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Reviewed March 12, 2005
Trent Wilson's Colombia-Selle Italia Corratec by Mauro Sannino
Willo's wheelsBy Anthony Tan
One may have thought the change of bike supplier from Italian to German was a strange one, particularly for an Italian registered team like Colombia-Selle Italia, but Trent Wilson's Corratec is in fact built by a famous frame builder from Turin. Mauro Sannino has been working his craft for over 30 years, and was hired specifically to build custom carbon-fibre frames for Corratec, and in particular, for Colombia-Selle Italia. "We received an offer from them, and it was an offer interesting to me. The bikes are good, so we made a deal," says directtore sportivo Gianni Savio when asked how the arrangement came about. The tubes in the main triangle are formed from a six-layer carbon composite, with the top and down tubes varying in shape (from round to conical) and wall thickness (as low as 0.8mm), "oriented for optimal lateral stiffness and axial stiffness", according to Corratec's website. As well as varying the wall thickness to keep the weight right down, all lugs are made entirely of carbon, although friction-sensitive contact points such as the headset bearing seat, bottom bracket shell and seatpost socket have aluminium inserts, encased in fibreglass for protection. Moving to the rear, both the chainstays and seatstays use what's now commonly referred to as 'Monobox' construction, where the stays run into an internally-strengthened casing at the seat and bottom bracket cluster. The company claims the overall strength of the frame is strengthened as well as being more aesthetically pleasing - but what does 'Willo' think about all of this? "It was the pretty much same as being on any new bike: stiff. Any bike after 12 months is gonna get a bit flexy, and the Daccordi I suppose was showing its age," he says about his former steed of yesteryear. While a carbon-lugged, carbon frame is nothing too spectacular in itself, one of the more interesting features of this frame are the elastomer inserts at both the fork and chainstays. Similar to the Zertz elastomers used by Specialized in their Roubaix Pro model but with greater flexibility, Corratec (or more correctly, Dedaccai) allows each rider to choose between three different inserts depending on the road surface most used, from 'basic' to 'extreme damping'. Another significant change for Colombia-Selle Italia is the team's choice of components, now a blend of Shimano Dura-Ace and American firm Bullet Bros., who kit out team with their Zzyzx carbon cranks. The change seems a strange one, so I ask the über-cool Savio if it's difficult for a non-ProTour team to line up equipment sponsors: "I have no problem getting equipment sponsors," he says firmly. (okay, good Gianni... ) "Clothing, for example, we have a good contract with Santini. Previously, we were Daccordi with Campagnolo; now we are Corratec with Shimano." Wilson doesn't mind the change; receiving the bike a few days before the start of the Tour de Langkawi, he says the hardest thing for him was getting used to the Shimano hoods and STI gear levers again after a two-year absence, believing the Campy hoods to be slightly more to his liking, but enjoying the clean, precise shifting often associated with Dura-Ace. Although enjoying the extra padded comfort of his Genuine Gel Selle Italia Flite saddle, he found the rails to be a little on the short side, which caused a few teething problems in terms of his initial set-up. "I sit 8.5 centimetres behind the [bottom] bracket, and I could only get just under 8. But the bike is good. I'm more forward on this bike, but it's alright," muses Willo in his typical Aussie drawl. PhotosFor a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here Images by Anthony Tan/Cyclingnews
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Full specificationFrame: 2005 Corratec by Mauro Sannino Critical measurements Cranks: Bullet Bros. Zzyzx 10 speed carbon, 172.5mm, 39/53 |
Rim: Ambrosio Excellight Bar: Deda Newton 26.0, 44cm (C-C) Pedals: Time RXS | ||||||||||||||
