View Full Version : Lance Armstrongs Computer?
jnlabay
07-15-05, 11:26 PM
I was noticing in the pics that they have on the paceline website I noticed that Lance Armstrong does not have a cycling computer on his bike. Is that a personal preferance or a weight thing so that he can go faster? Everyone else on the team seams to have one but I dont know what kinda if anyone knows let me know...laters
I thought he used a high-end Polar on his wrist.
gsteinb
07-16-05, 05:04 AM
Hac4?
http://www.bikedirekt.at/shop/computer/Hac4.jpg
roadbuzz
07-16-05, 06:38 AM
Pretty sure it's a HAC4, and it's on his wrist to make it harder for other riders to see.
CgChris
07-16-05, 06:58 AM
No, it's not.
On his wrist is his sponsors watch. Nike!
http://www.lancearmstrong.com/lance/online2.nsf/Docs/6B56B253244C71FB86256CF00043C5E7 (He has upgraded sinse then)
http://www.victorywatches.com/lance-4.htm
http://www.bikeusa.net/images/nike-lance_4.jpg
This is the watch he is wearing right now at the TDF.
Pretty sure he doen't wear a HRM in races, I heard that in lance cronicles, only on training rides.
gwarzin
07-16-05, 11:06 AM
Pretty sure it's a HAC4, and it's on his wrist to make it harder for other riders to see.
I think US Postal had a sponsorship deal with Ciclosport and used the HAC4. I can't find any indication that Team Discovery has any similar deal and I haven't seen a HAC4 on his bike this year.
BTW, if you wear the HAC4 on your wrist you can't use any of the cycle-specific features. The computer unit must be fitted to the bike mount to pick up the wireless speed and wired cadence.
filtersweep
07-16-05, 01:37 PM
wired cadence.
For a watch? From Ciclosport?
I don't use the Polar's cadence feature, but Polar's speed sensor works fine with watch on wrist- FWIW.
CgChris
07-16-05, 02:53 PM
Guys..wtf? He dosen't wear a heart rate monitor in races. Lance wears his watch he designed with nike and that's it, actually stage 14 today he wasn't even wearing his watch.
Even when he DOES where a heart rate monitor, if you read the Chris Carmicheal books, it is a Nike heart rate monitor.
I have one myself, I like the Nike HRM's.
I seem to recall him using Vettas in the past (http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2002/tech/probikes/usps/bar_stem.shtml).
http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2002/tech/probikes/usps/Cockpit.jpg
According to cyclingnews.com, here's the setup he's using now (http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2005/tour05/tech/?id=round-up3/cntdf05-lance_sslx2). Looks like a Ciclosport computer to me.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2005/tour05/tech/round-up3/cntdf05-lance_sslx2.jpg
CgChris
07-16-05, 04:26 PM
Hey jhuon,
There is no way that top photo was lances bike in 2002, I seen the Trek 5900's USPS team issue come through my local store, and that Stem and Bars are DEFINATELY! not, from the USPS team issue....they were using bontrager and that bike has hutchinson tires, and Lance in 2002 had Bontrager Race X-Lite tires as well.
The bottom one, I don't think is lances bike, it looks like a team mates, because the whole Tour he NEVER once had a computer mounted on his bars.
kubla khan
07-16-05, 04:37 PM
Hey jhuon,
There is no way that top photo was lances bike in 2002, I seen the Trek 5900's USPS team issue come through my local store, and that Stem and Bars are DEFINATELY! not, from the USPS team issue....they were using bontrager and that bike has hutchinson tires, and Lance in 2002 had Bontrager Race X-Lite tires as well.
The bottom one, I don't think is lances bike, it looks like a team mates, because the whole Tour he NEVER once had a computer mounted on his bars.They can use whatever equipment they want, they don't have to use what your store has on their Trek bikes.. and they weren't always using Bontrager tires.
That IS infact his bike, but for the 2002 Milan-San Remo...
http://www.cyclingnews.com/tech/2002/features/probikes/usps.shtml
The bottom one is also lance's bike..
http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2005/tour05/tech/?id=round-up3/cntdf05-lance_sslx3
In fact you can tell those are his bikes simply by the seat. He has been using the same Selle San Marco seat for years (recently rebadged as a Bontrager).
No, it's not.
On his wrist is his sponsors watch. Nike!
http://www.lancearmstrong.com/lance/online2.nsf/Docs/6B56B253244C71FB86256CF00043C5E7 (He has upgraded sinse then)
http://www.victorywatches.com/lance-4.htm
http://www.bikeusa.net/images/nike-lance_4.jpg
This is the watch he is wearing right now at the TDF.
