Those of you who read Velodramatic regularly know I have a dark addiction to high-end cycling kit. I go one or two weeks without feeding the habit and my pedal stroke breaks down (more ankling than usual), my hands shake so badly I have to sit on the edge of the tub to shave my legs and I start hallucinating crazy shit like my head is growing cycling mirrors.

The dog day, pre-bike-show months of summer are the hardest on kit addicts... the supply on the street dries up and even my go-to UPS dealer can't hook me up. You ever chase a UPS truck for five blocks on foot? I know some of you have.

Things were getting desperate when Panache Cyclewear, a new premium clothing brand out of Boulder Colorado appeared in the Velonews sidebar. Far off I heard a Mexican band playing degüello and my hands stopped shaking just like Dude's in Rio Bravo.

Fresh out the neutral zone, Panache kit is classic black and white with a racing-inspired edge. The current lineup includes short sleeve jerseys, bib shorts, knee & arm warmers, arm screens and socks. One additional jerseys sporting de regueur pour 2008 argyle accents is due shortly. While the brand is just beginning to build up a dealer network, all of the pieces can be purchased online through the Panache site.

Panache is the creation of Don Powell who rode for Saxon/Selle Italia (now Landboukrediet/Tonisteiner) in Belgium and throughout Europe on the UCI World Cup circuit. His racing background, tempered with industry experience at Salomon Sports and Pearl Izumi, is clearly in evidence in the polish of the first pieces.

The Panache credo is about riding with style, verve, flair in the manner of Coppi, Anquetil, Merckx; riding in the gutter, over cobbles and mountains; riding for life; riding because you have to.

For the past couple of weeks I've put the "Eleven" jerseys and bib shorts to the test and so far the results have been superb. And yes, Don Powell confirmed the Eleven designation is a Spinal Tap reference... somehow I can't imagine Vincenza's Record 11 being similarly inspired.

The Eleven jersey comes in two stripes: black with white stripes front and back; and white with contrasting black stripes. The jersey is ultra-light, soft and airy; in white it's translucent. There's no restrictive elastic in the inset sleeves, so you won't feel your forearms throbbing in your temples the first time you take it out of first gear.

The Panache Eleven Jersey is priced at $120.

The Eleven bibs are designed to race, with Panache's signature CoolTouch mesh flashing on the front of the thighs increasing air flow to those overworked quads. The accents are as good looking as they are functional, and they add a little rider visibility from the front.

While the outside of Panache bibs is impressive, shorts succeed or fail on how they're put together inside. Don explained that during his race career riders would often replace the standard chamois in their team issue with their pad of choice. Over the years the default became a deceptively simple pad from Cytech. Absent any of the hyped engineering that has been in vogue lately, the Elastic Interface Technology (EIT) pad is low profile and ideally suited to modern saddles and long rides. Yesterday I wore the shorts for a solo 75-mile/7,500 foot coastal loop and the chamois stayed put, comparatively dry and comfortable the whole way. If you’re looking for high-performance bibs with a fresh look and a superb pad, Panache Elevens would be an excellent choice.

I really like Panache's choice of CoolTouch mesh for the straps too. Not only does the open material live up to its name, but it's white, so when paired with the translucent white Eleven jersey the straps don't show through spoiling the look.

The Panache Eleven Bib Shorts are priced at $240.

Panache has also put the silky thin CoolTouch fabric to work in a novel set of “Arm Screens” (pictured in B&W above). These can be thought of as arm coolers rather than warmers. If you remember your high school science and osmosis, here you have a perfect semi-permeable membrane. The shimmering white screens provide partial protection from sun while the open-hole structure still allows cooling air to pass over your skin. They were perfect for the early morning climb of Page Mill road in sunshine and the breezy Alpine descent through misty coastal forest... the best of both worlds.

The Panache Arm Screens are priced at $45.

So there you have it. Panache has emerged from the Peloton to join a select group of clothing companies riding off the front: Rapha; Assos; Giordana. It’s a start to be proud of and definitely worth a site visit to take a closer look. Expect to see riders sporting Panache to appear on the street soon; here's an opportunity to catch what could be a winning breakaway. Panache Cyclewear

I've published a Panache gallery with larger versions of the images showing what the kit looks like. Note the dramatic haircut... I shed 50g easy. Photo credits to my wife Juli, who still needs me to set up the camera, but she's improving faster as a photographer than I am as a model ;-)

My friend Brian Palmer who publishes the excellent and entertaining WashingMachinePost is well into a very thorough review of the new Garmin 705 hardware you should be reading. This morning he emailed me asking what all the MotionBased fuss was about... worried perhaps that I was headed towards the book repository with a sniper rifle. I'm sure he didn't expect all this.

I didn't religiously fact check my dates, reading back through email history is likely to trigger an embolism, but I'm confident I'm not substantially distorting the time line.

B

MotionBased was originally an independent company that created a web-based application to store, analyze and map ride data from GPS devices like those from Garmin. Initially they were nimble, creative and quick to incorporate feedback in a rapidly evolving product... typical behavior for a startup.

MB, like so many mash-up Web 2.0 startups (combining data with Google Maps) was initially a free service, the limitation being only your last ten activities would be stored in their database. That couldn't fly for long with users or business viability, so they created an enhanced subscription service that would allow users to see all of their historic data. That's what I paid for with an annual suscription with the expectation that features, and work flow on the service would improve. The usability issues I highlighted in my latest post have been in the product since I first joined and even the most junior interaction designer/usability engineer would identify them immediately.

Unfortunately its still typical for software projects to proceed without experienced interaction design, and the result is usually the same, hard-to-use mess of developer excess. Like you hired a plumber and they came in and ran the pipes outside the walls (in your living space). As a mac person you can appreciate the average person doesn't think like a software developer.

