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Bicycling Australia Show -
Melbourne, AUS, October 13-15, 2006
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Part 3 - November 17: Teschner's Diva range
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By Greg Johnson in Melbourne, Australia
Among the new ranges of women's specific bikes at the Bicycling Australia Show 2006 was Teschner Technologies Group's Diva range. The range, not to be confused with Orbea's Diva range, is inspired and endorsed by Australian Olympic Gold Medalist Sara Carrigan, who was on hand for the launch of Diva at this year's exhibition.
"For too long women have been the 'poor cousins' when it comes to choice in bikes," explained Carrigan. "If they wanted a top line racing bike, more often than not, they've had to buy a bike built for men and then had to spend extra time, effort and money to have it adapted to fit-Diva means an end to compromise and ill-fitting bikes."
The Peter Teschner-designed bikes should remove those issues as the frames have been engineered specifically to accommodate the female body structure, unlike some other women's specific models which retain the men's frame with different componentry. "Compared to men, women traditionally have a shorter trunk length relative to leg length, narrower shoulders and a different pelvic structure," explains Teschner. "This means they need bikes with shorter top tubes, narrower handle bars and different frame angles."
The Teschner Diva range is available in three models, named 1, 2 and 3.
The Diva 3 features a Teschner H e/16 alloy frame with Teschner carbon fibre seat and chain stays. Like the other models in the Diva range, the Diva 3 has Teschner all-carbon forks and a FSA hiddenset headset. The bars, seatpost and stem are all Easton EA50 alloy oversize while the cranks and 10-speed groupset are from Shimano's 105 range. Shimano 105 WH-R5600 20/24 spoke wheels on the Diva 3 are fitted with Vittoria tyres.
Diva 2 shares similar specs to the 3 with the main difference being an option of either SRAM Rival or Shimano Ultegra 10-speed groupset and cranks. It also comes with Shimano Ultegra WH-R6600 16/20 spoke wheels and Easton EA70 alloy oversized 'bars, stem and seatpost.
Finally, at the pointy end of the range, the Diva 1 (pictured) has an Easton GX2 Scandium frame with Teschner carbon fibre seat and chain stays. The 10-speed groupset and cranks are both Shimano Dura-Ace with the WH-7801 16/20 spoke wheelset also coming from the Dura-Ace range. It's fitted with Veloflex tyres and Easton EC90 carbon oversize 'bars and stem with an Easton EC90 carbon seatpost.
"Diva bikes build on our many years of experience building bikes for
riders like Sara Carrigan and come with a full complement of women's specific
components; something we think will be appreciated by all women who enjoy riding
good bikes," adds Teschner.
Teschner cites the rapid growth in the women's market as the driving force behind
his company releasing the range of bikes. "Cycling for women is booming,"
he explains. "There is a real demand for bikes that give them the same
choices in performance, speed and fit as the men so they too can enjoy cycling
with no limits."
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Greg Johnson/Cyclingnews.com
- The Diva 3's Teschner Carbon seat and Easton alloy seatpost
- Teschner is the Australian distributor of Easton products
- Shimano 10-speed 105 groupset and cranks
- Both the Diva 3 and 2 come fitted with Vittoria tyres on Shimano wheelsets
- Teschner has engineered women-specific geometrics for the Diva range
- All bikes in the Diva range feature Easton alloy handlebars and stems
