Old Tradition, New Advantages
- 1. Old Tradition, New Advantages By, Sean Joseph Grassi II The Tour De France has been running since 1903 and July 4th started its 103rd edition. With so many years of running and almost 200 riders competing in the Tour every athlete tries to find a way to save energy, be more aerodynamic, and stay comfortable while racing. Everyone wants to win the Tour and be able to wear that yellow jersey. Some of the innovative pieces of technology to help the riders range from the changing of the pedals and brackets, to creating more dynamic seats and bearings, or wearing cooling clothing to keep the core temperature down. Several riders have various strategies that they implement. Orbea’s solution to obtain more power from every rotation of the pedals is cadence magnet which recesses into the chainstay. Another solution which Cervelo RCa uses is a carbon laminate which hides the magnet from view because the magnet is right into the laminate. Speedplay has been known for making cleats to easily grip the pedals while riding. They now have changed the game and designed their own pedals to perfectly fit with their cleats. The Speedplay Zero Aero pedal is a single sided pedal with a streamlined cover over it to perfect complement their Zero Aero cleats. The two form a system that is more aerodynamic than the normal cleat with a dual sided pedal. Stage 7 is currently going on today and it’s a long, mountainous stage clocking in at almost 200 km. Seats on the bicycles are very import to support the rider and take out the shock when hitting rough terrain. Prologo has created a new saddle called the T Gale TT. The T Gale TT has a shortened front and the seating is more forward than your standard saddle. It contains an elastomer used as a shock absorber. The T Gale TT is more aerodynamic with its flattened
- 2. sides and center channel but offers comfort for the rider with the company’s own CPC material on the saddle. Ceramic Speed has three teams racing in this edition that they sponsor. Each bike in the team has Ceramic Speed’s unique ball bearing system that never rusts. The custom ball bearing system saves energy by reducing the amount of friction. Ceramic doesn’t corrode which the balls are made of and hitting the metal constantly cleans and polishes the metal preventing rust. With the constant exercising of riding on the bicycle plus the temperatures reaching the mid to high 90’s riders can easily overheat and become exhausted quicker. To battle those conditions, riders will wear cooling jackets or vests to lower their core temperature. The cooling jacket works by recirculating the cooling fluids throughout using a system of tubes over key muscles and hot spots to ensure that the rider can survive the heat. The riders will only wear the jacket or vest until they reach the start house.