Tech News – November 9, 2004 Edited by John Stevenson Got tech? Send press releases, news, and tech questions to the Cyclingnews tech-heads. Wilier goes with Cofidis, gets certified The Cofidis Wilier Photo ©: Wilier Cofidis has signed a two-year deal to ride Wilier Triestina bikes from 2005, Wilier has announced. The deal, which includes an option to renew for two more years, will see Cofidis mostly riding scandium-aluminium frames similar to the ones supplied to the Gerolsteiner team in 2003-4. Cofidis will also get Le Roi and Imperiale carbon fiber frames, plus time trial frames, for a total of five bikes each. Wilier Triestina supplied two pro teams with bikes in 2004, Gerolsteiner and Lampre. However, the company is believed to have been outbid by Specialized for the 2005 Gerolsteiner deal, and lost the Lampre involvement in the details of the Saeco-Lampre merger. Wilier CEO Andrea Gastaldello is therefore very happy about the Cofidis deal. "Working for a renowned Pro Tour team perfectly matches our international commercial strategy," he said. "France is our main foreign market and being partner of a team like Cofidis will surely increase the diffusion and the level of our brand. As for Cofidis' new bicycles, they'll be the result of all the improvements we have made while working with two great professional teams like Lampre and Gerolsteiner, and with two extraordinary riders like ex world champion Igor Astarloa and Davide Rebellin." Wilier Le Roi Photo ©: Wilier In other Wilier news, the company's Le Roi carbon fiber frame has just received one of the highest technical accolades around. German test lab EFBe Prüftechnik GmbH (Engineering for Bikes) has given the Le Roi its highest certification standard, EFBe-Standard 1300 or 'Top Performance'. EFBe performs 100,000-cycle fatigue tests on frames at three different levels of loading on the pedals. The lowest of the three levels, 'Standard Performance' involves an 1100N pedal load, and EFBe says this is the minimum standard it feels race bikes should achieve. The 'High Performance' level indicates the frame has survived 100,000 cycles at a 1200N load, while the 1300N 'Top Performance' level is recommended for bikes that will see a lot of intense efforts or a heck of a lot of distance. The Wilier Le Roi is only the third sub-1000g frame to achieve the 'Top Performance' standard (the other two were the 2004 Scott CR1 and its 2003 predecessor the C1 Team). Wilier's scandium-aluminium Gerolsteiner team frame also meets the Top performance standard, though it's a shade heavier at 1200g. More information: www.wilier.it Tubeless road tyres - not just yet By John Stevenson Back in February Michelin and Mavic announced that they were collaborating on a project to bring to road bikes the kind tubeless tyre technology that's been successful and popular on mountain bikes. It sounded like a good idea, and my own subsequent use of tubeless mountain bike tyres has sold me on the notion, though the biggest advantage - lack of pinch flats aka snakebites - is less of a big deal on the road. Back in February Michelin's folks said they hoped to have tyres in the shops by 2005. Se then we've heard that Hutchinson was also on the program, and Shimano showed prototype wheels at the Interbike show, so that's four of the heaviest hitters in the hoop world on board. However, in terms of actual stuff you can buy in the shops, so far, nothing has emerged. According to Steve White of Michelin USA, the problem is one of getting the details exactly right, particularly with regard to tyre repairs in the field. "There are standardization issues being worked out as far as rim width and tyre profiles go," White told Cyclingnews. "A new rim design [was produced] that helps with roadside repair, and that meant we had to go back to the drawing board." White said that field reparability was a big concern for the partners in the tubeless project. "It's not an issue if you're being followed by a team car," he said, but it obviously matters for regular riders. As a result of the ongoing development, it looks as though we won't see these wheels and tyres any time soon. "We'd like to see it happen for 2006," said White. "the goal was 2005, but that's now slipped." Zero Gravity on a budget Zero Gravity has announced a second, less expensive model of its lightweight road bike brake calipers. By using stainless steel components in place of the original version's titanium parts, Zero G has been able to get the price per pair of the brakes to US$265, compared to the original's $355. Claimed weight of the new brakes - dubbed OG-SS - is 215g per pair, which compares well with the 200g/pr of the first incarnation of the titanium-equipped brake, though subsequent development allowed Zero Gravity design wizard Ted Ciamillo to trim them down to 180g/pr. The OG-SS brakes will be available November 15. Zero Gravity tells us that the latest versions of the brakes - both the steel and titanium incarnations - will also now come with Corima cork pads in place of the Koolstop ones used previously. The lightened Koolstop pads proved too difficult to manufacture, while the Corima units are lighter and work with both carbon and aluminium rims. More information: www.zerogravitybike.com Zipp's ultimate wheels Hankering after a set of Zipp wheels, but thinking that perhaps they're not quite exclusive enough for your custom-made carbon fiber and unobtainium time trial rig? Zipp has announced new models in its Z series 'ultimate' versions of its wheels, which - thanks to careful tweaking and component selection - are even lighter than its regular offerings. Anyone who's ever rummaged through a bike shop's stock of rims with a scale in hand knows that rims vary from their nominal weight, sometimes by as much as ten percent. This is true of Zipp's carbon rims too, which sometimes come out 30g or so lighter than average. Zipp uses these rims as the basis for its Z series wheels, and only 100 of each type will be available. As well as lightweight rims, the Z series wheels use ceramic bearings to save a few more grams, plus hub shells that undergo additional machining to remove all unnecessary material. The results is wheels that weigh as little as a claimed 985g per pair for the Z2, a saving of almost 100g over the 'standard' Zipp 202. New for 2005 in the Z wheel line are Z6, Z8 and Z99 combinations. The Z6 pairs a 58mm front rim with an 82mm deep-v in back, for a fast wheel set that's less affected by crosswinds, while the Z8 is based on the 808 wheels introduced at the 2004 Tour de France, and features two dimpled 82mm rims. Finally the Z99 matches a dimpled 82mm front rim with a dimpled disc rear for what Zipp claims is its fastest wheel set. More information: www.zipp.com Fuji even more on track Fuji Track Pro Photo ©: Fuji Fuji Bicycles has come on board as equipment sponsor of one of the few track racing teams currently running in the US. The Northwestern Mortgage Pro Cycling Team was formed out of a partnership between Jame Carney's endurance track squad from 2004 and Fuji Bicycle's T.E.A.M. Fuji and for 2005 will comprise both an elite and development squad. Fuji makes two track bikes, the steel Track and the aluminium Track Pro. The pro team will consist of Jame Carney, Bobby Lea, Mike Friedman, Joshua Kerkhof, Guillaume Nelessen and Becky Conzelman. Development riders include: Shane Kline, Brian Friend, Rich Schenck, Colleen Hayduk, Lauren Shirock, and Erica Allar.