Paris-Roubaix inovations

[techguy]

Saying that Cancellara doesn't give a hoot is a laugh' date=' these guys take their equipment very seriously.

 

All tubbies are "aged" in the pro circuit, and the box rims have more "give" in them so that the tyre is less likely to snakebite, and what wheels was cancellara on at flanders and roubaix? carbon zipp 303's...

[/quote']

So box rims have more "give" and Cancellara takes his equipment "very seriously".  Yet he does not ride with box section rims, but with inflexible carbon rims....  So is he stupid or are the other riders stupid?  You said they all take their equipment very seriously, so they should be on the same rims right?  Somewhere something isn't adding up here...

 

A year or two ago nobody would have dared to ride a cobbled classic with carbon rims yet now that myth has been shattered by Cancellara and co.

 

I rode the Vlaanderen cobbles with my 404's and I promise you I did not get any snakebites (and I am heavy!).  People get snakebites because they run their tires underinflated, not because of the type of rim they use.

 

 

Didn't Cancellara break a wheel? I know he did, whereas Boonen didn't...Inflexible=break. In fact Julien Devriese (Radioshacks head mechanic) blames Hincapie's broken steerer (remember that?) on the fact he was riding carbon wheels...Saxo Bank tested tyre pressures as low as 5Bar on the cobbles to see the advantages/disadvantages

 

http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/paris-roubaix-tech-what-wins-hell-of-the-north-25686

[splat]

There was a similar discussion on Weight Weenies.com. They also discuss the vibration absorbsion and even bring tennis racquets into it!

http://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=68289&start=2610

 

2 comments I thought were funny:

The zertz dampeners probably dont really do anything. There are a bunch of guys who work for specialized and a bunch of people who dont, that pop the little rubber things out. They all say they cant tell a difference. Recall the Colnago C40, one of the best riding bikes, no? The chainstays have a hollow point as would the Roubaix's seatstays...I think this is where the 'good ride' comes from. At any rate...

And

 

I think thee zertz insert is in there so consumers don't get freaked out about having a hole in their fork, stays, seatpost

[Wyatt Earp]

Perhaps you should play something like a guitar to try and understand something like frequency or vibration damping. Same as in a sound studio where damping and Helmholtz resonators are used to (dampen' date=' break, make smaller or what ever term one feels like using) the sound nodes in particular lower frequencies. Nobody has ever made claims that these Zerts act as a suspension device.[/quote']

 

?

 

Best to use the internationally recognised term. That way we're all on the same page.

 

 

 

?

 

Don't quite get you here.

 

 

 

in this discussion where there is confusion between vibration damping and suspension damping.

 

Here I agree with you.

 

 

 

 

I thought I explained how dampers work and why a smaller damper has no significance. Maybe your post preceeded it.

 

You did' date=' but alas your explanation had no impact on me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Helmholtz,and the web is your empire, I have far better things to do than sit and explain frequencies on a forum.

[turtlek]

Somebody mention specialzied being expensive... i dont care much for the other Cr@p thats going on here but the guy who thinks specialized is expensive must compare apples with apples here:

 

 

 

Specialzied Tarmac SL3 frameset R23499

 

Cervelo S3 frameset About double that price

 

 

 

Specialized is by far one of the cheapest top end frames you can buy (Not in all situations) so they are very competitive and the technology that they put into thier products actually makes sense most of the time

[Guest Big H]

All tubbies are "aged" in the pro circuit' date=' [/quote']

Now this is the type of lore I was referring to. This arcane old superstition has no foot in science.

 

 

 

Noooo nooooo nooooo!!!!!!! ....... and to think my poor old dad forked out lots of shekels to buy Michelins that were specially aged in caves in the French Alps..... I can hear him spinning in his grave!!!!!!!!!!....... those damn frogs...... they lie and cheat about everything..... even fabricate stories about poor Lance. I will never ever trust a Froggie again...... thank you very much mr Jay Bee!!!!!!!!!

[Flemish Lion]

Saying that Cancellara doesn't give a hoot is a laugh' date=' these guys take their equipment very seriously.

 

?

 

All tubbies are "aged" in the pro circuit, and the box rims have more "give" in them so that the tyre is less likely to snakebite, and what wheels was cancellara on at flanders and roubaix? carbon zipp 303's...

[/quote']

 

So box rims have more "give" and Cancellara takes his equipment "very seriously".? Yet he does not ride with box section rims, but with inflexible carbon rims....? So is he stupid or are the other riders stupid?? You said they all take their equipment very seriously,?so they should be on the same rims right?? Somewhere something isn't adding up here...

 

?

 

A year or two ago nobody would have dared to ride a cobbled classic with carbon rims yet now that myth has been shattered by Cancellara and co.

