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Tech News – May 16, 2003
Edited by Paul Mirtschin
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Simoni's "Spider" bike
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Cannondale have chosen the Giro d'Italia to show off their new lighter chainrings and spider, and to draw attention to the new parts, have painted up Gilberto Simoni's Saeco CAAD7 frame with cobwebs and one of the meanest looking creepy-crawlies in the Pro peloton.
The new spider and rings shave 27 grams off an already lightweight crank, bringing the entire Hollowgram crankset and bottom bracket system to just 643 grams.
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Cannondale had the bike shipped to Bologna, Italy, where an artist spent five days applying the custom paintwork to the frame, Slice Si carbon fibre fork and the Cinelli Ram stem/handlebar combination.
Simoni thinks the spider graphics match his riding style perfectly. "The spider is small in stature, but also clever and astute," said Simoni. "Also, the spider climbs its web with great skill and speed to attack its victims, as I hope to climb in the coming weeks in the Alps and the Appenines."
Simoni's "Spider" bike is the second work of art that the Italian artist has produced for Cannondale and Saeco, with Fabio Sacchi's "Leopard" bike being the first.
More Geminis
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Cannondale is set to release two new mountain bike frames, both based on this years popular Gemini frame.
The Gemini Thru12 and GeminiDH are both products of a years testing under Cedric Gracia and mechanic Doug Dalton. Both bikes feature the "keyed" rear, as found on Gracia's Team DH bike, to reduce flex in the rear of the bike.
The Thru12 will be available as a complete bike as of September, while the GeminiDH will only be sold as a frameset including rear hub, floating brake link, and rear shock. Cannondale's Scott Montgomery told Cyclingnews that the GeminiDH is slated for a July release.
Scott Carbon Concept bike
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Scott USA has rolled out what could be one of the spunkiest carbon fibre bikes of the year, the C1.
Designed with input from the Jean Delatour team, the 850-gram (54cm) C1 Carbon Concept uses a special carbon lay technique to form what Scott calls the Shock Dampening System (SDS). SDS is claimed to provide a level of shock reduction without compromising lateral stiffness.
The C1 also uses the same HMF (High Modular Fibres) technology as its Strike full suspension mountain bike, claimed to be the lightest and strongest MTB frame on the market.
New Optygen formula
First Endurance has improved the formula of its Optygen endurance supplement. Originally containing one percent rosavins extract, the new second-generation Optygen formula contains three percent rosavins extract.
Robert Kunz, Sr. VP of Research and Development at First Endurance said of the new formula, "Clinical studies on elite endurance athletes have shown that it is the rosavins in Rhodiola that play a critical role in allowing the body to adapt to high levels of physical stress"
The improved formulation was released to dealers on May 6, however the price remains the same.
Bike the bus to work
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An astute reader brought this behemoth of a bike to our attention, but I don't think it will be winning Le Tour anytime soon.
Built on a DAF 95 truck chassis, the 32 "seat" human powered bus is the brainchild of the W.S.V. Simon Stevin student organization. Measuring 11.3 meters in length, and a mere 2.5 meters in width, the 32 person-power bus has an expected top speed of 20km/h.
80 meters of chain winds its way down to a Scania gearbox with 10 forward and two reverse gears. It is expected that the two rearmost riders will make the beeping noise if reverse is ever engaged.
The bus has been used to take students from Eindhoven University of Technology to a brewery and back, where torque was measured at 2000 Nm towards the brewery and 800 Nm for the return trip.
Airborne break the sound barrier
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Airborne has announced details on its new X-1 Multisport/Time Trial bike, due for a 2004 release.
Named after Chuck" Yeager's Bell X-1, the first aircraft to break the sound barrier, the X-1 is made from custom drawn 3Al/2.5V seamless cold worked titanium tubing with internal cable routing and a huge oversized 40mm seat tube with rear wheel cutout.
The X-1 is available in both 650c and 700c wheel configurations as well as custom geometry.
Photos
- The cranks on Dario Pieri's bike
- Built to fit Dario Pieri
- Simoni's cranks in their lightweight glory
- Watch out, the bike bites
- A close up of the custom paintwork
- An illustration of the Gemini Thru12
- Off to the pub we go
- All aboard, please move to the back
- Cool, I get to drive
- Is that a Campy crank down there?
- Looking under the hood
- Everybody pedal, but not to fast
- That's a lot of chain to lube
- If it's made from carbon, it is found here
- The rear of the Scott C1
- The seat is carbon, but the post isn't
- It even climbs hills on its own
- Can you tell it is a Scott?
- Hi-tech frame, hi-tech name
- Even the bare frame looks fast
- From behind, the wheel cut-out is noticable
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