Tour Tech on Show in Monaco

What are we in store for in France this month? Have a look...

Everyone in the industry seems to think I am in Monaco for the Tour. Sadly, I am not. As they say in France, C’est la vie. But this technical editor, however, on vacation in Switzerland, visiting my wife Donna Phelan, just as I did last year at TeamTBB camp in Leysin. It’s great seeing old friends (coach Brett Sutton and athletes Rebekah Keat, Lizbeth Kristensen and Erika Csomor), and all the new faces on the team. I brought my road bike and am excited to head out today after a day of jetlag sorting… got some new stuff to test, in a beautifully appropriate locale, the Swiss Alps. It’s a beautiful day today, and am sure it will be the same around the corner in Monaco for the race start today.

And among the things we’ll see during the month-long saga? There’s a ton...

Oakley Antifreeze Radar
This one debuts with Oakley's sprinters, who will wear an appropriately wicked liquid green frame that looks like frozen Prestone (which is in effect an impossibility what with it being call, you know, antifreeze... but Oakley makes the impossible possible), with a Jade Iridium lens.They’re limited edition, available in the standard Path lens or the new XL, with a longer 7mm nosebridge (which is functionally great for when down in the aerobars, so you're looking through the lenses and not over the frame) and available soon in that limited run at Oakley.com get'em while you can.

Castelli Apparel
While on invite at the request of Cervelo to see Carlos Sastre and Thor Hushovd do some aero testing at San Diego Low Speed Wind Tunnel this February, I had a chance to meet the folks from Castelli, and saw some prototype apparel they said would be debuted this July.

While you’ve now seen the new reverse jerseys (white instead of black), my interest lay in their tunnel-tested gear.
Like the Aero Race Team Jersey; the wind tunnel tested skinsuit, shoecovers and aero gloves will give the riders a technical edge to cut through the wind as well. Here's a shot of defending Tour champ Carlos Sastre checking out some of the fabric that Castelli's Steve Smith is showing him.

Further, and more of an aside: keep an eye out for a totally new TT helmet from Catlike with the Cervelo TestTeam; they had something at the wind tunnel that they were vehemently preventing me from taking photos of. Pretty cool stuff.

The body of the skinsuit is made using Castelli’s BodyPaint technology: a single piece of fabric to eliminate seams and cover your body as if it was painted on. It’s cut short in the front so that when the rider is bent over in the riding position, it lays perfectly flat on the front. A flat elastic leg opening means for smooth air flow. It’s finished with an aerodynamic flap to cover the riders race number. (maybe we’ll see this in triathlon?)

Castelli’s Aero Race Shoecovers also have a “golf ball dimple” fabric.

Giro TT helmet
We’ll see this one today; a two-year project, with aero testing taking place at the University of Washington Aerodynamics Laboratory Kirsten Wind Tunnel, as well as at UW’s liquid tanks doing fluid flow. It’s pretty impressive testing, which they captured on video and you can watch here at http://www.giro.com/en-us/media/#/asset:59/category:default/type:default. It' follows testing the team did with Lance Armstrong at the San Diego Wind Wind tunnel last Spring as well, in an effort to find yet another optimized helmet shape that will fit Lance's highly curved back. And there's the thing: not every aero helmet will fit every head.. but this one may be best for you.
Giro marketing director Kevin Franks went on record saying:

"Based on extensive wind tunnel and ride testing, we can report that the new Giro TT helmet that will debut on Giro riders tomorrow in Monaco is the fastest TT helmet in the world. The helmet is considerably faster than any other helmet in zero degree yaw situations, and remarkably faster in 5, 10, and 15 degree yaw situations. The helmet represents a paradigm shift in aerodynamic helmet technology."

We've asked if Normann Stadler will be wearing this at the Roth Challenge next weekend in Germany, and.. afraid not, Franks said... but probably in Kona.

Rotor’s 3D Carlos Sastre Crankset
The new 3D Crankset is of keen interest; designed in concert with Cervelo TestTeam, it has three longitudinally CNC-machined holes through the length of the crankarms to cut weight, while maintaining structural integrity. For the Tour, the crank goes yellow for one man: defending race champ Carlos Sastre. It will be available to the public, however.

Just six of these cranks have been made (good luck getting one), hand-painted by a design studio that does up custom MotoGP helmets.