Garmin took notice and acquired the promising MB product (and dev team) at which point development seemed to slow appreciably. Perhaps the dev team had cut some corners in architecting the underlying platform to move rapidly. I believe the database and schema were ill-suited to scale up to meet the usage demands.

Third quarter 2007 Garmin announced a new service called Connect would replace MB, initially for new devices, eventually for all legacy fitness devices like the Edge 305. It's my understanding the dev team behind this is still the MB dev team. I'm guessing they'd come to the realization that it was easier to start afresh with a properly architected database than try to salvage the MB repository.

MB, despite protestations to the contrary has always been an amateurish outfit when it came to customer communication. Again I suspect the developer led company saw little need for "marketing types" early on and never brought in the necessary experience to avoid the gaffs that would follow. MB thinks that a terse email posted to the MB forum once every four months is sufficient communication and perhaps it would be if they were still a little startup with a handful of users enjoying a free service.

Towards the end of 2007 MB finally committed to dates for the legacy device support. I recall a February cutover for the Edge 305. That never happened and the date was pushed back to May. May of course slipped to September. Again with terrible, inadequate justification and communication "We need more time to make Connect be the best it can be" There's only so many times you can borrow money from a friend and not pay it back. They keep asking, when it suits them, for more time... like a college kid asking a prof over and over for extensions when the term paper is due.

Since you've not been through the complete cycle of disappointment, missed release promises and continuing usability friction, it's normal for you to look at the service in a more positive "first" light. Unfortunately, Garmin has plenty of apologists (not suggesting you're one of them, a Scot is culturally incapable of that unless we're talking football) that show up on the forums. "I've been using my Garmin Edge 705 for two weeks and Connect has worked perfectly the two times I've used it"

It belittles the feedback they've got from long term users and the forums are sprinkled with insightful comments that should have been incorporated. Add to that the defensive nature of the support personnel and forum admins and you get a picture of an insular team that still hasn't heard the penny drop. Garmin, with all its resouces needs to hire a world-class design team to improve usability. They need to hire better communication people to put out a consistent professional message and most importantly they need seasoned Product Management to prioritize and release on schedule.

Finally it pisses me off to no end because this is what I do for a living and I understand all the players, the competing priorities, the culture, the technical limitations and the games that are played at customer expense. Whether we're talking enterprise software (Ariba, in my case), Operating Systems (Vista) or MotionBased/Connect there's just no excuse for continuously getting the basics wrong.

Chase a new feature instead of fixing the core interactions all users endure. Wrong.

Promise a date for a new service and let it slip again, and again. Wrong.

Compound the lousy customer experience with an ill-timed "your subscription has expired communication". Wrong.

I feel better now ;-)

::M

Note: I don't want to paint all developers with the same brush. My dev team is very conscious of the user experience and I'd bet any one of them could start in cold and fix the worst MB offenses within 30 days. I only wish we could put that boast to the test.

I received this today from Garmin.

You're damn right I received this in error

Frankly I don't know where to begin to communicate just how frustrating you've made the experience with MB. At this point you're five or six months late from the originally scheduled transition from MB to Connect for owners of the Edge 305 (now scheduled for September 08). Last Fall you gave every indication that MB's days were numbered, soon to be replaced with an improved service called Garmin Connect in January or February 08.

That service would be free, and the 10 activity limit of MB would be gone. Something called Connect Plus would be available via subscription offering enhanced features. Almost a year later I've seen no detailed description of what Garmin Connect Plus will offer. The Connect forums have lots of comments from former users of MB that complain Connect does not have feature parity (or indeed is any better) than MB. I wouldn't know... my device is still not supported even though new Edge 305s are still being sold in stores.

And this doesn't surprise me since none of the repetitive usability issues of MB have been addressed because the dev team is not actively working on this "transitional" product any more.

So here I am spinning in product release limbo just shy of the re-promised September cutover of all devices to Connect, wondering if the date will slip again and you add insult to injury by downgrading me to MB Lite. As far as I'm concerned I've been on a "LITE" product for the past year because all the development effort has gone into Connect.

I'll happily upgrade back to MB standard if you:

• Fix the Inbox so I don't have to do a silly refresh once my activities have been uploaded.
• Fix the inbox so I don't have to then click a link (every time) to see more than two activities. Who works like that?
• Fix it so that when I've tediously categorized all my new inbox activities, I don't have to hit refresh AGAIN to see them. A confirming message that activities have been added successfully should accompany the list, not be a step on its own.

In previous communications I've asked to speak to a PM about these problems, and I've told you that I design usable software for a living, and I know unless MB has the most awkward architecture in the world these issues could be easily fixed. Nothing substantive happens. You've taken a motivated, engaged user and through poor communication, slipping schedules and repetitive usability problems created a very dissatisfied customer.

Money has nothing to do with this. This is just a terrible customer experience. All current subscribers to MotionBased should maintain full functionality until you make the cutover to Connect.

The Baum

Australia's Baum Cycles designs and builds some of the most beautiful bikes on the planet. Their latest custom offering, a Graphite Corretto, is a must see. Elegant and refined, this black stunner is the bike I want to roll riderless behind my funeral cortège when I've finally unclipped for good.

If it were mine, I'd take the black one step further with Record cages and mount my new Edge Composites' carbon clinchers for the ultimate dark racer. Every time I visit the site I have to remind myself to be strong. I promised Juli I wouldn't think about another bike in 2008; only 156 days till January 1st, 2009.

The Bombing Run

Saturday I managed 65 miles on the best legs I've had all year. I picked up TJ and Clavin in Los Altos for a what was supposed to be an easy pedal to 92 and back. We stuck to the plan until we hit Woodside and found ourselves at the back of a group ride turning onto Canada road. The twenty odd riders were still playing nice when Clavin decided to pass the lot. Big Mistake. Sensing what was likely to happen TJ and I hesitated before following his lead... the reaction came quickly.

