Single Shot Fridays: Sinn U1

The Sinn U1, made in tagimented submarine steel has gained some interest amongst the collecting cogniscenti in recent years. The small German manufacture, from the Frankfurt area, now owns and manufactures its own cases in their SUG factory in Glashutte. And made of super harderned tagimented steel, makes a very nice, rugged watch for sporty intents.

I do wear my U1, The Hour Glass Tempus Edition for my cycling. And recently, met up with a friend, mid-ride for a beer. And he wore his Sinn U1 The Hour Glass All Black edition. Shown below, both watches.

Peter Speake-Marin...and friends. Good friends.

An afternoon spent with good friends is always a good afternoon. One fine Saturday afternoon, a group of friends dropped in at a local hotel and met up with a group of Peter Speake-Marin Spirits.

I have featured the Spirit II, property of a good friend, a while ago in these pages. Here, a more detailed study of the Spirit II with its friends...

The Spirit II by Peter Speake-Marin, aestetically very well balanced in its form and shape. Though not everyman's taste, as the case sides are can-like and rather thick, but there is a quiet confidence to the design. Unassuming, but yet elegant but rugged at the same time. Rather versatile. So very English, so very like Peter himself, though the watches are designed and constructed in collaboration with Technotime in Switzerland.

In typical English fashion, tea is served...the Spirit II adorned with a NATO strap...very nice, and rather apt.

Hanging out with friends...the new Spirit II DLC

A parting shot...on the wrist

Tissot Exhibition at Suntec City

Tissot, a Swatch Group company, has a long and illustrious history, which many watch afficianados forget or do not know.

On occassion of the opening of the new Tissot Boutique in Suntec City, Tissot brought in a mini exhibition with many iconic and interesting pieces from their museum.

A very interesting art deco piece, museum piece on the right in the 1920s, so now we know where Franck Mueller drew inspiration for his Long Island with exploding numerals come from. And on the left, the reissue watch now available.

Antimagnetic watches were introduced by many watch companies. Patek Philippe with their Amagnetic in the 1960s, earlier the Rolex had Millgauss in the late 1950s, IWC with their Ingenieur in the 1940s. But Tissot introduced their Antimagnetic watch in 1930.

The first plastic watch, preceeding Swatch by 12 years with the Idea 2001 in 1971.

And ingenius use of new material, a fiber glass dial in a silver case called the Tissot Sideral.

And we round up the collection with an interesting table clock...with a stylised Tissot T logo...also now available for purchase. Contact the Tissot Boutique at Suntec City.

Soma Double Cross Disc

We take a short break from watches, having covered all the watches shown in SIHH2013 that interest me. And return to my bike photographs...a developing interest due to my interest in cycling.

Today's feature is my new cyclocross bike...built carefully with lots of research. I originally wanted a titanium frame, but an unpleasant incident with Lynskey caused me to rethink, and I decided to go the steel is real route.

The final plan I guess is still to return to a custom titanium frame, but to try out the concept of using a cross style bike for go everywhere riding, including pacelines, group rides, PCN and a bit of light touring, a steel frame is an inexpensive place to start. I knew I wanted disc brakes, and the ability to put on panniers and fenders, and for the forks to be able to run fat tyres, up to 38mm, though I would probably run them mainly on 28 or 32.

The search narrowed the candidates to Salsa, Surly and Soma. While the Surly Long Haul Disc Trucker is a champion tourer, the geometry is too touring for my liking, and I didn't really like the looks. The Salsa Doublecheck is a strong candidate, but I didn't like the fact that Salsa would not divulge what kind of tubes they use to make the frame. Whilst, Soma proudly proclaims the tubing is Tange Prestige, double butted. While welding is done in Taiwan, as is the Tange factory now, I understand, I find the welds flawless and the paintwork very nice indeed. Not Baum, or even Pegoretti nice of course, but nice enough.

The gold chain is from Ti-N, titanium nitride coating which according to KMC who makes the chain, shifts smoother and lasts longer. I chose this instead of the standard Campagnolo 11 speed chain because it also features a missing link chain breaker, allowing one to remove and reinstall the chain with a chain breaker tool.

The component set was easy to decide. Campagnolo, of course. And the highest level groupset with alloy components is the Athena 11, so that was decided. I also rode the Athena 11 on the Zullo MaxSilenus, and it was a superb groupset.

The Hope V-Twin uses conventional cables from the shifters into this small hydraulic master cylinder, shaped like a V, hence the name. From this master cylinder, hydraulic lines carry the brake control over to Hope's proven X-2 brake calipers. Very powerful brakes, with superior modulation.

