Meet the 1905 Standard: the legendary Swiss Military bike that just won’t die

Aesthetically speaking, you could mistake it for a modern-day hipster chariot. A steel lugged frame painted in a rich metallic black with single speed, fenders and rear coaster brake. All boxes checked. But on closer inspection, and certainly when riding it, one quickly realizes this build is so much more - a bike rich in history that is rekindling the imagination of former service men and others who simply want it to ride everyday.

Meet the 1905 Standard: the Swiss Army bike originally produced in the small town of Courfaivre (Jura) in 1904 and in only five factories afterwards until production stopped in 1989. Engineered for the Swiss military to be durable, ironically it was only ever produced as a single speed until a design update in 1993. A former member of the army tells us it got lots of use in the mountains, often times in snow and at night. One can only imagine the quads on those deemed fit enough to ride it.

Today, original parts and frames are scattered across Switzerland; when the army shuttered their bike division in 2003, most of what remained was sold off to collectors and others. Curious about their design, Leandro Spillmann bought his first Swiss military bike at age 16 - a model made in 1944 that he still uses around town. Now in his twenties, Spillmann is part of a regional network from Austria, Germany and Switzerland who vaunt about the 23kg builds, boasting about their steely ride and military appeal.

He now runs Schweizer-Militärvelo and sells refurbished originals, but not as a business. He explains from his office where we talked with him — a storage room filled with bike parts, books and tools outside Zurich — that its purpose is only to maintain the legacy of the 1905 design.

“People from all over had been storing the 300 spare parts needed to assemble one of these bikes,” explains Spillmann about the network he works with. “I sell maybe one or two bikes a month to people who really love the design, something I hope will help preserve it.”

One hundred and eleven years after it was first made, Spillmann says he sees renewed interest in the frames from United States, Japan, Italy and elsewhere. At one time, the Swiss held 700 or more bike industry trademarks and had a network of small bike builders Today, he says of those Swiss builders, only Aarios remains.

Through this informal network, he tries hard to stay as close as possible to the bike’s original design in what he sells. His office is a testament to the dedication behind the site, shelves filled with original wheels, rich brown leather tool and top tube bags and history books. In spite of their age, riding the original Ordonnanzfahrrad Modell 05 (as it is officially known) today is still pretty awesome. Like many heavy steel frames bikes, it quickly gathers momentum and hugs the road with precision. The head tube bares the iconic Swiss cross while the saddle’s tan leather is the perfect compliment to the meticulous design.

While climbing even small hills requires grit, weight is not the bike’s most interesting characteristic. That is reserved for the brakes which were created specifically for alpine descents; front and rear “spoon brake” levers modulate friction on the tire itself, not the rim, while the pedal “coaster brake” stops the hub (added in 1940 for extra long descents so tires would not get too hot and explode, says Spillmann). The build is finished with a German Torpedo hub and all the parts are original.

Spillmann outside his office. Approximately 80,000 bikes were made in total and although the Swiss Army no longer employs bike troops, there are still plenty of bikes in service. More than 7,000 are still in use for getting around on large army bases and airports.

Check out http://www.xn--schweizer-militrvelo-pzb.ch/ to get in touch with Leandro and to find out more. Big thanks to him for the test ride and shop tour 👌.

Empire rising: Giro’s most iconic shoe design is handsomely updated for 2020

When it was first released in 2013, the Giro Empire confounded what many considered modern cycling shoes — something better suited to racing Eroica than at home in the pro peloton. To those that recognized the shoe’s simplicity however, it took only a podium finish at the 2012 Giro to create unexpected interest. The 2020 version remains a standard lace-up race shoe with a one-piece upper construction and all the stretch, suppleness and performance for which the Empire is well known. Combine that with the character it exudes when worn and you have what remains one of the best available road shoes, full stop.

Beta version: a one-off aero shoe designed for Taylor Phinney at the 2012 Giro d’ Italia, emulating the look of Nike’s Murcurial soccer cleats.

The Empire’s popularity is entirely accidental. After winning the prologue at the 2012 Giro, Taylor Phinney, then 21 and in the early stages of his career riding for Team BMC, crashed in a subsequent road stage and destroyed his Giro Factors. Soon after, he debuted what became known as the Empires - a flash silver and neon green lace-up that was famously photographed with his bloody ankle dripping all over the prototype. Demand for the shoe swelled, mostly online. It was an immediate standout, contravening most of what was then available for road.

Based on demand, Giro added the shoe to its lineup in 2013; Phinney would continue racing in the shoe throughout his career, prompting a conversation amongst pros and cyclists alike about comfort and style as essential elements to performance. The mountain version, the Empire VR90, gained popularity with gravel riders, too, with the design elements lending itself to mixed terrain.

