Road Bike Racing - Lance's new TT steed

Lance's site has pics of his new TT bike at http://www.lancearmstrong.com/lance/online2.nsf/html/2004ttbike

That "radical" change that we all thought was going to be imperceptible? It's actually pretty noticeable. His arms look like they're farther forward, his aero bars are almost completely flat, so his hands are really tilted forward, and it looks like he might have an overall slightly lower positioning on the bike, though it's hard to tell.

There was a lot of discussion this past year about Lance's position vs. Ullrich's, with the handlebar position being most noticeable. Some people saying that Ullrich is more aero, some saying Lance is just as aero and more comfortable. I guess in the end it's not as simple as it seems, and comes down to the individual rider style. But this looks a lot like Ullrich's. :)

Mike

I don't think his back is as low or hunched up as it was last year. I always noticed how curved his spine was, with a big lump about halfway down. It's still there, but he seems more upright now. But his hands are definately more like Ullrich's. A new trend perhaps? The bike looks a bit smaller too, but that's probably must me going crazy.

With the amount of time and money that Lance spends for wind tunnel testing I am sure he is every bit as "aero" as Jan if not more so.

Well, he won and didn't even use his aero helmet. Didn't even use the Atmos helmet. Used an old Pneumo.
Postal took five of the top ten spots in the ITT..and it looks like this training exercise will result in a win for either Lance, Floyd, or Victor.
Hincapie finished tenth only 45 seconds behind Lance.

Looks like the rumors of the end of Lance are a bit premature.

Must be the doughnut, Shiner Bock, and hot chick workout plan.

I hear that some other races are trying to add, like Algarve did, a time trial as USPS is selecting its training races based on ITT availability.

Why don't they ditch the front or rear brake on the TT bike. Especially for those flat stages (or straight uphill as in this year's TdF)? Are two brakes required?

-mark

the link will not work for me.

Here's a couple more shots of him in the TT position along with an article on the Volta ao Algarve TT...

http://www.velonews.com/race/int/articles/5594.0.html

The hump in his back looks pretty much the same as usual to me, but his position has definately changed ... must have worked though as he clearly placed well in the TT.

Here's two shots, one from Stage 19 of the 2003 Tour and the other from the Volta. The shots are almost identical so it's easier to compare the positions ...

Alright, I'm stumped-what kind of break caliper is that on Armstrong's new bike?

Here's two shots, one from Stage 19 of the 2003 Tour and the other from the Volta.

Its a little decieving because the 2003 Tour pic isn't as level with the ground.

Its a little decieving because the 2003 Tour pic isn't as level with the ground.

It was the closest thing I could find which showed two very similar shots and which showed the similarities and differences in his position. You're right about it being deceiving though ...

It was the closest thing I could find which showed two very similar shots and which showed the similarities and differences in his position. You're right about it being deceiving though ...

Yeah that is a good pic.
I think I made a mistake thinking you ment that the position was almost exactly the same, when you ment that the pictures (shots) were almost exactly the same.
(I probably wasn't fully awake yet when I made that last post)


Why don't they ditch the front or rear brake on the TT bike. Especially for those flat stages (or straight uphill as in this year's TdF)? Are two brakes required?

-mark

I believe he will use his 'mountain' bike for the l'alpe d'huez TT, not the TT bike.

Some TT courses have a lot of turns, and when youre going 30+mph, you really need good brakes for certain courses.

OK, maybe his hump is the same. Looked different in the side view in the first link, I think because he's not wearing his USPS jersey or an aero helmet. I'd like to know how far apart his elbows are, compared to last year and to Ullrich (who's elbows are about 8 feet apart).

I'd like to know how far apart his elbows are

This is the best shot of Lance from the front I could find ....

Just saw this on rec.bicycles.racing ...

http://www.phys.uu.nl/~dronkert/cycling/la-tt.jpg

http://www.phys.uu.nl/~dronkert/cycling/la-tt.jpg

The radical change seems to be just a change in hand position.

Paul

Nice looking bike.

Armstrong chooses retro path to take Algarve time trial victory

In a move that will no doubt send bike-tech enthusiasts stampeding to E-bay, Lance Armstrong rode to stage victory and the overall lead at the Tour of the Algarve last Saturday on his ‘new’ time trial bike featuring Shimano AX centre-pull brakes from 1980 (writes Kirsten Begg).

Armstrong has made no secret of the fact that his time-trialling position is a focus for this year but after a winter spent testing in the wind tunnel at Washington State University, technologically speaking, his 2004 time-trial debut was something of an anticlimax.

Performance-wise he will no doubt take pleasure from his one-second victory over team mate Floyd Landis that put the Texan into the overall lead, but more so perhaps from the opportunity to ride in support of Landis.

Armstrong rode the time trial with new aerobar extensions and a regular helmet and without shoe covers or gloves but the SRM power meter on his handlebars suggests that he used the 24km time-trial stage to form a performance baseline for the season.

Procycling's guess is that the AX brakes came from aerodynamics maestro Steve Hed's garage (Hed consults for Armstrong on aerodynamics and worked with him this winter) but for Armstrong to make true progress against the clock the gains will not come from the bike but from his riding
position.

It's likely that his time in the wind tunnel was spent finding the most aerodynamic position he could comfortably hold and that it will truly be in the subsequent outings against the clock that we will begin to see the five-time Tour winner evolve his on-the-bike position.

US Postal directeur Johan Bruyneel has referred to a “lower and more forward” position which adopts the basic physics principle of a smaller frontal area. Short of sponsor Nike coming up with a fabric that has a lower coefficient of friction than Lycra or skin, for Armstrong this means either lowering his head and shoulders or bringing in his elbows and knees to achieve a narrowing of the area.

With Armstrong choosing not to debut any new time trial helmet models from Giro look for this in the future along with potentially a reduction in the amount of spacers between his stem and top headset cup. A move forward on the bike will be reflected in a change in the angle of flex at his elbow. Currently his upper arm is in line with his fork blade and his forearms are level.

While Armstrong definitely needs to gain as much advantage as possible for the Tour de France in July, his true time-trialling goal this season comes in August when the 32-year old will have his last shot at an objective that has so far eluded him: Olympic gold. Realistically, Athens will be the Texan's last Olympics and along with a stage win on Mont Ventoux he lists a gold medal as the two achievements missing from his career.

I had an entire AX group given to me and those roller cam brakes are heavy as hell and and don't work very well. A pair of those brakes probably weigh as much as 4 DA calipers!
The AX group came with a big, flat aero water bottle.