Living In Italy

Some people go on vacation to Italy. They travel from place to place seeing lots of the country’s most visited tourist destinations while staying in nice hotels, eating a continental breakfast at the hotel and lunch and dinner at restaurants. They are in the country for a week to ten days, and so they bring along enough clothing to never have to do laundry. A visit to the grocery store is rare, if only to pick up a snack or a bottle of water. 

What we’re doing is basically living in Italy like retirees. It’s like we live here, renting an apartment just without the responsibility of going to work. That means, groceries need to be bought, meals cooked, laundry done, trash/ recycling taken out on the appropriate days and cans taken back in*, and cleaning done around the apartment. It might not sound like vacation to some, but don’t think I’d enjoy it half as much any other way. It’s as if for a few weeks every other year or so, we get to live our dream of living in Italy. We use our bikes or our feet to get around, just like many people here. Perhaps it’s best not to call it vacation... but I quite enjoy it. 

One thing I’ve learned is that living the Italian way is to grocery shop in small batches. Fridges are small, you can only carry so much, and while large supermarkets have replaced the stereotypical street markets, the idea is the same. Get what is fresh and cheap, even if you get to use a shopping cart and a frequent shopper card to do it. The market is cool, but here in Verbania you don’t see very many Italians there, it’s mostly tourists and it’s priced accordingly. I want to experience the romanticized Italian market, but in reality if I’m keeping with the theme of “living in Italy” the supermarket is the way to go. 

So today, living a retiree lifestyle in Italy, we did a “recovery ride.” Kristen came up with the route more or less. She saw a town on Google Maps and said, “let’s go there!” And we did. It was only a 20 mile ride. We knew there would be climbing because aside from riding along the lake, everything is a climb here. We basically climbed from the moment we stepped out of the door. It was very gradual and beautiful making our way through little towns that surround Verbania, perfect for a recovery spin. 

The real climbing started once we crossed Ponte Nivia. It was gradual enough at first, heading up to Intraga. It was past that town that things got real. The entire climb from the bridge (ponte in Italian) was 4.3mi at an average of 9.9% climbing 2300ft. The final 2.1mi beyond Intragna climbed the final 1300ft at an average of 11%. Most of the time my Garmin read 13-15%. For at least half a mile, it was pinned at 15%. Quite brutal. 

The views however were spectacular. The top was not much to see except for a parking lot for hiking trails in ValGrande, but it served as a good spot to sit down and eat some focaccia. The descent was slow going until we got back to Intragna due to a half dozen drainage grates that spanned the road with slots wide enough to eat a tire. Once we got back to Intragna and stopped to take in the view across all of Verbania and Lago Maggiore, we were able to enjoy the twisting descent while stopping at one point to smell some purple flowers. One the way back to Verbania, we saw two donkeys sitting by the road. They wanted to befriend us, but only because when I stopped to take their picture, they figured we would have some food for them. 

All in all, the ride was only twenty miles, in which we climbed about 3000ft in the first ten. It was a great ride though, and tomorrow we’ll do another long one. 

For dinner we had a nice meal of pasta with cherry tomatoes, arugula, and borlotti beans. I saw the fresh borlotti beans the other day at the grocery store and figured they’d be a good source of protein. Plus, how often do you get them fresh in the US? I shelled them and par cooked them for about 30 minutes while eating lunch after our ride, and they were ready for dinner. I sautéed the tomatoes with garlic in olive oil, added the beans, then added the arugula. Once the pasta was cooked, I tossed that in with a little fresh olive oil and served it with some warmed sesame seeded semolina Sicilian bread dipped in olive oil with dried oregano from Sicily. Why go out to eat when you could eat that?! 

After doing laundry up until the moment the laundromat closed at 11pm and racing some threatening storm clouds, lightening in the distance and big wind gusts, I’m ready for bed. I should have went to be a half hour ago, but I wanted to make sure to fill you all in and stay in the habit of writing these posts. Forgive and typos. I’m too tired to proofread. 