One of the reasons Giro remains so proud of the Empire is that the shoe wasn’t conceived in a boardroom. It evolved organically and almost by accident. “There was a real purpose and need for the shoe and events just seemed to conspire to popularize it,” explains Giro Footwear Product Manager Peter Curran. On and off-road, the platform was a success, with riders across disciplines favouring the feel, comfort and simplicity of doing without buckles or straps. The shoe evolved into different platforms for different ride types; at Eurobike 2019, Giro revealed a 2020 version of the platform’s flagship with a slight update.

Road feel that’s difficult to match

The Empire has race wins aplenty to its name. From stages at the Giro and the Tour to race wins at Road, MTB, and CX National Championships, its list of podiums and design awards are equally long. It’s a timeless design; even with the update it hasn’t changed much in seven years. It is fresh but familiar, maintaining the fit, feel and function of the first lace-ups we got it 2015 (in black with neon details), only with a slightly more comfortable toe box and airier feel.

“This is hard to quantify,” adds Curran, “but we believe there’s a disruptive style and spirit with this shoe that some riders identify with. It’s a bit of an outlier and flies in the face of the latest tech.” After several long rides and all-out efforts in the mountains, we’d have to agree. In burnt orange (not the official colour name) the shoe turns heads, performs well and still boasts the outstanding customizable fit for which it’s known. Reflective detailing on the outside toe adds a little vis, too. Yes, it takes slightly longer to tighten versus rotating a BOA dial, but the result feels tailored to the individual rider, and the fit, near perfect.

Most of the shoe’s features — like lightweight construction and responsiveness — are carried forward from previous iterations. The Easton SLX carbon sole is a powerful link between pedal and rider, while the lace-up is a continuance and defining example of why it remains at the epicentre of Giro’s road collection. We could try to find things wrong with the design, feel and performance, but really, there aren’t any.

There are definitely stiffer shoes available, but this is not the Empire’s wheelhouse. It remains one of the few available road shoes to come standard with so many customizable options while still offering what is so clearly a differentiated road feel and purpose; a design icon that is still without equal.

Product image: https://www.jeff-engelhardt.com/product-design/giro-footwear

Ridley releases the Kanzo Fast, bringing its aero engineering prowess to off-road rides

As gravel bikes continue to be further segmented, Ridley today released its Kanzo Fast - a specialist, competitive gravel bike with integrated cabling, aero tubes and comfort seat stays in what the company is calling the “fastest gravel bike in the world.”

Conceived specifically for people who want to race over chunky, mixed surfaces, the bike borrows tubing technology developed for Ridley’s race-proven Noah Fast and downloads it into the Kanzo Fast with several notable features, including: F-Wings at the bottom of the front fork, integrated cables and a very stealthy set of aero bars, probably the bike’s most striking feature (see gallery). Several small tweaks have been made to existing Kanzo frame geometry to give the Fast bike reduced drag, even off-road.

"Gravel was immediately linked to comfort and bike packing, but more and more cyclists want to participate in Gravel Fondos. With the Kanzo Fast, cyclists have the ideal bike for their adventure," says Bert Kenens, product manager at Ridley. "The bike is reactive, amazing on technical courses. It's aerodynamic of an unseen level in the gravel world and it makes gravel rides of over 200km comfortable".

"Our tests in the wind tunnel show that you can easily save 17 Watts compared to an ordinary gravel bike. That's a lot of power you can use elsewhere in the race," Kenens explains.

Specs:

• Available from 1 September

• Frame Fork Set: 1190 gram (frame size MEDIUM, lacquered) and 490 grams (fork, lacquered)

• Kanzo Fast with Forza Vardar wheels and Shimano GRX Di2: 8,55kg

• Available in sizes XS to XL, with gravel geometry where the reach is shorter and stack higher

• Handlebar - stem combinations from 38cm to 44cm and 9cm to 14cm available

• Available for electronic and mechanical groups. One-By Only

• Designed to fully integrate the innovative Classified shifting system without additional adjustments.

• Standard collection available in SRAM Rival1, Shimano GRX 800 and Shimano GRX Di2 but also other sizes can be configured in the Dream Builder.

• Tire clearance up to 42mm

Hopefully a ride review in the near future.

Hope and British Cycling reveal dope looking track bike slatted to debut at 2020 Olympics

The last time Lotus — winners in Formula 1, Indy 500, Le Mans 24 Hour and others — were this excited about bike racing, Chris Boardman was riding their now iconic Lotus Type 108 track bike in 1992 at the Barcelona Games.

