Specialized must be psyched(spoiler)....

[jerk]

imagine spending millions to sponsor pro-tour teams, giving away numerous bikes and your sponsered rider kills the field in the tour de france time trial, claiming the yellow jersey in the process, on a bike that he bought himself because it is categorically faster. something tells me this photo won't be on the cover of the specialEd catalog any time soon....

god how much can your production bikes suck; the only time you ever hear anything about them is when they do not work and are unacceptable for their riders; eg boonen, steegmans and now this. believe you me, pros are generally not picky and could care less what equipment they use as long as it works....and judging by quicksteps ascension into the dungeon of time-trial standings; these things don't work.

[gasman]

I'm sorry I don't recognize who made the frame.

[mschol17]

Walser?

http://www.walser-cycles.ch/

[gasman]

I just came in for a run and thought the very same thing. Walser.

[Shinomaster]

Jerk, what makes a Walser TT frame so exceptional? Is it more aero? Can he custom fit them to the riders better than one might on a production monocoq frame? Do tell..

[mschol17]

I think a narrower than standard BB is one of his signatures.

[jerk]

Jerk, what makes a Walser TT frame so exceptional? Is it more aero? Can he custom fit them to the riders better than one might on a production monocoq frame? Do tell..

the bikes only come in three sizes. all share the same headtube length and the saddle height is completely unadjustable once the post is cut and force fit into the frame. all that being said, andy works withe the best athletes in the world and knows what works. each frame has a different carbon lay-up dependent on tje athletes weight and wattage; beyond that the narrower bb and cranks more closely mimics the human gate and that's where the speed is.

jerk

[pdxmech13]

I have seen photo's of them specialized tt bikes hanging on hooks in the good ol china giant factory. mees would much rather ride this other fellow's bike.

[WFSTEKL]

Didn't Trek make Armstrong a TT frame that had a narrower BB and Q that sent Armstrong into a tailspin? He went back to his old TT machine with a normal BB and was putting out his normal watts again.

[Flux]

Didn't Trek make Armstrong a TT frame that had a narrower BB and Q that sent Armstrong into a tailspin? He went back to his old TT machine with a normal BB and was putting out his normal watts again.

jerk,

tell the story. everyone should know.

Flux

[Shinomaster]

Oh yay, I love story time.

[jerk]

jerk,

tell the story. everyone should know.

Flux

here's the short of it...as outlined elsewhere in the shino/jerk hurt each other's feelings in a really awesome gay soap opera way thread, trek went through a bunch of keystone cop style intrigue efforts to secure a walser tt bike while sitting on a dozen walser bikes in their paint booth.

they get the bike, they build a copy of it and give it to lance to ride. he is unequivocally faster on the new narrow bike, at a lower heartrate....but his wattage is down. so he won't ride the fucking thing. ekimov, as per his soviet tendencies, figures free means good and takes the narrow bike and wins the olympics on the fucking thing.

that's the story,

jerk

[CXinNH]

LOL

Tx for sharing

[gregl]

here's the short of it...as outlined elsewhere in the shino/jerk hurt each other's feelings in a really awesome gay soap opera way thread, trek went through a bunch of keystone cop style intrigue efforts to secure a walser tt bike while sitting on a dozen walser bikes in their paint booth.

they get the bike, they build a copy of it and give it to lance to ride. he is unequivocally faster on the new narrow bike, at a lower heartrate....but his wattage is down. so he won't ride the fucking thing. ekimov, as per his soviet tendencies, figures free means good and takes the narrow bike and wins the olympics on the fucking thing.

that's the story,

jerk

I would like to add a few minor clarifications to this story.

1) The tale of the Trek TT bike with the narroww BB is detailed in the book Lance Armstrong's War. According to the author, this took place in the build-up to the 2004 Tour de France. Ekimov did indeed take the bike after Armstrong cast it aside.

2) Ekimov won the Olympic TT in 2000, riding a custom-built Trek aluminum TT frame. The Postal team originally (c1997) rode their previous GT TT bikes with Trek paint jobs. From 1998 through 2000, the Postal team members (except Armstrong) rode Trek aluminum TT frames that were hand-built for them. Armstrong rode his custom Litespeed Blade in '98 and '99. In 2000, Trek built their first generation carbon TT bike for Armstrong. The carbon bike wasn't available to the rest of the team until 2001.

While Trek's attempt to copy the Walser is still a very interesting true story, Eki won his gold medal on an aluminum bike made in the US.

Regards,
Greg

[jerk]

I would like to add a few minor clarifications to this story.

1) The tale of the Trek TT bike with the narroww BB is detailed in the book Lance Armstrong's War. According to the author, this took place in the build-up to the 2004 Tour de France. Ekimov did indeed take the bike after Armstrong cast it aside.

2) Ekimov won the Olympic TT in 2000, riding a custom-built Trek aluminum TT frame. The Postal team originally (c1997) rode their previous GT TT bikes with Trek paint jobs. From 1998 through 2000, the Postal team members (except Armstrong) rode Trek aluminum TT frames that were hand-built for them. Armstrong rode his custom Litespeed Blade in '98 and '99. In 2000, Trek built their first generation carbon TT bike for Armstrong. The carbon bike wasn't available to the rest of the team until 2001.

While Trek's attempt to copy the Walser is still a very interesting true story, Eki won his gold medal on an aluminum bike made in the US.

Regards,
Greg

bub-
2004 olympics. (tyler was disqualified for having a twin brother in his belly....hence ekimov won the olympics on it.)

jerk

[gregl]

bub-
2004 olympics. (tyler was disqualified for having a twin brother in his belly....hence ekimov won the olympics on it.)

jerk

Thanks for the catch! I had forgotten about Eki getting the silver in Athens on the Trek carbon bike. I think Eki "officially" still is credited with the silver medal. Tyler's blood tests were sufficiently bungled in the lab (froze the "B" sample or something to that effect) that the Russian Federation's appeal to the IOC was thrown out and Tyler retained the gold. Does Tyler have to share the gold medal with his twin?

Regards,
Greg

[Shinomaster]

here's the short of it...as outlined elsewhere in the shino/jerk hurt each other's feelings in a really awesome gay soap opera way thread, trek went through a bunch of keystone cop style intrigue efforts to secure a walser tt bike while sitting on a dozen walser bikes in their paint booth.

they get the bike, they build a copy of it and give it to lance to ride. he is unequivocally faster on the new narrow bike, at a lower heartrate....but his wattage is down. so he won't ride the fucking thing. ekimov, as per his soviet tendencies, figures free means good and takes the narrow bike and wins the olympics on the fucking thing.

that's the story,

jerk

Hey, great story Jerk..You should write a book of cycling anecdotes.

[Jonathan]

Hey, great story Jerk..You should write a book of cycling anecdotes.

what do you think this section is?

[Shinomaster]

what do you think this section is?

Well, books in print are more fun to hold.

[Mr.President]

they get the bike, they build a copy of it and give it to lance to ride. he is unequivocally faster on the new narrow bike, at a lower heartrate....but his wattage is down. so he won't ride the fucking thing.

jerk

Being naive, I am always amazed at how different LA is then how they marketed him. He must have paid a fortune to keep his "teammates" quiet about all the shit he pulled or tried too.

I get the Image of Lance, but not too many people outside of his brain trust seem to care much for him.

I don't know if it was drugs, just drugs, or no drugs lots of training/tech things that allowed him to win, but he spanked a lot of booty pretty effin hard.

Plus now his new commercial is saying that Trek makes the best bikes in the world because he and all of his teammates won the big tours. Man, maybe if bought a trek I could too.