*As a quick side note, this town, and most in Italy, really have their recycling together. In Pallanza, Monday is glass, Tuesday is compost, Wednesday is regular trash (which you shouldn’t have much of), Thursday is paper/cardboard, Friday is compost again, and Saturday is plastic. Even in mountainside towns they do this, except instead of everyone putting out little bins along the road, they have one central location in town that everyone drops things at. It’s very simple. It’ll probably never happen in “America that is supposedly being made great again” because, well, American doesn’t have the potential to be that great; but it would be nice, wouldn’t it? Americans are too lazy. Actually Americans aren’t too lazy, they’re too busy doing too many things and working to much to take care of the thing that are important, like taking care of the planet. 

Mottarone

Today was all about cycling. Besides a trip to the small grocery store and bakery for breakfast, and another trip to the big grocery store for some things for before dinner, all we did today was ride our bikes. 

It was a big ride. Sixty miles with the climb up to Mottarone. Mottarone may be the biggest climb around at 4600ft. This is the highest elevation we’ll get on the trip. The pass of Alpe di Neggia between Switzerland and Italy, which we will do sometime this week, is a little over 4500ft, despite the mountain that it passes between, Monte Tamaro peaking at over 6000ft. Mottarone is a long climb at just over 20km from Baveno. The descent down to the Lago d’Orta on the other side features a nice wide road that can be a joy to descend. The way back featured a winding road through some valleys with only a few grades above 5%. The descent back to Stresa on Maggiore has potential to be really fun as well. 

The climb itself went well. We only stopped once very briefly to pee, and it wasn’t nearly as steep as I remembered it. It was a very enjoyable and scenic climb. The early slopes out of Baveno featured sweeping panoramic views of Lago Maggiore with Verbania in sight beyond the Borromean Islands. Those views were replaced first by quaint mountainside villages and finally dense pine trees. Things opened up and the sun shone brightly at the very top, with increased human activity at the funicular, ski bars, hiking trails, and rollercoaster. A massive radio tower topped off the mountain to remind you that you were at one of the highest points around. 

After spending a few minutes in a clearing at the top, catching our breath and having a snack, we proceeded down the mountain. Our descent was paused only a few hundred meters down to see some grazing cattle, resplendent with giant cowbells, eating along the side of the road. These cattle were eating to produce milk for the famous Toma Mottarone cheese. Mottarone is known for it’s cheese, with Toma being one of the most known. 

When we finally reached the bottom, we contininued on some tiny roads through yet another mountainside town, over some train tracks an onto the lakeside road, which we rode to Orta San Giovanni. There we stopped for a snack and some water at a bar/gelateria. With gelato in our stomachs we gingerly made our way up and out of town, eventually ending up in what could easily be considered Italian hillybilly land. It’s quite interesting the juxtaposition of the glamorous villas in Stresa and the sunbeaten farms of the hills just outside of town. 

The final descent down to Stresa should have been fun, but traffic was heavy and a cyclist can easily descend faster than a good driver on switchbacks, no less a tentative one. At one point, we came to a complete halt because someone’s child had dropped an inflated beach ball out of their car window. As the beach ball was so valuable and important they decided to stop in the middle of the road with no regard for the rest of the drivers/ cyclists on the road. I was able to unclip one foot and kick said beachball out of the road. I hope I popped it. Idiots!

Our arrival back in Stresa was stressful, especially since we were greeted by ominous clouds over the lake. With only seven miles separating us and our apartment in Verbania, it was full gas on the mostly flat road back around to our side of the lake. Luckily the clouds passed up an over the mountains to the north and we were spared being rained on. 

All in all, the ride was quite nice. I am glad we did the longer route. Perhaps next week we’ll do Mottarone again, only the shop loop back through Omegna. We’ll see. There are still lots of great rides to do here. 

Tomorrow we’ll explore another town on the other side of ValGrande. It’ll be a much shorter ride, and we’ll leave time to visit some of the local bike shop in Intra and Pallanza. 

For now, I’m calling it a night. After the big ride, quick grocery shopping, and cooking dinner, I’m wiped out. 

By the way, this is the view into the courtyard out our windows, which we keep open pretty much all day, only closing the shutters at night, when we’re gone, or during the late morning/ afternoon when the sun wants to shine in. No need for air conditioning here, just good shutter/ window management. 

