Cosimo The Stealth Baron
On February 13th 2002, I became the proud
custodian of Cosimo the Stealth Baron. I expect you're all pondering
the origin of the name. By dint of examining some of the photos below,
it should be immediately apparent why one of the lads in Future Cycles observed
"that bike's invisible to radar". As to Cosimo, that derives from the
eponymous hero of Italo Calvino's novella "Baron In The Trees". Doubly
appropriate, given the enormous number of plants in the conservatory at Larrington
Towers, which is where he lives when he's not out racing.
Correction: There were an enormous
number of plants in the conservatory at Larrington Towers, but now there's
only the wisteria attempting to come in from outside, and that not for much
longer once I get my saw back. The wisteria is evil, and is trying
to take over the whole of the E17 postal district. It has to
go.
Baron and Speedmachine in the garden of
Larrington Towers
Compare and contrast bottom bracket heights...
First time out on the track
Manchester, March 2002. Posingwarming
up prior to the race
L-R: Tim Elsdale's tail fairing, me &
Cosimo, Paul London and Ian Chattington
Discussing Matters Arising with Rob English
(left).
I think this was after the race, in which
I came second unfaired behind Rob.
He's fifteen thirteen
years younger than me, and a lot fitter, but I'm better looking
Manchester photos by Nigel Bradder, IIRC
Further discussion of Matters Arising with
Rob, this time in Milton Keynes
The fastest part of the course. I
was doing about 50 km/h here most laps.
Rob was doing 60, because he is Young and
therefore has No Imagination...
Above two photos by Dave Warnock
Also at Milton Keynes - photo by Kevin
Jenkins.
Note Style Improvement with proper cycling
jersey
However, Ian Chattington maintains that
the white socks are distinctly "fred"-like. I don't know what
he means...
Castle Combe 2002 - photo by Bob Smith
Eastway - photo by gNick Green
Hurrah! Managed to win unfaired class
in soi-disant "fast" race
Bah! Slower than Denise Wilson in
so-called "slow" race.
Note improved socks, post-Battle Mountain
suntan and weapons-grade hangover
Memo to self: matching helmet required
for next year
Listing the spec. of this bike would be a
pointless affair, as he's more or less a bog-standard Optima Baron Pro, with
the optional extra low race frame, carbon-fibre seat and carbon-fibre tail
fairing. The standard-fit Continental GP tyres have been replaced with
Schwalbe Stelvios, and there's a surfeit of Electronic Devices, home-brewed
nylon wheel discs and one of HP Velotechnik's chainguards. This latter
spent the whole of the Manchester meeting making an embarrassing noise every
time I execeeded 100 rpm (causing Rob English to make a break in order to
get a little peace and quiet!), but I think I've got that sorted now.
Actually, I haven't... The cadence at
which it starts is up a bit, and it only seems to happen now in 5th or higher.
No amount of bending seems to be able to fix it, chiz.
Aha! During the third round of the recent
London HPV series, I happened to notice that the return run of the
chain was wiggling laterally and making contact with the extreme aft end
of the chainguard. Rotating the chainguard as far anti-clockwise (when
viewed from the drive side of the bike) as possible puts the lower trailing
edge thereof closer to the point at which chain and chainring part company.
This has successfully rid Cosimo of the hugely annoying noise, which Paul
Lowing likened to Porky Pig. Hurrah!
I have also relocated the brake levers to
sit under the steerer inna-Frederik-van-de-Walle-stylee, turned the steerer
upside-down and rotated the shifters so the cables exit beneath the steerer
as well. And I lopped a further centimetre or two off each side of
the handlebar. This probably improves the aerodynamics (a bit),
and certainly makes it a great deal easier to see where I'm going,
as well as:
- stopping me from curling my index and
middle fingers over the brake lever, thereby freezing them in the wind,
and
- offending Rob English's delicate sensibilities
due to the nasty bolts used for the purpose. He has faithfully promised
to
steal acquire for me some nice ones he has spotted lying
around the Kingcycle works.
However, the brakes need bleeding as
a result of having to disconnect the hoses. And while cleaning the bike after
the horribly damp Hayes race, I broke the front number board, chiz.
Truly a recumbentista's work is never done.
2003 Update
Having dispensed with all possible chain tubes,
pulleys and so forth in the name of Mechanical Efficiency, we found that
the chain to be slowly but surely wearing its way through the rubber sock
encasing the right fork blade. It therefore became apparent that Something
Must Be Done, as otherwise the fork would no doubt collapse inna-Fred-Dibnah-knocking-down-a-factory-chimney-stylee.
Accordingly, Cosimo has recently been fitted with a Challenge monoblade
- the ordinary one, not the vastly weighty Katana - and matching front wheel.
Kudos to Bikefix for doing the necessary; Not Thanks and Bollocks to the
traffic wardens of Camden Council who ensured that it cost forty quid more
than expected, chiz. I have not so far had an opportunity to try this
out, as I was Otherwise Engaged at the time of the Manchester meeting in
early March, but I have seen another Baron - I think that of Vinzenz Burgherr
- thus equipped, and he is still alive... I have no pictures yet, this
being not unrelated to my lack of a camera, but I shall shortly be Going
Digital, and then you'll be sorry.
Additional: the rear of the front number board
has now been painted black and clear lacquer has restored the somewhat beaten-up
tail fairing to its former pristine and shiny carbon glory.
Cosimo has spent most of 2004 trying to kill me. I managed to crash twice
at Eastway - once with naught but a sprained dignity and a collection of
Mud and once with a skinned arse, elbow and ankle after touching down at
35 mph at the end of the back straight - and once at Castle Combe - which
completely bollixed my left arm for about seven weeks. Bah! I
also had near misses at Preston, Lancaster and Milton Keynes. I don't
like this game any more...
OK, you wanna know why Cosimo has so much electronickery
on board? Originally I had a CatEye Astrale, for cadence and a CatEye
HB-100, for heart rate and speed. But the transmitter for the latter
packed up, so I acquired a Cardiosport Go HRM instead. Although the
Astrale is capable of displaying speed and cadence at the same time,
one of the displays - take your pick - is Ickle. Accordingly a central
mount was confected to hold one Astrale while another was placed alongside
it to display speed (the cadence pickup having been removed from this mount
long ago anyway). Hence the bars carry, from left to right, Astrale
displaying speed, Astrale displaying cadence, HRM.
There's also a CatEye Mity mounted on the
frame tube just aft of the headset. The mount was originally an Astrale
one which was fitted to 002, and I had the computer itself lying around anyway.
This one has its magnet & sensor on the rear wheel, so I can now
see how fast I'm (not) going when the bike is atop the trainer.
See! It all makes perfect sense...