In addition to reporting on who wins each stage of the Tour Down Under, VeloNews also ran a piece pointing out that none of the marquis sprinters at this year's event have yet to win a stage. Mark Cavendish (HTC-HighRoad), Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Cervelo) and Andre Greipel (Omega Pharma Lotto) are largely considered some of the fastest fast men in the world, and Robbie McEwen (RadioShack) worked up some early season form for this race in his own backyard.
So these guys are all lightning fast, and they haven't won yet. But there's another point of commonality between them - they're all on new bikes this year.
- Cavendish's team switched from Scott to Specialized for 2011
- Farrar moved off his Felt to a Cervelo with the team merger
- Greipel also gave up his Scott and is now on a Canyon
- McEwen traded in his Ridley for a Trek
Is it possible to conclude that Specialized, Cervelo, Canyon and Trek are simply not as fast as the bikes from Scott, Felt and Ridley?
Of course not. Saying that a world class sprinter lost a race because he was on a certain kind of bike is about as silly as, well, saying that he won because of the bike he was on. Which is exactly our point over here. Bikes at this level are far more similar than they are different. If you can win on a Scott, you can win on a Specialized. And if you're pack fodder on a Trek, a Canyon isn't going to suddenly put you on the podium.
And you can substitute the November Wheelhouse for any of those bikes listed above as well. We're not going to claim our bikes make a difference in your results. But we guarantee they'll make a difference in your wallet.
4 comments
Hi Mark-All the specs are on the Frugal Fridays page, including the "Buy" button:http://www.novemberbicycles.com/frugalfridaysThey're full carbon clincher (405g rim) in a 20/24 build with the same hubs and Sapim Laser spokes we use in our other wheels. 1370g for the set at the intro price of $785 through the weekend. Price goes up $100 on Monday. PowerTap builds also available starting at $1639 for the full wheelset with PT PRO+. Oh, and we like riding them. A lot.
just saw the frugal friday deal for the 38mm carbon clinchers but not too many details on the website… whats the specs behind the new wheelset? whats their story?
Rim width is 22mm. Haven't ridden down Alpe d'Huez with them but, as with any clincher, if you ride the brakes downhill you're going to blow out up your tubes. Feather and alternate front/back and you'll be fine.Not sure what you mean about the brake track. It's molded not machined (which is superior in carbon rims) and they brake very well. In dry, it's like braking on alloy rims. In wet, there's that bit of lag. Absolutely zero pulsing though.
whats the rim width? any issue with heat dissipation during long descents? whats the brake surface like?