Pretty sure he doen't wear a HRM in races, I heard that in lance cronicles, only on training rides.
Looks cool. Does it tell the time? :D
CgChris
07-16-05, 05:03 PM
They can use whatever equipment they want, they don't have to use what your store has on their Trek bikes.. and they weren't always using Bontrager tires.
That IS infact his bike, but for the 2002 Milan-San Remo...
http://www.cyclingnews.com/tech/2002/features/probikes/usps.shtml
The bottom one is also lance's bike..
http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2005/tour05/tech/?id=round-up3/cntdf05-lance_sslx3
In fact you can tell those are his bikes simply by the seat. He has been using the same Selle San Marco seat for years (recently rebadged as a Bontrager).
A)The madones and Trek 5900 team issues are the exact bike Lance and his team ride at the Tour de France. I am sure the team experiements at other races with different stuff, but TREK specifically makes sure that the team issue bikes can't be swapped parts when shipped, it has to be the exact bike as the tour de france..
B)The first bike even says in that article that it was a different bike then the "regular" one, so he maybe used it once, because it was a flat road race, with nice roads. So it's not a bike he uses on his only race that counts...the tour de france.
C)All these articles take shots of the multiple madone models that team discovery/USPS have with them, and say it's lances bike. Dosen't actually mean it's the actual one he rides that day, could be anyone of them, and they jsut say it's "lances" bike. Truth is it could be George's bike or Popo's bike or any of the other 28 riders on team dicovery that ride the same team issue bike...
I watched every race of the tour de france this year (3-4hours a day) never seen him once with a computer on his handle bars. NOt saying he dosen't always have one, he definatly does, but Chris Carmicheal says he uses nike heart rate monitors when he trains, so...
but the answer to the Original question, it's not a computer he wears, it's his personally designed watch he wears at the tour, pictured above.
C)All these articles take shots of the multiple madone models that team discovery/USPS have with them, and say it's lances bike. Dosen't actually mean it's the actual one he rides that day, could be anyone of them, and they jsut say it's "lances" bike. Truth is it could be George's bike or Popo's bike or any of the other 28 riders on team dicovery that ride the same team issue bike...
It's probably his bike... notice the oldschool traditional profile handlebar that he so loves. Of course this is not to say that other riders in Discovery don't like them either but it's a good bet that's his bike.
I watched every race of the tour de france this year (3-4hours a day) never seen him once with a computer on his handle bars.
Perhaps you should have been paying closer attention. ;)
Stage 5
http://grahamwatson.com/gw/imagedocs.nsf/images/05tdfSt5/$file/10.jpg
Stage 6
http://grahamwatson.com/gw/imagedocs.nsf/images/05tdfSt6/$file/8.jpg
Stage 7
http://grahamwatson.com/gw/imagedocs.nsf/images/05tdfSt7/$file/13.jpg
Stage 9 (can't see the display head but I'm sure that sensor on his fork isn't there for nothing)
http://grahamwatson.com/gw/imagedocs.nsf/images/05tdfSt9/$file/11.jpg
Stage 13
http://grahamwatson.com/gw/imagedocs.nsf/images/05tdfSt13/$file/10.jpg
It looks like what he does is omit it for the really tough mountain stages.
Stage 14
http://grahamwatson.com/gw/imagedocs.nsf/images/05tdfSt14/$file/13.jpg
CgChris
07-16-05, 07:19 PM
Well ok, I wasn't really looking for it anyways, and that really wasn't my point. My point was that on his wrist is NOT a heart rate monitor, and he dosen't wear one in races.
Actually it looks more like the Lance chrono he is wearing this year:
http://www.nike.com/timing/usa/en/productDetail/WA0039.html
http://www.nike.com/timing/common/img/productImage/oregon_series/WA0039/WA0039_001_lg.png
Also as far as the computer goes:
No comp on his bike here: Stage 12
http://www.thepaceline.com/Galleries/38/WZ0K3292.jpg
None here eithier:Stage 10
http://www.thepaceline.com/Galleries/35/MG2E2850_Master_8x12.jpg
No compy here too! Stage 11
http://grahamwatson.com/gw/imagedocs.nsf/images/05tdfSt11/$file/10.jpg
No computer here eithier, but popo has one!
http://grahamwatson.com/gw/imagedocs.nsf/images/05tdfSt10/$file/8.jpg
He does have one here though stage 8:
http://www.thepaceline.com/Galleries/29/IH0S2660_Master_8x12.jpg
Bottomline is I don't think it seems as important to him as his watch on the wrist, shown above :)
daytonian
07-16-05, 08:06 PM
Well ok, I wasn't really looking for it anyways, and that really wasn't my point. My point was that on his wrist is NOT a heart rate monitor, and he dosen't wear one in races.
