Lubricants, cranksets, wheels, bottom brackets… parts that come and go. That are assembled and disassembled. Pieces that Vincenzo Nibali led to Gabriele Tosello, his mechanic for many years atAstana.
It's strange to know that Jaws won't be in a group, and that makes us even more happy to return to the stories, even the funny ones, about him. And yes, because in the reconstruction of the "technical Nibalate", if you'll pardon the term, there's also something to laugh about. Of course, there is no shortage of serious moments.
Gabriele, many years with Nibali. Ultimately, you're "his" mechanic. How crazy did he drive you?
No, come on… I'm not crazy! He's always made strange requests. He's obsessive, meticulous, and also an excellent mechanic. He loved tinkering. How many times did he bring in parts that weren't ours? He was always looking for new components, spare parts... He wanted to try them, even if only out of curiosity. Even when he knew they weren't right. Like that time with the oval crowns.
Oval crowns, he tells…
We were at the San Pellegrino Pass. In those years Froome He was strong and used them, so he wanted to try them. I adjusted the derailleur by raising it a bit and adding a spacer so it shifted smoothly. It was a 54-42 set with 172,5mm cranks. He spent weeks talking about it, and after that workout he never used them again.
Cranks: I think you've been busy with this component...
Once upon a time, something a bit “strange” happened. We were talking about cranks positioned not perfectly opposite each other, that is, not at 180° but slightly offset, asymmetrical. It was said to eliminate dead time. At the time we had Campagnolo, which had the "teeth" in the bottom bracket to tighten the cranks. With Slongo, we decided to move them... without telling him. He got on his bike and after 20 meters he said to me, "If you do that again, I'll fire you!" He was joking, obviously, but he realized it immediately.
And then the issue of cranksets wasn't an isolated one. Right?
Right, there was a time when it was said that longer ones improved yield.
And you and Slongo changed them…
I did the manual labor, it was Long to decide! So we removed the 172,5 mm writing and without telling him anything he tried them on. He did the tests, the training... he didn't say anything. But he didn't feel those benefits. Then this story came out and a case was made, but we were just doing tests.
What can you tell us about Nibali the mechanic? Has he ever come to work with you?
Ah, almost always! When it ended with Pellets He'd go from the massage table to the mechanics' motorhome. And so he'd come over there, poking around. "But do this like this. Do this this way..." Finally I'd say to him, "You do it, you're so good at it." And then he took the keys and did the manual work, which he liked and was really good at.. Excellent precision.
With technological advances, has your approach changed over the years? Whether you appreciate this or that solution, or whether you've adopted new measures...
Let's say that he has always adapted quickly. Like switching to disc brakes, for example. And look now with the mountain bike. This year, for example, at the beginning of the year he had chosen the Wilier Filante, then in the end he moved on to Wilier 0 Slr. He felt it was more his, he could risk something more downhill.
And has the position ever changed?
Essentially, no, it was always the same: uphill, flat, dirt, stage or one-day races… Only recently had he lowered the saddle by 3-4 millimeters. A more comfortable position… But Vincenzo had clear ideas. If he told you he wanted those wheels and those gears, they were there. He wasn't the type to be influenced by hearing someone else install this or that wheel. No, in that sense, if only we had more like him! There were two things he was extremely sensitive and uncompromising about: saddle height and cleats. He could feel everything. If he could, he would always use the same saddle and shoes. And then he would check or ask about the tire pressure.
You had already told us about the saddle before. Lombardia when he had that new bike…
Yes, yes, he noticed it right away. And he was even more fussy with the cleats. We're not talking about the millimeter, but the half-millimeter. We have a tool that copies the position and replicates it, but the shoe is never 100% identical. If it wasn't right by a hair... we adjusted it and adjusted it again. For saddle and cleats it was deadly.
You said he brought you a lot of pieces: which was the strangest one?
If only we had them, the list would be endless! Let's leave out oils, bearings, and lubricants, which he suggested "one every 3 for 2"—he always had his own test to do. He brought suspension seatposts, many bottom brackets, rocker arms... Some were actually valid, but they couldn't be used and that was the end of it.The fact is that the brands were behind it. The concept was: if Nibali uses it, it means it works.
But if Tosello had to choose the “technical Nibalata” par excellence, which one would he say?
Ah – laughs “Toso” – Tour of Italy 2013. Before the Polsa time trial, the prostheses had to be mounted on the normal handlebars. He decided to change the stem. He wanted a shorter one, 100 millimeters. I change it for him and he does his time trial. The next day, the stage had already started well before he asked me over the radio, "Did we forget something?" I was waiting for him to tell me to reassemble the 120mm stem. And he was waiting for me to do it. The fact is that he did the entire stage with a stem that was 2 centimeters shorter! At the end of the stage he said: "I thought it was me who wasn't feeling well on the bike. Then I realized it was the attack." Anyway, it didn't go badly. He said he only felt a little short on the descents. But in those days you could put anything under him: he just drove..
