltrated the design studio in Vicenza, with the obvious motive of creating perhaps the ugliest crankset to ever bear the Campagnolo name:

More info here from the folks at BikeRadar, who spotted this prototype.

What do you think of the new design? Let us know in the comments, right there below this post.

Why Do Cyclists Ride in the Middle of the Road?

In the midst of what seems to be a spate of cyclists-killed-by-car news comes this well-reasoned article from a motoring site in the UK.

http://www.motoring.co.uk/car-news/cyclists-why-do-they-ride-in-the-middle-of-the-road-_62617http://www.motoring.co.uk/car-news/cyclists-why-do-they-ride-in-the-middle-of-the-road-_62617

Cycling for a Great Cause

That's our good friend, Walter Dawes, riding the velodrome in Houston to raise money to help veterans suffering from PTSD: www.expeditionbalance.org

Way to go, Big Dog!

Today's Retro Blast: Tour of the 1930s

Great photo from back in the day, when men were men, bikes were steel (and fixed gear!), and beer was the libation of choice on those long, all-day stages. Cheers!

Today's Video: Sacramento's Historic I Street Bridge

We ride all over the place ... including the historic railroad bridge connecting West Sacramento and Sacramento. Enjoy.

Campagnolo Gran Fondo New York Poster Unveiled

The folks over at the Campagnolo Gran Fondo New York have unveiled this year's official poster. It's nice, and the Campy logo is there, but ... where's the Campagnolo on the bike?

Rain Ride 3-29-14

Video from today's ride to Sacramento. About 25 miles in the rain, which seemed better than the 200+ miles in the rain that I had planned to do (a 400K brevet from San Francisco to Hopland).







Here's hoping that the Santa Cruz 400K on April 26 isn't as wet as today's ride.

Cyclists Who Violate Traffic Laws, and the Motorists Who Kill Them

Cyclist Killed in Ohio yesterday, March 22, 2014, while riding a  brevet.

A recent Facebook post by a friend, and my response:

The Post:

John C____: The big problem Steven B______ is that those pissed off drivers never retaliate against the rider that pissed them off. It is always another rider down the road. Another problem is that there are a lot more drivers than there are riders. They have a much stronger voice it getting new legislation that can harm our ability to ride anywhere we like. Public perception is very important to us as a whole.

My Response:

Let me just say that I'm deeply saddened by the fact that John's comment about a motorist retaliating against a cyclist can be made so casually? Retaliate? How? By hitting a cyclist with their car? Running them off the road? Killing them? What a harsh and severe penalty for something as trivial as breaking a traffic law. OK, we shouldn't blow through traffic signals or stop signs. Nobody should. But to say that a cyclist somewhere (maybe your friend, or brother, or father) will be the subject of "retaliation" with a deadly weapon (yes, cars are deadly weapons) is really tragic. Let's put an end to that sort of mindset, starting right here and right now. There is no such this as "retaliating against a cyclist." It's murder (or manslaughter) or assault, and it too often means the death or serious injury of someone we know. 

What do you think? Let everyone know in the Comments, below.