Bike World News

If traffic is any indication, we know that our readers love to look at the bikes of the pros.

Following on from the bikes of the Tour of California and the Giro, we’re keeping the article going with the bikes and the technology of the Tour de France.

Columbia-HTC will be using the Scott Addict R2 on the road, which uses an integrated seat tube and bottom bracket as well as Scott’s IMP carbon technology to bring the frame weight under 800 grams.

Katusha’s racers will ride either Ridley’s sub-900 gram Helium frame, or the heavier, but more aerodynamic Noah. Ridley says the sprinters will always be on the Noah and climbing specialists will ride the Helium most of the time, while other riders may bounce between the two depending on the specifics of the stage.

Saxo Bank has been working with Specialized since January on an all-new time trial frame called the Shiv. Aerodynamically it has slightly less drag than the Specialized S-Works Transition head on, but in a cross wind it tests with up to 30 percent less drag. On the road, key GC and stage contenders for Saxo will be on the all-new Specialized Tarmac SL3. The new frame looks almost identical externally to the SL2, but under the team paint scheme is an all new carbon construction that gives the frame 18.3 percent more torsional stiffness than its predecessor while also coming in 153 grams lighter.

Bbox-Bouygues Telecom is using Time’s RXR Ulteam, which is based on the RXR Chrono time trial bike. Team riders each get their own custom geometry. The TransLink seat tube provides seat height adjustability while two attachment positions allow the front derailleur to be optimally placed.

Astana is using the 2010 Trek 6 Series Madone, which has apparently been in development since before the 2008 model came to market. Weighing in at 13.2 puonds including pedals and cages, Trek actually had to find creative ways to add about 2 pounds to meet the minimum UCI standards for weight.

Most Skil-Shimano riders will be using the Koga Full Pro Scandium, though some riders may use Koga’s new 2Light carbon frame. Not surprisingly, there are a lot of Shimano products on the bike, right down to their drivetrain, which is coated with Shimano Workshop lubricants.

Cofidis riders will be using one of two versions of Look’s 595 frame this year.  The Origin balances light weight and ride quality against stiffness, while the Ultra is a sprinter’s special, maximizing drivetrain stiffness.

The Caisse d’Epargne team will use the Pinarello Prince FP in the 2009 Tour de France. The Prince uses Toray 50HM1K high-modulus carbon and features external ribs to enhance stiffness.

Quickstep will be using the Specialized Tarmac SL2 for the road stages. A few riders will get to use the new SL3, which features hollow dropouts and a new manufacturing process that further lightens the bike while increasing stiffness. In the time trials, they’ll be using this Specialized Transition:

Rabobank riders will be riding redesigned Giant TCR Advanced SL, and some will be using a special edition of the bike outfitted for the Di2 electronic group with all-internal routing for the wiring and battery pack mounts.

For the Tour, Euskaltel-Euskadi riders will be aboard the redesigned Orbea Orca, which will be introduced for the 2010 model year and feature a BB30 oversize integrated bottom bracket and a steerer tube with an oversize 1 1/2-inch lower bearing.

The frame on the Lapierre X-lite Française des Jeux team bike is claimed to be 850 grams for the 52 cm model. Lapierre says that rather than using air-filled bags inside the layup of the frame (they can wrinkle, creating brittle resin pockets), the X-Lite II frame is molded with silicone mandrels that more exactly shape the frame’s interior. Complete bike weight, for a size 52cm, is 14.55 lbs.

Garmin-Slipstream riders have access to three different Felt road machines depending on the stage – the standard F1, the slippery aero AR or the Z1, which features more a more upright position for comfort on long days. In the time trials, they’ll ride the DA, including possibly a new front end that mounts the handlebar off the top of the steerer tube rather than on a separate stem.

Milram is using the Izalco model from Focus at this year’s Tour. The only difference between the team model and what consumers can buy (for a cool $11,900) is the wheelset. While the average-Joe-with-deeper-than-average-pockets gets Mavic Cosmic Carbone SLR wheels, the team races on even more exclusive (1,150g; $5,400) Lightweight Standard III carbon tubulars with Continental tires.

Liquigas will be riding the 2010 Cannondale SuperSix HiMod and Slice HiMod (for TT) that they ran in the Giro, with likely upgrades to 2010 FSA bar, stem, and seatpost. Prototype aero Mavic wheels will also be on the Slice TT bike.

Cervelo will have 3 bikes at the Tour this year, the S3, the R3 SL, and the P4.

The S3 takes the aero front tringle of their Soloist frame and merges it with a rear triangle inspired by Cervélo’s R3 comfort-performance bike. The resulting bike is supposed to be both stiffer and more comfortable then the Soloist.

The R3 SL features incremental improvements to the very well received R3. Items like giving several tubing sections an hourglass shape, a new super-light seat clamp, and not putting any paint on the frame make bring the R3 SL in at about 100 grams lighter than the R3.

The P4 features a host of improvements over the P3. Perhaps the most talked about is the integrated bottle cage system, which wedges an aero bottle into the space where the bottom bracket, seat tube and down tube come together. The rear brake has also been integrated with the bottom bracket shell.

AG2R will replace its BH G4 carbon road bikes with a new G5 model that the team hopes will carry its riders to some success in this year’s Tour de France.  According to BH, the new frame is substantially lighter – claimed weight is just 810g in a 54cm size – but also more rigid by as much as 100 percent at both the bottom bracket and in front triangle torsion.