Five hundred meters in, we got passed by several riders as the pace immediately jumped to 25 mph on the flat, and we happily joined the paceline taking turns at the front as the Northbound train gathered steam. Before long a group of ten had separated from the main peloton and was drilling it towards 92. Canada has some decent rollers but the pace only dropped a fraction on the uphills, and hit the mid thirties on the shallow downhills. I kept myself around third or fourth wheel as we crested the last rise with about a kilometer still to go to 92.

With TJ still recovering from a PB in his half ironman race the previous week he shut it down and the Clavinator (the provocateur) was some ways back enjoying the fresh air and conversation I'm sure. So it was just me in the mix when a lone rider broke off the front. I hesitated but no one made a move as he open up five, six, seven bike lengths. Feeling good, I jumped after him, closed the gap and stayed on his wheel until 200m or so from the finish line (in my head) when I came round for the coup de grâce while a video of Cavendish played at half speed in my head. I can die happy now and earn that Corretto.

The Recovery Balm

If skin-care line Lather has it right, the tribes of Northern Mexico must have spent a good deal of time hunting and gathering by bike.

Their Muscle Ease balm is the best thing for post ride relief in the kit bag. You feel its effects almost immediately as the menthol, camphor and capsaicin blend goes to work cooling and soothing muscles and joints. On a hot day nothing will bring your skin temperature down like this herbal mixture... so much so that a generous application to legs and arms might actually give you a chill.

I like the powerful, aromatic scent which has the secondary benefit of opening up your breathing passages – relaxing you after a hard effort. Highly recommended along with the rest of Lather's men's line.

View Gallery...

I've played golf far longer than I've cycled... almost thirty-five years in pursuit of the elusive magic of the game. Few might agree but golf and cycling have a great deal in common. At their core both sports are solitary conversations with ourselves, revealing with brutal clarity our true character. Courage, integrity, commitment are tested. Physically we risk more on the bike, but there are worse things to lose than skin (are you listening Riccardo Ricco).

Golf and cycling share another common thread, they create indelible memories and stories that stand the test of time. The most improbable, impossible things happen on the golf course. Sometimes miraculous, often tragic or humorous.

Years ago I watched a playing partner hit his tee shot with everything he had on a long par five. He lost sight of the ball immediately and called out "where is it?" "Wait for it" I replied. Count one, count two, "Where is it" he asked again, his eyes straining into the morning sunshine searching for his drive. "Wait for it" count four, count five. He turned towards me at precisely the moment his ball landed in the pond behind us. "What was that?"

As the ripples expanded across the mirror smooth surface, I explained his ball had flown two inches off the ground and struck a marker on the tee deck directly in front of us. That sent the ball rocketing up and backwards over our heads on a five-second trajectory into the pond. I started to laugh and eventually as it sunk in, he did too. We could have stood on that tee hitting balls until eternity and never reproduced that shot.

On Friday, well into the return leg of a coastal loop ride, cycling provided an equally unlikely sequence of events. We'd been climbing Tunitas Creek Road in the cool, muffling shadows of the redwoods. Brendan on his Soulcraft, Tim aboard a beautiful new Cervelo R3 and me on the Enigma when Tim rolled over something sharp and punctured his front tire. We all stopped.

Back in February with the Rapha Continental team I'd seen Ira Ryan fix a flat in three minutes... we'd take a little longer to get rolling again this day. Tim pulled off the wheel and with a tire lever slid one side of the Continental Attack off the rim. While Tim carefully ran his fingers inside the tire feeling for debris, Brendan used his frame pump to put some air in the stricken tube looking for the puncture, and found a tiny slit.

Whatever caused the puncture (we suspected some glass on the last turn) was gone. Tim dropped in a new tube and worked the tire back on the rim. Brendan pumped a little air into the tire and then Tim finished it off with his C02 inflator. Wheel back on the R3 we packed up, remounted and set off. We got exactly ten feet before Tim's front tire blew again. Shit. Elapsed time: 10 minutes.

We repeated the sequence, but this time I suggested Tim remove the tire completely and give it a thorough inspection while we looked closely at the tube. The tube had a pretty large hole in it and with the tire inside out Tim found a tiny tear in the sidewall of the tire. It had been hidden directly underneath one of those “quality-check” paper dots. Weird. I supplied a new bright green latex tube, happy to be getting rid of a light but high-maintenance bladder. (I’ve found Latex tubes need to be topped up everyday, they just don’t hold their pressure like butyl). I applied a pre-glued tube patch to the inside of the tire and then Tim put it all back together. Optimistically he’d only brought a single C02, so he used Brendan’s pump to air the tire up. Elapsed time: 25 minutes.

We saddled up and started up the slope, but again before we’d gone 20 feet I heard Tim say “What’s that. It took him another turn or two of the pedals to realize it was the green latex tube bubbling out the sidewall. Frantically he dismounted and let air out of the tire. Bugger. We started to laugh.

If we’d been thinking conservatively we’d have supplemented the tube patch with a dollar bill, but the slit had looked tiny. It was time for a new tire, and I use the term loosely because Brendan produced something with brown sidewalls that looked to have pre-war origins (WWII). Tired of holding the R3, I found a convenient branch and hung it from the saddle. That led to more laughter because it looked like Tim had flown off the road and disappeared into the ravine below.

Back to the service course Tim peeled off the Continental and let Brendan get the antique roadshow replacement on the Rolf rim. The latex tube was still good, so it was redeployed. What happened next will go down as a classic. The old tire refused to go on the rim until Brendan performed a bizarre, profanity laced dance routine back-and-forth across the road with the wheel. See pictures.

The tire finally surrendered or blushed. Elapsed time: 40 minutes. It seemed we finally had the problem licked, until Brendan’s pump snapped the top off the Presta valve. Incredulous, we had entered the twilight zone. Still laughing, I think we were starting to think we’d never get off that road.

