funny thoughts about recent Bjarne Riis / CSC ad in Velonews

The most recent Velonews has an ad with Bjarne Riis detailing how much he loves the CSC bikes
(Cervelo), but in the ad he is standing there holding the bike high. My first thought when seeing
that ad was the 1997 Tour when he held another bike high and threw it off the road! Not the best
image for an ad...

 

The thing I noticed was that the bike had his name, but no CSC markings. Also, I guess I'm an old
fogy, but I don't like the looks of the sloping top tube bikes. I guess the advantage is letting the
maker build three frame sizes, and using seatposts, stems, etc. to get a fit. Does that really work?

 

"Colin Campbell" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> The thing I noticed was that the bike had his name, but no CSC markings. Also, I guess I'm an old
> fogy, but I don't like the looks of the sloping top tube bikes. I guess the advantage is letting
> the maker build three frame sizes, and using seatposts, stems, etc. to get a fit. Does that
> really work?

The Soloist comes in 6 different sizes, and unlike many conventional frames, they all have different
effective top tube lengths. Must work well enough, since CSC is using the bikes despite Cervelo's
adamant stance against custom geometries.

Andy Coggan

 

"Andy Coggan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "Colin Campbell" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> > The thing I noticed was that the bike had his name, but no CSC markings. Also, I guess I'm an
> > old fogy, but I don't like the looks of the sloping top tube bikes. I guess the advantage is
> > letting the maker build three frame sizes, and using seatposts, stems, etc. to get a fit. Does
> > that really work?
>
> The Soloist comes in 6 different sizes, and unlike many conventional
frames,
> they all have different effective top tube lengths. Must work well enough, since CSC is using the
> bikes despite Cervelo's adamant stance against
custom
> geometries.

All bikes work well enough these days.

Teams pick their bikes primarily based upon how much cash the bike company is willing to throw
at them. How well the bikes work and technical support from the bike manufacturer are
secondary concerns.

 

[email protected] (Chris Trapeni) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> The most recent Velonews has an ad with Bjarne Riis detailing how much he loves the CSC bikes
> (Cervelo), but in the ad he is standing there holding the bike high. My first thought when seeing
> that ad was the 1997 Tour when he held another bike high and threw it off the road! Not the best
> image for an ad...

LOL. That was a Bianchi rear-suspension mountain bike with road bars wasn't it? Last few years the
winners at Roubaix havent' had suspension forks at all.

 

"Max Watt" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> [email protected] (Chris Trapeni) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> > The most recent Velonews has an ad with Bjarne Riis detailing how much he loves the CSC bikes
> > (Cervelo), but in the ad he is standing there holding the bike high. My first thought when
> > seeing that ad was the 1997 Tour when he held another bike high and threw it off the road! Not
> > the best image for an ad...
>
>
> LOL. That was a Bianchi rear-suspension mountain bike with road bars wasn't it? Last few years the
> winners at Roubaix havent' had suspension forks at all.

Are you on drugs, or what? Mr. Traperi is obviously referring to Riis throwing his TT bike into the
weeds, frustrated after mulitple mechanicals and bike changes.

Andy Coggan

 

Colin Campbell <[email protected]> wrote:

> The thing I noticed was that the bike had his name, but no CSC markings. Also, I guess I'm an old
> fogy, but I don't like the looks of the sloping top tube bikes. I guess the advantage is letting
> the maker build three frame sizes, and using seatposts, stems, etc. to get a fit. Does that
> really work?

This question has been beaten to death in rec.bicycles.tech. The consensus (if there ever was one)
was that the real reason behind them was letting the manufacturers to sell frames in fewer sizes,
sometimes as few as three. For the average cyclists they solve no problem, but the differences are
miniscule either way as long as you get your position right. Also, some manufacturers have followed
the trend and use the sloping geometry, but still have frame sizes available every 1 or 2
centimetres.

-as

 

"Andy Coggan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> "Max Watt" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > [email protected] (Chris Trapeni) wrote in message
> news:<[email protected]>...
> > > The most recent Velonews has an ad with Bjarne Riis detailing how much he loves the CSC bikes
> > > (Cervelo), but in the ad he is standing there holding the bike high. My first thought when
> > > seeing that ad was the 1997 Tour when he held another bike high and threw it off the road! Not
> > > the best image for an ad...
> >
> >
> > LOL. That was a Bianchi rear-suspension mountain bike with road bars wasn't it? Last few years
> > the winners at Roubaix havent' had suspension forks at all.
>
> Are you on drugs, or what?

Yes, actually. Oxycontin for bad dentistry. I left out a paragraph leading to other bike throws.

Mr. Traperi is obviously referring to Riis
> throwing his TT bike into the weeds, frustrated after mulitple mechanicals and bike changes.
>
> Andy Coggan