Tazeworld

Who’s Next?

taze1 — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 06:11:39 +0000

The Tour de France is coming

**and the excitement is building chez Taze.**

With less than a month until the start of the most famous cycling race in the world, there is one question on the minds and lips of every enthusiast: who’s next? Yes, who’s going to be the next big name to get involved in a doping scandal. Sure they’ve done everything possible to clean up the sport (or so they say) but that doesn’t mean that we’re all not still waiting for the next shoe to drop. So here goes: make your suggestions in the comments section of this post and, although we really (and naively) hope that nothing will happen, we’ll see who’s right…

By the way, does anyone know where I can get this video game?

Bottecchia on You Tube 2: the revenge

taze1 — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 12:46:43 +0000

When you care enough to get the very mediocre

Here, thanks to a bike obsessed Australian, we have 2 minutes and thirty-five seconds of detailed examination of a Bottecchia Top Sprinter BS200 with a Campagnolo Xenon group and lots of el-cheapo Bottecchia branded components. With its groovy hydro-forming and ace puzzle piece paint job, this bike is sure to impress under informed shoppers as an example of cutting edge Italian design (a term that has become synonymous with outsourcing).

To be fair, although this is something I rarely do, this bike is a cut above your base model Bottecchia BS 100 - the bike with the black paint intended to look like carbon fibre from a great distance. The puzzle paint scheme is kind of nearly attractive, although the whole package is let down by the hopeless looking wheels.

Bottecchia’s marketing team, keen to emphasize the Italian heritage of such imported high markup items, will be glad to see that the You Tube poster has included their pride and joy in a series of equivalent products from the company’s competitors - products like the De rosa Idol, the Pinarello Prince, and most of the current Colnago range…

Plus there’s a trippy 90’s retro rave soundtrack.

Be proud, be Bottecchia

Bottecchia on You Tube 1

taze1 — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 22:11:47 +0000

Be amazed as super cool Italians proudly demonstrate the performance of their Bottecchia city-bike. It pedals, it goes around in a circle, and it stops. Fantastico!

No doping at Giro d’Italia this year

taze1 — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 08:15:47 +0000

Except for the CSF Navigare Guy

who got caught the month before

Ariel Maximiliano Richeze in better times

Now that the Giro has finished for another year, with the victory of Alberto Contador, the race’s management has been celebrating what they believe to have been a massive success. There were a series of spectacular mountain stages, high ratings on tv, and above all no doping cases. Well, except for Ariel Maximiliano Richeze, the Argentinian sprinter for super team CSF-Navigare who failed a test three weeks before the start of the Giro.

Although the squad had to start a man short, CSF-Navigare went on to massive success all the same. The clean team pulled off four big stage wins, including three of the mountain stages with Emanuele Sella. There is no doubt that Richeze’s erstwhile teammates were the surprise of the year. All of the drug-free riders for CSF-Navigare pulled off some spectacular feats in the mountains and were involved in most of the big breakaways. Fantastic.

The star system

The Italian press, always on the lookout for startling feats of heroism and courage, jumped on the Sella bandwagon en masse. Since the decline and subsequent death of Marco Pantani, an icon still mourned with numerous banners along the roads of the Giro, the local cycling journalists have been keen to grasp on to a new star to keep the tifosi interested in the sport. I’ve been told that the circulation of the specialist cycling magazines collapsed after the doubts began about Pantani.

The problem, of course, has been that every hero they nominate as his replacement has ended up in the mud too. Over the past few years, as I’ve had the chance to follow the races in Italy through my work with a major cycling tour agency, almost every rider praised to the hilt by the commentators on RAI tv has ended up in trouble.

Rai hype about Emanuele Sella as seen by his new fans:

Bottecchia to race at the Giro!

taze1 — Tue, 20 May 2008 09:26:19 +0000

err.. the 13th Giro delle Pesche Nettarine di Romagna

factory team Bedogni Natalini Gruppo Praga Monsummanese wears the Bottechia name with pride in the race dedicated to nectarines

Bottecchia enthusiasts disappointed by the company’s absence from that other Italian Giro will be proud to know that the cycling icon is still dedicated making its presence felt on the national racing scene. Team Bedogni Natalini Gruppo Praga Monsummanese will be fighting for the prestigious maglia verde of the Giro delle Pesche Nettarine on the roads of Emilia Romagna, passing through noted regional centres like Imola and Ravenna. Let’s cheer on our team.

By the way, given the utter lack of cycling apparel for Bottecchia fans (in comparison with the abundance of fashionable shirts for Bianchi and Wilier), it might be nice for the company to start offering Team Bedogni Natalini Gruppo Praga Monsummanese shirts and shorts for sale on its website and through its dealers.

Be proud, be Bottecchia!

Giro d’Italia leaves Sicily

taze1 — Tue, 13 May 2008 18:06:43 +0000

Fantastic Scenery

Great Food

Shame about the Roads

Lots of crashes marked the final stage of the 2008 Giro d’Italia in Sicily, with significant injuries eliminating Bradley McGee and Stuart O’Grady from Team CSC and young Italian star Riccardo Ricco suffering a dislocated finger. Much of the problems were blamed (especially by the riders themselves) on the uneven road surfaces already seen in the first two Sicilian stages:

Queste strade sono terribili … asfaldo viscido, viali stretti. Ma mandano qualcuno a vedere le strade, prima di disegnare un Giro?

These roads are terrible … slippery asphalt, tight streets. Do they send someone to look at the roads before they plan a Giro?

Riccardo Ricco

The Italian newspaper La Stampa reported this morning that the riders were threatening to strike over the road problems and disorganization of the transfer to the mainland.

