July 19/03 1:10 am - Tech Info on Lance's Bikes at TDF

Posted by Editoress on 07/19/03
 

Chris Redden is following the Tour, he has been sending in reports of his TDF experience.

Lance's Bike Tech Specs



I was speaking with a rep from Trek today about the gear that Lance rode yesterday (in the time trial). It seems that he is always cuting edge in everything he does and Trek has been working with him to give him the best results. The disk wheel you saw him ride is actually made for Bontranger by Zipp. It is the smooth sided version which is different from the dimpled version CSC is riding. Apparently the smooth sided disk has the best aerodynamics when combined with the Trek frames. They did extensive testing in the A&M windtunnel in Texas and found the combo gave the least drag. The Disk and Carbon Aero front are available as part of the Project One custom bike program.

Speaking of less drag you may have noticed that Lance was also riding a different Aero bar than the rest of the Team. Bontranger / Trek have been working on the bonded OCLV Aero bar for a while but it is kind of a quiet project working with Lance for his input.

Lance is riding a couple of different frames at the Tour. The one he is riding today has his mountain set up of one STI and a downtube shifer to save weight.  The frame is made of Trek's  100 carbon which makes it very light. I hear the frame weighs about 1300 gms (unofficially).  His TT bike is tinted clear coated to save some weight there too. Expect to see his bike he rides on the flat stages in stores next year. It has the shaped carbon down tube and seat tube to give it a more aero shape. One note is that all team bikes use regular type headsets now, no more Klein style headsets happening.

When I spoke to Lance today he seemed really upbeat. The most interesting thing he has to say was , he got a call last night from Eddy Merckx who told him "not to worry as there was still alot of racing to come". That is an understatement! Any riding today in the 38 deg celcius temps would be killer let alone doing several Cat 1 climbs.