Ina Teutenberg's T-Mobile Giant TCR Advanced ISP

	Photos ©: Paul Henderson-Kelly/Cyclingnews

Pocket rocket

By John Stevenson

No seat post

Tucked in

Giant carbon fork

Bare carbon

The saddle mount

The seat cluster

Control centre

SRM/Dura-Ace cranks

Cables galore

Attack!

Fi'zi:k Arione tri saddle

Ina Teutenberg's T-Mobile Giant TCR Advanced ISP
Photo ©: Paul Henderson-Kelly

Ina Teutenberg is very happy with her new bike. A contender for the title of the world's fastest-finishing female road racer, though the modest Teutenberg would never claim it, the German sprinter is in town for two World Cups and two stage races in Australia and New Zealand that have seen her based in Sydney.

And it's been a successful trip Down Under for the T-mobile rider, who landed the Geelong World Cup, two stages of the New Zealand Trust House Tour, a stage of the Geelong Tour and third in the Wellingtonm World Cup, making her T-Mobile's most successful rider of the year to date, and puttingher in the lead in the World Cup series.

As last year, Teutenberg is aboard a carbon fiber Giant bike, but this year the team is equipped with Giant's top-dollar TCR Advanced ISP frame (known in some territories as the Advanced LE, just to keep things nice and confusing). The principal difference between this bike and Teutenberg's 2005 mount is the integrated seat tube. Instead of a separate seat post, the ISP's seat tube extends all the way up to the saddle, which is mounted on a clamp that wraps round the tube. Interchangeable spacers between the top of the tube and the clamp allow for a bit of seat height adjustment, but the coarse adjustment is done with a saw the mechanic cuts the seat tube to the right length.

The construction makes the ISP one of the lightest frames around, and it's almost trivial to build up a bike that hits the UCI's 6.8kg lower weight limit.

Teutenberg's bike is equipped with Shimano Dura-Ace components, with one almost-exception: the Dura-Ace version of SRM's power-measuring cranks. At this level, power meters seem to have almost completely taken over from heart rate monitors as the measuring tool of choice, and it doesn't hurt that advances in other areas of the bike mean there's 'spare' weight to accommodate the extra grams of the built-in instrumentation. T-Mobile riders were still using their SRMs during the tours and World Cups.

Shimano also supplies T-Mobile's wheels, and Teutenberg has the shiny new WH-7801-SL wheels, among the first wheels to claim compatibility with the emerging tubeless tyre standard for road bikes. At the moment, though, Teutenberg has Continental Force and Attack tyres on them, with regular tubes.

Deda supplies the team's handlebars and stems. Teutenberg's Newton stem is 120mm long, providing the kind of long, low riding position that sprinters favour. The handlebar - also a Newton - is 38cm centre-to-centre. A front view of Teutenberg going hard for the line epitomizes the phrase 'pocket rocket'.

Saddles are always a topic that gets women riders talking (usually in ways that make any blokes in the vicinity wince and decide to go make the tea). Teutenberg uses a fizik Arione Tri because, "I had surgery a couple of years ago and [afterwards] fizik was the only saddle that worked." I'll put the kettle on, then.

Fortunately, T-Mobile riders are allowed to choose their own saddles and shoes, so Teutenberg's preference doesn't clash with any team sponsor obligations, and the same is true of her taste for DMT shoes, which clip into the inevitable Shimano Dura-Ace pedals.

Photos

For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here

Images by Paul Henderson-Kelly/Cyclingnews

• Ina Teutenberg using way more hands than are actually needed to carry her Giant TCR Advanced LE
• Ina Teutenberg's T-Mobile Giant TCR Advanced LE
• No seat post - the uninterrupted flow of the frame up into the seat tube is the most striking aspect of the TCR LE frame.
• Tucked in - Giant shapes the back of the seat tube to make room for the tyre - a sign of very short chainstays.
• Giant carbon fork turns on an FSA integrated headset.
• Bare carbon - most of the frame is left unadorned so you can admire the weave.
• The saddle mount with a few millimetres of spacer to get the seat height right.
• The seat cluster - a closer look at the unusual one-piece construction of this area. the seatstays plug in just above the brake bolt.
• Dura-Ace front derailleur on Giant's bolt-on frame mount.
• Control centre with 38cm Deda bars and her SRM read-out, Teutenberg is in charge.
• Dura-Ace rear derailleur on Giant's two-bolt removable hanger
• SRM/Dura-Ace cranks with a 38 inner ring for training in the hills - Teutenberg usually runs a 39.
• Cables galore - information from the cranks and the wheel is carried up to Teutenberg's SRM handlebar unit.
• Dura-Ace brakes bring Teutenberg to a halt after she's stormed across the line.
• Shimano Dura-Ace brake/shift levers set relatively high for a flat handlebar transition.
• Attack! Continental's 22mm Attack front tyre pairs up with the 23mm Force model in back.
• Fi'zi:k Arione tri saddle shows the marks of lots and lots of training and racing kilometres.
• Shimano Dura-Ace pedals - the Lance factor lingers.