[Closed] WTF Team GB. WTF.

fair point.

He hasn't had time to get changed yet since le tour

Bloke on a bike innit?

so it's ugly, so what? I'm presuming it's ugly for good reasons (stiffness aerodynamics etc) rather than just trying to outdo on-one with over use of the ugly stick.

If it works, who cares how fugly it looks?

what's wrong with it? been fairly common knowledge for a while that theyd be looking to exploit track tech on the road stuff...

I wanted to defend it, saying "they're there to win, not look good on the club run" and such clever things...

...but yeah. WTF! 😕

Woah, look at the chainrings. Not even just elliptical - properly differnt radii all over the place

*sorry I don't really follow road rding, this might not be news to most people but it is to me

He hasn't had time to get changed yet since le tour

Don't get me started on the 3/4 length leg warmers and short sleeve jersey..

I'm guessing he means the bike - surprised it isn't the usual Dogma myself. Looks like an evolution of the Team GB track bikes with a stem that makes my 695's look pretty...

Basically a road going version of the track bikes they've been using for years. Tiny frame for max stiffness and min weight, flat tops to the bars for aero.

[url= http://road.cc/content/news/62533-olympic-road-race-tech-six-bikes-and-their-riders-could-win-gold ]Here's some more info[/url]

i quite like it. And i'd lick the sweat from colonel wiggos mutton chops any day of the week

[url= http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest/534102/bradley-wiggins-uksi-olympic-bike.html ]http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest/534102/bradley-wiggins-uksi-olympic-bike.html[/url]

He hasn't had time to get changed yet since le tour

Yeah he has:

[img] [/img]

[i]Woah, look at the chainrings. Not even just elliptical - properly differnt radii all over the place[/i]

The return of BIOPACE 🙂

Woah, look at the chainrings. Not even just elliptical - properly differnt radii all over the place

osymmetric rings, yes osymmetric...

EDIT: o,symmetric even

That Bradley pic has mysteriously been removed from David Millar's twitter feed, and Cavs tweet of it has gone too...

that is just plain nasty

[img] [/img]

If it's first over the line on The Mall who cares what it looks like.

Anyway I bet Realman could make it sound good if he were selling it on the classifieds. 🙂

Very ugly, but if it gets the results...

I do wonder how much aero impact that has given the fact that the rider still has to sit on it. Still, minimal gains and all that.

cancellara would take off on one of them.

They're just Osymetric rings, as Wiggins uses all the time.

It looks bloody short though from that photo of him riding it.

Also, part of me thinks that in the spirit of the Olympics, maybe everyone should ride the same bikes so that it's best rider/team that wins, not best kit.

Choppers. They should all ride choppers.

in the spirit of the Olympics, maybe everyone should ride the same bikes

Very ugly, but if it gets the results...

http://www.velominati.com/technology/look-pro-part-ii-casually-deliberate/

It seems odd that there's such a focus on aero, yet they haven't used something like BB90 to avoid having a lump of BB sticking out of each side, or put the brake calipers behind the fork.

So ugly, hope we don't get too many side shots on the TV!

They're just Osymetric rings

no no no, they're o,symetric

the breakaway will be going twice as fast just to get away from them, and the peleton will drop back so as not to be associated.

I do wonder how much aero impact that has given the fact that the rider still has to sit on it. Still, minimal gains and all that.

Quite a bit, Trek are claiming the new Madone is 25W better than the outgoing modelat race speeds , and these look substantialy more aero than even those. The average rider's probably rangeing between 250-400W over most of the race so that's 10% less effort. Presumably is more evn i the sprint as the wobbling ruins airflow (anyone who's been sailing in light winds knows that a slight wobble can stall the boat, let alone cav thrashing about) but he's potentialy 10% fresher than the competition.

 

He's just won the tour, he's the best TT rider in t'world. Whatever the fat accountants and IT managers of STW say,he knows best. and he gets to do what he wants.

so whats this bolt for..??!:

[img] [/img]sowhats this bolt for..??!:

It holds the motor in.

Also it probably holds the seatpost in place.

if it was that important why none of this sort of thing ?

[img] [/img]

and he gets to do what he wants.

"whats this bolt for?!

clipping on medals to his sexy new bike?

but doesn't he get given the bike

[i]if it was that important why none of this sort of thing ?[/i]

I think it has to say McDonalds or something if it has a name on it?

they pick, choose and direct every aspect

<Edit> if so then I think we need to start a "what tyres for pall mall thread" and send cav the results.

