Gaulzetti Cicli

[jerk]

IIII WALSER SPORT IIII

Quite the model for those who aren't familiar with the name. Three sizes of frames built for pure speed that have been ridden by more pros than you realize. I want a Model 7 track even though I have absolutely no business being on it.

it may only come in three sizes- but each frame has a custom carbon lay-up dependent on the athlete's peak and avg. wattage for 40k....it's very impressive and the fastest bike i've ever ridden.

[TRuss]

That is impressive. I wish that I could need one.

[jerk]

That is impressive. I wish that I could need one.

the joke about the walser that i share with the owner of the bike is that it "demands a lifestyle". it's stupid fast but it hurts to ride....it only goes fast and it leaves you dead when you finally fall off the thing exhausted.

the stiffness of the frame- the super slack (for a tt bike) seat angle- the tiny headtube and the really skinny stance and q-factor of the bike make riding it like running an 800m....that's all i got.

i need to build a narrow bike.

[TRuss]

I love it!

It would be rad to see your interpretation of a narrow bike. If you had the option of any material which would you choose? Would it still be aluminum or is this getting into an area where composites would have too great of an advantage to ignore.

[jerk]

my rationale behind a "narrow bike" would be optimizing bio-mechanics with a secondary benefit being the aerodynamics. all the hard data insists that a narrower q at the the kind of efforts an elite athlete sustains is more bio-mechanically efficient. i would use whatever material or combination of materials that would produce the best bike.

i don't envision my skinny bike being a "traditional" time-trial bike- i think the aerodynamic benefits of what is commercially available would offset any gains the improved bio-mechanics would allow. i can't make a better shiv or seedconcept and i don't have access to the facilities i'd need to really work on aerodynamics in a real non-theoretical sense. ideally, we'd need a velodrome all to ourselves and an elite athlete- good timing equipment and a wattage meter....people like andy walser had that- due to giant funding it in an attempt to "disprove" ulrich's gut sense that the walser was faster than his team issue bike....i don't. but i am confident i could design and produce a "narrow road bike" that'd be an ideal race bike for uphill time-trials and break-aways. i know i can make a skinny bike that'd be able to blow the doors off the currently available "aero" race bikes in real world race conditions.

I love it!

It would be rad to see your interpretation of a narrow bike. If you had the option of any material which would you choose? Would it still be aluminum or is this getting into an area where composites would have too great of an advantage to ignore.

[TRuss]

I believe that you could as well. It's funny that this has come up as I have been thinking about similar things for the past week or so. I've been looking at stuff like Tiemeyer Signature track frames and wondering what a road race version would look like... would the tubing profiles be too aggressive? That sort of thing. I think there is a place for such a bike. Something narrow/ aero er naerrow for people who actually race their bikes.

[Tristan]

people like andy walser had that- due to giant funding it in an attempt to "disprove" ulrich's gut sense that the walser was faster than his team issue bike...

Can you expand on this story or point me in the direction of more reading? Walsers have always been fascinating to me but I've never seen much written about either the man or machine.

[jerk]

Can you expand on this story or point me in the direction of more reading? Walsers have always been fascinating to me but I've never seen much written about either the man or machine.

i really don't want to hijack my own thread- but the long and short of it is that ullrich, like many pros at the time, had it written in to his contract that he could use equipment from a non-official supplier if it was categorically proven to be superior to the sponsored equipment. the onus was on the sponsor though to contest the rider's gut and "prove" that their stuff was as good as what the rider wanted to use. at the time most frame and wheel manufacturers couldn't be bothered. we all remember the stupid sapim adds congratulating johan musseuw on his wc win- complete with a picture on him riding on ADA wheels. anyway, byt the time giant entered the telekom picture- times had changed- none of the big guys- trek, specialized and giant were going to let their best athletes ride some one elses bike.....so not being able to re-write the contract, giant rented a swiss velodrome to prove that their tt bikes were as fast as the walser or at least that the walser didn't offer a "clear and signifigant" advantage. basically the test involved ullrich riding around the track at a constant wattage at a constant heart rate and the walser was clearly faster. anyway-now pro contracts are written differently so it'll probably never happen again.

[Badonkadonk]

any chance you're going to make some badass aluminum sleds as well then? we *might* get some snow this winter down here in CT.

[dashDustin]

As an experiment/ study, I left my bike hanging in a stand today. I've never had a bike get so many comments. Paint, material, build, color...it was all discussed within eat shot of me. I predict I'll have one sold within the next couple months.

[jerk]

any chance you're going to make some badass aluminum sleds as well then? we *might* get some snow this winter down here in CT.

ahmmmm.......

no. i did have one of his skeleton sleds at the shop. he shipped it to us for his athlete/client. it was weird...she was weirder.

[Badonkadonk]

ahmmmm.......

no. i did have one of his skeleton sleds at the shop. he shipped it to us for his athlete/client. it was weird...she was weirder.

chicken
what is weird about custom made aluminum race sleds? forget about whoever the skeleton chick was, i may need something for the local sledding hill. going downhill i might be able to beat darren at something. dont put on a lame short stem, and make sure its long and low

[jerk]

chicken
what is weird about custom made aluminum race sleds? forget about whoever the skeleton chick was, i may need something for the local sledding hill. going downhill i might be able to beat darren at something. dont put on a lame short stem, and make sure its long and low

one aluminum tobogan coming right up.........

[edoz]

one aluminum tobogan coming right up.........

You should incorporate bamboo and wood in your toboggan.

[maunahaole]

Toboggan and sled tech/theory deserves its own thread.

[TRuss]

Well this one has veered way the hell off course. I was afraid posting that link was a bad idea.

[zetroc]

The name's Toboggan. Dr. Mantis Toboggan.

[Nierman]

You should incorporate bamboo and wood in your toboggan.

Rest assured, the curls and crosspieces would be in the right place.

[davids]

Well this one has veered way the hell off course. I was afraid posting that link was a bad idea.

And I thought "sled" was just young person's slang for a velocipede. Hmph.

[EmbroJames]

We're going to start offering these guys with the Corsa and Chunder framesets. They offer more vertical adjustment and 14mm of offset, which is about 10mm less than on the stock Deda topper we've been using. Small up-charge when purchased with a frameset due to the higher cost of landing them in country. We'll also be selling them aftermarket as well.

pmptopper.jpg