A Day of Adventures

Everyday on a trip like this can be an adventure if you make it one. Some days you choose the adventure and other days the adventure chooses you. Luckily all of today’s adventures turned out well! 

In the best way possible, today felt like our longest day here so far. I think we’re now adjusted to Central European Time.  We woke up early enough, ate breakfast, and headed out towards Intra by foot to check out the open air market that happens every Saturday. 

The walk to Intra is about 3km, so we easily walked 8km today if you take into account walking circles around one of the biggest open air markets I’ve ever visited. The market is mostly divided up into two categories: food and what can be best described as junk. Food is pretty self explanatory. We’re in Italy so it’s mostly cheese, olives, salami, bread, cookies, etc. Junk is everything from clothes and shoes mostly made in China to low end kitchenwares. It’s amazing how many people must buy their underwear from the market. I’ve never seen so many cheap underwear vendors in my life. Lots of knock-off items. There was also a stand that sold old stock cycling clothes from Santini, Nalini, Castelli, Colnago, Sportful, etc... kinda like Wheelfine Imports but based out of a van. I didn’t find anything particularly interesting so I’ll save any cycling shopping I do for the area bike shops, of which there are plenty. 

When all was said and done, we left the market having spent too much money. I think I was regretting it on the whole walk back, but once I dug into the massive bag of marinated green olives and they were so good, I soon forgot the cash I used to have in my pocket. I can think of no better way to spend money here than on food, and I’d rather spend it on stuff like that than in a restaurant. I have only found one restaurant that I really enjoy here. I’m sure there are others I just have to find them, but except for when Kristen wants some meat or fish, we’d both rather go to the market and find ingredients to cook than spend the money eating at sub-par restaurants. 

So that was part one of the day. Part two was the bike ride. Today’s ride was never going to be long. We wanted to go to the market and save energy for a bigger ride tomorrow. When browsing Google Maps a few months ago, I starred a little town called Cicogna at the top of a long twisting road. Little did I know that this road snaked through ValGrande National Park. The road was insane! It was narrow and beautiful at the beginning as we left San Bernardino Verbania with Cossogno in view across the gradually deepening valley. After we passed through Rovegro, another little mountain town, the road got really narrow and really twisty. No switchbacks, just tons of turns at a 3% grade. To give you an idea, this road was so narrow that several times we had to slam on the brakes to stop for a “traffic jam” involving two cars trying to pass each other. I usually involved one of them backing up, which I cannot imagine doing on these crazy roads. Cars are small here but even two Fiat 500s couldn’t pass each other on most of this road. 

Things got crazy when a few kilometers later we were faced with a tunnel through the mountain side. It wasn’t long but it wasn’t lit. You could see the other side so it didn’t look like a big deal, but halfway though it got really dark. So dark you couldn’t see yourself, only the light at the other end. Luckily with this being a crazy road to effectively nowhere in a National Park, drivers are moving slowly and carefully. Everyone honks their horns at every turn. The only thing that takes away from the serenity of it is the occasional honk. But, I digress. After the tunnel came a narrow bridge over a gorge that was absolutely incredible! Since there were no cars honking, I could take a minute for a photograph, but photos do it no justice. 

After the bridge, the road went up. 9-10% mostly, but I wasn’t really looking at my Garmin. A road this narrow with switchbacks requires full attention. Toward the very top it got steeper and there was a sign warning drivers that from this point on there was no guardrail. As we reached the town we were cheered on by the clanging bells of a very large herd of mountain goats. Our arrival in the tiny town square of Ciconga, we were treated by the sound of two of the town’s men screaming at each other like they were about to start a fist fight. By the time we ate a few biscotti, they were walking and talking together like best friends. 

I can’t even begin to imagine what it’s like to live in a town like this so isolated and with so few people. Everyone must practically be related. This is the type of place that you probably don’t leave during winter. The existence of these people more closely resembles survival than living with any other purpose. 

