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Comments - A Meringue-Like Froth

July 11, 2010

Excellent rant/commentary on Versus' coverage! Absolutely atrocious.
- Dean, San Francisco

July 11, 2010

"pretentious and grating"-nice. Yes, the ads (and VERSUS) are insipid, but let's not forget that CC doesn't sell a single product that isn't fetishistically fawned over. I mean, how can every little over-priced do hickey mean so much to you? Oh, that's right, it doesn't. Hint: you're not doing much better. While I'm at it: I think we all could have done without the Assos cream fantasies. Jesus
- King Wrong, Homestead, PA

July 09, 2010

I normally find your writing to be pretentious and grating, but this column's treatment of Versus' terrible Tour coverage resonates with me. Thank you for taking them to task.
- James, Erie, PA

July 09, 2010

Cervelo's lack of savoir faire with their ads is surprising given the brilliance of their 'Beyond the Peloton' series. They make the bikes look sexy, Thor look like a wise old samurai to Heinrich the precocious upstart. Andreas is a battle hardened veteran that I would follow into the peloton any day. Well-produced and well executed, with enough not-so-subtle plugs on the comfort and aero properties of the S3 to hopefully have made it worth Cervelo's investment.
- Chris, Vancouver, BC

July 09, 2010

Yet another reason to be glad I live in Africa. Here on the global periphery we get largely ad-free live coverage all afternoon, a two hour highlights package at 8pm, and a 30 min version at 10pm. Of course we don't have the bandwidth to stream incredibly deep french commentary ... and we don't have a Rapha Club to watch in.
- ND, Johannesburg

July 08, 2010

The worst ads are those insipid Road ID ones. Levi has all the life of a carpet, Roll makes no sense, the rest look like they have already been hit by a car. Strange to think that Levi needs a Road ID so his biking buddies can recognize him in a ditch (LOL).
- AJ, skippack

July 07, 2010

ligget is a senile child molester, sherwin is a broken record, bob roll is a horse'-ass-ugly american, andreu, a hysterical bitch, ventura, accomplice to landis doper. versus; commercials interrupted by a bit of bike racing. europsort feed, in ANY language: knowledgeable, sober commentary by experienced talent, for an educated viewer.
- lucien, miami

July 07, 2010

While TdF coverage may not be perfect, it sure beats waiting week(s) for a copy of Winning magazine to get some glossy stills to look at. BUT they were good glossy stills. Glad you had a good race. It is nice to feel like the triaing/paining paid off!
- Rob , Charlotte,NC

July 06, 2010

@- Jesse, Winnipeg, MB no sh*t. I have to wake up early to catch a good half hour before I work. Unless cycling picks up goaltenders, an ice rink, and hockey pads, expect no coverage on t.v. from a nation that shuts itself out of contention in any WORLD SPORTING EVENT.... unless hockey is one of them. CBC.ca has done AN OUTSTANDING job covering the much more DRAMA filled sport of football and it's Versus would be wise to mimic it. REAL video on demand... not this paraphrased cut to the last 100kms BS that Versus is shelling out for 30 buck ( i stupidly signed up for it)
- Isa, Edmonton AB

July 06, 2010

One word: DVR.
- george, brooklyn

July 06, 2010

all you OLN whiners should just watch online with the Eurosport feed for free. no point wasting precious oxygen when a FREE, far superior option exists a few mouse clicks away. maybe you should brush up on your high school french, because the the France feeds are amazing for their depth of commentary.
- nacho libre, sans-cashville

July 06, 2010

This is the only thing I look forward to reading all week! Thanks! I never thought I'd get sick of Phil Ligget..
- Jim, Troy,ny

July 06, 2010

The worst commercials are the "I chose SRAM" ones. Painfully repetitive, and I think we all know enough about how equipment sponsorship works in the ProTour.
- jg, vb

July 06, 2010

I'd rather have a FD clamp designed to fail at >5Nm than a broken seat tube. Sounds like good design to me.
- mark, Salt Lake City

July 06, 2010

Sounds like we have it good in Australia. The tour goes live on free to air at 10pm so we can watch the final 150km's live, no subscription needed. Next morning we get a 15min wrap at 7.30am followed by 30min of daily highlights later in the afternoon. And then it starts again at 10pm, live every stage.
- Adam, Melbourne, Australia

July 06, 2010

The Campy FD clamp already has the eccentric design carried over from seatpost clamps- the slot between the two halves is slanty, just like the seatpost clamp. Any more eccentric and it's going to turn into an internal-gear frame or a White Industries hub or something.
- Andrew, Philly

