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Race Tech: Paris-Roubaix, April 17, 2008
Update on Boonen's winning machine and more bikes from Paris-Roubaix
By James Huang
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Whoops! Boonen's machine anything but standard
We had previously reported Tom Boonen's (Quick Step) Paris-Roubaix-winning bike as a "surprisingly standard machine" but, as it turns out, it was anything but. After finally catching up on some long overdue sleep and taking a closer look at our images (not to mention getting a flood of reader mail!) we have some more additional information on the bike that won this year's queen of the classics.
Boonen's Specialized S-Works may have been unlike any bike currently in the company catalog but it does blend aspects from production models. The front end bears strong resemblance to his usual custom Tarmac SL2 with its giant-sized down tube and chain stays, slightly curved top tube and the tapered and oversized 1 1/8"-to-1 1/2" front end. To soften the blows of the cobbles, though, the Roubaix SL-like seat stays include the now-proven Zertz elastomeric inserts which are also found in the fork.
The frame was also likely reinforced with additional carbon plies as is usual for Boonen and the frame geometry appears to reflect the longer and lower front end that Specialized made just for the Belgian superstar last season to accommodate his sensitive back and longer physique.
"As we did last year for the Tour we worked with Boonen to get him the bike that he wanted for Roubaix and it clearly worked," said Specialized PR man Nic Sims. "It is good when we can work together and get it right: last year [with] the [Tarmac] SL2 and the green jersey at the Tour, now work on Roubaix technology and win [Paris-]Roubaix.
"He had previous ridden the old [Roubaix SL] but there were issues with fit for him. He liked the slightly forgiving ride it gave him but he wanted the usual stiffer frame so we went with him in the off-season to develop the best of both worlds and that is the bike that he rode at the weekend."
While it would easy to dismiss Boonen's machine as merely an amalgamation of existing frame parts (an idea also supported by the 'Roubaix SL2' badging on the chain stay), the Zertz-equipped fork and seat stays are clearly unique items that required new molds to be cut.
Sims wouldn't say whether or not the Roubaix SL2 would eventually be available to consumers as a production model but we have a hard time imagining that Specialized would limit the concept solely for team use. The idea of a bike that blends the responsiveness of the Tarmac SL2 with some of the ride characteristics of the Roubaix SL certainly sounds enticing to us.
More team bikes from Paris-Roubaix
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Paris-Roubaix is renowned for its brutal cobbled sections (this year there were 28) but when it comes down to it, those sections still only account for 52km of the 259.5km total. True, those 52km played pivotal roles in determining the final outcome of the race but the vast majority of ground covered was still pavement. When combined with the surprisingly pleasant weather, few teams cracked out the truly special creations that, ultimately, were apparently only intended for a truly ugly day in the saddle.
We were expecting otherwise, but Agritubel riders did head out on their standard ultralight Kuota KOM carbon frames and it looks like they all survived race day intact. Likewise, the Saunier Duval-Scott team was found aboard similarly feathery Scott Addict full-carbon rigs but they all appeared to opt for the standard non-integrated seatpost version, presumably for the slightly softer ride.
Both teams were equipped with SRAM Red groups with the odd Rival crankset tossed in to accommodate the longer-legged riders. For whatever reason, though, all of the Agritubel and Saunier Duval-Scott bikes we spotted were also fitted with Force rear derailleurs; some also used Force front derailleurs instead of Red. Box-section aluminum rims were still the general rule of thumb.
Perhaps the only people disappointed in Sunday's dry conditions were Shimano engineers. According to rumors circulating amongst the pits, they were supposedly looking forward to some particularly demanding real-world conditions to test their upcoming new Dura-Ace electronic group. Most of the teams and riders that had previously been spotted testing electronic drivetrains (either from Shimano or Campagnolo) reverted back to the tried-and-true mechanical ones for Paris-Roubaix but a few Skil-Shimano riders served as test dummies for the day.
For sure, wet, cold and muddy conditions mixed with the extreme vibrations of the Paris-Roubaix cobbles would have served as the ultimate test bed for the new technology. Unfortunately (at least for them), Shimano engineers never got their chance to see just how their creation would have performed. For the sake of the rest of us, though, let's hope that it would have passed with flying colors as we expect to see the stuff introduced for public consumption late this year.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by James Huang/Cyclingnews.com
- Quick Step's Tom Boonen surged past Fabian Cancellara and Alessandro Ballan to claim his second Paris-Roubaix trophy.
- We had previously reported Boonen's machine to be a rather standard piece of kit, but at second glance it's anything but.
