2013 pro team rides...

[AngryScientist]

the focus is my favorite, cannondale second.

whatcha think?

http://www.cyclingtips.com.au/2013/01/bikes-of-the-peloton-2013-proteam-rides/

[crownjewelwl]

none of these bikes really do it for me...

i've seen plenty of much hotter whips on this very forum!!

[MattTuck]

I have to say, I do like the Trek Radioshak bike. But I love white bikes... so, that is not surprising. It is certainly better than the ridiculous design they had a few years ago.

I also like the color scheme on the bianchi. A nice tip of the hat to heritage while still being modern and appealing.

[dd74]

No steel, no deal.

Otherwise, what's interesting are a lot more of these rigs this year seem to have near level top tubes. But that's about all I have to say of these bikes.

[christian]

I'll say this: I'd ride the **** out of all of those bikes. I'd ride them until I threw up on the top tube. I'd lay down my 300w of anger all over those things and then post up on WW about how the head tube/top tube junction is too flexy.

But yeah, the Giant and Cervelo are pretty beastly to look at.

[fiamme red]

I don't care for the wavy fork and seatstays on Team Sky's Pinarello, but at least the logos are somewhat understated. It only says "Pinarello" once (on each side). Most of the other bikes state the brand name three times.

[enr1co]

The aero brake design on the Ridley and the aero V-brake-like design on the Giant are somewhat interesting.

The Trek brake placement beneath the chainstays seems the least value add or innovative to me.

For me, the more curvy and blingy that newer frames evolve towards, the more I appreciate the clean lines of more traditional frames.

[azrider]

Lapierre and Focus look pretty bada*s IMO.

Still refuse to accept Cannondale on Vision wheels. Gross.

[rain dogs]

Agree on the Focus being the nicest. After that.... the Felt and the Orbea.... the the 'dale.

I'm not a fan of Felt bikes, but that one at least looks pretty sharp.

That Cervelo is outright hideous. I don't care how good they are, it's wrong to ride a bike so ugly.

[Dave B]

I think they all look pretty awesome. However, the seat topper on the Trek is meh.

I must be getting older or something as I am preferring the look of simple round tubes more. Not sure why, but all of that aero crap would be totally lost with me riding it.

[veggieburger]

The Cannondale does it for me.

The Merida either needs more Lampre pink, or none at all.

[Crackerkorean]

They are all nice in their own way. Seems some are going for the Road/TT style while others still look like strictly road bikes.

I also found it interesting that there are two different models of specialized.

I would happily ride any of those if given the chance.

[4Rings6Stars]

I also like the cannondale and focus the best.

Cervelo and Pinarello are both fugly, but that's nothing new.

[one60]

I get that they are professionals, younger & more flexible etc but I am always surprised by the small frame sizes they choose. I just saw Gilbert's BMC. At 5'10", he rides the 50cm which has a 53.5 cm horizontal TT.

On the BMC site, they recommend that frame for riders up to 5'7"

[dd74]

I get that they are professionals, younger & more flexible etc but I am always surprised by the small frame sizes they choose. I just saw Gilbert's BMC. At 5'10", he rides the 50cm which has a 53.5 cm horizontal TT.

On the BMC site, they recommend that frame for riders up to 5'7"
Yeah, that's strange. There's a school of sizing that suggests riding a smaller than normal size, but I can't remember the name of it. Who's to say what portions of ride quality would suffer.

[MattTuck]

Yeah, that's strange. There's a school of sizing that suggests riding a smaller than normal size, but I can't remember the name of it. Who's to say what portions of ride quality would suffer.

It's called being "PRO", and you MUST slam your stem.

[handsomerob]

Those 6 paired spoke Corima wheels look like they are tempting fate. I wonder how durable 12 spoke wheels could possibly be.

[Llewellyn]

They're all fugly

[avalonracing]

I'd ride any of them if I were paid to do it but I wouldn't buy any of them with my money.

It's a shame, pro peloton bikes used to be quite pretty.

[John H.]

This is not exactly slammed
http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/photos/race-tech-tour-down-under-kicks-off-the-pro-equipment-season-for-2013/249452
http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/photos/race-tech-tour-down-under-kicks-off-the-pro-equipment-season-for-2013/249451
http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/photos/race-tech-tour-down-under-kicks-off-the-pro-equipment-season-for-2013/249453
http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/photos/race-tech-tour-down-under-kicks-off-the-pro-equipment-season-for-2013/249455
http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/photos/race-tech-tour-down-under-kicks-off-the-pro-equipment-season-for-2013/249473
Have not found a good picture of Tim Duggans' bike but I am pretty sure his stem is flipped to a positive.

