Vuelta Corsa-Carbon Clinchers Pro Review - By Twain Mein

• Full carbon clincher rim
• 6mm “lowered” brake surface area to prevent heat build-up
• 20 spoke front, 24 spoke rear with triple-butted aero and stainless steel spokes, sealed cartridge bearings and “lubeable” cassette body.
• 50mm rim for aerodynamics
• Claimed: weight — Front: 703 grams, Rear: 958 grams, total 1661 grams
• Actual — Front: 740 grams, Rear: 990 grams. +69 grams.
• $1500 MSRP for the pair
• Includes cork brake pads and brake pad holders

I’m not that familiar with the Vuelta brand, but their website explains that they’ve been around since 1992. Their site further claims “it is no wonder that Vuelta continues its reign as the current UCI world hour record holder, and owner of the coveted title of World’s Fastest Wheels.” I didn’t really have much opinion on the company, but I was excited to test full carbon clinchers, as it seems that carbon clinchers is where great strides are being made in innovation.

Pages: 1 2 3

Gaerne Carbon G.Myst Road Cycling Shoe Pro Review by Paul Thai

• Model: Gaerne G.Myst in white
• Colors available: white, white/gray, black
• Material: Synthetic upper and Carbon weaved sole. 2 Velcro and 1 mechanical micro adjust buckle straps
• Weight: approximately 735 grams
• MSRP: $399

Introduction
Imelda Marcos, once the Philippines’ first lady was well known for owning as many as 1060 pairs of shoes. In comparison, I will never own or dream to own as many pairs. Although, I must admit I have a particular fondness for footwear. Whether they are formal, casual, or cycling shoes… I’m somewhat picky about what I wear. With cycling shoes, in addition to “looking nice”, one thing is an absolute must, they have to fit perfectly. A nice fitting pair of cycling shoes equals pure enjoyment on the bike! It makes your legs, feet, pedal, and crank feel as “one”. Your feet are considered one of the most crucial contact points between you and your bicycle (equally important is the contact of your buttocks and the hands). Having a pair of shoes, saddle, or handlebars that do not conform to your body usually leads to pain and frustration. So it’s very important to get the fit right. Cycling shoes need to be functional, efficient, and comfortable. Although, ironically most times people buy shoes based on the way they look and consequently find out that the shoes do not fit them well. It’s important to try on every pair of shoes you’re considering before committing to the purchase. As you will find out, every shoe manufacturer’s sizes are just slightly different, enough that a 43 in one brand will not fit the same as a 43 in another.

Gaerne (pronounce “GAH- EYR- NAY”) is not a new kid on the block. The company has been around close to half a century, and is situated nearby the town of Treviso in Italy. The company’s “know how” comes from a background of making walking shoes. Mr. Ernesto Gazzola, founder of Gaerne, had worked in the shoe industry for several years before deciding to go out on his own (with the help of his wife) when he created Gaerne in 1962. He then ventured on to fabricate motorcycle footwear (in which, Gaerne is very well respected and has many gran prizes to their credit), and then onto cycling shoes.

The company’s “atelier” is located in the same neighborhood as some other well known cycling brands such as, SIDI and Wilier, to name a few. Being in the midst of the action helps the company gather all the information needed to make the best products that the possibly can. Although most companies products are made in Asia these days, Gaerne still makes their products in the same Italian factory by hand as they’ve always done. And if you are a fanatic of Italian footwear like I am, that’s good to hear.

A few years back Gaerne sponsored some cycling greats such as Sean Kelly, Claudio Chiappucci (got to love him…what a fierce competitor!), and Marco Pantani (who doesn’t like him?). Nowadays they have a pretty decent cyclist by the name of Cadel Evans. But realistically, none of us regular weekend warriors will ever come close to these living legends. So my take is that we should not consider them factors when considering the purchase of any shoes, but rather focus on fit, fit, and fit!

Pages: 1 2 3

VCRC Ceramic Pulley Set Pro Review

• 11t VCRC Ceramic Pulley Set
• Compatible with: Shimano 10 Speed, Campy 10 Speed, SRAM Road 10 Speed
• VCRC Ceramic Balls - ABEC 7
• Plastic Pulley Bodies for Quietest Performance
• Sold as a set of 2 pulleys - Only 9g each, 18g/set
• MSRP - $129.95
• Company website - www.velocarbon.com

VCRC has been around since 2002 and might be remembered originally as Velo Carbon. But in 2004, they began to develop other lightweight products and changed their name to VCRC. They began offering lightweight alloy parts (stems, handlebars, and seatposts) along with their carbon offerings. At the same time, they started to develop a new product, ceramic bearings. What began as a joint venture between F1 Ceramic Bearings and VCRC has now developed into a product line that includes bottom brackets, pulleys, and ceramic upgrades for various different product manufacturers.

A year ago, we reviewed VCRC’s Shimano compatible ceramic bottom bracket and found it to be a great upgrade for the price. What we have on review now is something that is aimed to compliment that upgrade, the VCRC Ceramic Pulley Set. The package comes from VCRC with two pulleys, an upper and a lower (both labeled accordingly), a spacer tree with the various sets of spacers you’ll need depending on which drivetrain you’re running, and instructions on how to install the set.

