2012 Giant TCR Advanced SL ISP Rabobank
Tuesday, 29 November 2011 07:28 | 
Author: Roderic Gill
As a choice that still surprises me (given my blinkered devotion to the mystique of Itaian, or possibly even French or Belgian Famiy-based bicycle building traditions), I have invested in the new 2012 Giant TCR Advanced SL Integrated Seat Post Rabobank (team issue). Drawn initially by its fabulous looks and even more fabulous price, I have never purchased a bike with less technical research than this. But my initial reactions were validated when it came to the ride! Basically, I can't stop riding this thing. On and on and on for ever. And then some. This is an astonishing bike. I can't believe I am warming to the product of a company more renowned for its ruthless economic efficiency than for the passions it might or might not evoke when its products are put to use. I just hope that by investing in a Giant I am not, somehow, contributing to yet more unwelcome pressures on the likes of Pinarello et al. That should never be! Read my full review of the new Giant via this latest post to Bicyclism Blog: Giant TCR Advanced SL Rabobank: a convert's Review.
Last Updated (Tuesday, 29 November 2011 07:45)
Where the Horses Still Remain Thursday, 27 October 2011 11:53 | Author: Roderic Gill
It's been a good few months since my last post! The reason being that I am re-discovering my feet. Bushwalking and biking seem to share some kind of aesthetic that are pretty much in tune; though probably more mountain biking to wilderness walking than road racing could ever be. There's something massively anchor-like in taking to the woods. And there is something deeply satisfying about communing with horses in the wild. There's something fundamental about walking way out beyond the comfort zone of our Occupational Health and Safety nanny state. And there is something important to be observed when connecting with the roots of what has become too familiar in our over domesticated lives. Horses were free once, too. Imagine a place where people are unaccommodated by the usual routine of over-easy access. Remove all the creature comforts of modern times and un-privelege our mania for control. Become an observer at risk rather than an observer safe in an easy chair. Put on a backpack and head off for where the wild horses are. Read on via this latest post to Bicyclism Blog: Where the Horses Still Remain. Last Updated (Thursday, 27 October 2011 12:15) Staying in the Groove Tuesday, 26 July 2011 01:36 | Author: Roderic Gill
Last Updated (Tuesday, 26 July 2011 08:41) |
It might sound a bit strange to identify cycling with vinyl LP's ... but these things are connected via the connections that only analogue can provide. Analogue is all about directly relating the entire chain that gives tractions to things like playing a vinyl record to riding a bike on the road. There's no black box of mathematically encrypted interruption in this particular chain of command! I propose that the pure pleasure of cycling is a perfect example of an analogue scheme of things; just like listening to a vinyl LP as opposed to our attempts to defuse the encryption of the digital black box that delivers CD sound to our resiliently analogue ears. To track more of this strange logic, read this latest post to Bicyclism Blog: