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Schroeder Iron Litespeed

Jacob Erker's Litespeed Sirius is a compact frame design made of ALite aluminium with titanium-enhanced carbon seat stays.

The Sirius is far from your traditional bicycle frame, featuring a three sided top tube and oversized teardrop downtube. The compact frame provides responsive handling, while the carbon stays and generous rake on the front fork aim to give a supple ride.

Jelly Belly/Carlsbad Clothing Orbea with Velomax wheels

For 2003, the Jelly Belly/Carlsbad Clothing team join Euskaltel-Euskadi and Milaneza-MSS having Orbea as their principal bike sponsor.

Deep rim wheels were once considered suitable only for time trials, but have gained popularity in mass-start stages recently. Velomax's Tempest II tubular carbon wheels are an example, with a massive 56mm rim profile and elliptical profile spokes. But that's not all! At 1265 grams per pair, the going is almost as easy when the road veers skywards.

7Up/Maxxis Cannondale with Maxxis tyres

Maxxis provide the rubber (tyres, that is) for Cyclingnews diarist John Lieswyn to satisfy his penchant for cornering at 50 clicks an hour. The Suwanee, Georgia firm produces a range of tyres for every cycling discipline and virtually every other discipline - even tyres for racing karts and lawnmowers!

Now getting back to the cycling. The Xenith Hors Categorie is a high-performance road tyre that features a familiar dual compound tread with a more durable compound for the mid-strip to to provide long wear and low rolling resistance and a softer rubber for the outer strips for increased cornering grip.

Saturn Lemond

LeMond's Tete de Course titanium lugged carbon bikes are the latest offering that bears the name of a three-time winner of the Tour de France, two World Championships and countless other races. The carbon main triangle is OCLV 110 moulded as one piece, with the 3/2.5 titanium "spine" meeting the carbon triangle at the bottom bracket.

Reynolds carbon forks are also featured on the Saturn team bikes, custom painted to match that familiar yellow and black which we've seen on the podium this year more times than John Lieswyn would care to remember. It was also reported after Redlands that Chris Horner and Tom Danielson were both riding the new Reynolds Ouzo Pro Lite forks, a super light version of their popular Ouzo Pro.

Schroeder Iron Litespeed with Reynolds wheels

Last summer, Reynolds - a company that grew up in Birmingham, England in 1898 building bike frames - forged a partnership with MacLean Quality Composites (MQC), a high-end manufacturer of moulded carbon fibre products.

This year, with MQC's expertise, Reynolds have produced two very nice wheelsets: the Cirro SV, an all purpose, lightweight wheel with a 23mm rim height weighing 1175 grams per pair, and the Stratus DV (pictured), a deep rim (46mm) wheel best suited for time trials and criteriums, weighing in at a shade over 1200 grams.

Health Net Look with Topolino wheels

Team Health Net uses boutique manufacturer Topolino to keep their boys rolling when training and racing.

The Bethel, Connecticut firm's fancy smancy wheels feature a thermoplastic carbon fibre composite for the hub shell, claimed to be as strong and 45 per cent lighter than aerospace aluminium, while their show-stopping spokes are a kevlar/carbon composite, with a 50 per cent higher spoke count used on the drive-side flange of the rear wheel.