One last try. Brendan supplied another tube, and recreated the profane dance one more time to force the brownwall into place. I stepped in with a C02 and gently inflated the tire for the fourth time, collected the Cervelo from its perch and held it while Tim closed the QR. Elapsed Time: 50 minutes.

The rest of the climb and descent into Woodside were uneventful, ending one of the strangest "mechanicals" any of us will ever experience. Brendan's Brownwall deserves to be enshrined in a place of honor in Tim's garage.

It's worth noting that Tim is a very good descender, but I'm still shaking my head at his faith in that relic of a tire as he bombed down King's Mountain past me and Brendan. Must have been the inspiration of the pink Rapha jersey he was sporting.

There is light at the end of the tunnel and hopefully today it's shining brightly into the eyes of Riccardo Riccò in a police station somewhere in France. Fool.

I'm starting to believe it's time for race organizers to add intelligence testing to the doping controls administered during races. And after yesterday morning's commute there's at least one rider of a pannier-equipped hybrid that needs his head examined too. He was so intent on keeping ahead of me that he ran two reds to do so, zig-zagging through turning traffic at the second light. Another poster boy for cycling who's sure to win over every hostile motorist on the road.

It was a nice surprise to find out that one of my photographs won a prize in Rock Racing's Flickr Photo Contest. The image of Oscar Sevilla was taken on the HC ascent of Mt. Hamilton during Stage 3 of this year's Tour of California.

Provocatively Sevilla, Tyler Hamilton and Santiago Botero were out training on the race course (and clearly making a statement) just a few minutes ahead of the peloton.

The Rock Racing Venom kit is an electric blast of green and black straight out the pages of a superhero comic book and it truly rocks. I chose to submit the shot in black and white because I wanted to focus on Sevilla's composure. He looked so PRO climbing one of the last steep pitches at a good clip without a hint of difficulty.

Kyle Kuykendall's artistic shot won the full-kit grand prize from among nearly 500 contest entries. Congrats Kyle. Considering I had few opportunities to shoot the team, I'm pretty happy. I didn't bother to enter a great image of Mario Cipollini from the TOC prologue since the relationship with Rock had fizzled... pity.

I'd just add that Rock's obvious knack for merchandising is a designer's dream. They continue to suit the team out in fantastic race-specific variations (Harlem Rocks, Team Austin Crit). I'm sure it motivates the riders and can't hurt with the fans who've been snapping up RR kit from the web store.

Friday I spent the day behind the scenes at San Jose Trek photographing another meticulous bike build. This time it was owner Bill Ruffner putting together a beautiful 54cm 2008 Madone 5.2 for San Jose Trek's inventory manager and race team member, Kelly. While I got set up with the camera, Bill was finishing removing the Dura-Ace componentry from Kelly's "old" 6.9 SSL for transfer to the new frame. The 6.9 SSL still has plenty of life as a backup training bike before it gets put out to pasture as a fixie or singlespeed. Ultimately both Bill and Kelly are planning Project One bikes (Trek's expanded custom component/paint program) when 6.9s become available with the 2009 Dura-Ace 7900 gruppo later in the year. That may be a carrot I can't resist, we'll see.

Up in the loft that houses the store's four tech stations, Bill was out of the immediate line of fire from the sales floor. That didn't mean there wasn't a steady stream of questions, visitors and good-natured insults trying to break his concentration but the former ace pitcher knows how to focus on the strike zone and still keep tabs on the runner at first. No one stole second, and the staff handled all the ground balls during the nine-inning build.

Once the SSL had surrendered her parts, all carefully arrayed on the workbench, it was time to unwrap the gleaming Carrera Blue 5.2. Even wheelless in the workclamp the frame looked fast thanks to the beautiful profiles of the OCLV BLACK carbon tubes. From the headtube to the bottom bracket the Madone downtube is a shape-shifting masterpiece, the toptube/seatmast to seatstay transition has the taught grace of an archer's bow at full draw and the integrated seat mast provides the benediction. Amen.

Bill spent ten minutes carefully cleaning the paint of extraneous decals, removing the bottle cage bolts and critically inspecting the basics before putting wrench to frame. It was 9:15 am, an hour and three quarters before Trek San Jose officially opened for business but the day was already well underway. A familiar tap on the downstairs glass signaled UPS had arrived with fifteen packages, most of which were bikes that would need assembly before they could be displayed, sold or delivered. Bill shifted into receiving mode for three minutes, taking a quick mental inventory while chatting with the driver. Staff started to arrive, by bicycle of course, as he reappeared and started in on the Madone drivetrain.

The 2008 Madone 5.2 Pro is available stock with Ultegra SL and Bontrager components from San Jose Trek.

Where the Drive Came From

Bill's been doing this for a long time. His parents Bill Snr. and Barbara Ruffner started the business in the early 70s and he's been building bikes since he was a kid, before he hit the books after school there were always bikes to be assembled in the garage. "Get to it son."

To hear Bill tell it, his dad was a hard taskmaster who set the assembly bar very high. Nowadays Bill Snr has mellowed considerably (they always do when they become grandfathers) but the spark he put in his son to do things right, still burns bright.

First up, Bill roughly positioned and clamped the 7800 front derailleur to the seat tube and then set about prepping the Madone's enormous bottom bracket shell for the cranks. After inserting the nesting alloy tubes that pass through the bottom bracket from either side, Bill simply pressed the bearings and Shimano-specific spacers into Trek's Precision Fit Sockets, net-molded right into the frame itself – no external bearing cups, no special tools required. Something worth considering if you're a racer contemplating a drivetrain overhaul on the motel room floor the night before a race. Chances are you'll only ruin one bathroom towel. Rumor has it that Trek's engineers consulted with Motel industry cleaning staff while engineering the new BB design.

