New Arrivals – March 28, 2006 By John Stevenson & James Huang Got Tech? Send press releases, news, and tech questions to the Cyclingnews tech-heads. Welcome to New Arrivals, a section showcasing the latest equipment that's landed on the Cyclingnews tech desk. Look out for reviews over the next few months when we've clocked up some saddle time with this stuff. Vuelta Carbon Pro WR clinchers Vuelta Carbon Pro WR clincher wheels At 1095g for the rear wheel and 845g for the front, these Carbon Pro WR wheels from Italian wheelmaker Vuelta are not feathery light, but that's not the point. Rather, the aluminium and carbon clincher rim - made by Zipp - and bladed alloy spokes should make for a very quick wheel for time trialling that's tough enough for general road racing use too. The Carbon Pro WR wheels have 12 spokes up front and 16 in back, and while the use of an aluminium rim means they give up something in weight to wheels like Vuelta's tubular carbon Pro WRs, recent rolling resistance measurements pretty conclusively indicate that the best clinchers roll better than the best tubulars. When speed on the flat is what matters, clinchers are therefore the way to go. Vuelta Carbon Pro WR clinchers are available in Shimano and Campagnolo compatible versions and come with Vuelta's 115g/pr XRP quick release skewers./JS More info: www.vuelta.it; In Australia - www.excelpro.com.au DMT Kyoma DMT Kyoma shoes With bikes as light as the UCI will allow, the lightweight war has moved to other areas that we have to lug up hills, such as shoes. DMT's entry into the lightweight footwear fray is the Kyoma; a pair tips the scales at just 530g in size 43. Like other lightweight shoes, the Kyoma dispenses with a heavy ratchet buckle and goes with a simple three-strap closure. The carbon fiber sole has inserts just for Look-pattern cleats and the impressive upper is moulded in one piece of synthetic leather. The DMT Kyoma is available in sizes 37-50, with half sizes 40.5-45.5, in white, silver, and navy blue./JS More info: www.diamantdmt.com; US importer: www.uplandsg.com Vittoria Premium Carbon shoes Vittoria Premium Carbon road shoes At 620g for a pair of size 43s, Vittoria's Premium carbon road shoes are among the lighter buckle-closing shoes we've seen. Vittoria achieves this light weight with a carbon sole and an upper made from a combination of mesh and synthetic leather. The buckle can be moved up and down the side of the shoe to tailor the fit and there's the usual pair of Velcro straps to complete the closure. The sole is drilled for a three-bolt Look-style cleat fitting, which also helps keep the weight down. As well as the pearl finish shown here, the Premium carbon is also available in black and green. If weight really matters to you, there's a version without the ratchet buckle, the Premium 3V, with a three-strap, all-Velcro closure that Vittoria says is just under 40g/pr lighter./JS More info: www.vittoria-shoes.com; In Australia - www.excelpro.com.au Rotor’s new Q-Rings Rotor Q-Rings Rotor now adds a full roster of non-round chainrings to their unique crankset offerings. The new Q-Rings are said to minimize the detrimental effects of the dead spot in the pedal stroke while enhancing power output and decreasing effort. Rotor's flexible Optimum Chainring Position (OCP) system allows for fine-tuning to suit each rider's physiology. Road-going versions of the Q-Rings have already earned elite-level credentials with wins under the legs of Marianne Vos at last season's cyclocross world championships as well as Sergio Ribero (Team Barbot-Halcon) who took Stage 1 in the Volta ao Distrito de Santarém in Portugal earlier this month. Our MTB test set weighs in at 154g for the set (24-34-44T). /JH More info: www.rotorbike.com Rolf Prima TDF 38 Rolf Prima TDF 38 More go-faster wheels, this time from the folks at Rolf Prima. The new TDF 38 wheels weigh in at a claimed 1175g/pr thanks to carbon rims - again from Zipp - and a very low spoke count. With just 14 spokes up front and 16 rear, Rolf claims these are the lowest spoke-count carbon wheels available (which means Rolf has forgotten its own 12-spoke TDF58 wheels and 10/12-spoke Carbon TT wheels). The spokes are of course arranged in Rolf's distinctive paired configuration. To cope with the high spoke tensions and long