"It's really an eye opener that someone commutes on this": Photo of fixie rider's "absurd" commuter casually parked at bike rack amuses cyclists online; When a heart rate monitor captures the exact moment you realised you'll crash + more on the live blog

Here's a sight that would make you double-take as you roll up to a bike rack...

TT frame, disc wheel, no brakes, "absurd" handlebars, essentially a fixie track bike that we wouldn't recommend for use on the road considering... well, the issues you might have stopping. Everyone on Reddit flocking to a post about it is equally scared/fascinated/amused and there's plenty of speculation about the sort of person who would own and have created such a thing.

Chances are it's just your committed urban fixie rider — to whom something like this appeals, if you can believe it — wide-barred and with a rear tyre you can burn through quick. Another star suspect is the bike shop mechanic who's spent many a year collecting a random assortment of parts on the cheap and now, as his career's work, has put it all together.

"This looks like the kind of thing a bike mechanic would ride half as a joke after building it from parts they’ve acquired at little to no cost through years in the bike industry," one Reddit user commented.

"As someone who built a ridiculous commuter bike, half as a joke, from parts I scavenged off of customer's bikes and random shit that's been sitting on a shelf for more than a decade when I was still wrenching, yah this is definitely a bike mechanic's daily."

A couple more amusing details spotted online were, of course, the "absurd" wide bars, the fixie set-up despite running a double chainring, the random (what looks like a) Fizik Arione saddle... oh, and of course, the fact it's all around a TT frame with a disc wheel up front. Some serious locking going on too, although we'd pay good money to see your average bike thief step on this and see how they go.

Is it particularly safe? No (although I guess that depends who/how they ride). Is it particularly fast? Probably. Is it particularly fun? Depends who you ask? Did it catch our eye and the eye of thousands online? YES! A few of those comments...

"Definitely mechanic's bike. A mechanic with a real sense of humour to boot. The more I look the more weird I find in this build. At first I hated it but I'm slowly coming to appreciate the troll."

"I have a friend who's a mechanic who started as a track cyclist and has an all carbon, super aero track bike that's three sizes too small so he could be lighter/lower profile. He turned the bike into a commuter, why he wants to cram himself into that frame I can't explain…"

"Wide MTB bars on track bikes were a thing a few years back, but the front disc wheel and spoked rear makes me think they're either not serious or so deep into fixie culture their brain has rotted."

"It's single speed, they just kept the two chainrings..."

"There were a couple of messengers who unironically had bikes like that as their daily in Minneapolis years back — fixies with deep wheels and wide bars. The aero frame takes it to another level though. This isn't an inarticulate build, it's just speaking a dialect that's incomprehensible to most riders."

Alberto Contador is confident Tadej Pogačar "can win Paris-Roubaix". Speaking to TNT Sports, Contador said the Slovenian would not be going "with any other objective than winning".

"Maybe there are riders better suited to this type of terrain like Van Aert, Van der Poel or Pedersen... it's true Tadej isn't a typical build of Grand Tour climber either, he is a strong rider," Contador said. "But I think he has chances to win and I think he will be one of the favourites to win Paris-Roubaix."

Juan Ayuso and Primož Roglič are having quite the battle at Volta a Catalunya, the pair going head-to-head again today on the second summit finish of the week. This time it was the Slovenian who won the bike throw, taking the race lead in the process thanks to some handy bonus seconds.

 

 

 

 

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They'll presumably renew their battle on Saturday's summit finish before the punchy final day in Barcelona on Sunday could be decisive. 

Over in Belgium, British prospect Cat Ferguson put on a show, attacking the bunch and holding off the sprinters' teams until the final kilometres. The junior world champ for both the road and time trial has made an impressive start to life in the pro ranks, but was reeled in the final three kilometres.

It was another nervy Brugge-De Panne, several nasty crashes punctuating the action, scenes similar to yesterday's men's edition. In the sprint, it was Milan-San Remo winner Lorena Wiebes that was fastest, beating Chiara Consonni and Elisa Balsamo.

 

 

 

 

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Dave's had a busy morning with the angle grinder, don't say we don't do serious work. Important for knowing what to use when locking your TT bike commuter to a sketchy urban rack... we'll be bringing you the results soon.

Another part of that UCI statement is confirmation the Professional Cycling Council (PCC) accepted a proposal to trial a gear ratio limitation later in the season. This, like the extra team at men's Grand Tours, will be submitted to the UCI Management Committee for approval, although a UCI decision isn't expected as quickly on this one.

> UCI considering use of "rider airbags" and gear restrictions to "enhance safety"

The issue made headlines in January when Wout van Aert suggested it "would make cycling a lot safer". The Belgian's comments were backed by four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome who said he wouldn't want racing to revert to something like junior gearing, but "maybe 56 or 54 needs to be the limit".

One of the heroes from Milan-San Remo, Filippo Ganna, was out training on the famous climbs of Flanders ahead of tomorrow's E3 Saxo Classic, a race he finished 10th at a couple of years back.

Ganna smashed up the shorter Oude Kwaremont Strava segment at 29.1km/h, setting the sixth fastest time, the rest of the faster ascents set during previous editions of Flanders itself. Ganna's time was the same as Mathieu van der Poel's climb en route to his 2022 victory, although admittedly 16 seconds down on Tadej Pogačar's thermonuclear 2023 time.

The Italian powerhouse isn't expected to ride Flanders, instead targeting tomorrow's slightly shorter (and with significantly less climbing) E3 over the Ronde van Vlaanderen, as well as Gent Wevelgem on Sunday and, of course, Roubaix in a few weeks' time. After going so close, and showing such great form at San Remo, I think we can expect to see plenty of him in the coming weeks.

Another one from the depths of Reddit this morning... 

"Heart rate spiked as I realised the SUV driver and I were destined to collide [...] just some road rash and banged-up knees..."