The 7800 Hollowtech cranks with Kelly's Speedplay pedals "present and correct" just slid into place. With crank arm bolts tightened on the non-drive side, Bill fine tuned the front derailleur position and the powerplant spun freely, ready for action. He then mounted the rear brake mechanism at the base of the webbed seatstay bridge that flows out of the Madone's seat tube.

The Fork in the Road

Using the measurements he recorded from the SSL, Bill carefully mocked up the front end and called Kelly over for a consultation before trimming the E2 aluminum steerer in the Bontrager Race X Lite fork. Sometimes a second opinion is critical. That's true for steerers and doctors.

Six years ago Bill discovered he had cancer no thanks to the first two doctors who wrote off his symptoms as training related. Sure that he knew his own body and something more serious was at work, Bill persisted until a third doctor delivered the news he really didn't want to hear – it was cancer. Fortunately, he'd caught it early, it was operable and hadn't spread. They cut it out and he's here fit and healthy to tell about it, raise his family and race his bike. You go through an experience like that and it puts a lot of things in perspective. As Lance said "It's not about the bike"

Confident he and Kelly were on the same page, Bill cut and deburred the steerer tube. As a last detail before it went into the frame and received spacers and stem, the chamfered edge got a little cosmetic touchup with a Sharpie. The perfect positioning of the stack topped by a Bontrager carbon plug might have shown a hair of that edge, and that wouldn't cut it with any generation of the Ruffners.

Following the Right Line

Descending chip and seal at more than 50 mph is not the place for surprises or the faint hearted. A good race bike has to track perfectly and that starts with a rock solid connection between stem and bars. Alloy bar meet four-bolt alloy stem. The bar, taken from the SSL with levers attached was still taped. When Shimano's new 7900 group appears, Dura-Ace will support hidden cable routing and that hot-swappable efficiency will be lost to the next generation of racers. Bill took a lot of time with the front end: ensuring carbon spacers were logo aligned; bolts were evenly torqued to spec; and the bars were square to the frame. He mounted the front brake caliper.

Wheels were next. Bill would have preferred a set of Bontrager Aeolus clinchers but stoically mounted Kelly's Zipp 404 rear wheel. A quick check with Park's DAG 1 (Derailleur Alignment Gauge) confirmed the derailleur hanger was true, so it was on with the Dura-Ace rear derailleur mechanism. Back to the front of the bike, the front wheel went on and this gave Bill the true measure of front end alignment. Another round of inspection, tweaking and tightening of headset and stem ensued until he had it dialed in to his satisfaction.

Cable Me When You Get There

I'll spare some of the blow-by-blow details here. The front brake cable run was first, followed by the installation of the cable guide below the bottom bracket, and the rear brake run. Bill took special care with the length of cable housing running from the port where the cable emerges on the top tube to the adjuster on the brake mechanism. Just the right amount would ensure the cable pulled cleanly through the housing. Same with the small loop from the drive-side chainstay to the rear derailleur. I got the sense Bill has this curve imprinted in long-term memory. Since this bike was going to be raced, no barrel adjuster.

It's interesting how the build sequence alternates between static and dynamic. With the cable running to the rear derailleur, Bill threaded the Dura-Ace chain, popped in the master link and brought the drivetrain to life. Idiosyncratically he made the first rough adjustments in cable tension and trimmed the cable... another mechanic might have left more awaiting final adjustment. He mumbled something about extra cable getting caught in the wheel and I had the feeling this was another Ruffner lesson learned years ago from Bill Snr. I'm still using my dad's Aqua Velva aftershave, old habits are hard to break.

Continuing with the drivetrain, Bill fished the front derailleur cable through the frame and then threaded a rubber grommet over the cable and into the exit hole in the carbon – a little protection against the elements in this exposed area. He took a few minutes shifting both front and back derailleurs aggressively, listening-to as much as looking-at the shifting. He wanted a little cable stretch before locking things down. Kelly would be racing the bike the next day.

Sprint to the Finish

The pace in the shop below was busy. I'm surprised this many people were shopping for bicycles on a weekday, but then I was here taking the day off to photograph a bicycle being built. I concluded they had their priorities right. At this point there wasn't much left to do on the Madone. Bill fixed the carbon-railed Aliante saddle to the Madone's elegant seat mast cap, adjusted the seat height to the numbers from the SSL and tightened it down secure and level. The two Bontrager carbon cages were bolted down. Computer and speed sensor zipped to stem and fork and then it was down to the mirrored fitting center for a look at Kelly on the bike.

Kelly peddled for a minute while Bill produced the fit protractor and checked a couple of angles, but there really was no need, Bill's eyes already told him this was good. Bill was happy, Kelly was happy – bring on the competition.

Middle of the year and time to update the Top 10 Kit List. Rapha continues to dominate with seven of the ten positions; no surprise there. The Gilet, the rouleur of Rapha's product lineup, is on the front of this breakaway doing the leadout for big guns like the Light Weight Jersey and Classic Softshell Jacket that are likely to come round at the line come December.

The Enigma has joined the bike page, complete with all the final components of the build. It has been a great six week honeymoon with the titanium and carbon Eulogy. I've made two small changes along the way – raising the seat about 1cm and flipping the Rotor S1 stem to angle down 7.5 deg. I was feeling like I could handle a slightly more aggressive, stretched out position and still have another experiment to make with a longer Oval Concepts R900 stem.

A new set of Ligero-built custom carbon wheels is due any day. More on the specs of these beauties soon. Upcoming features on a Madone build and bay area classic climb are in the works.

Strip away all the fancy layers we wrap ourselves in to get on our bikes, and what are you left with but the basics. Enter Rapha's supremely comfortable 2008 Bibs and silky-soft merino Base Layer. OK, nobody said the basics couldn't be fancy.

