So, I was told to keep a relative lid on this. I like to push my chances when people say relative. I'll just bank on people not seeing my blog. Understand my quandry as a journalist? Who gets into the business of not telling people news?
Here's what I know—sorta. But I didn't say nuthin....
The new Triad is full-carbon offering which, upon first glance, it has rear chainstays similar to that of the new Scott Plasma, but takes on it's own looks thereafter. The seatstays are ultra low, and the bike has a 1" headtube. Blue's plan is sell this bike complete in a couple of build kits (SRAM Red and Shimano Dura-Ace), wiht Zipp 808 rear/404 front tubulars. They'll also have an Ultegra SL and SRAM Force version , with a more price-point wheelset.
Other details: the rear brake is located under the bottom bracket shell. It will have a BB30 bottom bracket shell with an internal cable run, and a geometry similar to their existing T-16 tri bikes with a 76-degree seat angle (with wide fore/aft variance with the three clamp positions on the post). And my sources say the rear end is super, super narrow—so narrow that a Mavic R-Sys wheel won't go in. Not that you would want to desecrate a bike like that with a R-Sys...
The bike will also come with something unique: regardless the build, once the bike is registered for warranty, Blue will send the buyer a certificate for one free hour of wind tunnel adjustment at the A2 Wind Tunnel, in Mooresville, North Carolina. For those that don't know, The A2 Wind Tunnel is a growing tunnel, which is a spinoff tunnel next to its big brother, the famed Aerodyne tunnel, which is rented out for the next year and a half and running 24/7 testing NASCAR cars and trucks.
So the consumer gets a very, very valuable benefit beyond the bike itself—much better than the ol' water bottle and cage that some shops try to "throw in." When you're buying a bike like this, the fit should be your next purchase... so why not make it happen in the wind tunnel? Just get yourself to Charlotte, hop over to A2 and get a fit that will rival anything you can get in the shop. It's one thing for a bike company to do the aero thing to optimize the bike, which they say they have done in creating the Triad. Few will kick in the extra to look after the rider's own drag.
The Georgia-based company currently has their newest charges, Ironman Coeur d'Alene Winner Heather Wurtele and husband Trevor Wurtele at the N.C. tunnel doing some fine tuning with their bikes for Ironman Canada and Kona.
And the bike will show up under one other person: Haskins. My Blue contacts tell me she was so taken with the new bike that she wanted it for Beijing. So on go drop bars and the bike makes it's race debut in the Olympic Games.
Pricing? Availablity? Don't know yet. I've probably said too much at this point... better sign it off.
zaterdag 16 augustus 2008
Blue Cycles nieuwe full-carbon tijdrit fiets, de Triad
The guys at Blue Competition Cycles showed me some something I'd been told was coming: the first full carbon fiber bike from the growing brand. They've made a concerted push in ITU racing, and will have a bike under American medal hopeful Sarah Haskins in Bejiing this coming weekend. Pretty impressive for a company that has been around for less than, what five years?
But they realize who butters their bread—age groupers. Not the ones doing ITU racing, but doing 70.3s and Ironman and non-drafting Olympic-distance racing. So to keep up with the torrid technological spike in the last few years, they got busy. The result: the new Triad.
So, I was told to keep a relative lid on this. I like to push my chances when people say relative. I'll just bank on people not seeing my blog. Understand my quandry as a journalist? Who gets into the business of not telling people news?
Here's what I know—sorta. But I didn't say nuthin....
The new Triad is full-carbon offering which, upon first glance, it has rear chainstays similar to that of the new Scott Plasma, but takes on it's own looks thereafter. The seatstays are ultra low, and the bike has a 1" headtube. Blue's plan is sell this bike complete in a couple of build kits (SRAM Red and Shimano Dura-Ace), wiht Zipp 808 rear/404 front tubulars. They'll also have an Ultegra SL and SRAM Force version , with a more price-point wheelset.
Other details: the rear brake is located under the bottom bracket shell. It will have a BB30 bottom bracket shell with an internal cable run, and a geometry similar to their existing T-16 tri bikes with a 76-degree seat angle (with wide fore/aft variance with the three clamp positions on the post). And my sources say the rear end is super, super narrow—so narrow that a Mavic R-Sys wheel won't go in. Not that you would want to desecrate a bike like that with a R-Sys...
The bike will also come with something unique: regardless the build, once the bike is registered for warranty, Blue will send the buyer a certificate for one free hour of wind tunnel adjustment at the A2 Wind Tunnel, in Mooresville, North Carolina. For those that don't know, The A2 Wind Tunnel is a growing tunnel, which is a spinoff tunnel next to its big brother, the famed Aerodyne tunnel, which is rented out for the next year and a half and running 24/7 testing NASCAR cars and trucks.
So the consumer gets a very, very valuable benefit beyond the bike itself—much better than the ol' water bottle and cage that some shops try to "throw in." When you're buying a bike like this, the fit should be your next purchase... so why not make it happen in the wind tunnel? Just get yourself to Charlotte, hop over to A2 and get a fit that will rival anything you can get in the shop. It's one thing for a bike company to do the aero thing to optimize the bike, which they say they have done in creating the Triad. Few will kick in the extra to look after the rider's own drag.
The Georgia-based company currently has their newest charges, Ironman Coeur d'Alene Winner Heather Wurtele and husband Trevor Wurtele at the N.C. tunnel doing some fine tuning with their bikes for Ironman Canada and Kona.
And the bike will show up under one other person: Haskins. My Blue contacts tell me she was so taken with the new bike that she wanted it for Beijing. So on go drop bars and the bike makes it's race debut in the Olympic Games.