The ride down was not as bad as I thought it would be, but not exactly fun either. We really took it slow. There was not a choice really. Between the narrow blind turns and the sheer drop off into the ValGrande, there was no room for errors. I love descending, but today’s route had little to do with pushing limits of cycling skill, it was more about not falling off the face of the earth. Today’s ride really wasn’t even great training, but it was absolutely an adventure. 

The final adventure of the day was doing the laundry. Such a mundane task usually wouldn’t get a mention, but as it happens, things don’t always go as planned on a trip like this. The lavanderia (laundromat) that I knew to be around the corner from our apartment seems to be closed indefinitely. It looks to be moving, but of course that won’t happen in August. The owner is probably on vacation. Luckily we were able to find another one but that one was located about 3/4 of the way to Intra (remember that 3km walk from earlier in the day?). There was no way we were going to go there before dinner, so we decided to risk it, make dinner and then go over there by bike to see if it was open. It’s amazing these bicycle contraptions; they’re so much faster than walking! 

We loaded up our backpacks with the clothing that took priority- cycling clothes- put on the lights and rode over there in no time. Luckily they were open! We were able to put the clothes in and while they were washing, take a spin down the bike lane to the lake. This is absolutely how we’re doing laundry for now on. It hopefully won’t be an adventure next time, but tonight it was. It was actually very fun riding through the quiet streets of Verbania with the street lights on. 

Tomorrow we plan to head up Mottarone, one of the highest mountains around. It should be a challenging ride with a climb up to the top, a descent down to Lago d’Orta, a climb back over the lower slopes, and a pass through the famous resort town of Stresa on the way back to Verbania. I’m excited about it. They’ll be much easier roads to navigate as well. 

Arrival, grocery shopping, first rides.

Having traveled by car, plane, train, bus, and foot to get here, we finally arrived in Verbania Pallanza a few days ago. It’s a pretty easy trip, especially since I’ve been here before, but no less it’s a long day having taken off from Newark around 7pm and finally putting our bags down and taking our shoes off here around 3pm (9am EST) the next day. 

As per usual, once we got the keys and handed over a large chunk of cash, we barely took a minute to sit down before we headed off to the most important place... the grocery store. Food was desperately needed and at the time we arrived, all the restaurants were on their break between lunch and dinner. 

After eating some focaccia, cheese, olives, and wafers, we built up enough energy to make the trek to the real grocery store, the giant Esselunga about a ten minute walk away. Barely awake, still hungry, not feeling great we made a lap around the store to find some things we needed to at least make it through the next few days. As Wednesday was Ferragosto, we weren’t sure if anything would be open so we had to prepare. Highlights for me were definitely frozen porcini mushrooms, fresh figs, and smoked mozzarella di bufala. Kristen was pretty happy to find Illy coffee ground for the Moka pot. We were both excited about shampoo/ conditioner/ soap. We both felt gross after our journey. 

The past few days have been more of that, a few more trips to the grocery store once our brains were not so drained from being awake for so many hours. Yesterday I was finally able to get to Vodafone and get a SIM card for my phone. Now we have internet, although connectivity is an issue in the thick-walled fortress of an apartment we’re staying in. Pro-tip: don’t go for American phone companies’ travel plans. If you have an unlocked phone (any Verizon phone) you can buy a SIM. It’s super easy, and for under $25 I can call and text more than I’d ever want to plus I have 18GB of data. I think last time I did the plan from Verizon is was $45 for 500MB! 

Anyway, it’s beautiful and quiet here in Verbania as usual. The apartment from La Tua Casa is wonderful. I could definitely live here! More space than I’d need, the kitchen is great and we’re a three minute walk from Lago Maggiore. I highly recommend La Tua Casa for apartment-style accommodations around Lago Maggiore. 

Besides shopping for groceries and toiletries, we’ve done a few shorter rides to get the legs going. Today we did our first real ride, a tough one that at its highest point went through a town called Piancavallo. After warming up on the flat road along the lake, there was quite a challenging climb at 9-10% most of the way with some sustained 11-12% sections for about 13km. The entire ride was less than 40 miles but it was a good introduction to the mountains that we’ll get more of in the coming days. The descent was a mix of some not-overly-technical switchbacks followed by a wide sweeping road with long straightaways that encouraged a very fast pace. Once we got back into Intra, it was a short ride along the panoramic multi-use path to the other side of town (Pallanza). Having walked that entire stretch yesterday, we were able to focus on not running into any pedestrians since we were used to the incredible views the entire way. 

