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Pro bikes, February 24, 2007
Juan Jose Haedo's Team CSC Cervélo Soloist Carbon
By James Huang After a fruitful stay racing domestically in the US with the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team, Juan José (or J.J. as he is better known) Haedo made the jump to racing in Europe with Team CSC. Haedo first caught the eye of Team CSC director Bjarne Riis after winning two stage wins at the 2006 Tour of California, and now joins a star-studded cast as the team's first pure sprinter making his team debut at the same race which was arguably responsible for bringing him into the limelight. With the new team comes new sponsorship, and Haedo has swapped last year's aluminum and carbon United frame for a full-carbon Cervélo Soloist Carbon, winner of our Reader Poll this year for Best Team Bike. Visually speaking, the frame's dramatically deep aerodynamic tube sections are what immediately draw the eye. However, while the ability to efficiently slice through the air certainly can't hurt as Haedo makes for the finish line, aero tube profiles are not at the top of his list of priorities when it comes to equipment. Haedo began his career as a track racer in Argentina and so it should likely come as no surprise that the frame's ability to effectively transfer power to the road is among the features he values most. While his United bicycle used last year was an excellent all-purpose machine, Haedo finds his new Cervélo much better suited to his unique needs with its directionally butted tubing and a massive bottom bracket area that help keep the CSC speedster moving forward. According to Haedo, "The thing for me is the stiffness. When you are a sprinter, you are probably a little bit heavier than the other guys and so you need a bike that goes forward without any softness in the bottom bracket so that, when you sprint, all of the power you have just goes forward. When you go for sprint, you have to have a stiff bike and quick handling, but for me it would require all of those things and Cervélo is the perfect bike for me." Haedo is quick to point out, however, that his Soloist Carbon is no one-trick pony: "It's stiff, but really comfortable, too. So if you can have a comfortable bike with excellent stiffness, it's all that I need." Team CSC is sponsored by FSA, Zipp, and Speedplay, and Haedo's bike is covered from stem to stern with top-shelf components from each of them. FSA supplies the crankset and cockpit components, Haedo has a number of different Zipp carbon fiber wheelsets available to him, and Speedplay's Zero pedals securely attach the sprinter's feet. Interestingly, Team CSC does not have an official component sponsorship and purchases a variety of Shimano Dura-Ace components, including shifting and braking components, out of its own budget in order to remove them from any sponsorship restrictions in regards to its part selection. Built around a stock frameset and readily available off-the-shelf parts, the bike is impressively light as well; Haedo's complete bike weighed just 6.9kg at the start of Stage 3 complete with deep-section aero wheels. Stiff, light, fast, and comfortable sounds like a good combination to us, and it clearly works for Haedo as well given his sprint win two days later in Stage 5. PhotosFor a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here Images by James Huang/Cyclingnews.com
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Full specificationFrame: Cervélo Soloist Carbon, 54cm Critical measurements Crankset: SRM Training System road version FSA |
Wheelset: Zipp 606 tubular Handle bars: FSA Energy T, 42cm (c-c) Pedals: Speedplay Zero Stainless Total bike weight: 6.9kg (15.2lb) | ||||||||||||
