ETNA 2025

 Volcanic Fun!

Yep, exactly what we were thinking. Time for a break.

So we rented a car from a place right on the island, making driving here not subject to the daily restrictions and blasted-off towards ETNA, figuring a hotel at 6000 feet would let us sleep with the windows open and enjoy riding around, even if the choice is UP (really up!) or DOWN (really down!) The Giro d'Italia finished here and we'd been here another time or two, but never with bicycles and since we brought e-bikes, the "really up!" should be OK. We were already prepared for the "really down!"

We reserved a room at Corsaro Hotel, just a bit away from the tourist chaos (we weren't the only ones trying to get out of the heat) a place VERY bike-friendly as you can see where they let you park your bike! They say this was Michele Scarponi's choice of lodging when he came up here to train, the desk man claiming Scarponi had called to reserve a room just one day before he was tragically killed. Close enough to the craters we could hear the rumbling and one night see the glow of hot lava shooting in the sky. And they have the BEST breakfast ever!

Gravel bikes were OK on the road of course (with slicks) and OK for unpaved roads and even some covered in volcanic ash/sand, as long as it wasn't too deep. Zio Lorenzo had new respect for those 'cross riders racing across sandy beaches, somehow with just 33 mm tires vs the 38's we were sporting!

Trail maps are everywhere but the trails weren't crowded and everyone we encountered was friendly. No anti-bike sentiment here! The roads going up and down are marked with warning signs that cyclists are using these roads for training, though we were just having fun.

The lava behind Zio is new, just 6 months ago this trail was open.

We DID play around some the paved roads a bit, riding up (and down) to Rifugio Sapienza from down below at another hotel before it was time to pack up and call Zio Lorenzo's 70th birthday week complete. But not before a stop at our favorite wine maker - PUGLISI to restock for the rest of the summer. We HAD a car after all!

More chain lube follies

 Chain, chain, chain....

Apologies to Aretha Franklin, but some people are foolish. Recently Zio Lorenzo was taken-to-task by (he assumes) a member of the chain-wax cult when he claimed a chain on his own bicycle showed zero measurable wear after 4000 miles of use, without ever being waxed. Simply oiled now and then.

He doesn't really hate these people but DOES hate the fact they act like anyone not in their cult is somehow a moron..or flat-earther as a certain Australian ex-cop likes to say.

Zio's used Mobil 1 as chain lube for decades with excellent results, but never paid much attention to actual data on wear...until the wax-culters started making some wild claims along with inferences that non wax-culters must be idiots. 

Now he has some.

Odometer reading from the bicycle. MAHLE e-bikes have (like your car) an odometer in them. There's no way that Zio knows of to tamper with them. 3991 kms with maybe 10% of that on dusty trails and the rest on paved roads. Certainly NOT the grueling test protocol "Mr. Friction Fiction" claims to put chains through, but in Zio's opinion probably more representative of normal use without any bias that might make wax seem superior to oil or vice-versa.

This chain was lubed with Mobil 1 SHC 75/90 and nothing else, maybe the first time Zio's actually done so. Usually he'd just grab a lube applicator and drip some oil of one brand or another on (after wiping the chain with a rag) then spin the cranks backwards a few times, wipe off excess and that was that.

Chain was cleaned a few times as part of a bike wash, using a teaspoon or two of simple diesel fuel brushed on the chain and the rest of the drivetrain components, then washed off with simple dish soap. A wipe with a dry rag completed the service. More lube was usually needed after a few hundred kilometers - dripped-on, wiped off.

Above is a new Campagnolo EKAR 13-speed chain, showing (surprise!) zero wear measured by a KMC digital chain checker.

Above is the chain that came on the bike after almost 4000 kilometers.

At least one person implied that something shady was being done with the digital chain checker to cheat on the results. Zio hopes the above shot of a non-digital checker's reading might get them to take off the tinfoil hat!

Bottom line? Use whatever you want on your chain (or mustache, bikini line, etc.) as it's your money and your time. But PLEASE stop trying to make it seem anyone not doing it your way is a Luddite, moron, flat-earther, etc. And pay close attention to what the marketers of these waxing products claim, they have a pretty big financial interest in your purchase of $50 bags o'wax pellets, gizmos to melt the wax in, etc. etc. vs a liter of gear oil for $15.

Updates: Various other bikes in our fleet - Bianchi E-Impulso Allroad used 90% of the time on dusty trails and maintained as above (chain lubed with any lube handy, most of the time Finish Line Green) 11-speed Shimano chain - 5450 km/.19 measured chain wear. 

Bianchi E-Aria 11-speed Shimano chain - 4654 km/.25 (bike bought used and lubed similarly to the first bike) 

Bianchi E-Impulso Allroad 11-speed Shimano (lubed exclusively with cheap, non-synthetic 90 w Repsol gear oil) 

999 km/.18 wear.

Seems like cheap Repsol gear oil is not so good? Worst result by far!

Thoughts on LeTour 2025

 

LeTour 2025

TdF 2025 jersey winners

Zio Lorenzo thinks the above photo pretty much sums up the Tour de France 2025, including the empty mountain points jersey. That's Jonas Vingegaard.

All the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Jonas in yellow again. They executed various plans with various levels of efficiency, but no matter what, Visma's boy could never seal the deal. Even Pogacar seemed to grow bored with it all, only coming back-to-life once the race was over with 50 kms left to go in Paris.

Without the Dane glued to his rear wheel, Pogacar returned to racing and almost pulled off the win but CHAPEAU to Wout Van Aert, one of only two Visma team members to win a stage while their leader went winless and never wore the yellow jersey.

