I decided to call my blog "On The Rivet", a phrase that was sometimes uttered by the older British riders who I trained with back in the day. Upon first hearing this remark I immediately inquired what on earth it meant. A dear old friend Fred Lacey, who had gone head to head in the Dolomites against Italian champion Fausto Coppi was quick to set me straight. He explained that when a racer had finely spent all his energy reserves and was forced to ride on shear guts he was said to be "on the rivet"! Many pro and amateur racers favoured leather saddles back then and those saddles were often held together by brass or copper rivets. The largest rivet was usually at the nose of the saddle, a place where exhausted riders found themselves as they squeezed out the last few drops of energy from their near spent bodies.
So after a little history on a cool piece of antiquated cycling jargon, I'd like to talk about what is in the works for Cognoscenti Cycles. The website is now live and will gradually evolve with important new features like my "wheel recipes". This blog will share some interesting and arcane information on what goes into the best wheels I can build. I plan to try to keep abreast of new gear that you should be aware of and new tools that help refine the work that all wheel builders do. In the near future I will be shooting short pieces for a wheel building tips channel on You Tube, sharing valuable information for both amateur and pro wheel builders. This spring I will be hosting a few wheel building seminars here in Paris. Details to follow on the times and places where they will be held. So I encourage you to drop by from time to time to see what we have on the boil!