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Tour de France Tech – July 22, 2005
Edited by John Stevenson
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Bradley McGee's Française Des Jeux Lapierre X-Lite Ultimate
Light weight is the order of the day for Bradley McGee's bike as the Australian eyes off a chance at a breakaway in the closing days of this Tour de France.
McGee's Lapierre X-Lite Ultimate is built around the latest version of Lapiere's monocoque carbon fiber frame, which like so many modern frame has the smooth all-one-piece look that comes about from being constructed in, er, all one piece.
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McGee's running gear is Shimano Dura-Ace, including the carbon-rimmed Dura-Ace wheels, though interestingly Corima's brake blocks do the stopping and not Shimano's. Brake pad technology for carbon rims is very much still developing; everyone has their favourite pads, but the distinctive red Corima pads have been a common choice at this Tour.
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The other major contributor to McGee's bike is Ritchey. Originally known for mountain bike components, Ritchey has reinvented itself as a road bike parts maker in recent years and it's not unreasonable to say that it's one of the most successful companies at spanning the worlds of dirt and tarmac.
Up front, McGee uses Ritchey's Classic round-bend drop bar, and like the time trial bike we mentioned last week, it's not mounted in one of Ritchey's feathery-light WCS stems, but in a Pro grade extension, presumably because the slightly heavier version of the stem is also a bit stiffer.
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Ritchey also holds up Mcgee's Selle Italia saddle, though in this case by stealth. Very much known as a mountain bike component maker, Syncros is now part of the Ritchey family and that's a Syncros post under McGee's bum.
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Syncros popularized the two-bolt seatpost design back in the eighties with seatposts that positioned the clamp right on top of the post. For early mountain bikes with laid-back seat angles this had the advantage of getting the saddle forward a bit too, which some riders preferred. For road bikes, though it's an unusual choice and indicates McGee's liking for a fairly forward saddle position.
Photography
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Images by Anthony Tan/Cyclingnews.com
- Bradley McGee's Lapierre X-Lite Ultimate a Française des Jeux team issue all-carbon monocoque.
- Ritchey Pro stem and Classic bar - McGee obviously likes a stiff stem over the lighter WCS offerings available from the team's component sponsor.
- The integrated headset allows clean lines up front and lets teh decals cross over into Ritchey's carbon fork.
- The down tube is chunky but not clunky.
- Fait main = hand made. There's human involvement in most steps of the production of top-end bikes, though everyone gets out of the way when a carbon frame goes into the autoclave.
- Once the chainring's life is over it makes for a good pizza-cutter.
- Corima brake pads are used for the Dura-Ace carbon wheels.
- Selle Italia saddle and Syncros carbon post. It's unusual to see an in-line post on a road bike, but judging from the saddle position, McGee clearly likes his seat quite forward.
- Syncros making a rare appearance at the Tour. The mountain bike component maker is owned by Ritchey, so its gear is an option for McGee and his team.
- One of those black and yellow things - they're transponders used to produce unofficial split times on the road. Official results are still done by eye and with photo finish cameras though.
- Aussie Aussie Aussie! Brad Brad Brad! And, as usual, a highly practical removable clamp for the seatpost.
- You gotta keep your sponsors happy! Frame sticker space is valuable real estate for teams.
- Shimano's rare Dura-Ace carbon wheels keep the weight down.