With Tokyo postponed, the company is now hyping what might have been -- their fast, atypical aerodynamic whip born from the same minds that made the Type 108 (a bike that will undoubtedly be used once track racing returns in full).

Richard Hill - the chief aerodynamicist for Lotus - worked alongside Boardman on the Type 108 and developed the Type 110 - the bike Boardman would ride to victory in the 1994 Tour de France prologue time trial. Here, Hill explains the reasons for the new bike’s front-end design and what’s he’s learned from the bike that will shape Lotus designs in future.

How far has aerodynamics moved on in the years since you worked on the Lotus Type 108 in 1992?
The basic rules of aerodynamics haven’t changed – you can’t alter the laws of physics – but what we have learned over the last 28 years is to take a more holistic approach to every project.

What do you mean by ‘a more holistic approach’? Back then it was simply about developing an aerodynamic bike that would go fast. But really there are two separate elements – the bike and the rider – which come together as one to move through the air. That was the approach we took with the new bike. Put simply, since 1992 we have learned how to use the bike’s design to make the rider more aerodynamic, and also vice-versa. What’s improved is our understanding of how to get a bike and its rider round the track together in the fastest possible time.

Were any specific lessons learned from the Type 108 and Type 110 incorporated into the creation of the new track bike? They were both extremely low-drag bike frames in their own right, with every element designed as an efficient aerofoil and the monocoque frame itself acting as a 'wing sail'. The frames were designed to operate best in complete isolation from the rider. Chris Boardman’s famous 'Superman' riding position was about creating an airflow channel between the rider and the bike frame, minimizing sing interactions. These frames are no longer allowed under track cycling regulations, so the new bike – which meets the updated regulations – is all about getting the rider and the bike to positively interact with each other. In this way they can benefit each other and cause each to lower the drag of the other. We achieve that by careful manipulation of the interference between the two.

The new bike has very wide front forks, far wider than other track bike that would have been at the Olympics. What is the thinking behind this design? The geometry of the forks and handlebars lower the drag of the rider, which in turn lowers the drag of the frame. In some ways it's a similar concept to how riders position themselves in a team pursuit race – so one behind the other and very close – to benefit each other. Careful alignment of individual elements of the bike and the rider cause the drag of the two together to be lower than the sum of the individual parts. As far as track cycling goes, I believe it’s man and machine in perfect harmony.

Is there any relevance of the aerodynamic performance of the bike to the next generation of Lotus sports cars? Yes there is. Old-school aerodynamic car design was all about pushing the air around your vehicle in the most efficient way. The latest Lotus designs are all about the interactions between various elements of the airflow around a vehicle and also through the vehicle where appropriate. The Lotus Evija hypercar, with Venturi tunnels through the rear quarters, is a great example of that. It’s all become a lot more nuanced. What we have learned with the bike is absolutely having an influence on some of the features we are currently developing and testing for our future vehicles.

Standard framesets start at £15,550 + VAT. More details at https://www.hopetech.com/news/hbt/

Strade Bianche nears as the strangest season starts anew

On the heels of Strade Bianche and the start of a compacted 2020 calendar, the misery of pedalling indoors for hours on end is fading, yet the shadow of this asterisk season still looms.

What will it actually look like? For Strade Bianche, it won’t be the wet Spring roads to which the race owes some of its infamy (pictured above on a glorious day in 2018). Quite the opposite, the parcours (184km, 11 sectors and 63km on gravel roads (34.2% of the course)) will be run during a bone-dry Sienna summer, the forthcoming images to look much more like a dry Roubaix only with more dirt, I imagine.

Come biblical rain or scorching heat however, the fact that it’s happening, in a season that seemed done in March, is a dream. With so much virtual racing in their legs, no matter how laboured or contrived it seemed, and kicking off with Burgos, an event unknown save for this season, the next three months might be the best bit of bike racing cycling has ever known. From the gun, it’s not going to stop.

Unfortunate that it is only beginning in that halcyon haze of the professional racing calendar when typically so many races are done, when fans and riders can appreciate a little post Tour lull - the perfect repose to catch a low stakes criterium, a kermesse, or hell, do something other than pedal biking before the Vuelta starts.

What a strange few months, with all the obvious aside: a Garmin extortion case (like, WTF), a truncated season that was always in doubt, and in some cases, still is, three Grand Tours in three months, demand so high you can’t buy a bike in Europe, build times of 3-8 months for custom work, service appointments booked 4 to 6 weeks out, cycling podcasts rewatching and telling tales about old races. Cycling has never needed normalcy more, no matter how unreal it seems.

It is going to be pretty nice to watch 20-plus teams suffer this Saturday. Even better when it happens seven days later at 111th Milan-Sanremo. From the macabre to the near normal, racing is back. It’s time to dream again.