In 2007 I bought my first pair of Rapha bibs and loved the fit and finish. Rapha's shorts were soft and stretchy where other brands were tight and claustrophobic. The shoulder straps were broad and didn't pinch or bind. They dried quickly. In a word they were flawless!

So how do you improve on perfection? I hadn't a clue until Rapha's 3/4 bib tights arrived last Fall sporting a new Cytech chamois. Compared with the engineered Nalini pad this new chamois seemed incredibly simple, but it only took a couple of rides to recognize it was an improvement. The Cytech was softer, wicked moisture better and dried faster after washing. When I realized the 08 bibs had the black Cytech pad, it wasn't long before I was online ordering them.

And they haven't disappointed. Last year's model is still in regular rotation, but the new bibs are the go-to shorts for big rides. The matte lycra again offers just the right amount of compression to keep my legs happy. While the top of the 08 bibs are edged in contrasting white; the Rapha logo is still classically presented black on black. I love wearing them. Currently they occupy third place on my revised Top 10 Kit list behind the everyday versatility of the Rapha Gilet and sleek Rapha Lightweight Jersey. They may yet displace their siblings and gain the top spot.

The Rapha Bib Shorts are priced at £120 $195 €175

Whatever the weather, hot or cold, I'm of the school that believes a baselayer helps keep you running at optimum temperature. A while back I wrote about my winning experience with Campagnolo's short-sleeved technical baselayer C281. The Campy piece fits like a second skin in the best Euro tradition.

That review didn't go unnoticed and shortly thereafter I received a note from Slate Olsen encouraging me to give the Rapha merino baselayer a try. I'd been hesitant to go that route because I feared 100% wool would be itchy, I was happy to be proved wrong.

Rapha's baselayer (I wear Large) is a featherweight throwback. The styling evokes memories of a working man's undershirt circa the 1920's, think Jim Braddock's story in Cinderella Man. The ideal fit is slightly looser than skin tight, and that's what I get with the Large. My fears of itchiness were unwarranted. Wisely, both the branding at the neckline and the care labels are sewn on the outside of the garment. No tickling included.

The New Zealand merino wool is incredibly efficient at wicking moisture and the slightly relaxed fit (I've chosen) is actually cooler than the Campy technical baselayer. Paired with Rapha's own Lightweight Jersey you have a superb combination for the hottest summer rides. And that's good because the temperature in the Bay Area today is going to hit 95 degrees F. I'm off to put on the basics for the ride to work.

The Rapha Merino Base Layer is priced at £45 $80 €65

Australia's Knog is probably best known for their tiny Frog LED lights; clever loops of silicon that wrap themselves around handlebars, seatstays, chainstays and in my case, the light loops of my Rapha Fixed Backpack.

Of course, Knog has a lot more to offer: powerful lights, urban bags, laptop bags and the subject of this report, some choice leather gloves. The Knog vibe is urban, hip and edgy. Under the theme of Bike Love, their site pushes boundaries and buttons (and then undoes them). Male or female, the experience will surely boost your heart rate.

The aptly-named Ride Hard Gloves are hand-stitched from fine-grained goatskin and available in three colorways: solid black, cream and olive, and cream and ruby. I have two of the three. A pair of black gloves came in the post from Knog's flagship Chapel St. store in Australia with the cheerful help of store manager Andrew Wood, nickname &ndash Woodie. A cream and olive pair arrived from U.S.-based SmartBikeParts.com and an equally helpful Eric. Both pairs look fantastic.

If it doesn't fit you must acquit! OJ's ham-fisted performance nearly fifteen years ago goes down in history as evidence of prosecutorial incompetence and the fact you can't judge the fit of leather gloves when they've been soaked in blood and dried badly. New leather gloves can appear equally uncooperative on first try. I say CAN because the black gloves were decidedly stiffer than the supple cream and olive. Woodie attributes this to the shrinking properties of black dye, something he's noticed over the years in production of garments in many different fabrics/materials. Persevere and you'll be rewarded.

After a few rides and a couple of break-in sessions working on the black gloves, both pairs (size medium) are now a good fit. The perfect fit is still a few miles down the road as the leather continues to be shaped by heat, sweat and the oils from my hands. Nice when something gets better with age.

The Ride Hard gloves are more substantial than most synthetics with the extra padding of suede inserts on the palms and in the web between thumb and forefinger. The knuckles are reinforced with dime-sized leather discs with embroidered lettering: the left hand reads H-A-R-D; and the right, R-I-D-E. With an occasional wash, thorough rinse and still damp re-stretch these stylish, hard-working mitts will never steer you in the wrong direction.

In the U.S. The Knog Ride Hard gloves are priced at $59 from SmartBikeParts.com, outside the U.S. you can order the gloves online, directly from Knog. If you prefer half gloves, Knog has you covered with the L-O-V-E, H-A-T-E series.

For a moment, wearing Rapha's Touring Shorts, I'm an Edinburgh schoolboy again. The Moray House uniform: shorts; shirt and tie; jacket and cap. That was the last time I wore shorts as beautifully tailored as these, though in a smaller size and much heavier fabric.

The touring shorts are cool, light and wonderfully constructed in the best Rapha tradition. I love details like the horizontal rear pocket just below the waistband (perfect for ID and cash, or your cell phone if you've not stashed it per design in your Rapha bibs) and another on the right hip, purposely cut shallow to avoid any interference with your thigh while pedaling. Both pockets are almost invisible and closed with tiny tear-shaped fobs.

The fabric has a little bit of stretch to it and dries quickly. The fly doesn't bulge or open on the bike, meaning the zipper is perfectly fitted. The satin-lined hems slide frictionlessly over your legs. Inside, there's a touch of signature pink edging the pockets and branding is quintessential Rapha; understated black on black.

