Lotus is back on track, and it's weird

[ultraman6970]

Is that theo bos in orange? or is another guy, if bos then he packed a few pounds.

[nooneline]

Originally Posted by m_sasso

The new frame witch has been out for an excess of a year has not been well received by most of the sprinters. I am not aware of what the problems are with the Kinsei, however, sprinters are a meticulous bunch and really don't like giving up there trusted equipment just for something new unless there are verified benefits. Watch the World Cup this weekend and see what people are using, likely the Kimara is still tops.

caught a quick glimpse of either Hoogland or Lavreyson on something slim that I didn't recognize, and I saw Bos on an Argon 18. Pretty interesting - BEAT has definitely used just about every high-end bike, I've seen them use Avantis, Kogas, BTs, and more (I think).

[Ruimteaapje]

Originally Posted by ultraman6970

Is that theo bos in orange? or is another guy, if bos then he packed a few pounds.

Jeffrey Hoogland

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Hoogland

[bart998]

The wikipedia entry for Lotus bikes shows the brand went defunct in the mid-nineties, though the contract maker (Tsunoda) is still going strong ... the car company (Group Lotus) took over the rights to the name in 2000...

Originally Posted by cowgirl

Howdy!

Your Lotus is not the same brand as this Lotus. Your Lotus was an American market only entry level Japanese made ke that were built for a few big bike shops in the 1980s. My pal Johnny has one! They were cheap half way decent bikes- but not anywhere near the level of a real Lotus.

This Lotus is the descendent of the English car company Lotus that also made those super carbon bikes that Chris Boardman used to ride.

And no one would ever trade your Lotus for anything made by the real Lotus so y'all needn't worry your pretty little head off!

[m_sasso]

Lotus is an English engineering entity founded by an entrepreneurial engineer named Colin Chapman, that was/is best know for designing cars. Jim Clark, Jochen Rindt, Emerson Fittipaldi, and Mario Andretti all won Formula 1 world championships driving Lotus cars. The first car I owned was a Lotus Elan SE. The bicycle company also named Lotus, however is/was completely unrelated.

Lotus the engineering firm is the current sponsor, partial designer of the new track bike.

[m_sasso]

More interesting track components for the coming Olympics, https://cyclingtips.com/2019/11/bast...rack-campaign/

[zzy]

why in god's name won't shimano put out a hollowtech track crank. esp for the tokyo olympics.

[FlashUNC]

Originally Posted by zzy

why in god's name won't shimano put out a hollowtech track crank. esp for the tokyo olympics.

Too busy developing the 2020 Olympics commemorative fishing reel.

[m_sasso]

A nice write up on a lot of the new track equipment that showed up at the Cambridge World Cup over the 6-8th. Worth a read and look, no faster fat 25mm tires here!

https://www.velobike.co.nz/blog//new-tech

[wallymann]

this was my favorite cost-no-object national team track-bike.

https://cyclingtips.com/2016/08/the-...e-engineering/

[m_sasso]

One of the big changes that is not being openly written or spoken about is the re-emergence of Campagnolo and Corima wheels away from Mavic. Almost everyone has made the move, why?

[nooneline]

Originally Posted by m_sasso

One of the big changes that is not being openly written or spoken about is the re-emergence of Campagnolo and Corima wheels away from Mavic. Almost everyone has made the move, why?

Well one reason is that Mavic doesn't sponsor any national programs, I think.
Also with easier, cheaper access to aerodynamic testing, a lot of people are realizing that despite Mavic's strengths - they're very stiff, very strong, and very reliable (the disc is incredibly thick; I've heard stories of people getting holes in them from crashes and slapping bondo over it) - people are learning that there are better alternatives, and other companies are finding a strong path to offering competitive alternatives.

I think there was a time that nobody would really bother making high-end track gear, but now there are just a lot more in the market. I wonder how much of it is connected to national programs realizing that there's a decent chance for ROI when they take aim at olympics medals on the track - they can put together a program and have a company make some wheels (like USA with HED on the Felt TA FRD) and that's how a new product line emerges...

Personally, I'm more interested in the development of a whole new array of madison/sphinx bars. I'd love to see something commercially available, in 34cm.

[cowgirl]

Originally Posted by m_sasso

One of the big changes that is not being openly written or spoken about is the re-emergence of Campagnolo and Corima wheels away from Mavic. Almost everyone has made the move, why?

It ain't got nothing to do with what anyone has guessed. The reason is that Look used to supply almost all the federations with equipment and they had a great relationship with Mavic.

Look still supplies a lot of bikes, but they recently bought Corima so all the Look bikes are designed around and supplied with Corima now. That accounts for nearly all the Corima increase and nearly all the Mavic decrease.

Campagnolo has always had their Ghiblis on a bunch of bikes and still does.

Hope this makes sense to y'all!

[m_sasso]

Originally Posted by nooneline

Personally, I'm more interested in the development of a whole new array of madison/sphinx bars. I'd love to see something commercially available, in 34cm.

It is my understanding 3T has stopped production of the Scatto's so hopefully something interesting is in the works?

If anyone watched Brisbane there was a very large mix of Corima front wheels and Campagnolo rear wheels. The new Ghiblis are substantially lighter than previous years Campagnolo wheels and I would assume the new Corima's are again lighter than the IO's.

All these wheels are fast however track people are a suspicious group and if you didn't have Mavic wheels before you lost the psych war before the race even got started.

Originally Posted by cowgirl

Campagnolo has always had their Ghiblis on a bunch of bikes and still does.

If you watched Brisbane, you would likely agree the percentage of competitors on Campagnolo wheels is way higher than previous years World Cup events, there is a definite observable change in the number of Campagnolo wheels competitors are using.

[nooneline]

Originally Posted by m_sasso

All these wheels are fast however track people are a suspicious group and if you didn't have Mavic wheels before you lost the psych war before the race even got started.

At other high levels there were (and still are) a lot more alternatives to Mavic in the field - I'm thinking UCI racing just below the World Cups, and sixdays with top-tier talent.

But two funny things about Mavic's reputation as being hands down the fastest - one is that for a long time it was a clear and observable phenomenon at the WC level, and two is that of the world-level trackies I've raced with(/against), none gave an indication that they cared or actually believed it. And yet, even the privateers managed to get their hands on an io/comete for a trip to a world cup or champs.

cowgirl - great info. i think i missed the news that Look bought Corima, or it didn't register, but certainly explains their new product push over the last few years.