For braking, I decided to try out the new hydraulic braking offered by a few vendors for drop bar configured bikes. I originally wanted the TRP Parabox, but my bike builder...who did the fantastic build job, recommended Hope, and the V-twin looked fantastic, was used in the Aston Martin bike built by Factor001, so I went for it. The rotors are Shimano IceTech 160mm for both front and rear.

The wheelset, which is actually the second most important component in a bicycle after the frame selection...though less glamourous than the grouppo was also rather easily selected. I had the Ambrosio Nemesis, the Stan's XTR and Velocity A23 as final candidates. Again, the input from Patrick the bike builder swayed me towards the A23. Hub choice was a bit easier to decide, as there were only 2 candidates offering 11 speed Campy freewheel with disc brakes. Chris King's told me they would have an offering by mid year 2013, but when I started the build, nothing was available. So it was either DT Swiss or White Industries. I decided to do White because of the excellent feedback, and also DT Swiss needed an adapter, while the new CX11 rear hub from WI was engineered specifically for Campy 11 speed discs. For the front, I used the WI MI6. Spokes were Phil Wood spokes laced 3x on the 32 hole rims/hubs for a very strong wheelset.

The rest of the components also fell in place easily...I didn't want any carbon components, so alloy only. I selected 3T for the bars, as I love the feel of their Ergonova. To match, it was 3T for the stem...100mm. In the pictures, I have the MOST 100mm stem, a carbon lightweight one from a friend as I am waiting for my 3T stem to arrive. And the 3T seatpost to match. Headset, seatclamp and skewers are all Hope. Brooks leather was used as bartape as well as an older B17 saddle pressed into service to complete this build.

Tyres on the bike now is the Panaracer Stradius Extreme. In some of the pictures, I had an old, tired Panaracer with brown sidewalls, which promptly punctured in the first ride. So these were swapped out for the Stradius Extreme. I also have on order Continental Gatorskin 32...though the Grand Bois Extra Leger 32 is calling my name. I will try these later. The Stradius Extreme are supposed to be 23mm race tyres, but on the Velocity A23 rims, they actually measure 26mm at 110psi pressure. Very comfortable, even at 110psi. Nice, reasonably supple, but of course no match for the Baum's Veloflex Extreme tubulars, or the Zullo's FMB Competition CX Silk tubulars, both of those running latex tubes, whilst the Soma is running standard Butyl tubes. The tyres are slick, and grip in dry and wet is very good.

How does it ride? My first ride out with the Soma, I couldn't wipe the grin off my face. The ride was ultra smooth. The bike was not as stiff, or fast as the Baum Coretto, a bike already featured in these pages, and cost 5 times more than the Soma. Though the Baum is titanium and the Soma steel, I find the Soma ride to be smoother. The White Industries hubs were also very smooth...as butter...albeit a lot more quiet than the Tune on the Baum. Now, coasting on the bike will not warn pedestrians ahead that a bike is coming...the Tune is very loud and one can do without a bell on the PCNs.

The Athena 11 works like a charm...even coming from the superlative Super Record EPS 11 on the Baum, working the gears on the Athena was still fun...though changing from the small ring to the large ring takes a lot more effort than on the EPS. But considering the price differential, the Athena is better value for money.

Baum Corretto

Time for another dream bike photography and brief impressions. This time, a magnificent handmade bicycle from Australia, and one of the most sought after bike frames ever...the Baum! From the same good friend who loaned me his Zullo MazSilenus and Pegoretti Responsorium, here is his Baum Corretto.

On the Floating Platform at the Marina Bay area overlooking the Marina Bay Sands and the Science Museum.

As I mentioned in earlier bicycle posts, the world of the handmade bicycle is as elusive as the world of handmade independent watchmakers. Very few aspire to the art, and even fewer manage to make a namefor themselves. Darren Baum in Australia is one such distinguished individual.

Just by the fountains at the Marina Barrage.

His bikes have the reputation of great ridability and yet stiff, efficient and ability to compete with race bred bikes in terms of its ability to transfer every ounce of precious power from your legs to propel you forward. Race or relaxed geometry? Seems you don't have to choose.

At Gardens by the Bay East, overlooking the Marina Bay with a view of the Singapore CBD. Click on the image for a 1920 wide wallpaper.

Click on the above picture for a full sized wallpaper of the magnificent bicycle with the Singapore skyline as shown from Gardens by the Bay East.

Handbuilt in Australia, each bike is custom. Darren takes into consideration the rider's weight, riding characteristics and intended usage of the bike. The bike featured today is the Baum Corretto. I am slightly bemused by the name...Baum...the surname of the creator means Tree in German. Corretto means correct in Italian (normally an espresso with a shot of grappa), and the bike is made in Australia.

