"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Toyota-United Racing

Any insight to the potential of the Toyota-United Cycling Team? I'm not super familiar with the domestic racers.

I work for Toyota and I'm excited to see that we are sponsoring a cycling team. I don't like the color scheme of the United bikes though. I think they are down right ugly. http://www.toyota-united.com/
I was excited about the chance to get a race bike at a discount, but after looking at the rigs I'm not excited about the offerings for $6000.

Here is a link to the bike: http://www.united-bicycles.com/bikes.php

So it's basically a compact version of the F15 for almost twice the price?

it's not that bad, just looks kind of retro vintage. those easton Wheels are ugly. Could they have found a bigger logo?

I talk with Frankie Andreiu (?) thisweek about the team, I'll let you know if anything interesting is brought up.

Fugly bike. They couldn't afford carbon? They will be after they sell those overpriced bikes!

I agree that they are overpriced but whatever happened to not choosing a bike by what it looks like. That is ridiculous though.

They actually do have carbon seat and chain stays, but so does my Giant OCR Elite and it was 1/5 the price.

Color shouldn't be an issue, but I would guarantee that color influences many of us on what bike we purchase. For $6000 I definitely want a choice of color. I guess the retro look is what they are after. They definitley got it. :)

The bikes are not pretty. I don't understand why they painted the carbon fork and carbon rear triangle. They are very light though and Tony tells me they ride very nice. I rode Tony's around the parking lot but it is two sizes too small for me so I didn't do much on it. The bike is made by Easton for United. They are not painted Felts.

I don't care what they look like. I bet they are very very nice rides.

if they were red, white and black they'd be HOT.

I read somewhere that they gave a lot of power to the riders in deciding what their bikes would be like, this may have included the color scheme. It would make sense that it is the idea of a few racers as opposed to some stylist who surely designs the other team rides. Plus, if you hadn't noticed, they are going for the "all-american" look. They definitely have faith in the American fan base and are trying to win their support.

What the heck......GO TOYOTA-UNITED!!!

the bikes don't look too bad out on the field. kinda neat to have a new u.s. team out there.

http://www.toyota-united.com/images/stories//PhotoGallery/021206-BreaCrit/ivan2.jpg

the bikes don't look too bad out on the field. kinda neat to have a new u.s. team out there.

http://www.toyota-united.com/images/stories//PhotoGallery/021206-BreaCrit/ivan2.jpg
Hey! I was chasing him when that picture was taken.

If today's finish is any indication, the bikes work fine, and the team's outlook is sound.

Stop obsessing over the color of the bikes. It's not a beauty pageant.

the bikes don't look too bad out on the field. kinda neat to have a new u.s. team out there.

http://www.toyota-united.com/images/stories//PhotoGallery/021206-BreaCrit/ivan2.jpg
This photo is from the Roger Millikan memorial. It is one of the early season SoCal races that always attracts a handful of pros. This year the race was on 2/12/06 and featured six of the Toyota-United riders that would be riding the TOC this week. It was very fun and very fast. I didn't want anyone to think from my previous post that I was fantasizing about being in the TOC.

This photo is from the Roger Millikan memorial. It is one of the early season SoCal races that always attracts a handful of pros. This year the race was on 2/12/06 and featured six of the Toyota-United riders that would be riding the TOC this week. It was very fun and very fast. I didn't want anyone to think from my previous post that I was fantasizing about being in the TOC.

redal, wasn't that course a blast, at least compared to the traditional Valentines Day course. We had a full field for us old dads (50+) and everyone gave it a big thumbs up.

As far as what their bikes look like, well it's kind of hard to knock our national colors (red/white/blue). But it's also a shame they painted the carbon parts of the frame. As Event Services said, it's a bike race and they ride what they are given. If they can keep putting up results like yesterday no one will care what their bikes look like.

If today's finish is any indication, the bikes work fine, and the team's outlook is sound.

Stop obsessing over the color of the bikes. It's not a beauty pageant.

You are right. The bikes must be OK based on the results.

When we can't race like that what else do we have to talk about other than the color of the bikes? It's not a beauty pageant, but I'm sure if you show up with the wrong gear in that crowd they'll let you know about it. :)

I do think the partriotic color theme is pretty cool. The blue is just sort of odd. I agree with the other person that posted that red, white and black would have been a good look. More Toyota colors than patriot colors though.

bigdraft,
That course was a lot of fun. We had 120 guys and it was flat out the whole time. We were averaging 30 mph which means the speed was higher (and lower) than that at times. I agree that the natural carbon would look much better on those United bikes. I asked Tony why it had been painted and he wasn't really sure. As others have said those guys are going to ride what they're given but since they are trying to sell the bikes as well, I would think they would want to make them look good. I'm sure there has to be some people who like how they are painted.

This photo is from the Roger Millikan memorial. It is one of the early season SoCal races that always attracts a handful of pros. This year the race was on 2/12/06 and featured six of the Toyota-United riders that would be riding the TOC this week. It was very fun and very fast. I didn't want anyone to think from my previous post that I was fantasizing about being in the TOC.


you were looking really strong at millikan, redal. you boys were MOVING!

Hmm I kind of like the paint job but $6k is just silly.

Scandium