- We can't say for sure , but the badging certainly suggests that this will be introduced as the 2009 S-Works Roubaix SL2.
- The frame is essentially a hybrid of Specialized's S-Works Tarmac SL2 and Roubaix SL frames.
- The new seat stay assembly includes a slightly less radical shape and elongated Zertz inserts.
- The new fork also includes vibration-absorbing Zertz inserts…
- …and the steerer clearly incorporates the tapered-and-oversized 1 1/8"-to-1 1/2" size format.
- Boonen's name is an even hotter commodity now that he's won his second Paris-Roubaix.
- Agritubel riders did, indeed, head out on their ultra-lightweight Kuota KOM frames.
- Agritubel's Emilien-Benoit Berges is one of the bigger guys on the team and needed a second clamp to keep the seatpost from slipping.
- Berges managed to break his Kuota KOM frame somehow during a pre-ride but it looked like his replacement frame made it through on race day.
- Many SRAM Red-sponsored teams ran Force rear derailleurs for some reason.
- Agritubel's Geoffroy Lequatre fitted his machine with O.symetric chainrings.
- Saunier Duval-Scott riders headed out on lightweight Scott Addict frames although they went with the non-integrated version with standard seatposts.
- Team bikes were fitted with SRAM Red DoubleTap levers…
- …Red crankset (although some of the bigger guys ran Rival)…
- …but Force rear derailleurs.
- Saunier Duval-Scott drew the lucky number one in the support caravan.
- Skil-Shimano riders were on their usual Koga frames…
- …although a couple were also found running prototypes of Shimano's electronic Dura-Ace group.
- Shimano engineers were hoping for nasty conditions to provide a harsh real world test, but all they got was sunshine.
- We missed this detail before but the bottom of this prototype Dura-Ace 7900 brake caliper arm is milled out to shave a few grams.
- Silence-Lotto riders used road-'cross hybrid frames for their attack on Paris-Roubaix.
- The Silence-Lotto bikes were based around a Ridley X-Fire 'cross frame.
- The 'cross-specific rear end and cantilever rear brakes provide plenty of clearance out back…
- …but there was little up front. Thankfully, the Silence-Lotto riders didn't need it on Sunday.
- We're typically only used to seeing Dugast tires on the 'cross circuit but they were fairly common at Paris-Roubaix.
- Oval Concepts bars and stems were fitted with the team-only 'red' version of Campagnolo's Record Ergopower levers.
- Record front derailleurs were supplemented with plastic chain watchers.
- Carbon seatposts seem scary on the cobbles but these seemed to have held up fine when we found them again at the finish.
- Cateye offers its sponsored teams custom colors for its computers.
- AG2R riders headed out on bikes from BH ; some rode aluminum-carbon mixes while others opted for the full carbon treatment.
- Ceramic-coated rims were at the ready for when and if the mud and rain started coming.
- Amazingly, AG2R ran clincher tires at Paris-Roubaix, although they were at least upsized to 25mm instead of the usual 23mm casings.
- Aluminum steerers were fitted on the AG2R bikes.
- AG2R's FSA dual-pivot calipers were fitted with Mavic carbon-specific pads made by SwissStop.
- The FSA label could also be found on the crankset and front derailleur.
- Cycle Collstrop's Stefan Wesemann set out on this distinctive black-and-white Canyon.
- Carbonsports is now offering consumers the option of custom paint… for a price, of course.
- We won't speculate how these wheels rode on the cobbles but given our experience, we'd guess that it was a bit of a rough ride.
- Wesemann is apparently a Hell's Bells fan.
- Wesemann's Lightweight wheels were wrapped with 25mm-wide Dugast rubber.
- The Bouygues Telecom boys went with standard seatposts on their Time bikes.
- Bouygues Telecom ran a mix of both shallow- and deep-section rims, both of which were wrapped in 'Michelin' tubulars… only problem is that Michelin doesn't make tubulars.
- Euskaltel-Euskadi rode their usual Orbea Orcas at Paris-Roubaix.
- Euskaltel-Euskadi's Orbea Orca offered plenty of clearance between the chain stays.
- Like most teams , Euskaltel-Euskadi ran aluminum box-section tubular rims.
- A little bit of electrical tape apparently provided a little more grip on the bottles.
- Local Belgian team Topsport Vlaanderen rode suitably local Merckx machines.
- There's no fancy carbon fiber to be found here ; Topsport Vlaanderen's Merckx Premium frames were built from Easton Scandium tubing.
