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Giro pro bike special: Stuart O'Grady's fixed-wheel Wilier
Fixed Wilier for O'Grady's maglia rosa bid
The prologue of this year's Giro d'Italia is 1,150m long, straight and flat.
Hardly seems worth lugging around a time trial bike with gears and all the trimmings
for does it? Stuart O'Grady doesn't think so either as he'll be rolling out
of the start house on a very special one-off fixed-wheel Wilier. Tim Maloney
has the details.
The fix is in.
Photo ©: Tim Maloney
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The rear end
Photo ©: Tim Maloney
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While Stuart O'Grady and his Cofidis teammates Sylvain Chavanel and Jimmy Engoulvent
were testing their positions in a Paris wind tunnel last month, the sprint specialist
from Adelaide, Australia had an idea. O'Grady suggested to Andrea Gastaldello
of Cofidis bike sponsor Wilier Triestina that Wilier build him a special one-off
track-style bike for today's straight, flat 1.15km prologue of the Giro d'Italia
in Reggio Calabria.
All-aluminium main frame
Photo ©: Wilier
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O'Grady is best known as a roadman, but his track palmares includes an Olympic
gold medal in the Madison at Athens last year, so he's hardly unfamiliar with
riding fixie. Using a special, fixed gear, track-style bike was obvious for
the short, straight shot that could lead to pink glory. "Stuart thought he could
have an advantage with this type of bike," Gastaldello told Cyclingnews,
"so we got to work and came up with this special bike for him. Now we're hoping
for a good result on Saturday!"
The front brake
Photo ©: Wilier
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Before Wilier Triestina shipped the special Giro prologue fixie bike to O'Grady
in Reggio Calabria, Cyclingnews managed to sneak in the back door of
Wilier's plant in Rossano Veneto to snap a few spy pix. Stuart's Wilier Triestina
fixie is similar to the Team Cofidis Scandium-framed road bikes that Cofidis
uses alongside their Le Roi carbon fiber bikes, but without the white carbon
fiber stays. Wilier Triestina then substituted rear track dropouts for the normal
road dropouts.
ITM aero bars
Photo ©: Wilier
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This special bike has a Mavic rear disc wheel with a 14 tooth cog, and the
drivetrain is completed with FSA carbon fiber 172.5mm cranks. O'Grady will use
a front chainring of either 53 or 54, depending on the conditions, as the Lungomare
Falcomata' along the Straits of Messina in Reggio Calabria can often be windy.
Up front, O'Grady will likely have Mavic's iO five spoke wheel and both hoops
will have Vittoria 180g track tyres.
The finishing touches
Photo ©: Tim Maloney
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At the end of his kilometer and change sprint, Wilier Triestina has a mounted
a Mavic rear brake and a low-profile Zero Gravity front brake, tucked behind
the fork for better aerodynamics. ITM's new carbon fibre Nivola TT handlebars
with Vision brake levers complete the package for this unique bike that will
probably only be ridden once. Hopefully for O'Grady, Cofidis and Wilier it will
will pay off with a maglia rosa for the Australian rider.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click
here
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The fix is in.
For the prologue of the Giro d'Italia Stuart O'Grady will dispense with gear-changing distractions and go for the maglia rosa on this special edition fixed-wheel TT bike.
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The complete bike
- 60km/h standing still.
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The finishing touches
are put to O'Grady's Giro prologue bike by a Wilier technician.
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The rear end
is all-aluminium with track ends and 120mm hub stacing
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All-aluminium main frame
with as deep an aero down tube as the rules allow
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ITM aero bars
give a low, flat position, very like a kilo TT attack stance.
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54 x 13
- if the conditions are right, the O'Grady engine will be pushinga big gear.
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Track ends and bolt-up hubs
- after all, if you get a flat in a 1.15km prologue, you're sunk, quick releases or not.
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Carbon-railed saddle
by Selle Italia and carbon seatpost
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The front brake
is a super-light Zero Gravity, tucked behind the fork for better aerodynamics.
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The carbon bars
have Vision brake levers.
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