10% power increase equates to 3% more speeeeeed

[i]I think it has to say McDonalds or something if it has a name on it? [/i]

sorry that should have read

if aero is so important then why not....

what's more aero about that ridley?

the brakes

Maybe the, errm, chunky stem is to compensate for the anorexic fork steerer tube?

[i]if it was that important why none of this sort of thing ?[/i]

Looks the same to me. With some stickers.

the brakes

mountainbiker in believing the hype shocker.

what diff do you reckon those brakes make? compared to say the diff GB can get by rocking those crazy skinny forks?

that's the first time i seen a photo of mr wiggins, how come he's got such skinny legs?!

wiggins?

skinny legs?

[img] [/img]

he's looking fat by his garmin standards!

[i]mountainbiker in believing the hype shocker.

what diff do you reckon those brakes make? compared to say the diff GB can get by rocking those crazy skinny forks? [/i]

I'm not the one building the world most aerodynamic and ugly road bike. I'm only asking the question if aero is so critical that in needs flat bars and goping stems then why haven't they addressed the turbulence caused by the brake cluster, a well known issue for all performance bikes (so much so that on tt bikes they hide them behind the bb), like Ridley have with the fast bike.

Don't get me started on the 3/4 length leg warmers and short sleeve jersey..

Mmmmm.

I'm thinking he probably won't give a shit what anyone thinks of his choice of clothing.

ewwwwwwww, skinny legs does not look nice

makes sense thinking about marathon runners etc, but for some reason i had big legs/skinny upper body in my head

a well known issue for all performance bikes (so much so that on tt bikes they hide them behind the bb), like Ridley have with the fast bike.

but that's my point.

after all this wind tunnel testing and building for a non-commercial client... could you consider that hiding the brake is something of a TT gimic to sell frames, whereas skinnier forks, 1 inch HT etc might be a genuine improvement but less sellable?

they don't *really* look like this you know 😉

[img] [/img]

[i]after all this wind tunnel testing and building for a non-commercial client...[/i]

so Ridleys claims are invalid because they are commercial.

bellville is the only bit of road racing i've ever watched, ever.

i feel a little let down now

after all this wind tunnel testing and building for a non-commercial client...

so Ridleys claims are invalid because they are commercial.

no idea.

possibly tho eh? wouldn't be the first time the industry had thrown in some cool looking features to pep up sales a bit would it?

[img] [/img]

Behind the forks here.

[i]With the Noah FB you save more than 20 Watt (14,11 + 6,08) compared to a normal road bike, while your heartbeat goes down by more than 4%. This means that the track test proves our windtunnel results, our FAST-concept bikes make professional riders faster and conserve energy..[/i]

pretty bold claims to make in a commercial market, and could easily be rubbished by Trek, Spesh etc.

so Ridleys claims are invalid because they are commercial.

I don't think Ridleys claims are invalid nor do I think the Wiggins bike is foolish for not sporting the latest trend in headtubes. Makes sense to me that you use the thinnest possible diameter headtube to reduce frontal mass, likewise with the forks. I think the brake thing with the Ridley is interesting, I think there's probably a minimal benefit to having the brake hidden away but its more marketing than anything else.

Personally I really like this sort of thing, where someone has developed something to be the very best it can be without an eye on whether it will be commercially viable. Bit like F1/Moto GP, these bikes won't be made to turn a profit but simply provide a platform for going as fast as possible within the UCI constraints.

Behind the forks here

Commercial frame though innit, anyone can buy a Grael (sp?). A lot of the big players are doing the hidden brake thing now - Cervelo, Storck, Trek, Scott and so on especially on TT bikes. I do wonder if its a 'Well XXX company has done it, so we need to as well or we'll look old hat' - how much actual power can be saved compared to say a proper TT helmet, a skinsuit or a decent position on the bike?

Behind the forks here.

BTW I've no idea on what is isn't best aero-wise or on who is more likely to tell fibs, or indeed who decides what equipment is used but just because something is done by several companies don't mean it's the right way and if it's used for material gain ("this new bike has backwards brakes come on folks form a queue") then that's a good reason to be atleast a little cynical

I am surprised they didn't have to remove the Dura Ace from the cranks. I thought all brands / logos were frowned upon.