Perhaps the highlight of today’s ride was running into a bunch of goats. We came across them just as a car was coming from the other direction. One friendly goat was in the middle of the road and didn’t want to move. A German tourist got out of her car and tried to move the goat along but the goat was content to spend some time in the road and make new friends. When the goat moved, it only did so to follow the lady back to her car and see what that was all about. As we passed the goats, they were all in a line with their heads turned around on a set of stone steps. It would have been a great photo but I wasn’t going to stop once we got moving because if all the goats got in the road, we’d still be there. 

More so than anything we’ve been trying to get adjusted to the time change as well as eating a ton. After Ferragosto passed, the bakery that I love so much opened again. Some of the best focaccia I’ve ever had can be found there, as well as exceptional brioches filled with cream, Nutella, or jelly. We’ve also been eating well from our apartment kitchen. So far we’ve had Fusilloni with Cherry Tomatoes, Basil, and Smoked Mozzarella di Bufala, as well as Tagliatelle with Cherry Tomatoes and Porcini Mushrooms. We’ve had some sautéed greens and Stuffed Zucchini Flowers with Smoked Mozzarella di Bufala. Of course, tons of olives, cheeses, breads, and figs on the side. It’ll be salad time soon!

Tomorrow we’ll first head to the market in Verbania Intra, which is the biggest one this side of the lake. I hope to find some local vegetables, maybe some more cheese, and hopefully some biscotti. I remember there being some last time I was here. It will be good to give my sweets intake some variety from a sizeable consumption of gelato. 

Besides that, we’ll ride something shortish, with the intention of doing about 100km on Sunday. 

Seeing as how the internet connectivity is spotty, I may have some issues uploading photos, so we’ll see how that goes. Please be patient. 

 

Product Review: DT Swiss Air Climbing Wheelset

Although I'm not all that old, I am really proud to say that I have been around bikes long enough, and have had enough real bike shop experience, to remember a time when new wheels didn't come prebuilt out of a box. 

Not that long ago, if you were a serious cyclist and wanted a good set of wheels, you went to a mechanic whom you trusted and worked with him/her to design a set of wheels that fit your needs, physique, riding style, and budget. Spoke count and lacing were given tremendous consideration; hubs, rims, and nipples were sourced; spokes were chosen and cut in-shop to precisely complete the link between rim and hub; and the wheel was built and brought up to tension with a spoke wrench in the hands of an expert builder who could feel from experience when everything was just right. 

Then the Mavic Ksyrium came along...and the Campagnolo Shamal...the Zipp 404...etc.; you get the idea. A great racing wheelset went from something of a piece of handcrafted functional art to just another item that you'd buy from your local bike shop or on the internet. The evolution of the prebuilt wheelset to its place of dominance is complicated. Some shop owners loved prebuilts because they didn't have to "waste time" or have the expertise to design and build wheels. Other shops dreaded them because they saw it as another of many ways that the industry made their skills somewhat superfluous. As we look at it now, in this tough retail environment where service is the local bike shop's principle means of survival, having a mechanic around who could do this sort of work would be another way to stay afloat. 

Unfortunately, too many cyclists have come into the sport not knowing any other way than buying prebuilt wheels. They are the same who likely have never considered that a bicycle doesn't have to come pre-assembled, limited to the specs on a brand's website. Building a bicycle from the frame up, choosing the group and the parts from a selection of companies with exquisite Italian names steeped in the rich history of the sport, and entrusting the expert mechanic to complete it with handbuilt wheels is all too foreign. It's not the customer's fault, it's just where the industry has gone...for better or for worse. 

Luckily, there are enough cyclists in the know to keep a few wheelbuilders busy. They are often customers like me who want to spread the word. 