As life slowly comes full circle, I find myself wearing the Touring Shorts as part of a new uniform on my daily bike commute. Worn over Rapha bibs and baselayer, they strike a stylish balance between street fashion and cycling kit. I'm even tempted to put them on for a big weekend ride, there's nothing wrong with violating the lycra-tic oath occasionally.

Come the fall it's rumored that Perren Street's range will truly cover the long and short of it with a full-length trouser (Touring shorts, fixed shorts, full-length). Then, as US GM Slate Olsen joked "we'll only need to design pajamas to keep you in Rapha round the clock." Slate, Luke... pajamas are not a bad idea, and the sewn-in-story would naturally involve some of Anquetil's nocturnal palmarès.

The Touring Shorts are priced at £70 $110 €100

Coming from someone who turns ordinary socks inside out because even the smallest seam itches me what designer's skin isn't that sensitive, Rapha's Lightweight Jersey is smooth perfection.

As usual Rapha is thinking about epic rides with the generous pocket configuration, including a vertically zipped ID/valuables pocket and a full-width ballast pocket. The back of the LW has a central mesh strip that makes the jersey particularly well-suited for the hottest days and for riding with the Rapha Fixed Backpack. It's a fantastic canvas for righteous salt stains.

Paired with the Touring Shorts as pictured, it cuts a classic, urban silhouette that is as timeless as it is modern. Like all Rapha kit, the price point is heady, but to my mind any piece of theirs is worth two or three of anything else. With care, following basic washing instructions (cold water, inside out, Woolite) you should enjoy countless centuries (in miles of course) of enjoyment from them. Highly recommended.

The Lightweight Jersey is priced at £100 $170 €150

I pulled up to Brendan's place at 6:20 am, and loaded his bike onto the Raxter while he gathered the last bits and pieces for a long day together on the road. His giant Soulcraft was sporting a new, but recycled, Brooks saddle that had only seen limited action on his commuter. He must have caught my eyebrows on the way up because he was quick to reassure me he wasn't going to suffer because of the late substitution.

Twenty minutes later we parked the car at Lucky's supermarket on Foothill, hoping our choice of starting venue would prove auspicious. We discussed last minute kit choices, opting to discard the arm warmers and gilets we'd packed. Our destination, the aptly-named Cliff House where San Francisco meets the Pacific just South of the Golden Gate Bridge, is often chilly. Today's forecast promised 90 degree temperatures inland all the way there – if anything we were worried about overheating – ocean breezes would be a welcome relief on the 88-mile loop.

I figured this would be the litmus test for the long-distance capabilities of the Enigma Eulogy and my continuing attempts to improve my hydration/nutrition strategy. I stuffed my jersey pockets with Cup of Golds, Pro Bars, Sport Beans and tucked a couple of GUs in the leg band of my bibs. My bottles were filled with Vitalyte. I hit the start button on my pixel-challenged 305 and the two of us rolled out heading for Peets where we'd pick up TJ and Curt.

TJ was sitting out front as we rode up. Curt hadn't appeared yet, so Brendan pulled out the toolkit and used the time to adjust the position of the Brooks.

Curt arrived momentarily and with Brendan satisfied he had the saddle dialed in, we circled back onto Foothill for the Woodside run to rendezvous with Nicolas – the final member of the peloton. The pace rose steadily until we were cruising along in two-by-two formation at 22 mph on good pavement. We slowed on the steady climb up Sandhill but made good time finding Nicolas waiting at the intersection of 84 and Canada Road. The full team turned North on Canada and the real ride began.

The day was steadily waking and warming up. Riders in ones and twos appeared to be prepping for a TT up the road. We passed a surreal scene... two male cyclists standing over a third female lying prostrate and vulnerable in the roadside dirt. It looked like she'd bonked badly. Perhaps it was the fact it was 8 am and she had friends nearby... we shot by without a serious thought of stopping. I hate to think she might have been badly hurt.

TJ, Curt and Nicolas pushed the pace with Brendan and I a couple of hundred yards back before we regrouped for a drink and a photo in a parking lot on Skyline (Hwy 35).

We continued on a tree-lined Skyline paralleling 280 for the next four miles. Then we faced the decision. Legally we could have taken our chances on the highway shoulder to the next exit but wisely declined, opting for a residential maze through steep backstreets and a pretty section of the Sawyer Camp Trail that skirts the Crystal Springs Reservoir.

Exiting the trail we returned to Skyline where the pace again quickened. Nicolas and Curt were riding like they had a tee time to catch at the Presidio. I didn't think of it at the time but having them shoulder a bag of clubs would have been an effective way to slow them down.... As Skyline rolls along it gets wider and faster. Several times we topped 40 mph descending. The shoulder was generously salted with patches of loose stuff and the unusual litter that only cyclists see. At some point Brendan reminded me we'd have to climb these hills on the way back. It hadn't occurred to me yet.

I drank the Vitalyte and snacked religiously. I'd consumed a Pro Bar (380 cal), a Cup of Gold (193 cal), two GUs (200 cal) and a package of Sports Beans (100 cal) in the first two hours. I kept after Brendan to do the same, knowing we'd need plenty in the tank for the journey back.

I was really enjoying the Enigma. Its Record drive train ran like clockwork and the Pave wheels from Competitive, though a far cry from my plush Topolinos, were smooth and comfy. Every now and then I’d look down at the silver soldered wires spinning in the front wheel, it makes the wheels look fast, even when I'm not.

The groove was fun while it lasted, and of course, it didn’t. We passed Lake Merced and my rear tire punctured. I checked the Fortezza Tricomp carefully inside and out and found a small hole in the sidewall. Whatever I hit was sharp but gone. I dropped in a new tube, shot it with CO2 and we were ready to ride again.

In traffic we awkwardly wheeled around to make the Great Highway left we'd overshot for the last three miles to the Cliff House. From the top of the first rise, we could see our destination perched precariously in the distance, and though it was still warm, we got a nice cooling breeze from the Pacific. The great highway lived up to its name in the views department but a liberal dusting of sand and sketchy pavement on the final stretch required our undivided attention.

