Stage 10 Results
1 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Cervélo TestTeam - 3:56:19
2 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin-Slipstream
3 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Saxo Bank
4 Alexander Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana
5 Adam Hansen (Aus) Columbia-HTC - 0:00:29
6 Francisco Pérez (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne - 0:00:31
7 Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale - 0:00:37
8 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Saxo Bank - 0:00:39
9 Arnaud Gerard (Fra) Française des Jeux
10 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Quick Step

General classification after stage 10
1 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne - 40:26:41
2 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence-Lotto - 0:00:07
3 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank - 0:00:36
4 Tom Danielson (USA) Garmin-Slipstream - 0:00:51
5 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas - 0:00:53
6 Samuel Sánchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi - 0:01:03
7 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-NGC - 0:02:04
8 Ezequiel Mosquera (Spa) Xacobeo Galicia - 0:02:24
9 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Astana - 0:03:01
10 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) AG2R La Mondiale - 0:03:13

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Spaniard Carlos Sastre staged a stunning late charge to win the 16th stage of the Giro d’Italia, while Russia’s Denis Menchov still topped the overall standings after finishing second.

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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.

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.

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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.

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.

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.

Cervelo Diet - Ultimate Mods for the Ultimate Bike, the Cervelo R3 - By Twain Mein

I purchased a used Cervelo R3 frame from a poster in RoadBikeReview classifieds in March of 2008. Luckily, it was in mint condition and I got a great deal on a phenomenal frame & fork. The R3, though now 3 years old, is still one of the lightest available frames. The performance is amazing; the frame somehow combines incredible stiffness yet still has a buttery smooth ride. It does this by having massive down tube, chain stays, and bottom bracket. But it has very thin and compliant seat stays which help it to absorb shock. It is no exaggeration that this bike climbs like nothing else! It also descends incredibly well with a feeling of confidence I haven’t had in years. It feels as comfortable as an old steel frame yet climbs and accelerates like a super stiff aluminum one. It’s no wonder it’s won so many awards, including RoadBikeReview’s “Best of 2008” with an astounding 4.93 average rating. I freely admit that it doesn’t look drop dead “beautiful” but it is engineered for performance, sort of like a Porsche 911.

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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Cycling and multisport authority Cadence Cycling & Multisport Centers will team with Cervélo, the global leader in premier quality bicycle manufacturing, on a Cadence Preferred Coaching Partnership agreement for 2009, which will benefit customers of both innovative companies worldwide through their synergistic pairing.

Through strategic collaborations with preferred coaching partners, Cadence establishes relationships with industry leaders and authorities that elevate the standard and influence the cycling and multisport marketplace. The company seeks partners that are committed to the same core values as Cadence: premiere quality, technological innovation, data-driven results and genuine consumer benefit. By collaborating with industry innovators, Cadence provides customers with a wide range of products and services including bicycles, wheels, components, apparel, physiological testing, biomechanical services, and training and coaching protocols through their Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and New York City centers.

Cadence’s partnership network, which in addition to Cervélo includes ASSOS, Wilier-Triestina and Zoot, brings a wealth of benefits to customers, including access to comparative data and the most up-to-date scientific databases for product engineering and physiological research. Access to this information enables Cadence to provide its customers with unparalleled evidence demonstrating the technological advantage of preferred coaching partners’ products and services. In exchange, Cadence provides preferred coaching partners with access to their athlete database and coaching staff for product beta-testing and statistical research among diverse athlete populations, as well as unlimited access to Cadence’s state of the art training and testing facilities.

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Cervélo TestTeam are very pleased to announce the following rider signings to the new Cervélo TestTeam.

Carlos Sastre

“We are very proud and pleased to confirm that Tour de France winner Carlos Sastre has signed to ride for Cervélo TestTeam,” said Gerard Vroomen, co-founder of Cervélo.

Vroomen’s confirmation is in response to Sastre’s announcement that he will be riding for Cervélo TestTeam when his current contract expires.

“Carlos was the first rider who signed for our new team,” said Vroomen. “With his incredible kindness as well as his hardworking & determined character, we consider Carlos to be the ideal man to embody the attitude and spirit of our new Team. We at Cervélo, as well as our partners at Zipp, Speedplay, Vittoria and 3T, have long considered him a friend, so we are ecstatic that he is willing to support this pioneering venture. This is a new and unconventional format, but, to his credit, he instantaneously jumped on board and we are very appreciative of that. We are now in the process of building a great team around him and there will be more exciting announcements in the near future.”

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