11.4
01-21-2008, 11:05 PM
This is copied from a thread I started on Fixed Gear Fever. Hope it's useful to some of you.
Here are a few interesting developments I saw from some of the team mechanics at the LA World Cup:
1. The ubiquitous tire is now the Vittoria Evo Pista 22mm, with the Conti Olympic a popular alternative but still running well behind in frequency. However, two larger and well-funded teams there had determined that slightly larger diameter tires at somewhat lower pressures were more effective in terms of watts generated and times produced. They are riding 23-24 mm diameter tubulars pumped to 150-160 psi at ADT (pressure dependent on the rider and somewhat on event). This compared to 185-200 psi on 21 mm tires. There were some custom tires fabricated by different manufacturers in these larger diameters, including some yellowish Vittorias marked as Evo CL's but clearly in a different rubber and different diameter with much more sidewall showing. There were some extraordinary times turned on some of these tires.
2. More and more riders have switched from Shimano PD-7400 pedals and gone to clipless models with toe straps mounted. Double straps are more common than at the same event last year. The French and other teams on Looks typically were using Keos, and someone has come up with a machined aluminum bracket with two slots for double toe straps that fits on the underside of the pedal and bolts onto the Keo at two drilled and tapped holes on the little tabs next to the axle inside the pedal frame. The Keo has these tabs in just the right place; Dura Ace 7810's and SPD-R's don't have a similar spot to mount. It's very much a homebrew job (though I saw it in both clear and a red anodized version) and doesn't fit as well as one would like, but several Euro teams were using them -- not unlike the early non-articulated stems for the Look KG396/496. The bracket could be mounted in two positions allowing for different fore-and-aft strap positioning, but in either case the straps were wrapping right around the pedal. Riders had no, one, or two small sheet metal screws running through the slots and through the straps to keep them from sliding through. Some similar brackets were in use on Dura Ace SPD-SL 7810 pedals. Some riders formerly on SPD-R's were still on them but others made the change to 7810's. For example, the Meares sisters differed in their preferences with Kerrie on the 7810's and Anna on the SPD-R's. Almost every team had some riders on each pedal model. Most of the pedal development and experimentation is on 7810's. There were a couple experimental versions floating around with the toe strap mounted just above the engagement lip on the black rear clip of the 7810s so it would be sandwiched between the rear pedal assembly and the shoe sole, and another neat version with two machined loops protruding off the back of the 7810 rear clip on top and screwed to the top of the rear clip. All these modifications made it easier to position the rear strap farther forward than the classic SPD-R installation, and also made it easier to use double straps (if only for greater comfort).
3. There was an Io with an all-carbon hub assembly -- only the axle itself was still metal. The only rear Io I saw at the event was ridden by Levy; the Aussies were all back on Cometes, although there were some light-layup Cometes wandering around. It's interesting that there weren't really any new wheels in use, which should have happened if new products were to be in use at Beijing in a few months. (Similarly, while a new Look KG496 was rumored for Beijing from Mavic sources, it still hasn't made it's appearance, so one is pressed to imagine it showing up under riders at the Olympics at this point.)
4. Handlebars showed some interesting developments. There were quite a number of the new compact road bars in use with both male and female riders -- these are the ones with the extremely short reach and drop. In addition, a number of massed start riders were rotating their bars quite a ways up, so they could ride almost as if riding the lever hoods on a road bike. In fact a couple riders including Llaneras were riding in a position where the bars were turned up, wrists were resting on the tops just before the bend, and they were grasping the bars almost into the drops but from the inside. It gave a longer and more road-like position. There was also a prototype bar sitting out that actually had a bend that first curved up and then dropped, so a track rider could have both a road-lever kind of position and also a regular drop position. The only newer bar design was the integrated bar/stem combination from FES. It's sleeker than the British version and appeared with both aero and round steer spacers. The top has two allen heads, one for the threadless star-nut bolt and one that pinches at an angle to secure the bar from rotation on the steer.
Not too much else. The number of riders on Dugasts seemed lower (and mostly the ones I saw were pinks). Brad McGee was riding a bike very similar to an FES that was relabeled minimally as a BT. The hardware wasn't that innovative, especially for an Olympic year. It mostly reflected improvements at the rider-bike interface and at the bike-track surface interface. What did I miss?