To be honest, I forgot what it was like to ride a set of handbuilt wheels. When I started road cycling as a kid, I rode a vintage Alan, custom built in Italy of course. The bike was completed with Campagnolo components and a set of custom 20" wheels with Campy Record hubs. I loved that bike but was too young to really appreciate it. I've ridden other sets of handbuilt wheels since then, but most of my serious cycling life has been spent on prebuilt wheels...up until a month ago. 

These prebuilts were not bad wheels. First a set of Campagnolo Zondas and then an upgrade to Campagnolo Shamal Ultras. Both are very capable wheels, light, stiff, and durable. When I hung up the Shamals, relegated to spare usage, they had over 32,000 miles on them! Maintenance was minimal for many of those miles. It was only towards the end that I had to quite expensively re-spoke the rear and overhaul the bearings and freehub. That's pretty damn good! At 1450g, outfitted with Campagnolo's CULT ceramic bearings encased in carbon hubshells, the Shamals are considered to be a pretty high-zoot alloy wheelset. They served me very well. 

When it was time to finally hang them up, I did so with purpose. As they wore, beyond the normal brake track cupping, the alloy spokes and nipples were getting increasing fragile and difficult to work with. Everything was breaking down quickly. Riding a difficult to service, unreliable, and increasingly fragile wheelset was pushing my luck, especially with a cycling trip to Italy coming up. I've always wanted a set of Michael Johnson's wheels and I felt it better to get them now than risk being stranded in the Italian mountains and forced to buy another prebuilt set in Italy or risk ruining my expensive and much anticipated trip. 

This is where the Wheelfine Imports exclusive DT SwissAir Climbing wheelset comes in. Handbuilt by master wheelsmith Michael Johnson, owner of Wheelfine Imports Pro Bike Shop in Lambertville, NJ, these wheels have been his most successful design. In an age of prebuilt carbon clinchers, the alloy clincher design might seem dated, but anyone who makes that assumption is missing out on something great. 

First, a word about Michael Johnson. Michael is a renowned DT Swiss Certified wheel builder. He has built wheels of all types for every breed of cyclist imaginable. Uniquely, most of the bikes on his sales floor feature his beautiful wheels. Beyond your average weekend warrior, Michael also built wheels for the US Olympic and Worlds track cycling teams, as well as several other US professional teams. In 1980, Australian Danny Clark won gold in the Keirin at track Worlds on a pair of Michael's wheels, earning Michael the rainbow bands that adorn the outside of his European-style bike shop.

It is with this level of expertise and experience that Michael Johnson designed and builds these remarkable wheels. When Michael sold me the wheels, he told me all of the specs you see listed below. In addition he boldly stated that this wheelset is more than the sum of its parts. Could that be true?

First, a little bit more about those parts: The rims are the lightest in DT Swiss' catalog. Light, but nothing so crazy that you have to worry about them failing. The rear is asymmetrical, a second generation update that allows for less dish and thus a stronger, more stable wheel. The rear wheel also features DT Swiss' Ratchet System Technology which replaces the typical three pawl freehub with a 36 tooth ratchet for the best transfer of torque at the lowest weight. With its tools-free maintenance and rapid engagement, the DT Swiss 240s Classic hub is considered to feature some of the best tech in the industry. DT Swiss Aerolite spokes keep the weight very low and add a little aero advantage without things getting precarious in the crosswinds. Finally, the custom made 7075 alloy dual stage anodized nipples put every other alloy nipple to shame. Constructed with the same alloy used on fighter jets, these nipples allow the same tension as a brass nipple at a fraction of the weight yet with much greater durability that any other alloy nipple. 

At 1450g, you'd think that the weight is the big story here, and in part it is. Despite the trend towards carbon clinchers, these wheels come in lighter than almost all carbon clinchers on the market without the braking fears and delaminization issues of a carbon brake track. Only the most shallow carbon clinchers come close in weight, and then you don't have the aero advantage anyway, so what do you gain? You don’t; you lose.

When it comes to alloy wheels, you can't deny that my old Shamals, and a few others, weigh exactly the same. Yet there is a lot more to this set of wheels than solely the weight. Remember, these wheels are more than the sum of their parts... but not in weight. 

