“Ceci n'est pas une pipe” is the inscription beneath the image of a pipe in the Belgian surrealist René Magritte’s painting La Trahison des Images. It is a picture of a pipe, but not actually a pipe. It’s there, but it is not really there. The cycling industry had its own ‘not actually a pipe’ moment, earlier this month, in the shape of one Factor Ostro VAM.
Last week, Factor launched a new version of its aero race bike. The bike was a secret until its launch date, Valentine’s Day as it happened, so no one could properly acknowledge its presence, talk about it with all the information, or publish all the details. An embargo was in place - meaning information is provided to relevant parties, on the understanding it is not shared or published before a set time. It would be breaking confidence to talk about any feature of the bike which was not already in the public eye, before the embargo was lifted. There are some good reasons for that, for example, protecting the interests of local bike shops - read more about it, here.
