Last Saturday we presented Blair with his renewed track bike as well as hosting the Lifecycle Christmas ride. It all started when Rod Stewart was having a look through Blair's old bikes and spotted a rusted frame with Legnano barely visible from years of neglect. Although the bike was 45+ years old and had seen better days, the hand-made steel frame was as tough as anything; it had endured a Commonwealth Games, three Stockwells and a bout of paint stripper. After seeing the bike in hibernation, Rod was ready to revive the Legnano for Blair's 60th birthday; however, he would need some help. So Rod set to work (sneakily behind the fox's back) on getting together the right people to bring the bike back to its former glory. He also took up a collection from all the regular group riders to help offset the considerable cost that was ahead.

The first problem that they encountered was trying to surreptitiously sneak it out of the shop. Luke – Blair's son who was also in on the shady restoration made up a back story about needing the bike for some work, this was enough to fool Blair and the first hurdle was overcome. The next step was the frame – with a few lacklustre paint jobs, many races and 40 years of rusting, the frame had seen better days. The duty of restoring the frame was put to Dennis Laing. Dennis is one of Blair's and the shop's very good friends, who is also coincidentally in the business of panel beating and painting, he was the perfect person to set the Legnano right again.

It took Luke and Dennis many hours to sand back the bike to ready it for a hand paint. However a simple colour job would not do the Legnano justice; Luke sourced the original decals that went with the bike to give it an authentic finish. Once the paint job and decals were on, the bike needed to go, it needed some wheels. Luke also had the job of sourcing these, he found some contemporary titanium wheels, to make the bike truly vintage. As well as the wheels other parts bought from all over the world  included a Cinelli saddle, Campagnolo Cranks, and some 60's Japanese track bars.To complete and tune up the bike we called on an ex-Lifecycle Mechanic – Kimble Huch. Without his expertise and dedication we may not have had the bike in time. Luckily Kimble put in for the team and readied this epic beast for the big surprise.

Rod had to do a lot of administration work to do such as booking the velodrome and approving Blair to ride on the track. It included writing letters and various other tedious uninteresting things. So finally armed with a first-aid officer (just in case), two top class photographers and the Legnano to boot. We were almost ready.

A big thanks to Josie for transporting the bike and organising the bunch ride, which Blair didn't particularly like and was a little grumpy about as the time was changed to 6:00am. She also for found some Keo pedals, so Blair could zoom around the velodrome.

As the Lifecycle bunch gathered in the car park, there was a tangible excitement as they talked amongst themselves about who knew what about the bike and the ride.  Luke gave some vague instructions as to where the ride was going and told them to that secrecy was of utmost importance.  When the group arrived at the velodrome and Blair still had no idea as to what was happening, it wasn't until he saw his old Track bike that he knew what we had came here for. He mounted the steed and went for a sprint around the track and the bunch cheered him on. It was an amazing moment that brought back memories not only of the Legnano but for Blair as well. As he rode around the track everyone had goosebumps, even if they had never seen Blair ride track before, there was an inspiring awe that fell upon the Lifecycle Bunch.

After a few laps of the track  some photos were taken to remember the day and Luke spoke on the background behind the history of the bike.

It was the bike that Blair had ridden when as a junior he rose to prominence including making the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh in 1970. There in the semi final of the individual pursuit he met Danny Clark who claimed later that he lost the final because of the hard ride in the semi. Danny was going to come up for the reunion but was otherwise engaged.The bike restoration was a huge surprise and emotional time as so many memories flooded back. The effort that had gone into it was considerable and greatly appreciated. It will be put in a glass case and be on permanent display at Lifecycle.

The bunch then rode to Melange after Paula and Josie had taken many photos of the group which were reminiscent of primary school pictures. Big Tim supplied the orange juice and fruit mince tarts that fueled the Christmas ride. A big thanks to Luke, Dennis, Rod, Kimble, Josie and the rest of the staff at Lifecycle. And also especially to all who contributed to the restoration fun.

On the first weekend of December each year the international Festival of Cycling is held in Christchurch. This is a major New Zealand event featuring the cream of New Zealand cycling. This year our own Laura Luxford was an invited guest for the two day event. 

The first day is the 80km Long Bays Classic which has been held over many years. This is a tough ride with about 150 riders male and female going toe to toe around the Port Hills of Christchurch. The field broke up on the first hill which came after about 5km and Laura was left with NZ champion Cath Cheatley and a couple of others to chase the elite men. It meant a hard slog out to the main hills which came after 40km. Cath Cheatley was able to use her experience to attack Laura and was able to break away assisted by some of the elite male riders. Despite being left on her own Laura was able to contain the losses to less than 3min despite riding solo against a large bunch. This gave her 2nd place for the day which was great remembering that Cheatley is a professional and finished in 9th place in last years World Championships.

The race on Sunday was a criterium around the streets of Christchurch in front of a large crowd. As Laura is relatively inexperienced in this type of racing she was not expected to feature against the classy riders that were chasing the title. However after some solid attacks to soften the field Laura used her head and waited for an opening in the final straight to surprise her opponents and rocket home ahead of Cath Cheatley for a well deserved victory! This weekend shows a great future lies ahead of Laura if she can continue to improve the way she has over the past year.

Check this out for the whole story of the Festival of Cycling

Specialized have redesigned their top of the line road shoe for 2010. The Specialized Body Geometry S-Works Road Shoe is lighter, stiffer and more comfortable than it's predecessor. Some of the improvements over the 2009 model include a stiffer sole, better aeration with a mesh tongue, dual Boa dials for ultra fine tuning and most importantly a new colour scheme.

The new sole of the shoe features a hollow foam core construction allowing it to be lighter while still retaining rigidity. The tongue has been replaced by a mesh one as well as venting on the sides and sole of the shoe, allowing your feet to stay cooler in the hot Aussie climate

One of the more exciting new features of the S-Works road shoe, is the advancement of the securing system. The new system features two multi-directional S1 Boa dials for micro-precision and quick adjustment. By running dual dials it improves the closure of the forefoot, heel and ankle. The shoes also run an open cable guide design, which allows for less clogging and more improved drying capability. The 2009 shoes were amazing; however, Specialized have kicked it up a notch and produced this superb piece of footwear.

The shoes are set to arrive at Lifecycle by late December, so they might be a nice post-christmas gift to yourself. If you would like to find out more about the shoes and see a review by cycling news click on some of the links below.

Cyclingnews.com – Review

Boa

Specialized – Shoe Specifications

As some of you will no doubt know, Blair has been testing/riding the new Shimano Di2 groupset. It is built up on none less than the 2009 Specialized Tarmac S-Works SL2 frame.  The Di2 has really taken this bike to another level.

Shimano claims the new electronic shifting system is faster than the traditional mechanical cable system. The Di2 levers are a smaller, snug fit for your hands and the shifting of the gears requires less effort and reach than the standard STI shifters. The shift works by the rider just pushing buttons and the sensors relaying the message to the front and rear derailleurs via an electronic cable.

The front and rear derailleurs look fairly normal, as you can see in the photo. You can see the battery pack is slim and is fastened to the front bidon cage mounts which tucks it nicely up out of the way.  

Blair has been impressed by the electronic system. He said that it is astoundingly smooth, even in comparison to the already buttery smooth Dura Ace. Its almost scary how exact the shift is.

Could this be the way of the future? We don't know, but we're impressed. We say good work Shimano for progress!