For the purpose of this article I will use the Campagnolo Shamal Ultras as a grounds for comparison for several reasons: most simply, because I have a lot of experience with them. More importantly, they are similar in weight, purpose, and price. 

As mentioned, the Shamal Ultras weigh just the same. So what's the difference? Well, for one, the Shamals achieve their weight target with what I'd call some gimmicks. Big oversized alloy nipples that can only be replaced with proprietary nipples from Campagnolo. These nipples will round out under a spoke wrench even in the most careful of hands. The Campagnolo spokes are alloy and proprietary as well. If you break one, you have buy the whole set for well over $100. There are so few spokes and they are under such tension that if you break one, there is no riding it home. That's not to mention that the spokes are wider and it is known that with fewer wider spokes there becomes a point at which they are an aero disadvantage, especially in crosswinds. As well, the Shamal hubshell is carbon. It looks cool and saves weight, but it doesn't save it where you really need to. The further out you save rotational weight the bigger difference it makes. 

So, let's remember that the DT SwissAir wheelset achieves the same weight without the gimmicks. That means a more reliable and serviceable wheel that is actually faster and feels lighter. Furthermore, the weight of the DT SwissAir wheelset is more balanced as compared to the Shamal. The weight is more evenly distributed between the two wheels on the DT SwissAirs whereas the Shamals achieve a lot of that weight loss in the front wheel alone. When you're accelerating hard or climbing a steep climb, the lighter weight of the rear wheel with less outboard rotational mass is definitely noticeable. 

Pair all of that with a really well thought-out lacing pattern, and you have a wheelset that climbs like a dream. It's like you're floating on air. Taking into account the crossed J-bend spokes which add stiffness not possible on a wheel with straight pull spokes, and the ratchet freehub, the wheels engage and transfer your power forward like no other wheel I've ridden. 

None of this would be worth much if the wheels rode so stiffly that they beat the rider up over rough roads, which we have a lot of in this area. I tested the wheels over some local gravel roads and they were excellent at smoothing out the bumps, which were many. There is some magic to the compliance of handbuilt wheels. A prebuilt wheel with its gimmicks, low spoke count and ultra high tension can make for a rough ride. The DT SwissAir wheelset doesn't just float up the climbs, it zings across the pavement with a smoothness you should expect from a well built custom wheel...even when that pavement is actually dirt washboarded by lots of recent heavy thunderstorms. 

Add to all of this the smoothness of the sealed stainless cartridge bearings. Honestly, I can't feel any advantage to the CULT ceramic bearings as compared to the DT Swiss bearings, surprising considering Campagnolo CULT bearings are considered to be industry leading. Having owned Campagnolo wheels with both steel and ceramic bearings, I can say that the ceramics are definitely smoother and easier to maintain; but the DT Swiss stainless bearings feel every bit as good the CULTs. Maintenance will be a breeze too. If I feel the need to go ceramic, an upgrade kit is available for 240s hubs. Again, cartridges so pop them in and go. 

Visually the wheelset is well designed. DT Swiss has always done well with making product that doesn’t clash with any bike. No overly flashy graphics, just black and a very Swiss red. The hubs and rims compliment each other perfectly and black spokes keep things stealthy. Michael choose a dark navy anodized nipple, which is an interesting choice that I never would have thought of myself. It’s just enough to set them off at closer inspection but a detail that most will miss at first glance. I believe other colors are available if you would like to go that route, it might just cost a little extra as they are not stock. Personally I quite like the way they are. It’s quite unique but in no way obtrusive. Attention to aesthetic details is one of Michael’s strong suits, some might even call it slight OCD, but that eye for design and detail is exactly what you hope to find in a good bike mechanic.  

Finally, a big part of why I wanted a set of wheels like this is the ease of maintenance and durability without sacrificing weight or ride quality. Traveling with this wheelset will be worry-free. I will take a few spare spokes and nipples just in case and it won't cost me nearly $200. Again, no gimmicks, no proprietary parts. 

The more I research it, the more I realize that this set of wheels may be the pinnacle of alloy clinchers. Getting much lighter is very difficult to do, especially if you don't want to worry about fragility or bad ride quality. The third generation of this rim is tubeless ready and has gone even further with the wider trend. I can't see where I'd make any improvements. Michael is absolutely right... this wheelset is more than the sum of its parts. I'm trilled to own them. 