BTW I've no idea on what is isn't best aero-wise or on who is more likely to tell fibs, or indeed who decides what equipment is used but just because something is done by several companies don't mean it's the right way and if it's used for material gain ("this new bike has backwards brakes come on folks form a queue") then that's a good reason to be atleast a little cynical

my point exactly. just cos ridley make an integrated brake in a big fork, doesn't mean integrated brake in a big fork is faster than a (decided by most folks on STW) ugly skinny fork with normal brake setup

the reaction on here, and even the title of this thread prove my point really, maybe the fastest design is a hard sell?

I saw this story this morning and was surprised as I'd assumed they would be riding the same bikes they used in the test event a couple of months back. I'd hope they've been tested on proper roads to make sure they won't fold the first time they hit a crease in the road surface. But I'm not aware of any occasion when they've been subjected to the stresses Cav puts a bike under in a bunch sprint.

Although, if the bike does decide to fold underneath him, Cav will be allowed to take it on a train.

[i]I am surprised they didn't have to remove the Dura Ace from the cranks. I thought all brands / logos were frowned upon. [/i]

isn't that good for you ? 😕

I think the brake thing with the Ridley is interesting, I think there's probably a minimal benefit to having the brake hidden away but its more marketing than anything else.

A cynic might suggest it's a way to tie people in to more expensive proprietry (sic) braking systems (rather than relatively good and affordable Shimano calipers.... though they themselves are going that way with the new twin bolt caliper mounting 'standard') for a given frame/fork manufacturer and/or simply doing the visual groundwork for hydraulic road calipers, with fully concealed hydraulic lines from lever/master cylinder down to the caliper, so bikes don't look too 'different' in one go......

maybe the fastest design is a hard sell?

😉

cynic might suggest it's a way to tie people in to more expensive proprietry....

I think you're pretty spot on with that - just look at the various 'standards' that now adorn pretty much any bike you can buy. You have to wonder if BC did the testing and didn't think a reverse mount brake was worthwhile, or if they just overlooked it whilst concentrating on other things. The BC of 10 years ago might have done the later - with the current funding they have I'd say there's little chance they overlook anything...

sowhats this bolt for..??!:

Folding bike so they can get it on the tube, innit.

lets just hope nothing like this...

thing is how do you sell your faster design?

by adorning it with gimics! duhhh! 😉

how do I know yours really is faster, you don't expect me to believe your advertising do you?

Thing is, you could stick Aaron Gwin on a Demo 8 or Gt Fury and he'd still decimate the competition. I'm willing to bet that Wiggins et al could be riding their winter bikes and still put up a pretty good fight. How stock is Sagans 'Dale for example and he'll still be a threat...

hopefully for cav any aero advantage is going for about 20secs at the end of race.

pretty bold claims to make in a commercial market, and could easily be rubbished by Trek, Spesh etc.

Indeed, and they have been, both the new Madone and Spesh Venge make bigger claims.

And there's the issue of stiffness and weight, that Ridley has to deal with 100kg Fat Joe Public withour breaking, the UK Sport bikes only have to deal with the ~65kg most of the riders weight, and despite that aero road frames aren't known for being the stiffest. Thow a huge budget at building a frame for the exact rider weight and you'll come up with a better solution.

Tracknico's comment sounds the most plausible, that there was more to be gained by making the fork tiny than there was from making it big and hiding the brake inside it.

On the other hand maybe they just ran out of money, after all they're just slightly modified track bikes so a brake is an afterthought. Or somewhere between the two, they tested the integrated brake forks and found no advantage to developing something new over their existing track fork + brake setup so spent the oney elswhere.

Tracknico's comment sounds the most plausible

wahhhheyyyyyy *fist pumps*

On the other hand maybe they just ran out of money,

oh. *unfistpump*

So what is Wiggins going to be using for the TT? Anyone know?

hopefully for cav any aero advantage is going for about 20secs at the end of race.

I know what you're saying, but not entirely true.... if he can achieve any aero efficiency whilst riding at the speed of the bunch, then he's saving energy, for when he needs it (i.e. the last couple of K). As a general rule, he will a) be protested by another rider as much as possible (of WAAAAYYYY more benefit that where the calipers are) and b) rides in the drops whenever practical to make his body as aero as possible to save energy throughout the race (,again of WAAAAYYYY more benefit that where the calipers are).

biggest aero saving is to get the germans to do all the work and tuck in behind Greipel.

biggest aero saving is to get the germans to do all the work and tuck in behind Greipel.

true dat. you wouldnt even be able to see cav if he was tucked behind greipel (from the front)