Pricing? Availablity? Don't know yet. I've probably said too much at this point... better sign it off.
So, I was told to keep a relative lid on this. I like to push my chances when people say relative. I'll just bank on people not seeing my blog. Understand my quandry as a journalist? Who gets into the business of not telling people news?
Here's what I know—sorta. But I didn't say nuthin....
The new Triad is full-carbon offering which, upon first glance, it has rear chainstays similar to that of the new Scott Plasma, but takes on it's own looks thereafter. The seatstays are ultra low, and the bike has a 1" headtube. Blue's plan is sell this bike complete in a couple of build kits (SRAM Red and Shimano Dura-Ace), wiht Zipp 808 rear/404 front tubulars. They'll also have an Ultegra SL and SRAM Force version , with a more price-point wheelset.
Other details: the rear brake is located under the bottom bracket shell. It will have a BB30 bottom bracket shell with an internal cable run, and a geometry similar to their existing T-16 tri bikes with a 76-degree seat angle (with wide fore/aft variance with the three clamp positions on the post). And my sources say the rear end is super, super narrow—so narrow that a Mavic R-Sys wheel won't go in. Not that you would want to desecrate a bike like that with a R-Sys...
The bike will also come with something unique: regardless the build, once the bike is registered for warranty, Blue will send the buyer a certificate for one free hour of wind tunnel adjustment at the A2 Wind Tunnel, in Mooresville, North Carolina. For those that don't know, The A2 Wind Tunnel is a growing tunnel, which is a spinoff tunnel next to its big brother, the famed Aerodyne tunnel, which is rented out for the next year and a half and running 24/7 testing NASCAR cars and trucks.
So the consumer gets a very, very valuable benefit beyond the bike itself—much better than the ol' water bottle and cage that some shops try to "throw in." When you're buying a bike like this, the fit should be your next purchase... so why not make it happen in the wind tunnel? Just get yourself to Charlotte, hop over to A2 and get a fit that will rival anything you can get in the shop. It's one thing for a bike company to do the aero thing to optimize the bike, which they say they have done in creating the Triad. Few will kick in the extra to look after the rider's own drag.
The Georgia-based company currently has their newest charges, Ironman Coeur d'Alene Winner Heather Wurtele and husband Trevor Wurtele at the N.C. tunnel doing some fine tuning with their bikes for Ironman Canada and Kona.
And the bike will show up under one other person: Haskins. My Blue contacts tell me she was so taken with the new bike that she wanted it for Beijing. So on go drop bars and the bike makes it's race debut in the Olympic Games.
Pricing? Availablity? Don't know yet. I've probably said too much at this point... better sign it off.
maandag 4 augustus 2008
Ironman Antwerpen 70.3
Ironman Antwerpen, 3 augustus 2008.
Het was geweldig om aan zon'n (ironman event) mee te doen. Zoveel mensen en alles zo goed geregeld, maar de wedstrijd opzich ging erg slecht.
Het zwemmen ging erg lekker. Ik had in mijn hoofd om maximaal 45 minuten over de 1.9 km te doen (ik wist niet wat me te wachten stond met 1100 man starten).
De eerste 500 meter was echt freefight, maar na een goed stukje vrij water gevonden te hebben kon ik in mijn ritme komen.
Na 33 minuten stapte ik op de kant (super tevreden dus), vervolgens over het tapijt naar de fiets rennen.
(volgens mij ben ik degene helemaal links (2e achterin) op de foto die moeite heeft om het koordje van het pak te pakken te krijgen)
De eerst 30 km op de fiets ging ook erg lekker (36,7 km/u gemiddeld), maar toen begon de ellende. Het begon te regenen, hagelen en stormen (het waaide aan de start al aardig). Doordat we door het havengebied reden lag er heel veel olie op de weg en lopen er veel tramrails waardoor het wel dominoday leek. Iedereen ging achter elkaar onderuit. Ik heb de resterende 60 km met de handerem erop gereden, gemiddeld 31 km/u. Almere is het belangrijkste dit jaar dus daar wijkt alles voor, ook een goede tijd in Antwerpen. In de laatste 7 km van het fietsen kwam er nog een Belg voorbij, welke strak voor mijn wiel bleef rijden. Een paar keer riep ik Allez rijd door, maar binnen no time had ik een jurymotor naast me en kreeg ik een zwarte kaart. SHIT. Na de fietswissel kon ik 3 minuten plaats nemen in de penaltybox :-( Dit resulteerde samen met het verkrampte fietsen in het feit dat ik niet meer in mijn loopritme kon komen. Het ging echt voor geen meter en na iedere km harlopen verkrampte alles en moest ik weer een stuk wandelen. Ik had mij voorgenomen om gezien de omstandigheden binnen de 6 uur te finishen maar helaas is dit niet gelukt. De eindtijd (incl penalty) is 6 uur en 18 seconden. Ik weet wel dat het zwemmen en fietsen voor Almere goed zit, het lopen moet even aan gewerkt worden, maar ik mocht van coach / trainer Chris ook niet al te hard lopen. Nou luister ik altijd heel goed en heb dus ook niet hard gelopen ;-) Het was wel een te gekke happening, en ga hier volgend jaar zeker starten om een gooi te doen naar de 5 uur. Mochten er nog mensen zijn die materiaal nodig hebben voor hun fiets en niet teveel geld willen uitgeven. Ga langs het fietsparcours staan. In de eerste 10 km (door alle kaseien en tram/trein rails) stuitert er van alles van de fietsen, pompen, gaspatronen, binnenbanden, buitenbanden, tubes, sealant, bidons, voeding en bidonhouders. De Ironman Antwerpen 70.3 is een aanrader.
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