Cyclingnews 2006 Reader Poll Results
Best product
SRAM's DoubleTap shifter internals are
remarkably elegant in design
Photo ©: James Huang
|
After only a single season on the market, SRAM's pioneering DoubleTap
road shifter has managed to capture the Best Product award in our 2006 Cyclingnews
Reader Poll, and in convincing fashion with nearly a full third of the total
count. The victory should, perhaps, come as no surprise, though, given that
the new shifter garnered a close second last year before it was even introduced.
Whether it was due to the mechanism's intuitive operation, or simply by virtue
of the fact that there is now a third viable option on the road, SRAM has clearly
made a successful debut on the road amid daunting expectations, and we're eager
to see how things continue to develop in the future.
Campagnolo netted a solid second place with its long-anticipated successor
to its proven square-taper crankset design. In some ways, Campy may have been
wise in waiting so long to develop its own external-bearing integrated design
as it had the luxury of knowing what has worked well to date, and what hasn't.
So far, the new
Ultra Torque system appears to work well, runs impressively smoothly, and
still manages to remain largely true to the Campy aesthetic.
Cervélo's newly crowned big brother of last
year's winner rounds out the top three, which combined hoarded more than
half of your votes. The new SLC-SL shaves a whopping 200g off of the already
impressive Soloist Carbon, yet retains all of its aerodynamic advantages and
even manages to be stiffer both at the bottom bracket and in torsion. Were the
changes necessary? No, but then again, it's never about need, now is it?
Results
Votes %ge
1 SRAM DoubleTap road shifters 3385 32.3
2 Campagnolo Ultra-Torque crankset 1423 13.6
3 Cervelo SLC-SL road frame 1091 10.4
4 Specialized S-Works Roubaix SL road frame 537 5.1
5 Look 595 road frame 450 4.3
6 Colnago Extreme Power road frame 395 3.8
7 Shimano M970 XTR group 384 3.7
8 Cannondale SystemSix road frame 382 3.6
9 Hutchinson Road Tubeless tires 355 3.4
10 FSA MegaExo Ceramic bottom bracket 354 3.4
11 Photochromic eyewear 352 3.4
12 Velocomp iBike Pro power meter 289 2.8
13 FSA K-Force Lite compact road crankset 281 2.7
14 Scott Addict road frame 194 1.8
15 Rotor Q-Rings 180 1.7
16 Avid Juicy Ultimate disc brakes 153 1.5
17 Giant Anthem Advanced mountain bike 129 1.2
18 Scott Spark mountain bike frame 62 0.6
19 Reynolds Topo C carbon fiber mountain bike wheels 56 0.5
20 Felt Virtue mountain bike 39 0.4
Total: 10492
|