I am one of the last of the survivors of a golden era of an Irish cycling generation (of which there were many). Men who rode steel race frames, made with Reynolds or Columbus race tubing. The cyclists who prefer to fill their bowls and plates to the brim without weighing it, train based on feel, train in all weather, and feel blessed by the places bike races took them & now, sportive’s take them. The act of cycling liberates the mind and the soul, and now, competing in sportives should be no different. To be able to apricate a steel race bike fully, means to understand the greatness of light & stiff Columbus or Reynolds race tubing. All the demi gods of our beautiful sport ‘raced and rode steel’. Steel racing bikes outfitted with Campagnolo components and wheels shod with tubular race tyres are not only a vision of absolute beauty but also offers the rider an opportunity to fully understand what it means to ride a ‘steel dream machine’. Carbon may be faster but simply cannot compete with the heritage and beauty of steel. It’s as simple as that.