It's called being "PRO", and you MUST slam your stem.

[1centaur]

I'll give props to the FDJ Lapierre for having a scheme unlike any I have seen and drawing the eye back and forth to take in the proportion and locations of coordination. Slight nod to the Bianchi for a pleasing whole.

Merida is OMG awful - I can't remember a color scheme worse.

[sfscott]

Whaaat?

[MattTuck]

I'll give props to the FDJ Lapierre for having a scheme unlike any I have seen and drawing the eye back and forth to take in the proportion and locations of coordination. Slight nod to the Bianchi for a pleasing whole.

Merida is OMG awful - I can't remember a color scheme worse.

Open up a Ski magazine from the 80's or early 90's... It will bring back terrible memories.


Can anyone read the text on the Sky top tube? is that a poem or some team credo?

[thirdgenbird]

My thoughts:

-That is a lot of batteries
-thank goodness for traditional tan sidewalls
-I want boras
-maybe it is the campy on white talking, but the Astana Tarmac look ok.
-I thought shimano bundled group/wheel sponsorship?

[majorpat]

Merida....wow, that is bad. Call me a grump but they all seem to be trying too hard.

Cannondale and Pinarello are the best of the bunch, if I had to choose.

[spaced_ghost]

would ride that Focus and the Specializeds so hard. also, love the Merida

[christian]

The _only_ mechanical bikes pictured are SRAM. Not a single non-EPS or non-Di Campagnolo or Shimano bike.

[Fiertetimestwo]

Just in case anyone is interested, those photos are taken about two minutes walk from my office, which is behind the large brick building (the Adelaide Magistrates Court) which you can see in some of the pics.

Oh, and I think that Merida is appalling. The Cervelo is also just awful.

[MattTuck]

Just in case anyone is interested, those photos are taken about two minutes walk from my office, which is behind the large brick building (the Adelaide Magistrates Court) which you can see in some of the pics.

Oh, and I think that Merida is appalling. The Cervelo is also just awful.

So then, is it safe to assume you added several new rides to your stable, and some teams are scratching their heads wondering where some of their bikes went? ;)

[SolidSnake03]

Got to agree with a couple other users here on the straight tube style especially the horizontal top tube. Really like the Cannondale and the Focus.

The Cervelo frame shape doesn't bother me too much but the paint scheme just don't do it for me.

Also, I will continue to beat that poor horse, the Merida is terrible :confused:

[jonbek]

Wow the Focus is solid. I like the no nonsense vibe of the Felt bike as well. LaPierre third I supose.

[GuyGadois]

All Campy and Shimano bikes are electric. Do the riders prefer it or do the manufacturers prefer them to use electric for sales or both?

[aoe]

It's amazing how similar looking most of these have gotten. They'd all look 100% better with more subdued graphics...none if them do it for me visually but don't doubt they'd be great riding bikes as a package.

[beeatnik]

This is not exactly slammed
http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/photos/race-tech-tour-down-under-kicks-off-the-pro-equipment-season-for-2013/249452
http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/photos/race-tech-tour-down-under-kicks-off-the-pro-equipment-season-for-2013/249451
http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/photos/race-tech-tour-down-under-kicks-off-the-pro-equipment-season-for-2013/249453
http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/photos/race-tech-tour-down-under-kicks-off-the-pro-equipment-season-for-2013/249455
http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/photos/race-tech-tour-down-under-kicks-off-the-pro-equipment-season-for-2013/249473
Have not found a good picture of Tim Duggans' bike but I am pretty sure his stem is flipped to a positive.

Yep, a lot of spacers below and above the stem (as recommended, obviously). I dig Bianchi. I also dig the EVO, as I should since I gots one. I think they look better with Mavic wheels than with wheelz from a third rate tri geek supplier.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8356/8300963217_b568c0dee3.jpg

[dd74]

All Campy and Shimano bikes are electric. Do the riders prefer it or do the manufacturers prefer them to use electric for sales or both?
The riders are just riders. If they like it, great. But the sales are what rule.

[oldpotatoe]

All Campy and Shimano bikes are electric. Do the riders prefer it or do the manufacturers prefer them to use electric for sales or both?

yes.

[laupsi]

Lapierre and Focus look pretty bada*s IMO.