However, from my more relaxed position, I had some great seafood meals and a fantastic time on the island.

Meanwhile, in casa Bottechia: factory team Bedogni Natalini Gruppo Praga Monsummanese is competing today in the prestigious Coppa Cicogna (Stork). Wow!

Tazeworld at the Giro d’Italia: Palermo

taze1 — Sun, 11 May 2008 17:09:02 +0000

Slipstream Wins Big in Team Timetrial

I eat a very nice pizza in Mondello

My supercool souvenir: a Crono water bottle from Slipstream

With my august position in the world bicycle industry, one of the perks is the possibility to attend the opening stages of the grand tours of professional cycling. This year I decided to watch the opening team time trial of the Giro d’Italia from Mondello, rather than the hospitality tents in the centre of Palermo, because of the promise of a great seafood pizza after the race. Mondello is the seaside playground of the Palermitani and the town’s beach and nightlife transfers there during the summer months.

Gilberto Simoni tries out the course before the time trial

As we staked out a place a couple of hours before the start, without meeting much competition, we had the opportunity to see many of the teams surveying the course, preparing their strategies for coping with the sharp curves and uneven asphalt.

Lampre compare the vintage and new asphalt

At about 3:45 pm the teams started to pass one by one by our post along the seafront. Despite all the hype in the media here about the “typically passionate welcome of the Sicilians”, the locals seemed pretty blasé about the whole thing. The only passion I witnessed came from two sources: 1) a lady and her daughter enraged by the prospect of walking the final 42 m to their front door and 2) an old guy who didn’t want me take some pictures of his ramshackle Bottecchia (I was keen to show Bottecchia’s only presence at the Giro this year…).

Liquigas moved through the quickest but lost time on return leg

The stage was won by Slipstream featuring Canada’s own Ryder Hesjedal, who came through wearing the red and white of the national time trial champ. I grabbed a water bottle that flew nearby as they passed - much cooler than the “Ghiro d’Italia” keychain with a stuffed toy rat.

See you along the course.

[Bottecchia Race Update: Thanks to the news section on Bottecchia's fab website, I've learned that Bottecchia was racing yesterday - represented by Bedogni Natalini Gruppo Praga Monsummanese in the 9ª Coppa Comune di Castiglion Fiorentino. Wow!]

Weird Bikes 2 - the Bottecchia edition

taze1 — Fri, 02 May 2008 23:46:26 +0000

a) 1986 Bottecchia Kronotech Concept

From a time before the UCI took all the fun out of bike design

Produced for display at Expo86 to demonstrate the company’s technological prowess, with a sculptured and streamlined carbon fibre frame and wheels, computer controlled variable transmission, and cool space age gear levers.

Of course, the current management of Bottecchia continues to be on the cutting edge of biking innovation in 2008.

b) BS110 “Top Sprinter”

Complete BS

The use of black paint on the seat stays of the all aluminium (well except for the steel forks) BS110 is a brilliant technogical solution to the market demand for carbon fibre, ensuring lightness, ease of production, and aesthetic performance.

NHL Advertising Campaign Explained

taze1 — Fri, 02 May 2008 00:45:06 +0000

“The Cup Changes Everything” =

The Regular Season Means Nothing

At the moment I’m in Europe and enjoying (as much as a Toronto Maple Leaf fan can) the opportunity to watch the Stanley Cup playoffs on NASN - the North American Sports Network. With all the games featuring live feeds from Hockey Night in Canada or TSN, NASN would be the greatest channel ever if it wasn’t for the continous repetition of irritating NHL promos where various star cross-checkers and cherry pickers declare that “The Cup Changes Everything.”

Why didn’t you play this hard all season?

What this really means is that the have teams of the league coasted through the entire regular season complacent in the knowledge that the have-nots (such as the Toronto Maple Leafs, LA Kings, and Tampa Bay Whatchamacallits) were already booking April golf holidays. 82 regular season games per team, in the far west and deep south of the US, to arrive at a foregone conclusion. Pfui.

Now I understand all those old guys who used to complain that they got bored of hockey after the 1967 expansion. It’s hard caring about any matches involving the Columbus Blue Jackets, Phoenix Coyotes, or Walla Walla Wild at any time, let alone during a pointless game towards the end of a pointless season. At least the California Golden Seals had novelty value - now stupid teams in sundrenched places with style-deficient uniforms are a dime a dozen.

Long live the CFL!

Weird Bikes 1

taze1 — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 10:04:00 +0000

The 1994 Bianchi Paris-Roubaix

Full Suspension Road Bike

Not just different, but designed by Bianchi Canada

A recent post about the 1994 Bianchi for the Paris-Roubaix on PezCycling News caught my attention not just because of the innovative attempt to apply mountain bike design principles to a road bike, perfect for the famous pavé of the bouncy race, but for the fact that it was a project of the then North American branch of the Italian company. The post quotes Robert MacNeil, the Product Manager for Bianchi Canada at the time:

Bianchi Italy started to let Bianchi USA and Bianchi Canada start designing product for other countries. When the Director of Bianchi Italy would come by our offices he would see our bikes for our markets and he realized that we were more in the know then they were.

The Canadian content at Bianchi is much different now. If you go to the Bianchi.com forum, one of the most quiet places on the web as it happens, a Canadian bike shop owner complains that the current company is no longer present on the Canadian market.

Like many Italian bike manufacturers, Bianchi is undergoing a period of “reorganization”. That said, as I will discuss in a future post, the Canadian presence at this year’s Giro d’Italia will be greater than ever before.