Tech News April 27, 2005
Edited by John Stevenson
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Lance's new Advantage
Giro TT helmet goes to next level
By Tim Maloney
Tom Danielson's new Giro
Advantage TT helmet
Photo ©: Tim Maloney
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The inside
Photo ©: Tim Maloney
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Giro's VP of marketing Greg
Shapleigh
Photo ©: Tim Maloney
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Giro designer Greg Mardin
Photo ©: Tim Maloney
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Last year at the Dauphiné Libéré, we saw Giro's
prototype in-mold TT helmet that was compatible with the UCI's new safety
standard. At this year's Tour de Georgia, Giro's senior marketing manager
Toshi Corbett showed us the production version of this speedy lid that
is part of the Santa Cruz, CA firm's contribution to the ongoing F-One
project designed to give Lance Armstrong and his Discovery Channel teammates
a competitive advantage when it comes to equipment.
Giro has taken the F-One program literally in creating a name for the
aero topper, calling the sleek silver head bullet the 'Advantage.' Corbett
told Cyclingnews, "over two years ago when Lance asked us to give him
the best and fastest material available, the F-One Project was born. At
Giro, we set a benchmark to save 13 seconds in a 56km TT in the Tour de
France. Last year, the version you saw at the Dauphiné and the
Tour was a 'tape on' version, not an in-mold version." That's helmet-speak
for a helmet where the polycarbonate plastic shell is taped to the expanded
polystyrene (EPS) liner.
"This prototype was UCI approved just before the Dauphiné last
year, but then our plan was to move forward with an in-mold version of
this TT helmet, as it would provide a slightly outline that provides a
lower, more aerodynamic profile for the helmet. So this helmet should
be even faster than the previous model."
Corbett delved deeper into the technical aspects of the Giro Advantage,
telling Cyclingnews, "What is so unique about this helmet is that we were
able to overcome the major manufacturing challenges of building this helmet.
It's as revolutionary as when the first in-mold helmets were introduced.
Since the helmet is made on a mold, incorporating the portion of the structure
below the midline of the helmet was very difficult to make. But our Giro
team, with Greg Marding and Dave Debus was able to implement this. Marding
is the guy who has designed all of Giro's TT helmets for Lance since 1999
and our new Advantage is the fastest, best fitting and most comfortable
TT helmet going."
Non-sponsored speed merchants can expect to see the new Giro Advantage,
which is EC safety approved (European Community only) available in Spring
2006.
Sneak Peak: Pinarello's new F 4:13 Carbon
By Tim Maloney
Pinarello's new F 4:13 Carbon
Photo ©: Tim Maloney
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Pinarello's F 4:13 Carbon
Photo ©: Tim Maloney
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Any time Trevio, Italy based Pinarello presents a new model, it's cause
for considerable excitement. This weekend at the Rimini Bicycle Show,
Pinarello's new carbon bike, the F 4:13 Carbon will be officially presented
to the public but Cyclingnews managed to intercept Fausto Pinarello
as he was loading his new model into the van on the way to Rimini.
Fausto himself told us, "We have been working on this new model for several
years and after a lot of development and road testing, now it's ready."
Pinarello explained, "the F 4:13 Carbon is made in the latest high-modulus
carbon fibre, with a monocoque frame. We took a lot of time to develop
the tune shapes for aerodynamics, light weight and ridigity. Then we added
our proven ONDA fork and rear triangle and a M.O.st. oversize bottom bracket.
I'm really happy the way the F 4:13 has turned out."
Destined for racers and cicloamatori, the new Pinarello F 4:13 Carbon
is available in three colorways (Black Evil, Blue Sky & Red Devil) and
will be available at Pinarello dealers worldwide later this spring.
New from Deda
Deda's new aero combo
Photo ©: Deda
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Deda's new Campione
Photo ©: Deda
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The superformed Mara
Photo ©: Deda
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Component maker Deda recently announced a swathe of new parts, some completely
new and some tweaks on its existing designs.
First up is the latest incarnation of Deda's time trial handlebar combo,
the Aeroblack 0° and a new serobar extension, the Fastblack. The carbon
fiber Aeroblack 0° is suitable for Ergopower and reversed brake levers
and has channels for internal cable routing with 4-way adjustable armrests.
It's available in 42, 44 and 46cm widths, measured edge to edge.
The FastBlack centre extensions in carbon fiber are designed for handlebars
with a 31.75mm centre section and are available with the same 4-way adjustable
armrests as the AeroBlack.