 

?

 

I rode the Vlaanderen cobbles with my 404's and I promise you I did not get any snakebites (and I am heavy!).? People get snakebites because they run their tires underinflated, not because of the type of rim they use.

 

?

 

?

 

Didn't Cancellara break a wheel? I know he did, whereas Boonen didn't...Inflexible=break. In fact Julien Devriese (Radioshacks head mechanic) blames Hincapie's broken steerer (remember that?) on the fact he was riding carbon wheels...Saxo Bank tested tyre pressures as low as 5Bar on the cobbles to see the advantages/disadvantages

 

?

 

http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/paris-roubaix-tech-what-wins-hell-of-the-north-25686

 

 

 

He did indeed break one...

 

 

 

From http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/roubaix-tech-cancellaras-race-winning-rig

 

 

 

"Interestingly, Cancellara did buck the trend of traditional alloy box-section tubular wheels and instead relied on Zipp's new 303 carbon aero rims instead. True, he did break one rear rim coming through the Arenberg forest but to be fair, alloy rims have failed there as well. Moreover, Cancellara's wasn't a catastrophic failure and he was able to continue all the way through until a more convenient time for a bike change presented itself ? a significant improvement considering how many Zipp carbon rims then-Slipstream-Chipotle rider Magnus Backstedt broke at the 2008 Paris-Roubaix."

[JasonW]

A few years back Trek fitted a rear shock between the seat stays and the seat tube.

 

There was also a rumour this year that Cannondale would fit a Headshock to their bikes - probably a late April fool's though!

[Red Zone]

I recall that Cannondale ran a head shock at P R some years ago

[Willehond]

 

Didn't Cancellara break a wheel? I know he did' date=' whereas Boonen didn't...Inflexible=break. In fact Julien Devriese (Radioshacks head mechanic) blames Hincapie's broken steerer (remember that?) on the fact he was riding carbon wheels...Saxo Bank tested tyre pressures as low as 5Bar on the cobbles to see the advantages/disadvantages

 

http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/paris-roubaix-tech-what-wins-hell-of-the-north-25686

[/quote']

I remember Hincapie's spectacular failure quite well.  I think it broke because he had a carbon steerer, not carbon wheels ;-)   I also remember that George had crashed before the failure and we all know carbon doesn't like crashes.  Probably that that caused the failure.

 

Anyway, there are spokes, a hub and a fork between the carbon rims and the carbon steerer.  If the carbon wheels transmitted some kind of immense power on the fork, you would expect the forces to break the fork at the BOTTOM of the head tube, not the top!!!  Mr Devriese sounds like a bright chap, but as head mechanic he migh have alterior motives for blaming the wheels for Big George's crap as he was after all responsible for George's bike right?!!!

 

 

[splat]

I think it was an alu steerer tube - whatever difference that makes...

[techguy]

It was an alu steerer fork made for roubaix, and if you watch the footage, you'll see poor George sitting up with his hadlebars in his hands and then crashing, according to reports he also radioed his team car and told them there was something loose and got told to change his bike after that cobbled section.

 

If I had half as much experince as Julien I would be very happy...to have over 50 years of experience on the pro circuit means he's a very sought after man...

 

I have seen locally forks that have failed below the stem not at the top of the fork as one would assume...

[LazyTrailRider]

I recall that Cannondale ran a head shock at P R some years ago

 

...and RockShox had their infamous Roubaix SL model: http://bikehugger.com/2009/06/rock-shox-paris-roubaix-sl-for.html

 

A descendent of the Mag 21. Remember those gold beauties?

 

Interesting blast from the past: http://www.tearsforgears.com/2010/01/full-suspension-at-paris-roubaix.html

 

[Flemish Lion]

Check these pics of an exploding tubbie during P-R... explanation pls...

 

 

 

http://sgoovy.wordpress.com/2010/04/13/paf/

[splat]

I recall that Cannondale ran a head shock at P R some years ago

 

 

Cannondale Silk Road

 

[splat]

Check these pics of an exploding tubbie during P-R... explanation pls...

http://sgoovy.wordpress.com/2010/04/13/paf/[/quote] 

 

Awesome picture!

Looks like Stan's is spraying everywhere.

 

Check out the radar dome on the car!

[Johan Bornman]

Check these pics of an exploding tubbie during P-R... explanation pls...

http://sgoovy.wordpress.com/2010/04/13/paf/[/quote]

 

Nice photo. I see nothing on the road or way back that could have damaged that tyre...they probably didn't age (or is it ripen?) the tubbie enough.

 

What it tells us is that they also use sealant and notthe Slime brand. It also tells us that we think an explosion is instantaneous but it isn't. It started at least at the bottom of the wheel or some revolutions back.