The Corretto is made from grade 9 titanium (also known as Ti 3Al-2.5V - 3% aluminium and 2.5% vanadium makes the metal a good balance between ease of welding, and manufacturing and the high strength of Grade 5...which is known as Ti 6Al-4V. Grade 9 is commonly used in aircraft tubing and bicycles.)

On the waterside just across from the Marina Bay Financial Centre, overlooking the Marina Bay Sands.

Unlike many other custom builders who choose from a set of factory butted tubes and blend the tubes for the ride characteristic he is designing for, Darren uses straight gauge tubing for the Corretto, but internally or externally butts each individual tube himself to achieve what he envisions to be the best to achieve the ride goal. This level of attention to detail is almost unique and characterises the Baum builds.

On the Marna Barrage, overlooking the Singapore Flyer.

The result, as expected is the magic carpet ride people ascribe to titanium without the flex and with the stiffness of steel. Magnificent ride. Compliant, smooth, but with the ability to transfer every bit of power to the wheels. I feel I am riding one cog smaller than on the Pegoretti or Zullo. And I reached 50.5 kph at the Garden by the Bay East stretch without too much stress to my old ticker...I could have easily have gone faster...but only slowed down because some kids were rollerskating ahead of me, and I fear of crashing into them at that speed. My previous fastest speed at that stretch was 48 kph on the Pegoretti, but I noted at a higher heart rate and more apparent effort. I broke all my personal bests - for 1 hour cycling, and best times for 10km, 10 miles, 20 km, 50 km all within 3 rides over a week.

The paintwork is fantastic...the pearlescent paint almost glows in the sunlight. Each weld prefect. The bike bears an Enve 2.0 fork, ARX carbon stem and a zero setback Enve seatpost, all painted to match the frame.

No expense was spared with the drivetrain...the Campagnolo Super Record 11 EPS.

Not obvious in the photograph above, but the bottom bracket is specified as BB30 PressFit, to ensure stiffness. This might not have been the wisest choice, as the owner confesses to me later...as an adapter is required to fit the Campagnolo drivetrain onto the BB30, and this may sometimes cause creaking noises from the bottom bracket.

Introduced in 2011, this electronic groupset is as good as it gets. Shimano introduced their Di2 electronic groupset somewhat earlier in 2009. Campy's responded not only with a top of the line offering, but also with electronic capability to the Record and Athena. Campy's offering is also 11 speed, while Shimano only gets 11 speed in 2013.

Two electronic units, one below the stem, as shown in the pic above, and another on the top side of the downtube, see pic above that, are employed to provide the electronic brains and battery power to do the shifting.

The rear derailleur, showing the micro step motors which enable the shifting of the rear cogs.

It would seem the system is a bit messy, but in practice, it works perfectly. Each shift is precise, very fast. And the system allows one to move across the entire rear cassette with one push of the up or down shift button, situated much like the mechanical Super Record on the hoods. But as these are electronic buttons instead of levers pulling a cable to actuate the shifts, the shifting is effortless. Until I had ridden on an electronic groupset, I also thought that this was an overkill system. A bit like a quartz watch...super accurate, but no soul...but this was not to be the case. The system is so beautifully put together, and works so well, I am dreading having to go back to a mechanical Athena 11 I have on my own bike.

As with the mechanical Super Record, the crank is carbon fibre on a titanium spindle chainset: a road standard double 53/39

I installed my own Crank Brothers Egg Beaters SL on each of these "sponsored" bikes as I prefer to wear mountain bike shoes so I can walk normally when not on the bike. Though road shoes have stiffer soles and transfer power better, I prefer the convenience of being able to walk and as I am not racing, don't mind to lose out on the efficiency. If I were to race, I would use Speedplay Zeros - light, low stack, and well designed.

The wheelset on this build is the remarkable Enve 1.25 carbon tubular wheelset, laced onto Tune hubs. The hubs are very nicely balanced, and very smooth rolling. Tyres are Veloflex Extreme tubulars on latex tubes, which contributes also to the magic carper ride. I still preferred the FMB Challenge CX Silks on the Zullo MazSilenus, but the Veloflex is still a bit more comfortable than the Challenge Stradas. All at 105psi rear, 100 front pressures.

Total weight for the bike as shown, including pedals, without the Topeak saddle bag was weighed to be 6.92kg on a digital scale.

Headset is from Chris King with the Extralite cap, with the curious graphic characteristic of Extralite.

The brakes are Campagnolo Super Record skeletons, with the proprietary brake pads of the Enve rims. Though specified for 25mm tyres, there seem space to perhaps fit 28mm ones. Note the beefy chainstays, which are essential to provide efficient transfer of power.

