HTC - The Paris Roubaix Experience Video - Words and Photo's by Me.

This is a really nice film of the HTC boys in action at this years Paris - Roubaix race. I got to see the bikes and some of the riders at the start and they where all super relaxed and focused on the day. Having watched fellow amateurs riding their roubaix's and now seeing the close up footage of the Teams bikes here I have to testify to being a little jealous as they just worked so well over the Pavé. While Specialized may lack some of the sex appeal of other more well established marques you can't argue about it's status as a tool for the job. Look at the results it's gained over the last 3-5 years, it's pretty impressive.

The Pro machine differs from the one that is commercially available to punters in that it recieves a different geometry so that they don't have to resort to crazy -17* stems for the riders to achieve their desired position. Even for us regular Joe's the shorter headtube makes sense as looking at their bikes I'd probably require a 40mm stack compared to the slammed and negative combination which would get me close(ish) to my desired position. As the popularity grows in this types of Sportive with the Tour of Flanders version regularly attracting over 17,000 riders to me there seems to be some commercial sense in making this available. The success of bikes like the Cervélo R3 tells me that the people who ride would probably buy what in effect would be the posistion of a stock Tarmac with a Roubaix's comfort.

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4 Years on the Trot

Specialized must be delighted, four years on the trot for the win in Flanders and now two back to back for both Zipp and Sram. Congratulations guys.

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HTC and Specialized

HTC have bagged the most wins on both the Women's and Men's Team over the last few years. As a Team they have really been dominant in areas where other Teams seem to have recieved much of the praise, but in reality the wins have gone to the squad in Yellow and White. ark Cavendish gets much of thelimelight, but in reality they are a Team that wins on many fronts and have some really fantastic riders in their ranks (both men's and women's Teams) with names like Eisel, Pinotti, Martin, Arndt, Fahlin and Van Garderen all springing to mind.

I can't help wishing the Team the best of success for the coming season and I really applaud them on providing both a top level Men's and Women's squad when many sponsors would look for a cheaper financial solution. Specialized have a Team which will give them the greatest depth of wins this year, and will no doubt help the brand take their products to the next level again.

 

http://www.highroadsports.com/

http://www.tdwsport.com/

http://iamspecialized.com/road/team/htc-highroad

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Specialized BG Toupe Saddle ~ Review

Body Geometry (BG) saddles come in various guises both on a price and intended use level. Unlike many other saddle manufacturers they also can have up to three widths to choose from. The first thing you need to ascertain is the correct width for your sit bones. This in itself is a simple process that requires you to sit on a Gel pad to gain the information (it has makers on one side and a conversion table on the other side). Once performed it was calculated that I would need a 143 size, but depending on which bike or your given riding style you may need to reduce this, I am particularly thinking about time trailing or track riding when your position may be slightly more extreme than your regular road one.

When you are setting up the saddle you will need to take in to account the plastic nose and tail sections as these end up making the seating area smaller than their other saddles like the Alias. Compared to the original Toupe the Gel version has received a stiffer shell due to the increased amount of carbon now used. As indicated this version now has Gel on the sit bone area to increase comfort with a small increase in the weight of the saddle. With two colour options (black or white) it should suit most bicycles. The same hollow Ti rails remain from the original model, as there is no need to chuck the baby out with the bath water.

The pressure relief area works very well, and the best thing I can say in using it is that it goes un-noticed when in use. I have used a few other cut out saddles and this has definitely not been the case, with more pain being evident than the saddle reducing it. The real proof in the pudding is when you do jump onto a regular non-pressure relief saddle as you can immediately feel this area under the perineum. So in my books there are no negatives except one on the cut out, on wet rides the spray of the saddle can go up through the whole leaving you with a wet central section. Even if you don’t buy into the BG philosophy, you still end up with a great looking saddle.

The sides of the saddle are nicely sculpted away to leave less interruption from pedal strokes than some other deep-sided saddles. As I mentioned before, the plastic sections can affect set up, you loose 15mm on the front and another 15mm again on the back. This ends up reducing the useable overall length from a possible (measured at the longest point) 275mm to 245mm, making the contact area relatively small. If you have used an Arione before, which has a 300mm length, this will probably feel very strange indeed, but if you have used a Concor it should feel familiar. I would prefer if Specialized went back to a full 275mm length as this offers a wider spectrum of position options. Weight of the saddle is 206g and the useable rail length is 78mm, which is quite long.

For shorter rides, say up to the 80km mark, I found the saddle to be very comfortable with nothing to report back. Using it for longer rides (over 80km) the personality changed greatly. Over the longer distances the sit bones would become sore, to the point that once off the bike and sitting on a normal chair it would offer a mild discomfort. I put this down to two things, 1. The lack of padding available on the saddle, even though the Gel pads were there they did not provide the desired comfort level 2. The small reduction in length which never quite allowed me to achieve my ideal position, and at times forced me to ride on the plastic tail piece. I also threw into the equation that I am a heavier rider, but having talked to some other riders (70kg guys roughly) they also experienced the same issue over longer distances.

Final Words

I can’t fault the saddle on the build quality and I liked the sleekness and general appearance. Saddles are a very personal affair, and while it did not work for me over a long distance I was more than happy on shorter rides. My experience is probably in the minority as this has been one of the top selling saddles over the last 12 months. I would happily fit the Toupe to a track or TT bike where saddle time is less but comfort and weight are still important factors. If you are a mega mile muncher this may not be the saddle for you and you may be better served by looking at the Alias model in their range. Although it is a little heavier it does offer more padding and has a full length to play with, and over long distances presented me with no problems. If you are interested in this saddle (or any other Specialized model) see if you can persuade your local IBD to loan you one, it might just turn out to be your cup of tea.

This article was originally posted on 26th May 2008 on http://sprintingforsigns.com/content/specialized-bg-toupe-gel-saddle

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Paris Roubaix - Spartacus enters the arena

Cancellara was stunning today, truly in a class of his own. I have been thinking since the finish, which was the most impressive, de Ronde or Roubaix. The move on the Muur was stunning and showed how much power he can deliver for such long periods. It proves what many people say in that long distance Time Trailing can be a benefit to Road Racing. But thinking about it Roubaix was the more stunning of the two, and for two clear reasons. In Flanders Cancellara was protected from the wind until about 80km to go, this left him bags of energy for the final bergs, in Roubaix the Team where spent well before this period as the action looked way hotter. He basically did more work. Again Fabian had another slick bike change, maybe he'll be doing some Cyclocross in the off season. The second reason was from how far out he attacked, nearly 50km is a long way. Boonen again was left isolated much earlier on than Cancellara, Flecha and Hushovd, again this meant just like in Flanders he had to do too much work. If I was a Quick-Step DS I'd be pretty pissed off today.

Specialized, Zipp and Sram will no doubt be using the victories over the last seven days heavily in the advertizing in the next few months. For Specialized they are 3/3, which for a bike manufacturer is a great piece of kudos. Sram are adding Monument wins like olives to a pizza, this is a great testiment to the quality of the product and how it's designed. I bet they are super pleased that the bikes didn't have the brake issues of last week. Zipp may well be the most pleased of all three. The cobbled wheel project was started some years ago, at least three, maybe four. The goal was to make a wheelset that could withstand the impact that driving a wheel into a cobble at 50kmph could yeald. They proved last year with Hushovd that they could last the course, this year they where used to win (and to grab second and fourth).

So the question on my lips is 'what else can he win', Fabian has talked about winning all five monuments. Liege-Bastogne-Liege may be difficult for Cancellara as it normally favours a rider who is more of a pure climber, but I never underestimate self belief and desire. Giro di Lombardia is well within his reach, although no walk in the park, he should be able to bag it. The question is how soon will he manage it. He's only 29 so he has some time to add them to his list and become only the fourth person to do so.

Paris Roubaix and SAXO Bank

The race is on as I write this and I can't wait for the live pictures to kick in. I've spent the morning looking at pictures of the riders kit and I think the best prepared (equipment wise) Teams are Cervelo, SKY and SAXO Bank. All of these Teams have Special bikes, but the prototype SL3 Roubaix along with the new Pinarello KOBH have caught my eye.

From what I can see of the Specialized bike only Fabian Cancellara and Stuart O'Grady have one. The rest of the Team will be on a SL2 Roubaix, but these are not stock geometry, but are much closer to a Tarmac, particularly in the head tube length. The Pro bikes look smart, sensible and well balanced. The consumer is sold the dream 'ride the bike Fabian rides', but you can't as it isn't available. The good news is if that the UCI clamps down on bikes being rode in the peloton being available for sale to the general public may force Specialized (and other manufacturers) to actually make it available.

I've always wanted a 'Roubaix/Vlaanderen Style' bike, as I love the cobbles and the extra comfort that could be achieved by good bike design and a bit more tyre room would be welcome. What has put me off is that the commercial version is stacked up at the front like a chopper. I know for many this is the Holy Grail in comfort for some, for me it is a bridge too far (and for the record I'm not super flexible).

Some photos:

As you can see from Fabian's position on the bike it replicates his Tarmac shape, with maybe only a slightly longer headtube. Comfort will come from the frames added length, Zertz and the different lay-up of the carbon.

You can see Hoj aboard the Roubaix SL2 and Cancellara on the proto SL3. Interesting to note that Fabian is happy to run the Zipp 303 wheel whereas Frank is using an Ambriso/DT setup. Both riders are using the much favoured FMB tyres. These look like to be the same ones they used last year in Roubaix.

