BMC, 'Shack equipment for '13

[drhule33]

Two early season observations:
1) BMC seems to have dropped Easton wheels and cockpits for '13. They're now on Shimano wheels and 3T cockpit.
2) RadioShack is no longer using Northwave shoes and have replaced them with Gaerne's new top-of-the-line Carbon G Chrono (which looks like it was stolen directly from Specialized S-works design)

Any other interesting equipment changes?

[LegendRider]

Lampre has switched to Merida bikes from Wilier, and they've managed to have the ugliest bike in the peloton IMO.

[MattTuck]

I heard that several teams switched from Terumo to Becton Dickinson for their syringes. :rolleyes:

[ultraman6970]

Lol

[slidey]

I heard Lance will be serving as consulting nutritionist for all the pro teams.

[oldpotatoe]

Two early season observations:
1) BMC seems to have dropped Easton wheels and cockpits for '13. They're now on Shimano wheels and 3T cockpit.
2) RadioShack is no longer using Northwave shoes and have replaced them with Gaerne's new top-of-the-line Carbon G Chrono (which looks like it was stolen directly from Specialized S-works design)

Any other interesting equipment changes?

This is a nice summary

http://inrng.com/2013/01/2013-pro-team-bikes

[MattTuck]

That is a good summary. Wonder why HED doesn't sponsor a team?

If I recall, in Paris Roubaix, many teams use Nemesis rims, with decals of their sponsors on them. Not sure how common that is during other races? L'enfor du Nord is kind of hard on equipment.

[FlashUNC]

BMC did dump Hincapie for clothing.

[ultraman6970]

Well, makes sense IMO, the darn team one way or another had been linked to doping since back in the phonak times. Just insane, every year some crap is going on with bmc.

Dont even know how is that the Owner of the brand has not pulled the plug to pro cycling yet.

[christian]

If I recall, in Paris Roubaix, many teams use Nemesis rims, with decals of their sponsors on them.That's not really true any more; was true until 2010/2011. Now they mostly run carbon there, too.

My 2008 Colnago Extreme Power is being built up as a "Roubaix-replica" of sorts. Even though Rabobank and Milram were both Shimano teams and I'm using Campagnolo, I'm building it out with Nemesis and Paves.

[gavingould]

a couple things - SRAM seemed to pull back from sponsoring so many teams, and at the same time Shimano is pushing even harder for teams to use their full lineup (wheels, PRO bars/stems/posts, maybe even saddles?) and it seems Di2 is pretty well-liked.

it's always interesting to see what kinds of mechanical mishaps happen throughout the season, and if it changes the outcome of a race, that can be a big deal for sponsor perception...

[drhule33]

Lampre has switched to Merida bikes from Wilier, and they've managed to have the ugliest bike in the peloton IMO.

This may, indeed, take first prize for all-time ugliest team bike. Cunego's skin must be crawling every time he mounts up.

[MadRocketSci]

what happened with Time? zip zilch zero nada niente bupkiss???

[oldpotatoe]

what happened with Time? zip zilch zero nada niente bupkiss???

No Colnago either..gotta remember a normal sized team, about 150-200 bikes, it's expensive.

[carpediemracing]

... Shimano is pushing even harder for teams to use their full lineup (wheels, PRO bars/stems/posts, maybe even saddles?) and it seems Di2 is pretty well-liked.

I don't know how Shimano works now but in the old(er) days a team got a "credit" of sorts, like, say, 1000 points (making numbers up out of thin air). An Ultegra group would be 10 points, a DA group 25 points, pedals 2 points, Ult crank 2 points, DA crank 4.5 points, etc (again, points are totally made up, I wasn't privy to that level of detail). The team would decide what to get and that would be that.

This led to training bikes getting Ultegra or 105, some unusual parts downgrades on the race bikes, and other interesting things.

It would be interesting to see the team side of things as far as sponsorship goes, parts, money, etc.

I remember seeing a sponsorship agreement between a big cycling parts company "BCPC" and a ProTour team. I was surprised at what the BCPC had to provide - it wasn't just their parts, it was vehicles, leases, lots of stuff BCPC didn't make, the things that you associate with Service Course garages and such. On two continents no less. Plus a lot of cash.

And here I was thinking that they just give them a whole lotta parts, some money, and a bunch of polo shirts with their logo on them. The agreement was very eye opening.

[AgilisMerlin]

what happened with Time? zip zilch zero nada niente bupkiss???

new r&d and probably staying out of the shy*t storm this season. I am thinking

[LegendRider]

No Colnago either..gotta remember a normal sized team, about 150-200 bikes, it's expensive.

Europcar will be riding Colnago (though they're ProContinental). You'll see Voeckler (C59) and Rolland (M10) riding them at Le Tour.

[Bruce K]

HED does sponsor a team - actually 3

Optum Pro Cycling pb Kelly Benefits, Elbowz Racing Elite Cycling Team, and Snapple Triathlon

BK

[gavingould]

also there are some interesting sponsors at the Pro Conti level, not to mention cyclocross.

United Healthcare was on Boardman bikes... on NeilPryde for 2013. component mix of Enve, Ritchey, TRP, Rotor, Chris King, K-Edge, etc....

the Euro pro cx teams have astronomical amounts of equipment - imagine taking 3-4 complete bikes (per rider) a dozen tubular wheelsets or more depending on conditions (again, per rider) a gang of mechanics... must be nice, if you're Nys or Albert.
Lots of Di2 groups there as well, Colnago, Ridley obviously, Merida has a presence too, and several i've never heard of. AA Drink on what may be open-mold frames labeled 36Cycling?

[drhule33]

BMC did dump Hincapie for clothing.

Yes, but it's interesting that BMC is still a sponsor for Hincapie's development team.
http://www.hincapieracing.com/partners/

[oldpotatoe]

Europcar will be riding Colnago (though they're ProContinental). You'll see Voeckler (C59) and Rolland (M10) riding them at Le Tour.

Ah yes, forgot about them. Voeckler is great to watch..grazie

[BdaGhisallo]

Yes, but it's interesting that BMC is still a sponsor for Hincapie's development team.
http://www.hincapieracing.com/partners/

It could simply be the case that Shimano offered to pay a lot more than Hincapie could manage. Pearl Izumi is owned by Shimano and with BMC"s dropping of Easton for wheels and bars and stems, it could be that Shimano whipped out a very large check and wanted it all. Though it's surprising that they let 3T get the cockpit items and didn't get the PRO brand gear in there.

[gavingould]

Though it's surprising that they let 3T get the cockpit items and didn't get the PRO brand gear in there.

interesting indeed. they had full Easton last year, right? maybe 3T came in before Shimano's big PRO push.

[BdaGhisallo]

Yep, money talks. These teams need to pay the large salaries somehow. It's amazing how many staff members a ProTour team has these days. Check out BMC's Flickr feed, where they show all their staff in portrait pics, and see how many non-riders are on the team roster. They list 26 riders and 49 staff!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bmcproteam/sets/


You could well be right on how 3T snuck in there!

[drhule33]

It could simply be the case that Shimano offered to pay a lot more than Hincapie could manage. Pearl Izumi is owned by Shimano and with BMC"s dropping of Easton for wheels and bars and stems, it could be that Shimano whipped out a very large check and wanted it all. Though it's surprising that they let 3T get the cockpit items and didn't get the PRO brand gear in there.

Yes, I forgot that Shimano purchased Pearl Izumi.
An interesting web of connections and money.