When we pedaled up to a sunny Cliff House it was under siege by a flotilla of curious tourists with cameras. My wife Juli was somewhere en-route with SAG, while we waited we emptied our bottles and began eating whatever was in our pockets. And then, with my Enigma leaning peacefully against a wall, my rear tire blew a second time, startling the tourists and the seagulls. Pinch flat, shoddy first-time repair. That explains why I’m holding my rear wheel in the opening picture.

Juli arrived in the nick of time with water, ice, fruit, and fresh rubber. Everyone tucked in while I made the necessary repairs and used a pre glued patch on the sidewall for a little extra insurance. We didn’t waste much time, after a couple of pictures we said our goodbyes to Juli and started back along the Great Highway. Half way down the beach we passed a fire department ladder truck, fully extended. The crew in the bucket were scanning the surf for something: a surfer, a shark; cheap carbon clinchers. We rode on.

Brendan decided to avoid a rough section of highway without a shoulder. I followed him across the road to the bike path on the leeward side. TJ, Curt and Nicolas who were following us stuck to the highway and immediately gapped us. By the time we rejoined the highway, missing a couple of lights the other three were out of sight. Back on Skyline we spotted them part way up the first serious hill... we never saw them again. Funny how that happens. No matter, we settled into a good pace and forgot about where the other three were.

As we started climbing the big rollers the temperature on the road was reaching into the nineties. Six or seven miles along we stopped at a liquor store for a cold drink and topped off our bottles against a soundtrack of gangster rap shaking the windows of cars making stop-and-go liquor runs.

Back on the road we found our rhythm again. With me on point we steadily wound our way back, retracing our tracks. In the mid-day heat we noted the Trail was now empty of the walker and joggers we'd passed in the morning and our bottles emptied quickly to the point where we were almost out. Then to our delight we found a couple of kids who'd set up a water/lemonade stand at the Trail head. We refilled and I stuck a third water bottle in my back pocket.

At Canada Road and 92 we caught up with Juli shading herself in the open trunk of the Audi. Out came the cooler, ice water and cold towels. The others had missed this luxury. Now we were back in familiar territory and twenty short miles from the Lucky's parking lot. Refreshed we set out again, ticking off the miles. Brendan chatted with a cyclist whose 12-year old son was completing a 250-mile week on his bike. As we passed him Brendan reached out and shook his hand.

We passed through Woodside to pick up Whisky Hill Road and the high speed drop to Sand Hill. We climbed the hump and flew down and over 280 towards Foothill and the home stretch. I used the extra water bottle to fill my Rapha cap and rode a couple of miles with my helmet on the bars. I believe in helmets, but it's easy to forget as a kid I rode my bike everywhere without one. It felt good.

The parking lot at Lucky's felt even better. While Brendan sat on a curb and took on some fluids, I retired to the dairy section of the supermarket to begin my recovery with a vitamin water and a six-pack of chocolate pudding. I only ate two.

We loaded the bikes and took stock of a great day together. The Enigma had proven itself century friendly, Brendan's Brooks had kept the faith and we'd both found a way to stay sufficiently hydrated and fueled to go the distance on a scorcher of a day.

I swear I've not abandoned my beloved Specialized Trail 120s but I was immediately attracted by Jenson USA's deal on the Lake MX400 shoes. The MX400 is a premium, full-carbon, customizable model that weighs in at a trim 350g. Originally priced somewhere north of $400 they were reduced to a more palatable $149. They're heat mold-able, just pop in the oven at 180 degrees for five minutes and then shape to taste, but what really got me was the fact they were available in silver and that made them a sparkling match for the Enigma – admittedly I'm out of my accessorizing mind. User opinion suggested the Lake's fit required going up a size and there was some negative opinion about the longevity of the boa closure system but I fancied I'd be faster in silver shoes.

I've had them for about two weeks and turned about 300 miles in them. The baking and shaping which can be repeated if necessary worked perfectly with the result they feel very solid around my heel. I don't know how the boa system will hold up long term but it provides a very easy way to snug the shoes with the added flexibility to do this while riding. Replacement reels and laces are available from Lake. The full carbon sole is stiff and the ventilated uppers keep the toe box nice and cool.

I've been reading some of Steve Hogg's advice regarding mid-foot cleat position on cyclingnews.com and decided to mount the SPD cleats on the Lakes in the rear set of holes. This does increase the toe overlap on the Enigma, but the net is still less overlap than I'm used to on the Cervelo SLC-SL. It's not far enough back to really qualify as mid-foot but I'm hoping it's going to reduce the tendency of my calves to cramp late in long rides. I can feel the position engages my quads and hamstrings more.

In summary I think the Lakes are a half size smaller than other brands. Since I liked the silver so much, I ended up ordering a pair in white and went with my regular size 43 on the second pair I can't resist a good deal. Removing the optional liner provides an even better fit on the smaller size. Conclusion... I'm a perfect 43.5 in Lake shoes.

I've yet to wear the white ones, pending the arrival of the appropriate matching white/silver cycling socks.

After some reconnaissance last Friday evening I decided to shoot the Pescadero Road Race from a couple of positions on beautiful Stage Road. The pro peloton was scheduled to start at 8:00 am so I was up and out the door by six for the hour plus drive out to the coast. Typical for Northern California this time of year the coast was blanketed by fog and cool when I arrived and parked the car.

My strategy was to ride my hybrid out on to the course with a minimal amount of camera gear and see what I could get moving up and down Stage Road between pelotons for the various categories.

The racing was great, but it took a while for the light to improve. Locations like the Eucalyptus grove would have been incredible with filtered sunlight and ground fog. I think I'll be back shooting this for a few years before I luck into that dream combination of atmospherics.