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Tech News – February 18, 2004Edited by John Stevenson Got tech? Send press releases, news, and tech questions to the Cyclingnews tech-heads.
Navigators 2004 Colnago C50sWe'll have more details in a forthcoming pro bike feature, but here's a sneak peak at the Colnago C50 bikes the Navigators team is riding this year. The C50 is developed from Colnago's ground-breaking C40, one of the first frames to feature both tubes and lugs from carbon fiber. The C50 takes that notion and literally makes it bigger: larger diameter tubes and lugs for increased stiffness and higher-strength carbon so even less is needed, reducing the weight. The Navigators' bikes are festooned with high-zoot equipment such as Campagnolo Record groups with carbon cranks and Bora carbon wheels, Fizik Arione saddles, Stella Azurra bars and stems, Thomson seatposts and Speedplay pedals. Speaking of C50s, we note from our friends over at Competitive Cyclist that the fiftieth anniversary edition of the C50 is being shipped in a box large enough to park a small aircraft. For seven grand, one would hope so too! Vaughters' TIAA-CREF/5280 team on LeMond & Bontrager
Jon Vaughter's under-23 development team TIAA-CREF presented by 5280 Magazine will race on LeMond and Bontrager equipment. The team will ride LeMond Performance Aluminum frames with Bontrager Race X Lite OCLV carbon forks, aluminum bars, stems and seatposts. This is the same frame found stock from the LeMond Reno on up to the Alpe d'Huez. The sponsorship deal came about with involvement by Greg LeMond himself, as he and Vaughters both believe there must be supprt for young riders for the US to maintain a strong position in international cycling. Vaughters says support for young riders was reduced when the Olympic Games was opened up to professionals in 1996. "Before, young amateur cyclists, such as Armstrong, received a large amount of backing from sponsors because they were to be the athletes representing the US in the Olympic Games. Now, the 17-22 yr olds that once were this country's Olympic hopes have been replaced by older, professional athletes." Rotor turns pro
The Spanish-made Rotor crank, which uses a cam mechanism to vary the rider's foot speed through the pedal stroke, will appear on thebikes of several pro riders this year. According to Rotor's Ignacio Estellés "several racers from different teams" will use the cranks, initially in time trials "as a first step." Since our review of the Rotor crank back in 2002, the system has continued to be developed and refined. The latest version, the RS4, is available with a titanium axle to help offset the Rotor's weight disadvantage over conventional systems, and has been redesigned and restyled. It's also now available with 165mm cranks as well as 170, 172.5, 175 and 180mm. Tubeless clinchersAfter our mention of Michelin's impending tubeless clinchers a couple of weeks ago, several readers wrote last week to point out that Tufo has been making tubeless tyres that fit clincher rims for quite some time. Weeeeell, yes and no. Okay, you got me bang to rights - I forgot about Tufo's fine products. But you could argue that what Tufo makes is a tubular that fits a clincher rim, the difference being that in a tubular the tyre's carcass goes all the way round the air pocket, and in a clincher it doesn't.
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