If everything you just read leaves you thinking, "wow, that sounds great! I feel like I might be missing something," perhaps it's time for you to ditch your prebuilt wheels and get on a set of DT SwissAir wheels before the master craftsmen who build wheels like this retire their truing stand, hang up their spoke wrenches, and are forced closer to extinction by a very strong-armed bike industry. 

The DT SwissAir wheels are a stock item exclusively available at Wheelfine Imports Pro Bike Shop. Luckily if you're not nearby Lambertville, New Jersey, Wheelfine ships worldwide. And if the DT SwissAir maybe isn't the thing for you (say you want something more robust for a heavier rider, or you want tubulars, or track wheels, or you have a different budget, etc) Wheelfine offers several other stock handbuilt wheelset and, of course, does custom wheelwork. 

Specs: 

-Handbuilt Wheelset designed and built by Michael Johnson of Wheelfine Imports Pro Bike Shop, DT Swiss Certified Wheelbuilder

-DT Swiss 240S Classic Hubs with Stainless Bearings

-DT Swiss RR440 Rims w/ Asymmetrical Rear Rim

-Dt Swiss Aerolite J Bend Spokes

-Custom-made 7075 T6 Alloy Dual-stage Anodized Nipples

-20 Spoke Radial Front/ 24 Spoke 1-Cross Drive, 2-Cross Non-drive Rear

-Alloy Freehub Body featuring DT Swiss's Ratchet System Technology

-Rim Brake, Quick Release

-Campagnolo or Shimano/SRAM available

-1450g actual weight (with lock ring, not including skewers and rimstrips)

-$1450

http://wheelfineimports.com/Custom_Wheels.html

Full disclosure: I work freelance for Wheelfine Imports Pro Bike managing all things internet related. However, I was not paid, nor even so much as asked, to write this review. I was not given the wheels for free. The opinions stated in this article are solely mine. If I did not feel the wheels were superb,  I would not have purchased them and would have bought something else. This article does not serve as advertisement for Wheelfine Imports though it does reflect my recommendation of their products and services solely as a customer of the business. 

Verbania here we come. Italia Trip 2018 coming soon... watch this space. 

Photo Album... More posts to come.

Many of you may have noticed that somewhere around half-way through our trip my blog just dropped off. The blog was giving me some trouble, especially with photo uploading as you know. 

When we were in Santa Maria di Castellabate, internet was a bit better but I still had issues with the photos. We were having an amazing time there, relaxing along the sea, doing spectacular bike rides, and eating the most wonderful and inexpensive Campanian food. I was a bit too distracted and/or tired to sit down at the end of the night to write and deal with the technical issues. 

At our next stop, in San Pier Niceto, there was basically no internet at all. The town's hotspot was more spotty than hot, so even just trying to download email was an eternal task. Kristen's Uncle Gino did eventually buy an Italian phone and set up a hot spot, but between guests constantly coming over and my apprehensiveness to not use up all his data uploading photos,  I didn't get to the blog. 

Our final stop in Roma was just a stop-over for a day before we got on our way home, and believe it or not internet there was terrible. I couldn't even get my iPad to connect to it. We were only in the room for a few hours besides sleeping anyway, so a blog post wasn't happening there. 

I guess another distraction from the blog was that I wasn't alone on this trip. Having Kristen with me, left me with little desire to try to overcome the technical issues and work out the blog. On past trips, I've been there alone so having you all to share my stories with was very nice. But, with Kristen there to experience it with me, I'm afraid to say that you, as the blog reader, got the short end of the stick. 

Over the coming days, I will write a post each to sum up and try to capture the essence of our stays in Santa Maria di Castellabate and San Pier Niceto. For now, linked below, you can find a photo album containing many of the photos we took on this trip:

Italia 2016 Photo Album

When I get the chance, I will try to add captions to all of them. Sorry for dropping the ball on the blog. I hope you all enjoyed what you read, I hope the typos weren't too bad, and stop back soon to read the aforementioned posts to come.