Rapha-mania on Ebay

Posted on by Laurits Fischer-Hansen Posted in Biking | Leave a comment


The last couple of weeks, I have been trying to get a hold of a new jersey and bib-shorts as the only cycling clothes I have in the closet right now are from the 2010/2011 Saxo Bank line-up. Admittedly I have quite a bit of it, but it would be nice to mix things up at bit once in a while so I don’t look too much like a taller,fat version of Andy Schleck all the time.


Please note the similarities in style between Andy and I. Can YOU tell the difference?

So I have been trawling the web in search of something a little more subtle and have of course also looked at the high-end clothes from Rapha. But the cheapskate in me has rejected the really high pricetag (especially since much of my current cycling clothes has been free) so I have taken to Ebay – the mothership of all things cheap and second hand..

Or should I say supposedly cheap since most of the Rapha items on Ebay are being sold at up to 80% of the current retail price. 80%! for something used, sometimes not even in good shape anymore. It doesn’t matter if the lining has gone up, the lettering has started to crack or the size is a XXXXL – everything is flying off the shelves quicker that Alex Rasmussen can say: Whereabouts.

So I keep looking, hoping that one day I get lucky – getting myself that brand new Rapha Tourmalet jersey for $50. If not, I will just have to get myself on the Rapha Condor Sharp Team. Shouldn’t be too hard…

Alternative 2 could be to harden the f*** up and pay the retail price!

Watching the World Championships?

Posted on by Laurits Fischer-Hansen Posted in Biking | 2 Comments

So, the cycling world championships starts in few days. For most of my life I have lived in Denmark, and for the last 4 I lived literally 2km from the course finish line.

I have ridden the course and the final especially the final climb numerous times. In my younger days that last hill meant that I was at the start of my favorite mtb track at Geels Forrest and in the last couple of years it was the start of whatever training ride I found myself on. So I was kind of looking forward to being at the finish line cheering for the Danish Squad.

But as I relocated to the beautiful New Jersey as of last November, I am no longer so lucky as to be at the finish line, so instead I am confined to watching whatever obscure webchannel I can find and read boring extracts online and in the newspapers.

Does anyone have a good solid webcast stream that is worth following?

The smaller things in life

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Got new stuff for my bike today. Nothing major, but still something nice!

1: New headset cap and spacers:

I was tired of looking at my very boring FSA topcap , so I decided to get myself one of the topcaps from a Swiss company called Parts of Passion. They do high-end parts and can stamp that famous “Made in Switzerland” label on their parts. While I was at it I also got myself a new set of spacers to set myself free of the last old FSA parts on my bike.

And I saved 15 grams all in all in the process…

2: New bottle cage bolts:

For some reason the stock bolts on my frame kept loosening, so it was time for some new ones. I tried getting the Parts of Passion bolts, but since Fairwheelbikes didn’t have the Parts of Passion bolts at their website I went for the KCNC bolts instead.

My next bike???

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I found this Speedvagen bike while reading the newest issue of Paved Magazine.

It is from the company called Vanilla Bicycles and must be the cleanest looking bike I have seen for a while.

I definitely need to have a closer look at their road bike. Let the buying process begin (I wish)

A few other photos of their bikes:




Rediscovering what I always knew.

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The last week have seen increase in the use of my road bike. When I started my training for the Philly marathon 7 weeks back, I more or less put my bike to rest as the running was taking up most of my time.

However with my increasing hip problem I have rediscovered my bike and I must admit that even though running is quite fun, there is nothing like riding your bike.

Being out on the road either alone or with a group just gives you a sense of freedom that can not be underestimated. I did a group ride last Saturday for the first times in 8 months and that was a great experience.

Top 3 things were:

  • Doing 40 km/h drafting 20cm from the rider in front of you
  • Acceleration uphill to your eyes almost pop out of your head
  • Drinking double espressos at the local coffee house at 8 am

What are your favorite things about riding your bike?

Albert på Field Day

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I dag havde Albert Field Day på skolen. En hel dag hvor børnene mod meget sædvane rent faktisk fik løbet rundt og leget udenfor. Normalt er de ret bænket inde i klasselokalet så det var en rar forandring for en 5 årig med krudt i røven.

