I have a bunch of bikes that were "state of the art" around 1983 or so. And, one that is "state of the art" for 2005. I am equally slow on all of them. The "marketing" boys would love to convince us that we will become "faster" by buying the latest wonder gadget. But, the fact remains...the speed of the bike is directly related the the speed of the legs that are pushing the pedals. And no amount of money and no amount of technology will ever alter that fact.

Last year, during one or two stages of the Tour, Lance used some brake calipers from the early 1980's and a left shifter that was essentially identical to those used in the '80's. During a couple of stages run over rough roads he used wheels with 32 spokes, not the 18 spoke "wonder wheels" bike dealers enjoy hyping to their customers. Lance wanted to win way too much to pretend that the 2004 stuff was "the best"...the best stuff was twenty years old.