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Pro bikes, May 6, 2008
Todd Wells' GT Zaskar Carbon
Last minute saviour for a US Olympic hopefulBy Luke Webber in Offenburg, Germany
To most onlookers at the opening UCI World Cup in Houffalize the GT factory team camp was operating as a well oiled machine, powering US Olympic hopeful Todd Wells to a career-best eleventh place finish on a brand-new GT Zaskar Carbon. However, for both Wells and his teammate, Burry Stander, these bikes were anything but part of the race day plan. Both riders were originally supposed to race on their familiar aluminum bikes from late 2007 while the new carbon frames waited in the team van until time allowed for a proper build and shake-out period later in the season. However, Saturday morning brought an unpleasant surprise for the GT, Multivan Merida, Scott, and Hope crews as a rash of overnight thefts left many without bikes and other key equipment. Fortunately for GT those new carbon frames were left inexplicably untouched (others were not so lucky) and a manic building process ensued to salvage the weekend. Helped by some friends who had come to spectate for the weekend, team mechanic Mark Maurrisen set forth on a frantic mission sourcing parts from across the expo area. Both bikes were ready to go by the evening but they were still something of an unknown quantity having never been ridden before. As any mechanic will tell you, this was far from an ideal scenario as cables stretch and new components bed in. Nevertheless, the team's spirits were lifted just 18 hours later as both riders were racing in the top 20 and Wells later gushed that the untested bike rode "like a dream." Wells' comments should perhaps come as no surprise as the new carbon frame is essentially a lighter, stiffer and yet more comfortable version of the aluminum bike he previously used. "We wanted to come up with something new and so decided to go with carbon fibre, building a frame that is 1.2 kg for the medium size," said GT's director of product development Mark Peterman when the frame was introduced last summer. "There are frames out there of one kilo but these are strictly race-only. That's a bit restrictive. We wanted to make a frame that epitomised what Zaskar was about - something which was a bit more rough and tumble. A bike that was very stiff but also very predictable. One which was a lot of fun to ride." In spite of the company's self-professed conservative approach in regards
to weight, Wells' extra-large race day special is still a certifiable
featherweight with a 9.1kg (20.2lbs) showing at the scales including
the fairly standard, but intelligently chosen, build kit. SRAM provides
much of the hardware with its X.0 twist shifter, Avid Juicy Ultimate
hydraulic disc brakes, new 100mm-travel RockShox SID Team fork and Truvativ
Noir crankset upgraded with a BlackBox ceramic bearing bottom bracket.
As is the case with many top riders, Wells' pedal of choice is Crankbrothers'
ubiquitous Eggbeater 4ti. All of those components combine to save a lot of weight but the Wells' NoTubes ZTR Race wheelset lops off a huge amount in one big chunk. Stan Koziatek's lightweight tubeless conversion system has revolutionised tyre selection and expectations when it comes to how light mountain bike wheels can be and his latest rim pushes the envelope even further than before. Each hoop weighs around 280g and a complete wheelset is an astonishing 1200g or so. According to Wells, they are durable, too, easily taking a season of World Cup events. With Wells' old (and, hopefully, now forgotten) team bikes now rolling somewhere around eastern Europe, we can only hope that this new round of bikes will log a little more mileage this time around.
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Full specificationFrame: GT Zaskar Carbon Critical measurements Front brake: Avid Juicy Ultimate with 160mm rotor |
Rims: NoTubes ZTR Race Bars: KORE carbon riser Pedals: Crankbrothers Eggbeater 4ti Total bike weight: 9.2kg (20.2lb) | ||||||||||||||