For more conventional purposes, Deda has two new handlebars, the carbon
Campione and aluminium Mara. The Campione shares construction technology
with Deda's current Spectrum bar, but with a round section and 'classic'
(non-anatomic) bend. Deda has extended the centre bulge of the Campione
to increase rigidity and added a double cable groove for cable tidiness.
The Campione will be available in 42, 43, 44 and 46cm widths and Deda
is claiming a very impressive 189g weight.
If your tastes and pocket don't stretch to carbon bars, the new Mara
looks to be one of the most interesting aluminium bars for a while. Deda
has deployed the shaping technique it calls superforming to give a flat
top section of the sort seen on some carbon fiber bars, and the drop is
proportional to the width, so sizes go 40cm/138mm, 42cm/140mm, 44cm/142mm,
and 46cm/144mm.
More pics of the new Deda gear
Shimano 2006
According to Cyclingnews' bike industry spies and sources, Shimano's
2006 line-up will contain quite a bit of more or less exactly what you'd
expect, given the way the Japanese component giant has trickled features
down its range in recent years. For example, 2004 saw 10-speed Dura-Ace
(yes, we know it was bally-hooed in 2003 and available at the end of that
year, but we're talking Shimano Product Years here which don't always
mesh with the calendar) and this year we got 10-speed Ultegra, so what
would you expect for 2006? Yep, 10-speed 105 is on its way for everyone
whose budgets don't quite stretch to Ultegra. We understand that the new
group will also feature a Hollowtech II two-piece crankset and redesigned
brake/shift levers.
On the mountain bike side we've seen XTR with Dual Control 'flipper'
shifters and Hollowtech II in 2003; Deore XT in 2004 and Deore LX in 2005.
For 2006, then, those features trickle down to the mid-range Deore group.
Also confirmed for 2006 are the new Dura-Ace wheels for tubeless tyres
of which Shimano
displayed prototypes at Interbike last year, a development that strongly
implies at least one of the tyre makers that's been working on a tubeless
system expects to have the bugs out by next year.
Roubaix suspension nothing new
After we featured George
Hincapie's suspended carbon fiber Trek proto that he rode to the podium
at Paris-Roubaix a couple weeks ago, we got several emails pointing out
antecedents to Hincapie's bike such as the Moots YBB and any number of
similar 'soft-tail' mountain bikes. And of course, RockShox Ruby suspension
forks have been used numerous times to take the sting out of Paris-Roubaix's
brutal cobbles.
Perhaps the most interesting email we received was from Bill Wildberger,
a former managing director of LeMond Bicycles from the days before LeMond
was part of the Trek Empire.
"I read with interest the story of the development and production of
the Trek bikes produced especially for the pave. This is not the first
time, however, that rear suspension road bikes have been designed especially
for the "Hell of the North" race," writes Bill. "In the early nineties
Lemond Bicycles, during one of its pre Trek incarnations, provided both
LeMond and two time Paris Roubaix winner and fellow GAN team member, Gilbert
Duclos-Lassalle, rear suspension road bikes quite similar to the design
of the Treks used this year."
The tech desk has to confess that while we knew there had been plenty
of previous soft-tail bikes (we didn't mention them because tech articles
would get rather long if we traced every idea's antecedents back to Archibald
Sharp's 1896 book Bicycles & Tricycles), we didn't realize any
of them had been ridden in Paris-Roubaix.
The early 90s LeMonds were very different from Hincapie's bike, however.
"A major difference was that the frame material was 3Al/2.5V titanium,"
Bill writes, "and the frames were designed and produced in Denver by the
now defunct Clark Kent bicycle factory which was producing all the LeMond
titanium frames during that period. My best recollection is that Duclos-Lasalle
finished second but in the final kilometers of the race was forced to
switch bikes due to a flat and did not finish on the rear suspension model.
The prototype models were tested in the bricks and debris of the construction
site of Denver's Coors Field under the observation of the Denver Police
who stopped me to find out what I was doing riding a bike around the site.
LeMond of course participated in the design concept, thus adding yet another
innovation to the long list which he brought to the peloton during his
career."
After his wins in 1992 and 1993, Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle didn't again
make the podium of Paris-Roubaix. If Duclos-Lassalle wasn't aboard a LeMond
soft-tail in 92 or 93, Hincapie's ride may have been the first time a
rear suspension bike has been ridden to the Paris-Roubaix podium.
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