unsupported spans inherent in the Rolf design, Zipp reengineered the rims for the TDF 38 wheels. "No (other) carbon rim that we know about is capable of carrying the 25,000 LB/square inch point contact pressure that our design requires and thus our rims are immune to splitting at the spoke holes where some other carbon rims fail," says Rolf./JS More info: www.rolfprima.com Maxxis Courchevel tyre Maxxis Courchevel tyres Maxxis' latest road racing tyre uses three different tread materials to improve performance. The Courchevel uses a High Dispersion Silica center tread for long life and low rolling resistance and then has two softer silica based side bands intended to provide increasing grip in corners. To help keep the air in, the Courchevel has a Kevlar belt for puncture resistance and our 23mm samples weigh a very reasonable 210g each./JS More info: www.maxxis.com Want to be like Basso? FSA K-Force Compact MegaExo crankset FSA follows up on last year's SL-K compact road crankset with a new top-level K-Force model. The new crankset offers a monocoque crankarm and spider and machined 7075-T6 rings along with their MegaExo external-bearing bottom bracket design. Our 175mm long test crankset with 34-50T rings weighs 640g (with hardware) while the MegaExo bottom bracket adds an additional 142g. /JH MSRP: US$529.99 More info: www.fullspeedahead.com Careful machining, titanium hardware, FSA OS-115 stem FSA's OS-115 stem features a CNC-machined aluminum body coupled to a carbon fiber four-bolt faceplate. The oversized 31.8mm bar clamp diameter makes for road or mountain handlebar compatibility and titanium hardware keeps the weight down to a low 150g for our 120mm long sample. /JH MSRP: US$119.99 More info: www.fullspeedahead.com The K-Force XC flat bar FSA K-Force XC flat bar The K-Force XC flat bar is FSA's top-level XC MTB bar offering with carbon fiber construction and an oversized center section. This bar features a full 600mm width and a 6° backsweep along with a textured center section to prevent slipping. Our test sample comes in at 122g. /JH MSRP: US$99.99 More info: www.fullspeedahead.com Sampson’s new Stratics carbon road handlebar Sampson Stratics carbon handlebar Sampson's new Stratics oversized carbon road handlebar features a somewhat unconventional look but the unique shape results from their efforts to mold the bar around your hands rather than the other way around. Broad tops are designed to distribute load while other various depressions and curves are meant to enhance comfort and control. The Stratics bar is compatible with Shimano STI or Campy Ergopower levers with deep double cable grooves and unique pseudo-internal routing. Weight for our 42cm wide sample (c-c) is a respectable 236g. /JH MSRP: US$249 More info: www.sampsonsports.com Sampson’s Stratics stem Sampson Stratics stem Sampson offers their Stratics stem to accompany their unique carbon bar. The Stratics stem mates a unique fluted carbon fiber center section to CNC-machined stem and steerer clamps. Our 100mm long test sample weighs 176g. /JH MSRP: US$129 More info: www.sampsonsports.com Linear-pull brakes Mrazek MOC+ Magnesium linear-pull brakes Disc brakes are still tops for ultimate power and modulation, but for situations with less stringent braking demands, linear-pull rim brakes are still king when it comes to saving weight. Mrazek's new MOC+ Magnesium brakes are derived from Ben Capron's original Marinovative design (now nearly 15 years old) and barely tip the scales at a mere 79g per wheel without pads. In spite of the spindly weight, the massive CNC-machined cross section promises minimal flex. /JH MSRP: US$119 per wheel More info: www.mrazek.com Overcoming Overcoming on DVD Cycling documentary Overcoming is now available on DVD. The 105-minute movie focuses on the CSC team in the 2005 Tour de France as Ivan Basso emerges as a future yellow jersey contender and manager Bjarne Riis shows the strain of his team being the centre of attention and expectation. The 100 minutes of extras for the DVD release include a look at the team mechanics, coverage of stage 13, the Alpe d'Huez time trial and an interview with Jens Voigt. Overcoming is available to Australian readers through the Cyclingnews shop and in North America from World Cycling Productions /JS More info: www.overcoming.dk