Still refuse to accept Cannondale on Vision wheels. Gross.

http://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=111726

Totally biased of course but I still think my take on the team issue EVO tops em all... Cheers!!!

[cfox]

The riders are just riders. If they like it, great. But the sales are what rule.

unless you are Cancellara. He didn't like Di2 (no cassette dump and too touchy on cobbles) and stayed mechanical. We'll see if that changes with the programmable 11-speed.

[cosmonaut]

The Cervelo frame shape doesn't bother me too much but the paint scheme just don't do it for me.
I actually like this paint scheme but hate the tube/frame shape. Ha!

[Fiertetimestwo]

So then, is it safe to assume you added several new rides to your stable, and some teams are scratching their heads wondering where some of their bikes went? ;)

Ha!- No, all of those bikes put together wouldn't have a head tube long enough for me. My back hurts just looking at the drop some of the Pro's run.

Also, as a matter of interest, the "headquarters" (team pits etc) of the Tour Down Under is always established in the middle of Victoria Square- right in the centre of our city, right across the road from the Adelaide Hilton, where all the teams stay- without moving hotels- for the whole race. This is one of the key reasons why the teams, mechanics and riders really like the TDU.

On the other side of the square- probably 20 meters away from the team pit they now have a "bike expo" for the whole week -where most if not all of the manufacturers of the team bikes have tents/displays. There is also a big screen showing the live feed of the race. This year a lot of the manufacturers have large demo fleets- you could spend your whole day riding bikes from Focus, Cervelo, Bianchi, Specialized (they seemed to have a multitude of demo bikes- of all models and sizes), BMC and probably a few others I now forget.

The Adelaide market for bikes would in no way justify this sort of thing, but ther TDU has developed into a week long bike-fest for riders from all over Australia. It's pretty cool.

[Brucer]

I like Bianchis, and Movistar's Pinarello looks pretty nice. But all of them look pretty garish to me. With a paint job like this, I wouldn't ride one of these in daylight.

[oldpotatoe]

I like Bianchis, and Movistar's Pinarello looks pretty nice. But all of them look pretty garish to me. With a paint job like this, I wouldn't ride one of these in daylight.

Really no different

[dd74]

Some of these bikes have their batteries mounted in some dangerous spots. Beneath the downtube, on the non-drive side stay, etc. I might've rethought that if I were the team mechanic.

[mcteague]

Batteries on all of them except Sram users. Campy & Shimano are really pushing this stuff.

Tim

[cmbicycles]

Some of these bikes have their batteries mounted in some dangerous spots. Beneath the downtube, on the non-drive side stay, etc. I might've rethought that if I were the team mechanic.

Sometimes the mechanics are stuck with what the frame designers give them. They don't want to mount the batteries and controllers internally because then people might not notice they are there...and not see that they too need electronic shifting:no:

[dd74]

Batteries on all of them except Sram users. Campy & Shimano are really pushing this stuff.
Yeah, they are pushing it. But then again, it's the future of bicycle components.

If SRAM had electric, they'd push it too.

[dd74]

Sometimes the mechanics are stuck with what the frame designers give them. They don't want to mount the batteries and controllers internally because then people might not notice they are there...and not see that they too need electronic shifting:no:
Good point. But now manufacturers seem to be leaning toward internalizing everything. There's a new DeRosa frame that internalizes the battery in the downtube. Not sure it can handle a Campy battery, but it hides a Shimano battery for sure.

[MattTuck]

To those who disliked the Merida....

How about this new camera from Pentax? Link. (http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/28/pentax-shows-nerv-flashes-japan-only-evangelion-flavored-q10s/)

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/01/pentax-evangelion-1-28-13-01.jpg

for comparison:

http://d4nuk0dd6nrma.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/2N4A9176.jpg

[BumbleBeeDave]

Yeah, they are pushing it. But then again, it's the future of bicycle components.

If SRAM had electric, they'd push it too.

. . . SRAM is going to have to have some answer to electric in the next year or two, and it will have to offer something new.

BBD

[oldpotatoe]

. . . SRAM is going to have to have some answer to electric in the next year or two, and it will have to offer something new.

BBD

Their answer is wet disc brakes for road machines..even tho no production road frames presently can accomodate such a thing..their thing is cross, it seems.

[EDS]

Their answer is wet disc brakes for road machines..even tho no production road frames presently can accomodate such a thing..their thing is cross, it seems.

Colnago has a dic model road bike already - I think a derivative of the C59.