July 06, 2010

Just be glad you don't live in Canada. We get the Versus feed on OLN once in the morning and that is it. No replay no nothing. + It is the only race we can physically get on TV here all year. No classics, none of the other tours, nothing.
- Jesse, Winnipeg, MB

July 06, 2010

So much bitching and moaning about Versus, and yet you all still pay them via your cable subscription and/or purchasing Tour Tracker. Either cancel your cable or stop complaining.
- AH, Indy

July 06, 2010

Coverage in North America sucks! Does Lance own shares in Versus/OLN from the Discovery days? Why does every broadcaster attempt to make it into a bad MTV format. The entry graphics are horrible and I'm starting to hate Cervelo again!!! Is Lance protected by the CIA? The guy could come in last place with a EPO company sponsor and they would not stop talking about him. The only word I can use to describe the coverage is POSER. Does the PGA try and dress everything up for the 40 gym wannabe crowd...NO. We need straight shooting professional coverage without all the bravado Tri Ironman back from death crap. Sporza coverage on the net anyone?
- Steve, Toronto

July 06, 2010

I hated to see the race shutdown like that: it was supposed to be a bike race. But I can't find fault with Cancellara for doing what he needed to do for his team. The question is, why didn't the intact teams - i.e., Cervelo - just tell Spartacus to go "f--- himself" and finish the race as a race? Speaking of people f'ing themselves: who else laughs hysterically whenever that stupid "Shake Weight" ad comes on? As if body building weren't sufficiently homo-erotic without "that motion" being integral to the "workout"?
- RB, B'ham

July 06, 2010

Comcast dropped Versus on there basic cable, so it steephill and Eurotv for me.
- Robert, Haslett

July 06, 2010

Wow, and to think you have to pay a premium for stuff that breaks.
- Marty, Madera, CA

July 06, 2010

Try cyclingfans. When available, the Japanese feeds work surprisingly well. The commentators speak so softly that it's almost as if you're watching the race without any nonsensical interruptions. As for advertisements, I've seen more for QVC and other home shopping channels than I have bicycle companies. Cervélo is likely banking on their team documentary as a huge showcase for their bikes. On more than one occasion I've heard both rides and narrator comment on the advantage each rider's machine gives him in the race. I don't know numbers, but I'd bet that there's been an explosion of viewings for their Team Documentary series, and that's why they've chosen to keep it simple. Who knows, with Cervélo and Columbia-HTC's recent investments in the documentary business, maybe we'll see an onslaught of team exposes for the public to see. With the muck of doping and cheating that has tainted our sport, we need transparency more than anything else.
- Nate, Richmond, Va

July 06, 2010

Vroomen's sour grapes tweet about Riis is beyond weak. Suck it up, Gerard. He and Cancellara sold a shitload of bikes for you and played a major role in building your brand. Now they ride for someone else, which is how the game is played.
- Cinghiale, JHole

July 06, 2010

My Ridley Damocles made scary cracking noises as I approached 4nm on the front der bolt. I haven't had the courage to touch it since. My Helium came with a warning label stapled around the seat tube that basically said, "For gawdssakes, DO NOT tighten your derailleur clamp as tight as the manual tells you to!"
- Mitch, Los Angeles

July 06, 2010

Versus sucks, they were at a commercial when F. Schleck crashed and had no idea what the selection was towards the end. I was looking at twitter more than the tv! Ligget has no idea anymore, good thing Sherwin is there to bale him out. ie Chavanel's special bike, "he's going to be disqualified for not riding a team bike" wake up! Where's Universal Sports...Specialized has nice commercials, but they cannot supply the product, at least you can walk in or mail order a Cervelo, with no problem, SL3's backordered/sold out who knows.
- Brian, NYC

July 06, 2010

I paid the $30 for the Tour Tracker. Only option. It works amazingly well. Not super happy about it, but what're you gonna do if you want HD live streaming?
- Todd , Barrington IL

July 06, 2010

Before The Man blocked the pirated Eurosport UK feed I was watching, the commentator received an apparently unsolicited instant message on Skype from none other than former P-R winner Magnus Backstedt to talk about riding on the cobbles. Meanwhile, Versus was probably showing a wacky "exclusive" with Ben Stiller or something.
- Josh, Oakland, California

July 06, 2010

Cancellara slowed the peloton down because he heard Tommy D was gonna try and ride with the big boys. And no, the wasnt too obvious as to why he slowed everyone down. But hey, Frenchman on a Belgian team wins and gets yellow. Not too bad
- Hung Low, Philly