Actually it looks more like the Lance chrono he is wearing this year:
http://www.nike.com/timing/usa/en/productDetail/WA0039.html
http://www.nike.com/timing/common/img/productImage/oregon_series/WA0039/WA0039_001_lg.png
Also as far as the computer goes:
No comp on his bike here: Stage 12
http://www.thepaceline.com/Galleries/38/WZ0K3292.jpg
None here eithier:Stage 10
http://www.thepaceline.com/Galleries/35/MG2E2850_Master_8x12.jpg
He does have one here though stage 8:
http://www.thepaceline.com/Galleries/29/IH0S2660_Master_8x12.jpg
Bottomline is I don't think it seems as important to him as his watch on the wrist, shown above :)
Read the book "It's not about the bike", in it you'll see Lance always has his heart rate and cadence that is displayed for Johan to see in the chase car. If Lance spins too fast or heart rate jets Johan tells him to back off. It's all in the book.
CgChris
07-16-05, 08:10 PM
Read the book "It's not about the bike", in it you'll see Lance always has his heart rate and cadence that is displayed for Johan to see in the chase car. If Lance spins too fast or heart rate jets Johan tells him to back off. It's all in the book.
Read the book again, and read what I have said...
He uses heart rate monitors in Training, not in racing, it says that right in the book.
Also in Chris Carmicheal's books as well.
Also as far as the computer goes:
No comp on his bike here: Stage 12
None here eithier:Stage 10
No compy here too! Stage 11
No computer here eithier, but popo has one!
And I surmised as such when I said...
It looks like what he does is omit it for the really tough mountain stages.
He discards the computer for the same reason he runs a left-hand downtube shifter... weight. Curiously enough, that boat-anchor of a watch doesn't seem to be of concern. :)
CgChris
07-16-05, 08:13 PM
Yea, not my point though...
Point is that's the watch he wears, and it's not a HRM.
Which was the original question of this thread.
Yea, not my point though...
Point is that's the watch he wears, and it's not a HRM.
Which was the original question of this thread.
Actually the original question was about the lack of a computer... it did not specifically point out his watch.
I was noticing in the pics that they have on the paceline website I noticed that Lance Armstrong does not have a cycling computer on his bike. Is that a personal preferance or a weight thing so that he can go faster? Everyone else on the team seams to have one but I dont know what kinda if anyone knows let me know...laters
CgChris
07-16-05, 08:21 PM
Actually the original question was about the lack of a computer... it did not specifically point out his watch.
No but the second, third and forth posts and so on did.
daytonian
07-16-05, 08:26 PM
Read the book again, and read what I have said...
He uses heart rate monitors in Training, not in racing, it says that right in the book.
Also in Chris Carmicheal's books as well.
We must have read a different book then. The entire peleton is hooked up to HRM's. Wouldn't it make sense for Mgr's to know wtf is up with their riders???
Allen H
07-16-05, 08:35 PM
I can't IMAGINE the Discovery team car doesn't have readouts on ALL the team riders' heart rates, etc. - they'd HAVE to know how guys were holding up, empirically, not based on "I feel fine", or "I'm a little spent". That's the whole point of a HRM in training, as well - the heart rate data will tell the DS what's up more precisely (and more quickly) than any verbal inquiry can, or better than the athlete might even feel, absent that data.
It's been awhile since I read both books, but I sure seem to recall they kept track of HRM data in the team car during stages.
We must have read a different book then. The entire peleton is hooked up to HRM's. Wouldn't it make sense for Mgr's to know wtf is up with their riders???
Well, if that's true then many of the stages in this year's TdF is a departure from that practice for Armstrong. Look back through some of those pictures and you will notice a lack of a chest strap.
http://grahamwatson.com/gw/imagedocs.nsf/images/05tdfSt10/$file/15.jpg
Also, it seems Lance isn't the only one not wearing an HRM strap. Hincapie seems to be lacking a chest strap too.
http://grahamwatson.com/gw/imagedocs.nsf/images/05tdfSt10/$file/7.jpg
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