Photographed on site at the Marina Barrage, Gardens by the Bay and Marina Bay Sands area. I rode the bicycle for the shoot, and was only able to carry the small Panasonic Lumix LX-3 which took all these photographs. The image below also opens up to a 1920 wide wallpaper.

On the Gardens by the Bay East, overlooking the climate control buildings of the Gardens by the Bay known as the Flower Dome and Cloud Forest conservatories, with Marina Bay Sands and the CBD skyline in the background.

Pegoretti Responsorium

I count myself very lucky to have good friends who has good taste. Many lend me their watches to photograph. And one even loaned me his bicycles to ride and photograph.

In the world of bicycling, the master artisans are much like watchmaking. I already said that in the Zullo MaxSilenus article. In that article, I wrote about Tiziano Zullo...a master craftsman in handmade bicycles, and I hinted on the other great Italian, perhaps more famous maker...Dario Pegoretti.

The same good friend who loaned me the Zullo, has allowed me to swap the MaxSilenus for the Pegoretti Responsorium. Two iconic Italian steel bikes!

Click on the above picture for a full sized wallpaper of the magnificent bicycle.

Both bikes are as rare as hen's teeth. Whilst the MaxSilenus is drawn from a limited edition of only 20 pieces, the Responsorium is also almost as rare...though not limited by intent, the numbers are limited by production capacity.

The Responsorium is made from Columbus XCr...a stainless steel tubeset, which because it is stronger than regular steel, affords Dario to use thinner tubes, resulting in a very light bicycle. I didn't weigh it, but I guess it is sub 8kg...this is similar to what is reported by other owners who did weigh their bikes...the lowest I have seen was 15 lbs with pedals.

Dario is as equally famous for his paintwork and paint schemes as he is for the gorgeous bicycles he makes. This particular bike sports the Goze scheme. The frame is polished XCr, and small polka dot masks are put on the frame. The frame is then painted black, and the masks removed to reveal the shiny inside. Some of the dots are then filled with colour. One keen eyed reader wrote me to say that the sticker on the seat tube says Columbus Nemo. Indeed it does...but its just the owner's cheeky way of a joke. The tubing used is Columbus XCr.

The headset, proudly acclaims handmade, with the print of what I suppose is Dario's palm. The bike is built with 54.8 effective top tube, and a longish head tube, and parallel head tube and seat tube set at 73 degrees...though I have been told, this is approximate, as like the great American framebuilder Richard Sachs, Dario's angles are by feel, and the right ones.

The chainstays are marked with the birthdate of the frame. Also shown in this photograph, the Mig and Mag hubs by Tune - these are gorgeous hubs...smooth spinning, very light. Same hubs are used in the MaxSilenus build.

This build is magnificent. Every component carefully chosen. The wheelset is from vintage Nisi Lasers with Sapim CX-ray spokes with fancy colourful nipples. Most carbon bar, Most Tiger Extralight 100mm stem, Salle San Marco Regale saddle on carbon rails, and the superb Campagnolo Super Record 11 Ti drivetrain...hardly can get more fancy than this...safe Super Record 11 EPS.

My inexperience in photographing bicycles shows in this picture...I forget to move the crank so that the decals on the crankset saying "Campagnolo Super Record" are the right way up. But note carbon front derailleur, carbon crank and titanium chain rings.

Standard double front chainring...53/39. A bit to many gear inches for me to push. I managed to reach my personal best top speed of 52kph on a flat going 53/13 at cadence of 100, running out of breath, heart rate and power to go faster. Though I manage to hold this speed long enough to cover 1km, it was as much gear as I can manage. 53/12 and 53/11 is totally wasted on me.

The rear derailleur is also all carbon goodness. Never miss a shift. Smooth shifting...not Shimano smooth, but with great mechanical precision. Very positive feel.

Most comfortable hoods I have ridden. The hoods seem a bit wider than the Athena 11 fitted on the MaxSilenus...but this may be due to the thicker...and more comfortable tape on the Pegoretti.

How does it ride? Very stiff. Very responsive. The steering is quite direct...I am told this is to the low trail...the bike feels like it wants to turn...it turns on rails...very confident through corners. I have yet to take it to our "big" descent, but will try it out, and from reports I have read, it will decend beautifully and confidently.

The bike feels like it wants to go fast. Every input on the pedal, seems to transfer to a surge forward, and then it seems to me...maybe my imagination...but the frame then seems to give back, in a sort of harmony with the pedal strokes propelling the man and machine forwards with haste. The chainstays are only slightly smaller than Pegoretti's race machine - the Marcello.

Compared to the Zullo, I feel the Pegoretti is more racy, stiffer, less plush. But still yet comfortable. Great ride.

Note as these photographs are taken in situ on my ride, I chose the the Panasonic Lumix LX3...small enough to carry on a ride.