Although Breschel has been touted by some areas of the Cycling Press as being a contendor, I'd only rate him on a three star chance. His build looks better suited to Flanders than the pounding of Roubaix. But I could be wrong. Maybe Specialized think so as it's only the previous winners of Roubaix on the Team that have recieved the new bike.

So a few final tweeks and the riders where off. Good luck to all riders today.

In response to Pave Blog

I thought I'd post the comment I left on Pave blogs site about his comment on Specialized: To see his excellent post go to http://pavepavepave.blogspot.com/2009/11/why-specialized-why.html


"Charisma Contador, I must of missed that do you have a YouTube link Josh?



My guess is that many at Specialized may be on one hand happy to get Contabore, but are equally unhappy to that he is linked with Astana again.

I agree with DanO. Once upon a time SBC was at the forefront of design and cutting edge. In the road scene they were early adopters of the Compact shape after Giant made it acceptable all those years ago (12 now). They managed that perfect balance by being a big player but also maintaining that hard to define 'cool factor'.



Sponsorship on one hand is about chasing results and seeing a return for your investment. It depends on whether this is a long term or short term goal. Investors can apply pressure to companies sometimes so they need a more immediate return. I have always seen SBC as being in for the long term, it maybe a case that they have got bored waiting. Feeling frustrated they have decided to back the current champion, and at the same time tackle their closest rivals for showroom space at the same time.



In making this move they may have enabled other smaller brands enter the minds of the riding public and take the place that used to be occupied by Specialized on the 'Cool Wall'."

More thoughts, since my post:


It'll be interesting to see what Specialized will reap from the Contadore arrangement. I doubt if he'll push the designers in the same way that Boonen et al did and help define a bike for the Big S. In the world of 'Cool' I am unsure how much a Tour winning bike translates into sales, I think the Lance effect on Trek was bigger than that. Lance, love or loath, has a personality and charisma that Alberto is missing. I was standing 6 feet away from at an airport recently, he lacks any of that real superstar aura that many great champions give off. For many people that is appealing, for me it's not a draw. Having met Merckx a few times, for me it's like meeting the Pope, but one who's a pretty cool and humble bloke (so maybe not like the Pope?, don't know)



My guess is that with both SRAM and Shimano trying to keep an eye on the public opinion of not being involved with dopers I suspect that we will see Astana and Contadore on Campag for next season. Wheels, unsure but we can be sure it's not Bontrager, Hed or Zipp.



For Quick Step the move to get Eddy Merckx bikes on board will be a good one. Recent project developments with Pinarello have resulted in a lighter bike with new advancements in carbon technology. Merckx bikes last big win was in 2002 when Johan Museeuw piloted a Scandium framed Merckx to his third, and arguably best Paris Roubaix win. I expect that the bikes will be stunning and that the Team will do well aboard there new rigs.

Fabian Cancellara

Fabian Cancellara embodies what many cyclists would love to be, a great all rounder. Be it TT, Cobbles, Short Stage Races he has a palmares unlike any other rider in the peloton at the moment. I think his exploits and his refusal to be pigeon holed make him an inspiration for cyclists the worlds over.



Cancellara's season didn't start so well compared to previous seasons. Missing out both in Flanders (snapped chain) and Roubaix, romours were rife that Fabian didn't like his new Specialized bike. In public I doubt you will ever here him say it, but what has been absent is the praise he used to bestow on the Cervelo machine. Specialized decided to make a new TT rig, which came as a surprise from one angle but in another it makes sense, this guy can TT like no other. Their (Specialized's)investment has proved to be a shrewd one as he is back on a winning streak.



My question is when will they build a bike that suits him for the Cobbles. The S-Works Roubaix and the S-Works Tarmac have been crafted with the input of the (now defunked) Gerolsteiner and Quick Step Teams. There has been a lot of input from Tom Boonen and it has proved again that investing in a machine for the star riders has captured the two biggest scalps in Cobbles Week, two years on the trot.



There is a lot of speculation to whether Specialized will continue with Quick Step for next season. They reputtedly but in a large bid to be the bike manufacturer of Team Sky, but didn't get it. So it might be that Saxo Bank are the only Team on the bikes for next year, we'll have to wait until January to find out.

Being unhappy with the current Specialized machine has fuelled rumours that Fabian may be looking to ply his trade elsewhere. SKY is the only name I have heard mentioned and if he does go he would be reunited with a previous bike that he has had some success on before. If the rumour is half true and if I was in Riis and SBC's shoes I would do everything in my power to keep him and provide him with the equipment he needs. He could well win the Road World Championships today to add to his TT medal he won on Saturday.