clever hacks of WorldTour race mechanics
1. Power banks
There are few things worse than losing front shifting when you’re on a ride because you forgot to charge your Di2, EPS or eTap battery. Now imagine the same thing happening at the pointy end of a race when trying to respond to an attack.
It seems these days, there are never enough outlets to charge all our gadgets. Imagine if you had to charge a whole team's worth of stuff.
With portable power banks becoming exponentially more popular in the past few years (and cheaper too), the WorldTour teams are taking advantage of these compact power sources to keep drivetrains fully charged.
2. Water bottles
One thing pro teams do not have a shortage of is water bottles, and most mechanics use chopped-up bottles to hold things other than water.
The classic is for mechanics to mix up their signature concoction of degreaser in an old bottle, which is then painted onto chains, cassettes and chainrings when the bikes are cleaned.
Mechanics also use chopped bidons to hold tubular glue as they prep tyres and wheels. While most dip a paintbrush in the glue, the Trek-Segafredo mechanics use an intact bidon as a squeeze bottle to lay down a bead of glue on the rim before spreading it with a brush.
The most creative use for a bottle, however, comes to us from the Katusha-Alpecin wrench, who fashioned a race number holder from a bottle and a bolt.
3. Ultegra cassettes
Something many a bike shop has been preaching for years is the use of Ultegra/Force cassettes in lieu of Dura-Ace/Red. Last year Dimension Data, Quick-Step, Cannondale-Drapac (now EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale), were all running Ultegra cassettes, this year it seems the majority of the teams are now on Dura-Ace. However, Astana and Katusha-Alpecin were both spinning second-tier gears at the back.
They are considerably cheaper and shift just as well; the only downside is they are a touch heavier. But, with the UCI still enforcing the outdated 6.8kg minimum weight limit, it serves as functional weight, rather than dropping chain links or fishing weights down the seat tube.
There are few things worse than losing front shifting when you’re on a ride because you forgot to charge your Di2, EPS or eTap battery. Now imagine the same thing happening at the pointy end of a race when trying to respond to an attack.
It seems these days, there are never enough outlets to charge all our gadgets. Imagine if you had to charge a whole team's worth of stuff.
With portable power banks becoming exponentially more popular in the past few years (and cheaper too), the WorldTour teams are taking advantage of these compact power sources to keep drivetrains fully charged.
2. Water bottles
One thing pro teams do not have a shortage of is water bottles, and most mechanics use chopped-up bottles to hold things other than water.
The classic is for mechanics to mix up their signature concoction of degreaser in an old bottle, which is then painted onto chains, cassettes and chainrings when the bikes are cleaned.
Mechanics also use chopped bidons to hold tubular glue as they prep tyres and wheels. While most dip a paintbrush in the glue, the Trek-Segafredo mechanics use an intact bidon as a squeeze bottle to lay down a bead of glue on the rim before spreading it with a brush.
The most creative use for a bottle, however, comes to us from the Katusha-Alpecin wrench, who fashioned a race number holder from a bottle and a bolt.
3. Ultegra cassettes
Something many a bike shop has been preaching for years is the use of Ultegra/Force cassettes in lieu of Dura-Ace/Red. Last year Dimension Data, Quick-Step, Cannondale-Drapac (now EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale), were all running Ultegra cassettes, this year it seems the majority of the teams are now on Dura-Ace. However, Astana and Katusha-Alpecin were both spinning second-tier gears at the back.
They are considerably cheaper and shift just as well; the only downside is they are a touch heavier. But, with the UCI still enforcing the outdated 6.8kg minimum weight limit, it serves as functional weight, rather than dropping chain links or fishing weights down the seat tube.
评论
发表评论