Specialzied Shiv
Sure, we’ve seen this at the Triathlete magazine website. But we haven’t seen the new paintjob. Here’s Fabian Cancellara’s rig being built up in Monaco for today’s TT. Get some.
Cervelo S3 Tour Limited Edition

To commemorate Cervelo TestTeam's first Tour entry (and of course Sastre's title defense), a super-limited run of a black and yellow S3 frameset will be made available. Check cervelo.com for more info.

Lance's Giro Long TT bike?

So my friend Alex with SRAM travels with a lot of the SRAM teams and athletes at events. Of course, he's at the Giro with the Astana team, one of his component charges.

Alex also updates his Facebook a bunch with pics. And given his access (that is, "all), he generally has some cool photos. But this one caught my eye:It looks like Lance's TT rig for Thursday's loooong time trial; 61.7 kilometers from Sestri Levante to Riomaggiore. From what I've heard, it's lots of hills—hence a bike that recalls Lance's time at the Alpe d'Huez time trial.

Note the Hed ClipLite clip-on aerobars. Note yet another kick-ass Trek custom Livestrong paint for Lance.

Another note: Look closely at Lance's shifters. THESE look different. They look like something I saw on a SRAM-sponsored triathlete's bike recently... but cannot talk about. Yet. Alex, Please? Can I talk??? I'm champing at the bit over here.. I'll buy you a beer in Monaco!

Lance Armstrong's new carbon fiber clavicle!

I wonder what today is... whatever, this is awesome!

BONTRAGER INFORM® TECHNOLOGY AIDS ARMSTRONG'S RECOVERY

(Waterloo, WI) – Lance Armstrong and Bontrager today released more details regarding Armstrong’s recent collarbone surgery. While it was previously reported that Armstrong’s right clavicle was screwed and plated back together after his March 23rd crash at the Castilla y Leon stage race in Spain, Armstrong and equipment sponsor Bontrager, jointly announced that he was the world’s first recipient of an inForm® CarbonClavicle™ Upgrade.

Originally slated to be released at the AAOS (American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeon) Convention May 18-24th in Las Vegas, Bontrager moved up the launch date of the inForm CarbonClavicle to aid the return of Armstrong to the peloton.

“The original intent of the Bontrager inForm line was to use medical research to aid us in creating better cycling contact points, such as saddles, shoes, and grips. But when we did the research into the most common cycling-related injuries, the broken collarbone proved to be an area where we could actually help cyclists get back on the road sooner,” relates John Balmer, head of Bontrager Development.

The CarbonClavicle, available for both left and right shoulders in four male sizes and four WSD (Women’s Specific Design) sizes, is an actual carbon fiber replacement of the clavicle. Developed with the aid of Sports Medicine Specialist Dr. Mark Timmerman, a Bontrager consultant, the inForm CarbonClavicle has greater shock absorption, greater impact strength, and a greater tensile strength—all while being grams lighter than the OEM bone.

“The installation on Armstrong was completely coincidental. But I must admit, the Bontrager marketing team was doing high-fives when we heard about Lance’s crash. It really was a marketing god-send. I mean, could there have been a better way to launch the new Bontrager medical Upgrade line?” explains Chris Clinton, Bontrager Marketing Manager.

The installation procedure is substantially quicker than the conventional collarbone repair procedures of stabilizing, drilling and pinning, as this is a full replacement. Essentially, the broken bone is completely removed and the CarbonClavicle is anchored in place. Armstrong’s procedure took approximately 30 minutes and will reduce his recovery time from 3 weeks, to 5-7 days for the sutures to fully heal.

The delay in releasing details was due to an extended approval process with the UCI, which has now ruled that since this piece is structural yet provides only minor aerodynamic advantage over the traditional ‘bump’ of a healed broken clavicle, it falls with the current parameters of the UCI rules.

Future sponsorship plans include full support and pre-emptive upgrades for the full Trek-Livestrong U23 team. “These guys are early in their careers, and if averages apply to the team, we think we can prevent about ten or more future breaks across the 12 members of the team,” adds Clinton.

Backed by Bontrager’s best-in-industry 5-year warranty, inForm CarbonClavicles will be available through referrals from Trek and Fisher dealers exclusively. Retail prices will be set by the retailer.

For more information, please visit Bontrager online at www.bontrager.com.

Tested: Oakley Jawbone

For most any performance optic, the idea is to increase peripheral view, hence all the frameless designs that allow you a greater viewing area. It’s why Lance always preferred the M-Frame, and why triathletes like the Half Jacket and Radar from Oakley, or frame-free designs from other brands.

Well, Lance ain’t wearing the M-Frame anymore, and guys like Chris Lieto are racing Ironmans in the new Jawbone. Why? Wouldn’t that be counterintuitive? We got a chance to test it, and find out why the Jawbone takes the conventional wisdom of frameless design and tosses it aside.
I recall meeting up with Oakley product manager Steve Blick at the Tour de France last year, and the world got its first look at these glasses, as Thor Hushovd and George Hincapie debuted them in Brest. I couldn’t believe how rad they looked. Then Chris Lieto wore them out front of the bike at the Hawaii Ironman, wearing a black and yellow LiveStrong version. After Kona I visited the Oakley factory in Foothill Ranch and it was the first question out of my mouth for Blick and Greg Welch: when are they coming to market?” “Soon” was as much as I could get out of them.

At the Tour of California Solvang time trial last week, Triathlete was invited to the official press launch of Jawbone. And yes, they have a release date.

The big selling point with this glass is SwitchLock: the lens is fully contained by the frame, which opens to allow lens swaps. The design is ingenious: the rubbery nosepad is a hinged pivot that can turn up, releasing a clasp on the lower “jaw” of the frame. The frame swings out of the way allowing for removal and swap of lenses, fingerprint-free. When the skies go dark, change ‘em out for lighter lenses, or clear. Voila.

But there’s a lot going on in the interior. Like the fact that the lens, while nestled in the frame alcove, is suspended off the frame, isolated from the flex of the frame. We noticed on our test pair a thin foam buffer on the inside of alcove that contains the lens edge. When you install the lens, it rests upon it instead of the plastic of the frame itself— and is isolated from the frame. “This way, all the compressive stresses have been removed from the lens orbital,” Blick says. What that means is that regardless of the size of your head, or the width of your helmet’s retention device upon which the frame temple sits, the flex of the frame won’t screw up the frame curvature, and thus distort your optical view. Since fully-optimized optic viewing is a hallmark of Oakley, it was an impressive detail that ought not be overlooked— and one that not to many other brands would even consider.


While SwitchLock is the hook, for us one of biggest thing is the smallest; the Jawbone sports thin little folding armpieces. I’ve been training and racing in Oakley’s Radar since they came out, and have loved, like all of us, the absence of a frame on the sides and bottom. But they have a thick armpiece that can be a hassle getting around helmet retention devices. Like all glasses, I had to place them over my road helmet’s retention device, rather than under (because putting them under creates a tension focus behind my ear, which gets painfully uncomfortable, especially on long rides. But the stiffness of the burlier temples still put some focal pressure on my temple.

Oakley countered it on the Jawbone with a thin, slightly flexy armpiece. And that would be my biggest question with Jawbone: would they hurt my head? Answer? Nope. The thin arms are meant to flex naturally over the The armpieces went under over retention device, and being so thin, flexed nicely, eliminating any painful stress points. It was awesome. “

Coming home, I tried it again with my aero helmet, another litmus test. Again, it worked, sliding into the tiny temple slots easier than any glass had heretofore. It was, again, awesome.

OK, so why so great for triathlon? Well, for the above reason is one. But the frame design is another.

That size, parlayed with your head position when in the aerobars (or on your hoods when on your road bike) put your eye level at about the top third of the frame. Meaning there’s plenty of view coverage below, and nothing obscured. But it’s the top where we care; we’re looking straight up the road, and the frame (and our helmet) are always in the way. “We worked with all the leading helmet manufacturers—some of who are our competitors—cooperating so that we can deliver the best experience for the consumer.”

The Jawbone’s upper frame is thin, butting up against your helmet to give you just that bit more viewing when you’ve got your head tucked. “Testing with Davis and Taylor Phinney and Brian Lopes and George Hincapie, we found we needed a larger field of view off the stem,” Blick said. “When your head is down, we minimized the obstruction at the top of the orbital as much as possible. So when they’re on, you’re not looking at the top of the frame, you’re actually getting a clear field of view.”

Other minutae about Jawbone:

• Each set of glasses sold will come with an extra nosepiece; the hinge of the nosepiece can be popped off, and replaced. Further, those nosepads have a bit of rise to them, which will help fit better with athletes with smaller, lower nose bridges, letting it sit off the face better. “Those bigger nosepieces really worked well for Hincapie and Cavendish on the wet climbs, helping keep air flowing through the glasses and keeping them from fogging up.

• Speaking of fog, Jawbone has option of standard or vented lenses, the latter being designed for greater air flow, warding off fog.

• Each set of glasses sold will also come with a spare set of glasses.

• It will come in eight colors options (I'd show them all, but the conversion to jpg ain't working so well, and the colors are all off) but the basics including an all-white frame, an all black frame are complimented by the neon orange Retina Burn top/black bottom that Lieto ran at Ironman Arizona, as well as a variety of lens options including photochromic, clear, vented and non-vented. Prescription option will be available as well.

• OK, so when will we all be able to get ‘em? Oakley promised a release in May. Pricing will vary, based on lens selection. Non-Iridium glasses will price around $190 Blick says, up to $250 for Transitions or polarized lenses.

Oakley was clearly proud of their product. There were easily 100 people who had a hand in the design of this optic,” Blick said. “It took us three years to create Jawbone, but we already working on something else—we’re not done yet. But this one’s ready to go.”

Zipp ZedTech: Addressing Freud’s Model of the Psyche

Well, race season has begun, Fabian Cancellara took the prologue at the Tour of California (and summarily bowed out), and heading into today’s time trial, Levi Leipheimer has the lead as the sun is finally making a showing in California. Was it just me who found it intriguing that longtime Cerveloite Cancellara won aboard a Specialized? I loved the California bear motif on Levi Leipheimer’s TTX, and the understated matte black Lance had going on his rig. And we saw a bike with triathlon heritage, the Kuota Kueen K, cutting its teeth in UCI road racing on Team OUCH.
And of course, we saw an idiot steal the equivalent of a cycling Mona Lisa (aka Lance Armstrong’s TT bike), then return it on the sly. To quote Ricky Bobby said in Talladega Nights: "That's just dumb." I thought they would have to pull out this test bike, from when I was at the tunnel last fall during his fit and product testing session. We'll see what he rides today at high noon.

Yeah, it’s that season, to start seeing who’s on what, what prototypes are going on, which is why I’m in Solvang today; to not only watch the TT, but also see what everyone has on their bikes. The Tour of California is a bellwether to what we’ll see the top pros in triathlon upon. It’s my favorite time of the year. I got a look at Cervelo TestTeam on last Tuesday at the San Diego Wind Tunnel and saw some pretty wicked stuff, and I’m quite certain I’ll see some things that will be of keen interest and utility to triathletes. I’ve already been asked to a few team and camps, with the promise of seeing some special stuff.I spoke to the folks at Zipp Speed Weaponry, who pointed me in the direction of some athletes’ bikes to see some special stuff when in Solvang. While there’s a lot of sex factor to their goods (and rightly so), Zipp has been delivering wheels that are so well engineered, studied, tested, it’s no wonder the Indiana-based company is one of the leaders. I was reminded of that when Zipp’s Andy Paskins reminded me that there will be heaps of athletes this weekend running Zipp wheels unbranded, wheels that the teams pay for of their own impetus.

OK, why the leading headline? That’s quite a statement, eh?

Freud came up with three facets of the human psyche: the id, the ego and super-ego. The id is impulsive action, satisfying for the now. The ego reasons for long-term benefit. And the super-ego keeps it all in check, with reason that serves as a conscience.

Maybe Zipp has a psychoanalyst on staff; ZedTech creates the watering mouth effect for the id (can you say custom color decals and hubsets?); the desire for something for substantial drag numbers that the ego will require; and takes care of that nagging super-ego with the consideration that if you don’t have these wheels, you’ll be slower. And your mind finally gives, saying, I gotta have these.”

While on its face they look the same, The 2009 iteration of the Zipp line, including the ZedTech configuration, have undergone massive changes, that will improve us both fashionally and functionally.

ZedTech is all about, well, me. Well, I mean you. “Me” in terms of being able to show your style. While the ZedTech consumer gets the dimpled hubs (the rest of the Zipp consumer base does not have access to this option), it’s about the color and flash.

So like Burger King thing, Zipp says you can have it your way. To illustrate it, visit zipp.com/zedtech. Here, you can visually build your wheels graphically. You can choose pre-created decal designs, or do it all on your own.

Zipp invited me to experience the ZedTech customer’s experience, and the fun part is picking the look of your wheels. At the website, you can select every aspect of the wheel; decal color, hub external cap colors, bearings (steel or ceramic) and spoke nipple color.

Designing your decal design is all you. You can use a full color palate to determine the colors of the individual Z-I-P-P lettering, background and Advanced Technology Group lettering underneath. Zipp marketing manager Andy Paskins tells me he’s seen some “interesting” designs so far. Very political of him not to make any judgements. I hoped the crew at Zipp didn’t laugh at my design idea, whatever I came up with.

I have bikes of mostly a red or blue motif, so I wanted something that would work on either bike. I also went to the University of Arizona, so I thought, why not an Arizona Wildcats color concept? I chose a red inner lettering with blue trim and white ATG lettering. The hubs would be red, spoke nipples a simple grey, and went with a simple standard bearing setup. The wheels? It would be the Craig Alexander Special, the same wheelset he ran to take his Hawaii Ironman title last fall: a 404 front and an 808 rear.

As cool as they look, the true advancement in the new wheels (not just ZedTech but all wheels) comes in the details. First, Zipp re-designed the rim shape, with a slightly more blunt and rounded apex to the rim. The brake track has been angled a bit more as well, Zipp says.

The biggest advance from a functional standpoint comes in the new 88 front hub and 188 rear hub, which are 276 grams a pair. Gone is the somewhat flimsy carbon fiber dust cap on the non-drive side. In comes a bearing shield, and a clinch nut on the non-drive side of the rear hub.

The bearings are now a fair bit more protected from the elements with that dustcap replaced by the bearing shield. But more importantly you and I now have the ability to set the pre-load on the bearings. There is a factory setting of .08 Nm, but if you feel like you want it a bit looser for a more free run when it’s set and secured into your dropouts wih your quick releasen, you can do it with a 2mm hex key. Of course, it’s your onus to be sure they’re not too loose, so as not to allow too much play that can damage your bearings.

The big, stiff 17mm axle is larger than that found in cross-country mountain bike version, and you have the choice of either ceramic bearings, or Swiss-made steel bearings that Zipp says are rounder than many other subpar ceramic bearing offerings on the market— 10 millionths of an inch of tolerance, which is 2.5 times tighter a tolerance than the other guys. So, the wheel will roll better and faster with less friction and drag with such a smooth bearing.

Hub manufacturing has other proprietaries that make the flanges more crack-resistant. And, each front and rear hub has its spoke holes cut specific to a rim, for the most direct, optimal travel of spoke from hub to rim—reducing stress risers. Boring stuff on its face, but when your high-strung wheel has a weak hub and it fails, it’ll matter. Especially on race day.

About two weeks later, the box showed up at our office, and for your spend, they deliver with a showroom-floor perfect polish. The hubs are gorgeous and with the color option really set off the complete complimentary look of your bike. They’re also a fair bit more silent than their predecessor.

Complete with a set of Zipp Tangente Tubulars to complete the I got to take a maiden test voyage up the Coast Highway from Encinitas to Carlsbad. Are they fast? Does a bear…. ok, I’ll just say they are hella fast, unreal light. Braking was great, but no better than it was ever before; maybe I need a screaming descent to test that re-design. Nothing quantative here, but I’ve been on lots of wheels, and the sturdy build, the engineering, the testing I’ve seen them do, lead me to have a hell of a lot of faith in them that they have proven the wheels as fast. So it’s the wheelset I often default to when I am packing my bike away for a race.As a tinkerer, I love, love, love the ability to adjust my own preload. For those who like to know every facet of the bike, you can really tailor your bike for race day, making sure that you are getting as much resistance-free play with the wheel in the dropouts as you want—the wheels will be fast, and you have the ability to ensure that’s so.
My test set will make their true race debut at Ironman 70.3 New Orleans, which I will be covering and racing in early April. Meantime, I’ll watch the pros roadies put this new gear through its paces. It’s a wonder if any of the guys know just how much work went into these new 2009 wheels. Fortunately, I get to hang out with engineers like Josh Poertner and talk about this stuff for an hour or so in the Sands Convention Center halls in Vegas during Interbike.

See, the things you learn when you stay out of the strip clubs. It's enough to... uh... placate your ego.

Off to Solvang to see these wheels put to work…