And what about Ben Healy? Ben O'Connor and even Quinn Simmons, who proposed to his future wife on the Champs? CHAPEAU!!!!

Vive LeTour!

E-bike vs E-Moped

 E-BIKE vs E-MOPED

Both of these have two wheels, pedals and electric motors, but they're far from the same thing.

Zio calls the one on the left an E-MOPED. Maybe you have to be of a certain age to remember the original - a cheap, gas-powered (usually a stinky, smoky 2-stroke engine) that most described as "beats walking" and little else.

This one isn't smoky, stinky or noisy but it's pretty much the same. Just like with the original the pedals don't do much..you would NOT pedal one of these very far without the help of the motor. They're really heavy and the pedal action (if they don't have an actual controller on the handlebar) doesn't do much but tell the motor how fast you want to go.

We see these all over Italy, ridden for transportation and for fun, especially by foreign tourists who'd rather be outside than inside a tour bus. The one pictured was one of a large group that "rode" to our hotel in Monferrato from Torino, (about 60 miles) in one day they said! The next day they "rode" back. Few of 'em were dressed in any sort of cycling clothing, just casual cargo shorts and sneakers or sandals.

What's wrong with that? Nothing at all. But to us it's really NOT cycling...it's enjoying the countryside from the seat of an electric moped.

The one on the left is what we call an E-BIKE. Perhaps Pinarello's Nytro was the first in the "performance" category - a lighter weight, kind of racy road (or gravel) bike with drop bars for cycling enthusiasts to play with. These go nowhere if you're not pedaling, in most cases the e-assist (assuming you have it on and are using it) stops when you stop pedaling. But other than being 3-5 kg heavier than a similar bike without the battery/motor, you WILL happily pedal one of these along with no e-assist, at least until the road tilts up.

THAT is where they shine. You can select various levels of assist to your own pedaling, shifting the gears when needed as you climb that hill or slog into that headwind. In the EU the assist cuts off at 25 kph, but if you're using it to go uphill, that's fast enough...they're not designed to chase anyone's KOM records! But you ARE cycling, even you have the assist cranked-up to the max.

We're not going to suggest that young, fit and fast cyclists buy these. Enjoy going fast under your own power for as long as you can, but when/if that becomes so tough that riding's not that much fun anymore - a real E-BIKE will get you out there and provide as much exercise/physical challenge as you want. You control that by using (or not) the electric assist.

Monferrato fun 2025

 Fun in Monferrato 2025

Buying new bike

Enjoying great food and wine

What's not to like? Our friends Don & Cindy are here for another week while Zio Lorenzo goes home on Sunday. They liked our e-bikes enough to consider buying some for themselves. Zio took 'em to LaBici, same folks who so nicely helped us with our MAHLE X35 bike issues.

They had Cindy's size on-hand plus a trekking model they will convert to drop bar for Don. Neither really NEEDS all that help on the climbs like Zio Lorenzo, but it's probably when rather than if, so they're going electric now.

But still eating and drinking well as you can see posing with the nice folks at La Ca Nova.

W Italia! W Vacanza!

La Mitica 2025

 La Mitica 2025

We missed this last year, choosing instead to see LeTour in Bologna, so we were determined to be there this year, despite Zio Lorenzo's recent health issues and the record heat.

We flew to Milan, rented a car and zoomed off to our old home-base Hotel Ariotto. The next day our old friends and former clients Don and Cindy arrived. They'd ridden La Mitica with us back-in-the-day so we left them to ride around Monferrato and enjoy lunch.

Sadly, the record heat really cooked us both..so much that we walked the famous Rampina climb near the end, pausing under bits of shade along the way. After taking a break at the ristoro at the top, neither of us savored the idea of the steep 3+ kilometers to go, so we hitched a ride with a local lady in her beat-up Fiat. We left the bikes at the aid station and came back for them once we got the car at the finish in Castellania. Since we walked over the finish line and didn't ride the entire route, we skipped the pasta party and awards ceremony.

Because of all that we're posting photos of interesting bikes with names we've never heard of. The plan was to get more details on them post-ride, but that didn't happen. If you have details, share them in the comments.

PELOSO

ZAPIER

 PAGANI

                                                

                                                                           CALDARO

?

                    

                                                                              LEONE

                                                                           MAGGIONI

FIORELLI

                                                                        BIANCHINI

?

GANNA

?

LEGNANO (fairly well known, but pretty)

DINO CHIESA

?

Then there's Zio's GIOS. The history of this bike is it was built by the maestro Giuseppe Pella for the DREHER cycling team. When Dreher pulled out, the team continued as BROOKLYN and some of their team bikes were simply repainted in the classic blue. This is one of those. If you've seen the classic "Sunday in Hell" documentary, you've seen Aldo Gios in action with this team.

Mille Grazie to Pietro Cordelli and his amazing crew! La Mitica continues to be our favorite vintage rally, though perhaps it needs to happen in a cooler period of the year?

GIOS Raduno 2025

 

"il blu di famiglia"

Heather with Aldo Gios and Zio Lorenzo

We look forward to this every year. The blue family shows up from the world over to ride, talk, eat, drink and pay homage to the people who still keep the brazing flame burning in Italy.

Go HERE if you want to see the actual event, fast-forward to around 38 minutes where the riding starts. It was fun to be escorted through the streets of Torino and do a lap or two around the famous Motovelodromo.

Heather at the Motovelodromo

This was the 8th edition and Zio Lorenzo thinks he's been to 6 of 'em though he'd guess some like Patrick Blom have probably been to every one.

Heather thinks this edition may have been the best one yet while Zio missed the usual part where special guests are introduced and special thanks are said to everyone involved in putting this thing on.

Mille grazie e ci vediamo in 2026!