Is there such a thing as a cool pro?

There is no way of denying it but most pro cyclists are not cool. They lead dull lives and ride like programmed robots. The bikes are much more interesting to look at than they are. But every so often someone comes along and they ooze class. Some like to think they are the coolest thing out there but come on I am not fooled! Mario Cippollini...the Lion King, Super Mario...exhibit 'a' below...I think not! Beyond this self-proclaimed God the real Gods of Cool can be found.



This is my list of 5 cool pros...


Number 5: Laurent Jalabert
It hurts to put a Frenchman on the list,  but 'Jaja' just looked so right on a bike. Just watch a clip of him in the latter stages of his career, the wins may have dried up but boy did he look cool! I think it might just be the way he wore his hat...yep I am that shallow.


Number 4: Bradley Wiggins
Again, a shallow reason gets him into my top 5. He looks like a mod and has that mod belief of it doesn't matter if you come from a crap council estate you have to make an effort to look good. It's a shame his form seems to be mirroring Paul Weller's career - at the moment he is in the Style Council wastelands. Let's hope for a Stanley Road resurgence.


Number 3: Bernard 'the badger' Hinault
Damn another Frenchman. But hell this bloke rocked! So much passion and dominance. Apparently he is really nice guy now unless someone dares to invade the podium when he is doing his Tour ambassador duties. Oh and anyone who winds up Greg LeMond gets a tick in my book. But Google needs to sort out their rankings of people named Bernard. Bernard Matthews number 2?!


Number 2: Marco Pantani
The Italians tend to spend more time trying to look good on a bike than actually winning a race but now and then when they manage both they set the cool benchmark. Ok, I struggle with 'Il Pirata'. He was an out and out doper. But on the bike he was compelling, no race radio, no respect for egos, to hell with team orders and a climbing style that when it clicked was poetry. I like to think I am same when I hit Hucking Hill in Kent (no prizes for guessing that climbs nickname amongst the non-mountain goat fraternity...er, me and all of my clubmates).


Number 1: Fausto Coppi
Yep, for once a list which does not have Eddy Merckx at the top (or actually anywhere else...ooops). Coppi looked the part on and off the bike, and compared to goodie two shoes Bartali was ready to shake the conservative establishment...religion...'no thanks'...sexual morals...'you keep them'. Ok, the the detail of the latter was not so cool, but in the wider context of trying to stop Italians being so strait-laced he did the business. Hmmm...maybe a bit too much so. And, yes I know he was also a doper, sadly like many Italian pros.

Damn...look I forgot Lance. But I think most people would agree that Texas and cool is an oxymoron.

Paralysed by choice

Last year I decided to buy a dream bike. It felt like my life was about to change dramatically and I might not get the same opportunity for a number of years. For years I had been thinking about doing this, but signing up to do the Etape du Tour forced the issue. There was no way I was going to take on that course with my old Trek 5200. 

It probably took me 6 months to finally take the plunge. All I knew was that it needed to be light, comfortable to ride long distances on and something I would look at longingly at again and again. I also wanted to try and stay away from some of the mass produced brands and have something less familiar but with pedigree.
 

First on my short list was a Colnago C50. There is something timeless about Colnago. You know that they will still look great in 10 years time.  But have you ever tried to test ride or order one? I had email conversation with a well known Colnago dealer who said "no I do not have test bikes" and "no I don't know how long one would take to arrive from the factory...they are Italian."  Not particularly helpful and I also suspected that the C50 was about to change and that I might be paying for old technology.
 

Next up was a Storck Fenomalist. It certainly ticked the lightweight box, but what are those strange horizontal rear dropouts all about? I have enough trouble as it is getting a rear wheel off! And, the more I read about them the more I questionned what state they would leave me in at the end of a long ride.
 

Next the Cervelo RS. There is no doubt that this bike has the looks, but I was not convinced about sizing or the long headtube. Hmmm...looking back on it I didn't go to bed dreaming about this one for long!

 

The more I read forums about which bike the more the name Parlee kept cropping up. They were  completely new to me and having never seen them advertised I thought they were probably not available in the UK.  By chance I clicked on the suppliers tab on the Parlee website and found they did have a UK dealer, Bespoke Cycling. How did I not know about this lot?  They are just 10 minutes from my office! Parlee had just released their Z5 it seemed to tick all my boxes. The reviews were very thin on the ground then nothing like the rave reviews out there now Cycling Weekly. And, Bespoke Cycling had one I could take out for a spin. I said I would be 30 mins and ended up coming back over an hour later. Barrry at Bespoke was completely chilled about and said "oh we don't mind if you are late back, most people are. It means they like it." I did and bought one. And, yep it got me up the Marie Blanque, the Solour and the Tourmalet with no sight of the Broomwagon.

If you are looking for a new bike and are not interested in 'squovals', 'asymmetric concepts' and other oddities, have a look at the Z5. I have heard that they are shifting 3 times more of them this season than last. That's no surprise if you have ridden one.

The aim of this blog

About 3 years ago I moved to Kent and decided to step up my cycling...buy a dream bike, buy over priced clothing, join a club with a silly name, sign-up for sportives. This blog will cover these and other cycling rated thoughts.

Also, thanks to government cuts backs I have found myself with more time on my hands to spend on my bike, and you know on those long rides the mind starts to wander. So no doubt I will sounding off about why the country is in the state it's in. The Government? The bankers? The last Government?