Pages: 1 2

Cervelo Diet - Ultimate Mods for the Ultimate Bike, the Cervelo R3 - Part 6 - By Twain Mein
I replaced the headset with an FSA orbit (20 grams less) and Performance Lunar Light tubes (48 grams less), bringing it down to 6220 grams, or 13 pounds 11 ounces. Then came the tubulars…

Ritchey Superlogic Carbon-Boron 46 Tubulars

• Full Carbon and Boron rims made by Lew Racing
• 46mm tall for aerodynamics
• Ritchey hubs with premium bearings
• Cool quick releases
• Estimated total weight: 1200 grams; claimed 1171
• Front: 20 hole, 491 grams claimed. $1349.95 msrp
• Rear: 24 hole, 680 grams claimed. $1449.95 msrp
• Clinchers claimed weight of 1221 grams (516 front, 705 rear)
• Clinchers: $1495.95, $1539.95 MSRP, front and rear respectively

Steve Parke showed up with the a set of Ritchey Superlogic Carbon-Boron 46 Tubulars. They were pre-glued with Ritchey Slick WCS tubular tires that have a claimed weight of 250 grams each; I think they were closer to 280 grams each with glue, so this puts the real weight at 1200 grams for the wheelset (sans quick releases). The net actual loss was 182 grams, dropping the total bike weight to 6038 grams, or 13 lbs 5 ounces.

The full carbon rims are designed by Lew Racing (which is now merged with Reynolds). Lew also uses Boron, a material that is 4x stronger than Carbon and 10x the cost. By leveraging Boron, less material is needed to make the wheel, decreasing weight. There are also many other cool features.

The rear wheel has a crisscross, aka “Crowsfoot” pattern on the drive side; the cross bend has a straight pull for extra rigidity. The quick releases feature “smart” labeling; the rear skewer is meant to face forward. This is to prevent accidental opening if you make contact in a race. If the QR faces backward, it’s more prone to opening with someone coming up on you and brushing against it.

Pages: 1 2

Almost exactly one year later, the Cervelo is now a whopping 587 grams (1lb 1.6 ounces) lighter…and about $3700 heavier on the wallet. Each gram of weight savings cost $6.30. Is it worth that additional money? Of course, that is subjective. It is less than buying a brand new bike and offers the satisfaction of being completely customized. On the other hand, it is still a lot of money

More importantly, the bike now climbs better due to lighter weight, better low gear range, and stiffer cranks. And it descends with greater confidence and ability due to the phenomenal fork and handlebars. In a word, the bike has gone from competent to fantastic.

Read the rest of this entry »

Part 4 - Ritchey Carbon Magic

I am extremely lucky to have Steve Parke as my neighbor. He’s the General Manager at Ritchey and he was very enthused about helping out with this project. Ritchey parts embody the spirit of this project: light but strong and extremely well engineered. So we took the lightest and newest carbon offerings to see what more could be done to lighten the bike further-while continuing to improve it’s overall performance. We upgraded the seatpost, handlebar, and fork.

Seatpost: Ritchey Superlogic Carbon One-bolt

• MSRP: $350
• Actual weight: 140 grams
• Sizes: 300/27.2 (tested), 300mm/31.6, 350/27.2, 400/30.9, 400/31.6
• Beautiful workmanship, intelligent single-bolt design
• Monocoque (one piece) construction with forged carbon head

It’s hard to find a seatpost that comes in at less than 150 grams. The Ritchey Superlogic Carbon is one of the few. It is also very strong. Ritchey has designed a post that is “3-D forged” from the shaft to the head mount. That means it’s heated and super-pressurized carbon to mold it into it’s shape.

Another nice feature is the simple one-bolt clamping mechanism that holds the cradle and end pieces together. Ritchey even makes clamps that come in different sizes to, for example, work with the carbon railed fizik Aliante which has a taller rail profile.

Installing the saddle takes a bit of time but once on, it’s easy to adjust fore/aft and the angle. The seatpost didn’t have any noticeable flex and complemented the already plush ride of the Cervelo.

Pages: 1 2 3

Steven Fairchild of Jamis Bikes gives us a very detailed look into the 2009 Jamis Xenith SL. The very same bike that Team Colavita races on, you can pick up at your local LBS.

2009 Jamis Xenith SL

Upgrades from 2008

• Lighter frame with increased stiffness in the BB and HT area
• BB 30 Bottom Bracket system
• New fork design utilizing 1.5” crown race
• Ritchey Logic WCS Carbon Drop-In integrated headset
• 3T Rotundo LTD handlebar, ARX Team stem and Doric LTD seatpost
• Fizik Arione CX saddle with Carbon Braided rails

All the technology in the world, the fancy ads, the awards—they don’t mean squat once the gun goes off. Being first across the line—that’s all that matters. That’s what these Xeniths are all about.