Spring break – part two

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Anden del af spring break foregik i Virginia Beach – 6 timers kørsel syd for Princeton. Vejret var på forhånd lidt en ubekendt faktor da udsigten blev ved med at skifte, men hotellet var booket og betalt, så det var bare med at komme afsted.

Heldigvis er Q7′eren et gudbenådet køretøj til lange ture og med DVD afspillere på nakkestøtten (og hovedtelefoner så de voksne ikke behøvede at høre på “De Utrolige” non-stop) til børnene gik det smertefrit.

Hotellet var placeret direkte på stranden og med indendørs og udendør pool på taget så tegnede det godt selvom vores værelse ikke var verdens største. De to dobbeltsenge vi have bestilt var ikke meget mere end 120 cm brede så det mindede lidt om dagene som studerende med smalle senge.

Fredag tog vi i akvarium og så på fisk, krokodiller, skildpadder, hajer og oddere. En stor succes som godt kan anbefales. Efter akvariet skulle jeg selvfølgelig finde en alternativ vej hjem til hotellet. Det endte dog brat da vi ankom til indgangen til en af de mange militærbaser som findes i området. Henne ved vagten undskyldte jeg at vi var kørt forkert og forklarede manden af jeg havde troet at man kunne køre igennem vejen hvor basen var. Vagten svarede med et rungende “Negative” og gik så igang med at stoppe al trafik ved de andre kørebaner. Han tog sin fløjte i munden og med kraftige armsving og gestikuleren fik han tydelig vist at nu var det på tide at jeg vendte om.

Da Miki bryder grinende sammen over vagtens Obersturmführer opførsel er jeg et kort øjeblik overbevist om at nu bliver vi lagt i lænket og sat i kachotten, men vi får vendt bilen og drager tilbage samme vej som vi kom.

Lørdag blev dels brugt på stranden og dels ved poolen på taget selvom vejret ikke var helt perfekt.

Søndag blev det endelig godt vejr og som der ses nedenfor var det virkeligt noget som børnene nød.

Spring break – part one

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I USA holder man ikke påskeferie som i Danmark. Der er ingen private arbejdspladser der er lukket i hele og halve uger, ingen tonstunge frokoster med snaps og sild og ingen hamstring af madvarer fordi supermarkedet er lukket et par dage.

Derimod havde Alberts skole lukket så derfor var gode dyr rådne i forhold til aktiviteter uden for husets fire vægge. Mest af hensyn til mig selv og min mentale tilstand.

Den sidste del af spring break var ordnet med en tur til Virginia Beach (se separat indlæg), men de første par dage skulle jo også bruges så det nyindkøbte monstertelt med plads til 6 personer og walk-in closet blev smidt i Q7′eren og så blev kursen sat mod Turkey Swamp campingpladsen der ligger omkring 30 km væk.

Efter et kort stop i den lokale sportsbutik og indkøb af ikke mindre end 4 lommelygter og 4 campingstole blev de noget utålmodige børn pakket ud af bilen efter 1 times kørsel. Vores anviste plads var selvfølgelig en “pull-through” hvor slipper for at bruge kræfter på at bakke ind og ud således at den kan bruges til amerikaners kæmpe mobile homes (mange af dem en SUV koblet bagpå).

Ungerne hjalp mig fint med at slå teltet op selvom Mikkel var mest interesseret at at hamre på teltet med muggerten. Eftermiddagen blev brugt på at gå tur langs et indianerspor (dog ingen spor efter indianere), save i træer og lege på de forskellige legepladser der var rundt om i skoven.

Ved aftenstid blev der hentet pizza og tændt bål og da det var ved at være mørkt blev ungerne lagt i seng med beskeden om at være stille “…ellers kom bjørnene måske…”. Man er vel pædagoisk.

Endelig kunne jeg trække dagens avis frem, åbne en øl og hælde den i en grøn plastikkop (da alkohol åbenbart var ulovlig på campingpladsen) og læne mig tilbage i den nyindkøbte campingstol – en herlig dag og helt sikkert noget der skal gøres igen.

Du ved at du bor i New Jersey

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Når din 5 arige søn kommer hjem fra skole og synger Bon Jovi:

Mit liv er nu fuldendt

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Den nye bil er kommet. Et orgie i læder, elektronik og hestekræfter: