SANTA ROSA, Calif. - Lance Armstrong's time-trial bike was stolen from the Team Astana truck during the night before Stage 1 of the Tour of California.
Armstrong rode the bike to a 10th-place finish Saturday in Sacramento during the Tour prologue. The race is his first competitive appearance in his native country since the seven-time Tour de France winner began his cycling comeback last month.
A few hours after the time trial, someone removed four bikes from the Astana truck outside the team hotel in Sacramento. Armstrong's time-trial bike, which was closest to the door because he was delayed by a post-race trip to doping control, was taken along with race bikes belonging to Astana teammates Steve Morabito, Yaroslav Popovych and Janez Brajkovic.
Astana spokesman Philippe Maertens confirmed the theft to The Associated Press after it was reported by Armstrong himself on his Twitter feed. Armstrong later posted a picture of the bike, which has distinctive yellow-and-black wheels and the logo of his Livestrong foundation.
"There is only one like it in the world therefore hard to pawn it off. Reward being offered," Armstrong wrote before jumping on his race bike for the 107-mile ride from Davis to Santa Rosa through a steady rainstorm.
Team Astana manager Johan Bruyneel also mentioned the thefts on his Twitter feed before he began following his riders. The racers all have backup bikes, and two-time defending Tour champion Levi Leipheimer's bike wasn't stolen.
Armstrong won't need his time-trial bike again until Friday in Solvang, where the race holds its second time trial. That segment is crucial to Astana's hopes of winning the overall team title.
Has anybody posted "HOT BIKE FOR SALE" to Sacramento Craigslist yet?
Armstrong's bike stolen!
Marzocchi fork recall in US
Marzocchi have announced a voluntary recall of some of their suspension forks in the US. About 70 of their 888 RC3 and 888 RC3 WC downhill forks are affected.
The Italian company say a hard landing which bottoms out the fork can break the internal piston rod, leaving the fork fully compressed and unable to rebound, and potentially causing the rider to lose control and crash.
The US Consumer Product Safety Commission say they have received eight reports of damaged 888 RC3 forks, and one rider claims to have been injured as a result.
The recall affects 2008 forks with date codes beginning with T07D07, T07D08 and T07D09 sold in the US between July and September 2007. The forks are white or black with red and black artwork on the legs. To check your date code, look under the lower crown.
Marzocchi say owners should stop using the forks immediately and return them to the shop where they bought them from for a free repair. The company are warning people not to try to fix their own forks because the legs could "extend violently" and injure them.
For more information, call Marzocchi on 800 227-5579 between 8am and 4pm Pacific time (4pm-12pm GMT), Monday to Friday, email the firm at Techinfo@Marzocchiusa.com or visit www.marzocchi.com.
Shimano unveil new groupsets
Shimano are poised to launch a new entry-level road groupset and a new Deore series of mountain bike kit. At the Japanese firm's 2009 product launch in Birmingham we were also given a tantalising glimpse of the newest incarnation of Ultegra – but we've been sworn to secrecy on that until later in the year.
The new road groupset is called 2300 and slots in at the bottom of the Shimano hierarchy, just below Sora. The eight-speed group has a smooth, flowing design which makes it looks far more expensive than it is. Prices have yet to be confirmed but it is likely to be found on complete bikes selling for £500-£600.
On show at the launch was a bike decked out with all the 2300 kit. The groupset offers the choice of a double (52-39T) or triple (52-42-30T) chainset, with 170mm or 175mm cranks, spinning on a square taper bottom bracket.
2300 will be available with a double or triple crankset: 2300 will be available with a double or triple crankset
The eight-speed rear derailleur has a 'wide link' design which Shimano say improves rigidity, shifting and durability.
Broken Image: The eight-speed 2300 rear derailleur : the eight-speed 2300 rear derailleur
The Sora-style shifters have been designed for riders who spend most of their time on the hoods. They feature reach adjustment and an optical gear display. The 2300 groupset should be available in July.
The sora-style levers are designed for riders who spend most of their time on the hoods:
2009 Deore
The new Deore is Shimano's 'workhorse' groupset and slots in below SLX. It is available in two versions – mountain bike or trekking/hybrid - and should start to hit the shops in June.
With its classy 'galaxy black' finish and trickle-down features from Shimano's higher end groupsets, you'd be hard pressed to tell it's aimed at the budget conscious.
The shifters and brake levers have been designed to work perfectly together, to the extent that the brake hose and gear cable even exit at the same angle to cut down on cockpit clutter.
Shimano's new deore mountain bike groupset has borrowed features from the company's more expensive ranges: shimano's new deore mountain bike groupset has borrowed features from the company's more expensive ranges
The shifters, which are designed to be fitted inboard of the brake levers, feature two-way release (you can push them in either direction to change gear) and a longer and more comfortable paddle. The optical display is now tilted towards the rider, making it easier to see.
The brake lever now has a radial master cylinder, a tool-less reach adjuster, a more comfortable blade and a hinged clamp for easier removal from your bars – a first for Shimano. The fluid circuit inside the calliper has been redesigned for easier bleeding.
The deore brake calliper has been redesigned internally to make bleeding quicker and easier : the deore brake calliper has been redesigned internally to make bleeding quicker and easier
The Shadow rear derailleur hangs much closer to the frame than the old model, out of the way of rocks. It also boasts a stronger spring for crisper shifts and more direct cable routing.
The deore mech uses the same shadow technology as xtr, xt and slx: the deore mech uses the same shadow technology as xtr, xt and slx
The two-piece chainset has outboard bearings and an integrated bottom bracket, but forgoes Shimano's hollow crank arms in favour of solid ones. It weighs 973g and is available in silver or black.
The deore chainset is available in silver or black: the deore chainset is available in silver or black
Stay tuned for more from the Shimano launch, including two new mountain bike wheelsets, the new LX touring/hybrid groupset, a sneak peak inside the hollow Dura-Ace chainring and a sexy new six-bolt disc rotor.
Renthal returns to MTB market
Legendary MX component maker shows off MTB bars, stems, chainrings
UK company Renthal is best known for its multiple-championship-winning motorbike components, but readers with long memories will remember its early-90s alliance with Pace to make mountain bike parts. It's been a while, but Renthal is re-entering the MTB arena with a range of bars, stems and chainrings.
The emphasis is on the more gravity-assisted schools of MTB, with the initial range including short, hinged-clamp stems, DH (wide) and dirt jump (narrower) bars and unramped hard-anodised chainrings in a bunch of sizes. That's not to say that it's heavyweight gear, though - the stem is claimed to come in at under 250g. Based on a brief hold at arm's length, the bars feel like they've got a great shape and we'd be more than happy to use them on a "riding about" bike.
The new bits will be distributed by Ison Distribution (also the UK home of Salsa, Surly and others). Keep an eye on www.renthal.com for more details.
Anti Lock Bicycle Brakes & Sanyo's 2x Power Assisted E-Bike
1) This is slightly old news but I'll be reviving the idea once again. Here's the primer on the working of an ABS system, like that in your automobile.
a) A company called BudBrake came out with a product for the bicycle not too long ago called the Budbrake ABS Modulator. The whole idea behind it was to translate balanced braking to the front and rear wheels so that any braking imbalance on the front wheel that will later lead to a lock-up can be prevented.
In pictures, this looked like a black box like gizmo, oval in shape at about 1.3oz, that was to be installed at the front of the handlebar roughly at the point where the brake cables crossed each other. This was the device that would automatically feather the brakes for the rider. What the device had in it, and how effective it was is anyone's guess.
In a bike forums posting, the co-owner of the company expressed his feeling that this device is best suited for inexperienced cyclists, or those who are riding a bike after a very long time. According to him, it is these folks who have more of the tendency to unskillfully give the deathgrip to brake levers at any perceived sight of danger.
b) The other most colorful idea for a bicycle ABS was a thought thrown out by David Scothern on HalfBakery (which also happens to be an excellent sight for half boiled engineering ideas on anything and everything and related critique from readers).
He wrote :
"On wet roads, a cyclist is at a natural disadvantage if hard braking is required. ABS would help to minimise this problem, and could be implemented as below:
Hall effect speed sensors (like current bicycle computers) on both wheels would allow bicycle speed to be detected during normal riding. On application of the brakes, a set of solid-state accelerometers would measure the deceleration of the bike and compare it to the wheel speed. If a wheel was found to be stationary when the bike was still decelerating, an actuator would slacken the brake cable just enough to restore movement and then re-apply the brakes, much as a car's ABS operates.
Under conditions of power loss (flat battery) the actuator would assume a fail-safe position. As the actuators would be the only moving parts, useful battery life should be available from a relatively small pack."
You can further read suggestions and critique to his ideas here.
If any of you have anything to yield on this subject, feel free to drop a comment. Do you feel this is a viable solution to further increase safety for newcomers to cycling?
2) In other news, Sanyo has launched a cool electric bicycle featuring twice the power assist of its previous model, and featuring regenerative braking as well. Check out this news article with a short launch video in Japan.
Regenerative front wheel motor (left) and Sanyo's 25.9V 6.0Ah Eneloop Battery
This handlebar mounted unit control the rider choose from 3 operating modes
Don't leave without your chillout tune for this week. The D.O.C. No one could do it better. 1989.
BICYCLE DESIGN FOR THE MILITARY :
How do you design bicycles and accessories for the men and women serving on the front lines, in the rough conditions that they encounter? Ease of maintenance, portability, and sturdiness could never bang on your doors here louder. Enter bikes for the Light Bicycle Infantry (LBI) that are rugged, all terrain, and electric and mountain bikes in nature.
Quarq Powermeters Sponsor Cervelo TestTeam
Along with the news that Quarq is sponsoring the Cervelo TestTeam, engineer and company founder James Meyer also informs me that his second generation of powermeters called Saturn are out and in stock (1,495 bucks a piece). I'm not sure if the newer models are just aesthetically pleasing or if there's any other genuine improvements in the hardware and software. For now, you'll just have to stick with their stock cranksets and 130mm bolt circles strictly. It is incompatible with any Shimano or Campagnolo based crankset, since they have an integrated spider and crank arm assembly. Hmm... so suffice to say, I'm waiting for Jupiter.
UPDATE 12/17/2008
The new Saturn design supposedly improves the stability of the calibration when changing chainrings and also is more consistent and faster for the company to produce. All the electronics are the same as the first generation CinQo.
Specialized Transition Vs Cervelo P3C
Bicycle companies will often put glossy promotional advertisements on their websites while putting forth their sales pitch. Sometimes, they'll even go ahead and even compare a bicycle model from their line to that of a competitor's.
As an example, I was stumped by the frontal view of these two bikes. It was put on Specialized's website in a tutorial pdf called "The Importance of Aerodynamics In Cycling". The idea was to show how 'skinny' the Transition looked from the front compared to Cervelo's P3C.
Fig 1 : Side by side frontal area comparisons
As you can see, there is no rider on the bikes, and no pedals either (hardly the case in the real world).
Specialized makes a big deal out of Cervelo's cables sticking out in the front end. They also critique its flared out seatstays and commend the tucked-in design on same in their bike. If you put things into perspective, these things are probably going to make negligible differences to your power output at constant speed. 70-80% of the drag is from the cyclist, not even shown in this picture, much less from the bike, and still much lesser friction drag from cables. Unless you're fighting for a mere tenths of second or a couple of feet with a your opponent, cable drag is hardly an issue. Even then, remember top pros back in the days had cables sticking out like the antlers on a deer. They did fine, and even broke plenty of records. Armstrong, Lemond and Valverde are just a few specific names.
Anyway, the real interesting thing happens when you flip the Transition sideways. Like in the following image. This isn't on the promotional pdf.
Fig 2 : Exposed cable in side view of the Transition
If Specialized is so keen on discussing exposed cables, perhaps they should have talked about the segment of ugly cable housing peering into the air from the downtube. But they won't. For all they did with ultranarrow stays, integrated brakes and 1 inch steerers on this bike, you'd think they wouldn't overlook this obvious detail.
Getting back to Fig 1, they compare some fat ugly wheelset on the Cervelo p3C with their aerodynamic Roval hub. If Rovals are so good, why aren't they used on the top of the line Transition, as shown in Fig 2 and in the component listing for the bike on their website? Apparently, Rovals aren't good for the best bike in the time trial lineup and they shamelessly stick with Zipps.
Now lets view the P3C from the side.
Fig 3 : P3C Side View
Compare and contrast this clean look with the bent proportions of Fig 2. Which is better? Since Specialized makes a big deal out of frontal area, perhaps they would know that sloping top tubes actually increase frontal area and is generally a bad profile for aerodynamics. But they won't tell you this either.
Only someone like Bike Sport Michigan will thoughtfully critique this sort of bad aero design.
Fig 4 : Bad design elements for TT aerodynamics
Don't get me wrong. I have no overwhelming affections for Cervelo. But this was just a poor show from Specialized against one of the best time trial designs in the market. Cervelo created a benchmark with the P3C, and I'm sure you'll agree with me.
So here's the bottomline : A company will only highlight some couple of points of a product that are favorable to their proposal. These will generally look good. If they highlight bad points, then whats the point in selling it in the first place, right?
Well, turns out that this is really a limited view for the audience who see it. For customers and interested parties pouring over advertisements and promotional product materials such as these, it pays to do some good critical reading and cross checking information before falling too easily.
As for Specialized, it seems like they should really study some aerodynamics themselves first before writing "tutorials".
Freak Bike Accident - View With Caution
Below are some almost unbelievable photos of the severe leg injury incurred by a cyclist after a freak bike accident.
He was on a ride last week after the storm the weekend before last. The guy he was riding behind ran over a large branch which kicked up and impaled Bob’s leg when he ran into it. The EMT’s had to cut the ends of the branch off to get him in the ambulance.
They have him on heavy-duty antibiotics. They did not place any screws to set the broken Fibula, fearing that disturbing the bone might complicate contaminants getting further into his body.
The prognosis is good. He has to go back to the trauma surgeon on Friday to work out plans for a skin graft.
Apparently there may have been a line of riders, maybe 6 - 10 riders, two abreast, going approximately 25 mph, and the rider’s bike in front of him kicked up a branch, and you can see the results. The branch did not have a spear point at the end that went through his leg. That is why it broke his bone.
Imagine the pain. This happened a couple of weeks ago. He is going to be fine.
Be careful while riding your bike. You never know what can happen.