Here are a few interesting developments I saw from some of the team mechanics at the LA World Cup:
1. The ubiquitous tire is now the Vittoria Evo Pista 22mm, with the Conti Olympic a popular alternative but still running well behind in frequency. However, two larger and well-funded teams there had determined that slightly larger diameter tires at somewhat lower pressures were more effective in terms of watts generated and times produced. They are riding 23-24 mm diameter tubulars pumped to 150-160 psi at ADT (pressure dependent on the rider and somewhat on event). This compared to 185-200 psi on 21 mm tires. There were some custom tires fabricated by different manufacturers in these larger diameters, including some yellowish Vittorias marked as Evo CL's but clearly in a different rubber and different diameter with much more sidewall showing. There were some extraordinary times turned on some of these tires.
2. More and more riders have switched from Shimano PD-7400 pedals and gone to clipless models with toe straps mounted. Double straps are more common than at the same event last year. The French and other teams on Looks typically were using Keos, and someone has come up with a machined aluminum bracket with two slots for double toe straps that fits on the underside of the pedal and bolts onto the Keo at two drilled and tapped holes on the little tabs next to the axle inside the pedal frame. The Keo has these tabs in just the right place; Dura Ace 7810's and SPD-R's don't have a similar spot to mount. It's very much a homebrew job (though I saw it in both clear and a red anodized version) and doesn't fit as well as one would like, but several Euro teams were using them -- not unlike the early non-articulated stems for the Look KG396/496. The bracket could be mounted in two positions allowing for different fore-and-aft strap positioning, but in either case the straps were wrapping right around the pedal. Riders had no, one, or two small sheet metal screws running through the slots and through the straps to keep them from sliding through. Some similar brackets were in use on Dura Ace SPD-SL 7810 pedals. Some riders formerly on SPD-R's were still on them but others made the change to 7810's. For example, the Meares sisters differed in their preferences with Kerrie on the 7810's and Anna on the SPD-R's. Almost every team had some riders on each pedal model. Most of the pedal development and experimentation is on 7810's. There were a couple experimental versions floating around with the toe strap mounted just above the engagement lip on the black rear clip of the 7810s so it would be sandwiched between the rear pedal assembly and the shoe sole, and another neat version with two machined loops protruding off the back of the 7810 rear clip on top and screwed to the top of the rear clip. All these modifications made it easier to position the rear strap farther forward than the classic SPD-R installation, and also made it easier to use double straps (if only for greater comfort).
3. There was an Io with an all-carbon hub assembly -- only the axle itself was still metal. The only rear Io I saw at the event was ridden by Levy; the Aussies were all back on Cometes, although there were some light-layup Cometes wandering around. It's interesting that there weren't really any new wheels in use, which should have happened if new products were to be in use at Beijing in a few months. (Similarly, while a new Look KG496 was rumored for Beijing from Mavic sources, it still hasn't made it's appearance, so one is pressed to imagine it showing up under riders at the Olympics at this point.)
4. Handlebars showed some interesting developments. There were quite a number of the new compact road bars in use with both male and female riders -- these are the ones with the extremely short reach and drop. In addition, a number of massed start riders were rotating their bars quite a ways up, so they could ride almost as if riding the lever hoods on a road bike. In fact a couple riders including Llaneras were riding in a position where the bars were turned up, wrists were resting on the tops just before the bend, and they were grasping the bars almost into the drops but from the inside. It gave a longer and more road-like position. There was also a prototype bar sitting out that actually had a bend that first curved up and then dropped, so a track rider could have both a road-lever kind of position and also a regular drop position. The only newer bar design was the integrated bar/stem combination from FES. It's sleeker than the British version and appeared with both aero and round steer spacers. The top has two allen heads, one for the threadless star-nut bolt and one that pinches at an angle to secure the bar from rotation on the steer.
Not too much else. The number of riders on Dugasts seemed lower (and mostly the ones I saw were pinks). Brad McGee was riding a bike very similar to an FES that was relabeled minimally as a BT. The hardware wasn't that innovative, especially for an Olympic year. It mostly reflected improvements at the rider-bike interface and at the bike-track surface interface. What did I miss?