My Speedmachine

Towards the end of 2000, having reported favourably on a brief test ride on one, Nice Man Stuart Dennison of Bikefix made me an offer I couldn't refuse on a new HP Velotechnik Speedmachine, to be built up from a frame kit. It must have taken all of ten minutes to agree to this, but unfortunately getting the bike built up took a little longer - until March 2001 to be precise. The delay being caused primarily by Hope's inability to meet demand for their new Mini disc brake set. Anyway, the beast was finally assembled and hauled up to the opening BHPC race meeting of the year, where it was determined (by me) that with the seat fully reclined, the rider's eye height was at precisely the 105 cm deemed necessary to enter Mike Burrows' new-for-2001 Sports Class. A discovery of which I informed Mr. Burrows whilst idly dangling in one hand the two foot steel tube I use for fitting headset races. He got the hint...

After the Manchester event, the bike returned to Bikefix for further fettling, before I finally managed to get me mucky paws on it in time for the Eastway meeting in April.

By the Milton Keynes race in mid-May, I had the Race Tailbag - combination seat and tailbox in shiny shiny carbon fibre - fitted. And b y the time of the Darley Moor event in July, the mountain bike bar-ends visible below replaced the brake fluid reservoirs as the primary handhold for racing and spirited road riding.

That's me in the middle, BTW, chasing Kees Bakker's ancient Baron and leading Mike Burrows' Ratcatcher 9.
The yellow thing attached to the fork is a transponder for the timing system

Lining up alongside Jon Coulson's Toxy ZR in Lancaster, August 2001

And so it came to pass that by the end of 2001, I had actually won the Sports Class. Which was nice. And I managed third in the Unfaired Class as well. Partly due to encouragement from my dear lady wife, and partly to protect myself from lynching at the hands of a small army of Ratcatcher owners, though, I decided not to defend the title in 2002, and have acquired an Optima Baron. The Speedmachine is now used for commuting, which it does really rather well...

Frame:

Big fat aluminium main tube (too fat to fit most manufacturers' workstands L). Rear triangle in 4130 cro-mo steel, suspended via a DNM DV-22 coil/oil spring unit. One day when I'm rich and famous, I shall possibly invest in a better boinger, but on the other hand I might not, since I can't envisage spending hours fine-tuning it...

Fork:

4130 cro-mo steel, suspended via HP Velotechnik's very own "Concept" steerer tube suspension system. I have no idea what lurks within, as I am not yet brave enough to take it apart, but as it is now squeaking more than mouse porn, I may have to.

Wheels:

Front:

Hope disc hub, unknown ISO 406 rim, 32 spokes. Current wear is a Vredestein S-Lick, but in the not too distant future, I'll pop a Conti GP on for the summer, coz I think they're faster. I know Schwalbe Stelvios are faster still, but I have a brand-new set of GP's which came off Cosimo the Stealth Baron when I fitted him with Stelvios and which I am loathe to throw away...

Rear:

As above, save that the rim is now some variety of Mavic after the original got totalled during a failed attempt to occupy the same piece of tarmac as some muppet in a Peugeot 306.

Headset:

Comes as part of the suspension system, so doubtless hugely proprietary...

Bottom bracket:

Shimano 105 splined

Chainset:

Shimano 105 Hollowtech triple - originally 30-42-52, but now 24-38-50

Cassette:

Shimano XT 9-speed - 34-30-26-23-20-18-16-14-12

Chain:

SRAM PC-59.

Derailleurs:

Front: Shimano 105 triple
Rear: Shimano XT

Shifters:

SRAM Rocket Half-Pipe

Brakes:

Hope hydraulic discs: M4 front and Mini rear. The discs have the word "Speedmachine" laser-cut into them. Which is nice.

Bars And Stem:

Standard lengthy tiller gizmo, but I believe the bars are of the kind normally fitted to upright hybrids, only twisted around, inverted and squeezed through a muslin bag. The bar ends are my own innovation, and are by Profile. For optimum pose, consider Woodman Carbon Stubbies instead.

Seat:

I did have an HP Velotechnik Speedbag "Race" - tailbox and seat in one yummy, albeit rather scratched-up, carbon-fibre unit. Note to prospective purchasers of this item - it is made from two separate pieces, and the join between them is far from waterproof. But now that the bike is no longer used for racing, I have switched back to the normal HP Velotechnik fibreglass seat (size L) and fitted a "Tour" Speedbag, as it's much more user-friendly. Seat cushion is HP Velotechnik's "Airflow" - it may look thin and flimsy, but it's really comfortable, honest!

Pedals:

Look PP337's after the original resin-bodied ones got unacceptably sloppy.

Other Stuff:

Front mudguard. It used to be a Moulton APB rear mudguard, but that one broke in half, so I had to use the front one of the set instead, which has less coverage. To clear the front brake, the left stay requires a long bolt and spacer to move the stay outboard enough.
Crud Catcher - further prevents water ingress into seat foam. However, when the road is really wet, you will likely still suffer from a damp bum, while running through deep puddles at speed results in soggy elbows!
HP Velotechnik chainguard (attaches behind bottom bracket fixed cup, prevents Pedestrian Perforation).
CatEye Astrale and Mity 3 computers. I know two aren't necessary, but I used to have the Astrale and an HB100 computer-cum-HRM. The latter is no longer required, but I had grown used to having both speed and cadence visible in big numbers, so I bunged the Mity from the Kingcycle on instead. If it's any consolation, Cosimo carries an HRM and two Astrales on his handlebars and a Mity on his main frame member. I'll explain later.
Hope titanium skewers. Match the hubs. Very posy and a total waste of money J
The wheel discs featured in the pictures above are no longer fitted, as

I needed the clips to fit discs to Cosimo
I had to cut one of the rear ones off when I couldn't remove the brake disc when the wheel was rebuilt and having removed them, I have not so far been arsed to make any more. The bike is noticeably more prone to crosswind-induced misbehaviour than the Kingcycle, so I may not bother, but the machine looks strangely naked without them...

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