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Photos ©:Steve Medcroft/Cyclingnews
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Maaahk the Shaaahk
By Steve Medcroft
Mark McCormack
Photo ©: Steve Medcroft
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Velo Cross Flow
Photo ©: Steve Medcroft
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A rear-facing
Photo ©: Steve Medcroft
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Felt uses
Photo ©: Steve Medcroft
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The Colavita team
Photo ©: Steve Medcroft
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Profile Design
Photo ©: Steve Medcroft
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For US Pro Champion
Photo ©: Steve Medcroft
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11-21 cassette
Photo ©: Steve Medcroft
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In an environment
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In homage to Mark McCormack's New England roots, it says Maaahk on
a strip of label tape on the top tube of his Felt F1C. It should say
Maaahk the Shaaahk after his performance in the CSC
Invitational in Arlington, Virginia last Saturday
Like a shark prowling shallow waters for the leg of an unwary surfer, The former U.S. professional road and cyclo-cross National Champion patiently and skillfully maneuvered through a churning sea of racers and into the final group - one of only 24 riders to remain of the more than 120 starters.
Elite racers know that even if they make the final selection, if they're
more than ten spots from the front they stand little chance of winning
in a tight, 0.6-kilometer, five-turn criterium like CSC. McCormack,
instead of waiting to fight it out in a straight-up sprint, took an
aggressive line outside the group on the final turn and found himself
protected enough from a headwind by the right-field barriers that he
was able to break twenty yards clear for the win.
The reason he was able to take tricky turn number five at high speed, a turn that sent riders to the hospital and crashed breakaway rider Brent Bookwalter (Priority Health) out of the lead? The unique cornering characteristics of his Felt F1C, says McCormack.
Started by motocross engineer Jim Felt just five years ago to offer frames for triathletes, Felt has grown from a US-only company with just six models to distribution across 27 countries and 140 models in the catalog.
McCormack has been riding Felt's road and cyclo-cross machines since he joined the Colavita squad in 2004. The F1C pictured here was issued to him at the team's pre-season training camp in January, 2006.
According to McCormack, his first impression of the three-piece construction,
high-modulous carbon F1C frame was all positive. "I loved it from
the moment I saw it," he said from his hotel between Commerce Bank
Triple Crown races. "The look, the feel, the responsiveness were
all amazing and it's the lightest bike I have ever ridden."
In the 60cm configuration (McCormack's size), the F1C is put together
with 74-degree head tube, 73.5-degree seat-tube and a 600mm center-to-center
top tube length. The all-carbon frameset is laid up in three pieces;
front triangle, seat stays and chain stays separately. Felt says that
the process allows them exploit the benefits of working with carbon;
namely being able to shape tubes to maximize stiffness where you want
it (laterally and torsionally) and to reduce it a little for comfort
where you don't (vertically).
Taking advantage for Felt means changing tubing configurations all
over the front triangle. The top tube alone shifts through three diameter,
radius and shape changes. Felt swears this isn't an aesthetic exercise.
"The large diameters at the head tube and bottom bracket along
with increased wall thickness promote stiffness," Felt says on
its Web site. "They then transition into smaller diameters with
a reduction in wall thickness, providing a beautiful hourglass-shape
and effectively damping out vibrations."
McCormack says all these design elements are the reason he was able to get through turn number five at CSC so well. "In high-speed corners on slightly bumpy pavement, this bike doesn't get the shuttering feeling as it seems to soak up the bumps and keep my tires in contact with the pavement."
That soak of road jitter in corners has given McCormack more confidence in the turns. "I feel like I have even better control due to the forgiving nature of the bike on the smaller bumps."
McCormack says although Felt's carbon road frame (which is matte clear-coated
rather than painted or glossed) is as high-performance as a bike can
get, he still rides his 7005 Superlite custom-butted aluminum F1X
cyclo-cross bike and Easton SC7000 Scandium SC1 road bike. "I
train on and race on the SC1 when I'm at home. I race the F1X in winter."
As for the rest of the build, whereas some pros tinker with every little
component on their bikes trying to eke an ounce here and an ounce there,
Colavita takes a straight-up approach to sponsor components; running
a Reynolds Ouzo Pro carbon fork, Maxxis Courchevel tires, Profile Design
bars, stems and seat post and Shimano Dura-Ace for everything else.
"We have input on which Profile bars and stems and Maxxis tires
to ride," McCormack says, "but I have nothing but great things
to say about everything on my bike. It rides smooth, goes fast, and
works just as well for hilly road races, technical criteriums, and long
training rides."
Photos
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by
Steve Medcroft/Cyclingnews.com
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Mark McCormack
poses at the start of the CSC Invitational in Arlington, VA June 3rd. He would win the race two hours later with skillful positioning around the final corner for the field sprint
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Colavita / Sutter Homes
Felt F1C
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Velo Cross Flow
saddle over a Profile Design Elite Strada carbon seatpost
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A forward-facing
view of the double-diamond top-tube design on the F1C
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A rear-facing
view of the same
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Felt uses
ultra-high modulous, 3K weave in a monocoque layup to produce a stiff and light carbon frame
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The Colavita team
runs the full Shimano Dura-Ace build with no modifications. Even the wheels come from Shimano. The production F1C ships with Mavic Ksyrium ES carbon wheels
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Profile Design
supplies most of the non-Shimano parts to complete the build. These carbon bottle cages weigh only 29-grams
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For US Pro Champion
Mark McCormack wants you to notice that he ran a 55 large chainring on his Shimano Dura-Ace Hollowtech 2 crankset
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11-21 cassette
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In an environment
when pro riders could have a bar filled with power, heartrate and GPS, McCormack runs a simple Polar heartrate monitor setup on his race bike
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The cockpit
on McCormack's Felt F1C; Profile Design Lava OS aluminum bars and stem and Shimano's Dura-Ace STI Dual Control levers
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