Stiffness increases come courtesy of larger tubing diameters nearly across the board, a newly tapered 1 1/8″-to-1 1/2″ front end, and a rounded rectangular down tube that features a stiffening channel down the full length of its underside.

Lampre-NGC riders are riding the new Wilier Cento1 Superleggera in this year’s tour. Described as 130 grams lighter than a Cento1, the weight savings comes from a lighter aluminum sleeve which is molded into the monocoque construction during the final carbon curing process. In addition, a specially formulated paint is used which also saves weight.

As has been the case this year, Lance Armstrong’s bike is done up in the Livestrong motif. For the Tour, world-renowned designer Marc Newson created a special Trek time trial art bike, featuring a “Stroboscopic” rear wheel design that appears to pulse as it spins.

To commemorate his opening stage win and the yellow jersey he got to wear as a result, Fabian Cancellara was given a yellow Specialized Tarmac SL3 about 2 hours before the second stage.

The bike’s Zipp 404 wheels and SRAM Red gruppo had the requisite yellow accents and decals:

In other artsy additions on this year’s bikes, Mark Cavendish is riding with a naked woman

and Prologo made these Blues Brothers-inspired saddles for Andy and Frank Schleck:

The Giro Archive:

The frame on Gilberto Simoni’s Guerciotti employs a new Dedacciai custom carbon tubeset (it is not a monocoque frame but instead uses separate tubes joined with wrapped carbon technology) and is a prototype of a frame that will become part of the 2010 line from the famous maker. The new tubeset makes it possible to make the frame in any custom size or geometry.

Custom translucent metallic blue/silver paint made Gibo’s bike immediately recognizable:

The tubes blend together seamlessly:

Plenty of saddle-height adjustment on this high-tech carbon frame:

In honor of today’s final time trial, here’s a look at the Scott Plasma 3 TT bike that will be used by Columbia-Highroad’s Michael Rogers and Mark Renshaw. The remainder of the team’s frames are being built in time for July’s Tour de France.

The stem merges seamlessly with the top and head tubes:

The rear brakes are sheltered behind the bottom bracket:

Here’s some new pictures to keep the Giro spirit going on the second rest day.

Although all of Lance’s bikes this year have had lots of coverage, the detail work on his Giro road bike made me feel like I had to include it. Rather than being painted on by hand, the graphics are die-cut decals. Whether paint or a sticker, the application process must have been quite tedious!

Even the rims are treated to match:

Lance’s TT bike got a space theme:

Bradley Wiggins’ bike has some special touches:

His Felt F1 has a pair of French O.symetric chainrings, which operate on the premise of maximizing forward motion when your muscles produce the most power while speeding the rider’s legs through the dead spots. They lack shift ramps and pins, and thus require a few modifications for proper shifting:

Here’s Fabian Cancellara’s new Specialized time trial bike:

The ‘nosecone’ of Fabian’s TT rig is actually a structural part of the handlebar/stem/brakes structure:

Next are the Focus time trial bikes used by Milram:

Their tension-disc wheels have a web of flexible carbon spokes covered by a tight, thin skin. The brand name (Lightweight) says it all:

Eight Cervélo riders, including Carlos Sastre, used the already proven Cervélo P3. The only rider on the new Cervélo P4 TT bike was Lithuanian national time trial champion Ignatas Konovalovas.

Cervélo routes the brake cables and the front derailleur cable of most of its TT bikes through white, separable, cylinder-and-bead Nokon housings, which allow short cable runs without limiting movement:

For Garmin-Slipstream, only David Zabriskie is using Dura-Ace 7970 electronic derailleurs, which are on both his road and time trial bikes:

Danilo Di Luca has a new De Rosa King 3 RS at this year’s Giro that is supposedly 15 percent lighter and 18 percent stiffer than the current King 3 by virtue of an upgraded carbon fiber mix and new lay-up schedule.:

Michele Scarponi has a custom paint job on his Guerciotti:

And Silence-Lotto’s Jonas Ljungblad got a customized paint job to celebrate his Swedish national championship:

Ivan Basso’s Cannondale looks sharp:

A fleet of Saxo Bank Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL2s ready for the day’s events:

Tags: 2010 Orbea Orca, bike, bikes, bikes of the Tour de France, Bradley Wiggins, Cannondale, Carlos Sastre, cervelo, cervelo p4 time trial bike, cervelo p4 TT, cervelo test team, columbia, danilo di luca, david zabriskie, de rosa, de rosa king 3 RS, Fabian Cancellara, felt bicycles, felt f1, focus, focus bikes, garmin slipstream, Giant TCR Advanced SL, Gilberto Simoni, Giro d'Italia, Guerciotti, ignatas konovalovas, Ivan Basso, Koga Full Pro Scandium, Koga Scandium, lance armstrong trek equinox, lance armstrong trek madone, Lapierre X-lite, Look 595, Look 595 Origin, Look 595 Ultra, Michael Rogers, Michele Scarponi, Pinarello Prince FP, Ridley Noah, Saxo Bank, SaxoBank, scott, Scott Addict R2, scott plasma 3 time trial bike, Silence-Lotto, Slipstream, specialized, Specialized bicycles, specialized s works tarmac sl2, specialized shiv time trial bike, Specialized Tarmac SL2, Specialized Tarmac SL3, Specialized Transition, Specialized Transition TT, Team Milram, Time RXR Ulteam, Trek 6 Series Madone

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