Colavita’s pros love their Xeniths. The thing is, word’s gotten around about how light, stiff and responsive their bikes are, and the rest of the peloton looks at their Xeniths like an unfair advantage. In the pros, there are two types of bikes—the ones sponsors make you ride and the ones you want to ride. Like the Xenith SL or Team.

More information from Jamis here.

Pedal Force TT2 Time Trial Bike First Impression - By Steve Cooper

• Full carbon monocoque frameset
• Triathlon/Time Trial specific geometry for 700C wheels
• 515, 525, 545 mm (c-t)
• Aerodynamic chain stay profiles for fatter disc wheels
• Ultra-slim/low head tube
• Head tube for 1-1/8” Campagnolo compatible integrated headset
• Aerodynamic tear-drop profiled seat tube and seat post
• Horizontal adjustable rear dropouts (to minimize rear tire to seat tube clearance)
• Replaceable rear hanger
• Internal cable routing (no outer cable housing needed)
• English threaded 68mm bottom bracket
• Carbon monocoque fork and steerer 1-1/8″.
• Frame/Fork/Seat post MSRP: $900.00
• Invoiced total for bike as reviewed: $2189

13. That’s how many coworkers came over to check out the fully built TT2 parked outside my office. Whether they were a cyclist or just interested in the knife edged profile, their first impressions were universal. Hyperboles, peppered with wows, oohs and aahhs. My coworkers are used to seeing test bikes, but the TT2 stood out even to those that know nothing about bikes. But when it comes to the cyclists who get what a TT or Tri bike is for, the reactions were grounded, yet dramatic approvals.

Then I’d drop the bomb and tell them how little it cost.

Lest I risk slipping into metaphors, let me cover a few working details. The TT2 is an aerodynamically sculpted, steep seated time trial/triathlon carbon weave frame with an equally slippery fork, teardrop seat tube and seat post. The 54.5 cm frame as furnished by Pedal Force weighed in at 1420 grams, the fork with full length carbon steerer weighed in at 460 grams and seat post at 260 grams. Out test frame’s geometry is time trial steep and the wheelbase short, with a 75.5 degree seat tube, a 73.0 degree head tube, spanning a crisp 980 millimeters axle to axle. Top tube lengths match seat tube heights across the size range.

Pages: 1 2

Part 3: Accessorize - Fizik Antares saddle and KCNC quick releases
The next two were easy upgrades that actually saved a lot of weight.

Fizik Antares Saddle

• Cost: $199 MSRP
• Comfortable yet very light weight
• Natural Leather Seat Cover
• Made in Italy
• ICS bag compatible
• Weight: Claimed 175 grams. Actual: 177.

The Antares is the newest saddle from Fizik. It is positioned between the ultra-comfortable Aliante and the ultra-popular Airione. I love the Aliante but the Airione never quite fit me. The Antares’ real competitor is a minimalist saddle like the Selle Italia Flite which weighs an astounding 135 grams. However, I find the Flite extremely uncomfortable. The Antares weighs a little more but I found it to be surprisingly comfortable–even on 50 mile rides. Plus, at 177 grams, it saves 38 grams over the Aliante. You can read my in-depth review here.

Pages: 1 2

Easton hits a home run, first time at bat!

• EC90 Cranks: MSRP $699.00
• Ceramic Bearing Bottom Bracket: MSRP $199.00
• Crank: 170, 172.5, 175 arm length, 53×39 chainrings (compact coming soon)
• Crank weight: 574 grams including end cap
• Ceramic Bottom Bracket Weight: 102 grams. Total 676 grams
• 5 year warranty

Of all the upgrades, I was most excited about Easton’s new carbon cranks. I’ve been using 9-speed Dura Ace with FSA Superlight Cranks (543 grams with bolts) and the reliable and light Dura Ace Octalink bottom bracket (175 grams). The combined weight of 718 grams seemed hard to beat; most of the newer 10-speed crank/bb’s actually weigh more. But since I switched to 10-speed recently, I wanted a crankset that was optimized for the 10 cogs. Easton’s crank was the one that was lighter without being quite as cost-prohibitive as some of the competition. Better still, the EC90 crank and bottom bracket weigh a total of 676 grams, a savings of 32 grams.

How does it compare?
So how can you objectively measure the relative worth of these cranks without riding them? To try and quantify this, I looked at the weights and MSRPs of the latest high end standard sized cranks (the FSA K-force Light TI was not compared because it is only available in compact). I then gave 100 points to the lightest and 100 points to the least expensive with proportionate weighting to each. Each crank is then graded relative to the best in class.

In the end, it’s very clear that there is a huge price premium for ceramic bearings; the jury is still out if the maintenance is worth the claimed reduction in friction. However, and more importantly, along these two judging criteria, the EC90 with standard BB has the best overall score. With the ceramic BB, it comes in at 3rd.

Looking purely at $/gram, the EC90 with standard BB slips to 2nd with the Ceramic BB version still at 3rd.

Not a bad empirical showing for the EC90.

Pages: 1 2