Paris Roubaix picks

Powerful Pete

New sponsor with the new Garmin being launched in Italy in a big way?

To know exactly the distance between pave sections without having to tape a bit of paper to his top tube?]

He is a bit dorky, thought...

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limerickman

While watching the race in the last 50kms - I reckoned that Canc would have tried to break away from Boonen, knowing that if it came to the sprint Boonen had a better chance.
Canc's attempts to breakaway looked like the efforts of a tired rider (I thought).

Still it was an intriguing race - O'Grady did a superb job for Canc, I thought.

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morelike hypocrisy.

Malkmus

Yeah. He gave it that one go and let up pretty quick when Boonen followed. If he had anything left he would have kept going until he broke Boonen. Brian Smith was speculating that he was savig it for the sprint. No way. If he had anything in the tank he would have wanted to go way before the velodrome.

Glad to see that CSC didn't ask him to do a bike change after the Carrefour D'Alabra so that they could get pictures of Zipp wheels on his bike.

whiteboytrash

Hincapie was asked by Velonews before the race how he and his team prepared technically for Roubaix. Big George said that he spent countless hours choosing his sunglasses & the lenses that would go in them. When prompted on his choice wheels for the race Hicapie looked confused & showed the reporter that his sunglasses had flexable arms so even when he crashed they stayed on his head. Genius.

fscyclist

Now that's funny.

Eldrack

Yeah, really it's a suprise he didn't turn up to the race with a full TT bike with disk wheels .

Apparently though his wheel didn't fail, it was just a puncture (according to cyclingnews). Still, his choice of wheel and tire wasn't exactly, smart. Surely his mechanic should have said something? Or maybe they expect him to know better by now.

whiteboytrash

Agreed on all fronts even the bit about the double disc wheels !

See below. If a third rate hack like Nuyens can get his wheel choice correct then you'd expect a guy gunning for the podium to get it right.... Hincapie lost the race before it even started.
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While some teams will attack the cobbles with deeper carbon wheels, Cofidis is sticking with the traditional 32-spoke aluminum Campagnolo classic tubular wheels. The metal hoops provide added strength and race-tested reliability at Roubaix. The bumpy, unforgiving course has been known to bend and shatter rims as often as it punctures tires. A pair of chunky 24mm Vittoria Pavé tubulars finish off Nuyens’ wheelset.

http://www.velonews.com/article/745...pecial-time-vxs

Andrija

Hey, how does it (equipment choice) function in pro cycling?
If I was a pro, I would ask for a mechanic's advice (especially for a race like P-R), then, I'd tell him about my feeling on a bike with suggested equipment and, at the end, we'd make best possible choice, considering race conditions and my feeling. It's irrational to leave so important decission to a rider.

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thoughtforfood

Did Hincape reject your advances or something? You definately have a hard-on for him.

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Powerful Pete

Andrija, what you say sounds perfect to me for a neopro or second year rider. But someone who has ridden that particular race a number of times beforehand? Is it possible he has been oblivious to the experience he must have accumulated in equipment selection.

And in any event, the great majority of the riders opt for the same thing in the PR - a solid set of handbuilts with very sturdy rims and heavy duty and wide tires. No secrets there I suspect...

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Andrija

You're right.
I'm just commenting Hincapie's case. It's obvious guy doesn't know to choose proper equipment.
And, off course, with years of racing experience rider needs less advices from mechanics, that's natural.
Also, I presume that, after several years of racing, equipment choice becomes standard for different races... No need for special preparations, riders and mechanics already know what equipment will be used.

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"Soldiers! Heroes!

The supreme command has erased our regiment from its records. Our regiment has been sacrificed for the honor of Belgrade and the Fatherland. Therefore, you no longer have to worry for your lives - they do not exist anymore.
So, forward to glory! For King and country! Long live the king! Long live Belgrade! "

Crankyfeet

Didn't he get a flat? Carbon fibre technology and material properties are changing year to year. Who are we to second guess the team's and George's choice of wheel? I'm sure they had reason's for their selection. It could have just been a commercial "who's our wheel sponsor?" choice even. And it wasn't the rim that failed AFAIK. The Team HR mechanics are probably reading our posts and laughing at our naivette and gall to pass judgment with limited knowledge.

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Drongo

Hincapie himself described it as a 'mechanical '. That is not a flat, or he would have said 'flat'. Maybe he lost or broke a chain, maybe his wheels broke, maybe his shifters fell off ... except that it was his rear wheel that was replaced.

As for High Road laughing, I don't think so. The carbon wheels are copping grief on internet forums all over, their sponsors would be putting pressure on them to correct the misinformed rubbish, if it were that. The silence, the absence of such correction, suggests they're not in a position to do that.

Having said that, how many 'traditional' wheels failed? Any idea? I wonder if the proportions were any different from the carbon wheels. I suspect that if 32 or 36-spoke aluminium wheels broke, people would say, 'Too bad, you did all you could', and pay it no mind, whereas we jump on the carbon deep-dish people...

Aw, hell, that's fun anyway. I am a enough of a troglodyte that I ride a steel bike, so I don't need a good reason.

strummer_fan

I was curious enough to write to Hed, the maker of the Hed Stinger carbon rim that Hincapie was riding on Sunday. I asked them to comment on the "High Profile High Road Rim Failure." Andy from Hed wrote back to say that George suffered a puncture on his rear wheel (Hed Stinger) and swapped it out for another wheel. (Non Stinger, but I don't know type or brand of wheel.) That wheel then suffered a broken spoke and George had to change again.

The flat and mechanical back to back would explain why he couldn't catch back on. Hed also pointed out that Bernhard Eisel completed the whole Paris Roubaix on the Hed Stingers w/ no issues.

So, while I still personally disagree with the choice of those rims for Paris-Roubaix, perhaps there is more to the Hincapie story. I wonder what was the wheel choice for Hincapie's teammate, Servais Knaven. He spent many years riding for Patrick Lefevre's teams and he won Paris-Roubaix in 2001, riding a Merckx Team SC with some solidly built wheels.