Paris Roubaix - seen this?

Wicklowrider

Absolutely stunning particularly at about 1.30 in

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QSpuhIQg1A&feature=player_embedded

Captain Havoc

Stunning.

tawfeeredux

0:46-0:49, no saddle!!

studiorat

Reminds me of one of those threads about bad cycle lanes!

Hail 2 Da Thief

Beautiful shots!

cantalach

Unreal! The way the tyre compresses at 1:38 makes me think you'd never get through some of the 5* sectors on clinchers without having a few pinch flats.

AstraMonti

Really really nice work!

angry_fox

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buQGibzq8Sg

Nasty crash at 1:10,

karlmyson

Savage, primal, marvellous. Love this race. Gotta go do the route!

pprendeville

Music is like something out of Band of Brothers as are the shots in slow mo. Great link.

dave.obrien

I love this:

http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/pro-bike-frdric-guesdons-fdj-lapierre-x-lite-paris-roubaix-29867

There's life in metal yet!

bcmf

...and thats why tubs are preferred. Fantastic.

angry_fox

karlmyson wrote: »

Savage, primal, marvellous. Love this race. Gotta go do the route!

on a full sus mountain bike

niceonetom

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0O0wrfccGfw

Just came across this on a blog. Agonising to watch. It's clearly shot by an Irishman who happened to be in the right place at the right time. Agonising to watch. I can't help but wonder how the race would have panned out if that chain hadn't jammed - would Tomeke have ridden with Cance when Ballan, Flecha and Thor wouldn't? Would Chavanel have played a greater part if he hadn't had to help out?

sy

bcmf wrote: »

...and thats why tubs are preferred. Fantastic.

At €500 they had better last the day :eek: ( thats what the tubs on Boonen's bike supposedly cost)

sy

niceonetom wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0O0wrfccGfw

Just came across this on a blog. Agonising to watch. It's clearly shot by an Irishman who happened to be in the right place at the right time. Agonising to watch. I can't help but wonder how the race would have panned out if that chain hadn't jammed - would Tomeke have ridden with Cance when Ballan, Flecha and Thor wouldn't? Would Chavanel have played a greater part if he hadn't had to help out?

He stayed very calm considering what David Millar is capable of! Couldn't understand why he had nobody with him who could have swapped bikess. Surely this was one section where trouble was a high possibility.
If Boonen stayed in the race I think we would have had a totally different outcome, assuming Chavanel was in the mix.

Lumen

On the subject of clinchers, I've found that....

Frédéric Guesdon of the FDJ won Paris-Roubiax on clinchers in 1997, and (maybe) used them last year also, but was on tubs this year.
AG2R ran clincher tires in 2008.
Acqua e Sapone used clinchers this year for Scheldeprijs, which apparently has seven cobbled sections.

Seems crazy to me, unless you want to use >28mm tyres.

cantalach

sy wrote: »

At €500 they had better last the day :eek: ( thats what the tubs on Boonen's bike supposedly cost)

Yeah, I heard Harmon say that alright during the commentary. Is that credible? The most expensive tubs you can buy on Wiggle are Zipps that would cost €184 for the set. €500 seems like a massive jump from this.

Lumen

cantalach wrote: »

Yeah, I heard Harmon say that alright during the commentary. Is that credible? The most expensive tubs you can buy on Wiggle are Zipps that would cost €184 for the set. €500 seems like a massive jump from this.

They probably bought them from Cycleogical.

TinyExplosions

I think he's a little off... a lot of the pros use FMB tyres, made by a guy in France who hand crafts small amounts, but charges the Pro's the same as everybody else - £121.50 here, or $110 here. The rest use Dugast, which are about $140 (here).

There was an article about FMB I came across a few weeks ago, but can't lay my hand on it again, but it was basically that they make the tyres in small amounts, by hand and sell them to everyone at the retail price, regardless of whether you're a big team or an amateur

ednwireland

but if they are matured in a belgian cellar !

http://branfordbike.com/articles/tubular-tires-pg87.htm
Aging Tubular Tires
You may remember a Discovery Channel program entitled "The Science of Lance Armstrong", detailing his preparation for the Tour De France. One segment focused on Armstrong's lead mechanic--Julien Devries, a Belgian well known in pro cycling circles. Devries had a practice of aging all of Lance's tubular tires in a root cellar. Many dismissed this practice as a waste of time; nevertheless, Armstrong, known for turning over ever stone in search of that final edge, made sure all his race tires came from "the cellar'!

Though not really effective for vulcanized tubular tires (Vulcanized tires use high heat to melt the tire tread onto the casing). If the treads are vulcanized, the rubber compound is most likely high in sulfur content, which does not really cure. Consequently, there is no improvement from storage, and these tires are best used as soon as possible.

However, more expensive tubulars are constructed in a different manner--the treads are not vulcanized to the casing; instead, the treads are hand glued to the tire casing. The high grade rubber compounds found in these tubulars do improve with age, and as the rubber dries out a bit (cures), it doesn't reduce the suppleness meaningfully, but does dramatically improve the cut and puncture resistance of the tire, which in turn, increases tire life.

The trick to aging is to remove the tire from manufacturer's packing box, inflate to approximately half the rated capacity and let hang in a dark, climate controlled environment (think wine cellar) for at least 60 days. Don't have time for all this? Not a problem--all non vulcanized tubular tires sold at Branford Bike have been pre-aged in this manner for at least 60 days. All you have to do after ordering is mount and enjoy--happy riding!

Lumen

TinyExplosions wrote: »

There was an article about FMB I came across a few weeks ago, but can't lay my hand on it again, but it was basically that they make the tyres in small amounts, by hand and sell them to everyone at the retail price, regardless of whether you're a big team or an amateur

http://velonews.competitor.com/2011/03/bikes-and-tech/frances-fmb-tire-maker-for-the-cobbled-stars_164665

?

TinyExplosions

Lumen wrote: »

http://velonews.competitor.com/2011/03/bikes-and-tech/frances-fmb-tire-maker-for-the-cobbled-stars_164665

?

That's it! Cheers

Jawgap

20 km in Paris-Roubaix without bike seat.......

......not exactly a good ad for Pinarello :D:D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pudyCkMaQcg

ThisRegard

My new bargain bike has one of these stickers, it may be related to the sudden urge to ride in circles around Dublin castle on the cobbles.

ednwireland

Tyre and wheel tech
http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/race-tech-wheel-and-tire-choices-at-paris-roubaix