In article <
[email protected]>,
Tim McNamara <
[email protected]> wrote:
> "Dave Mayer" <[email protected]> writes:
>
> > "Mike Krueger" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news:[email protected]...
> >> Paul Sherwen, on today's Giro TV broadcast, observed that 80% of
> >> the European pro peloton still races on tubular tires. So much for
> >> the naysayers...
> >
> > Pros should have to worry about the cost and setup of their tires -
> > so obviously they would ride on tubulars. The only case where they
> > would not is where his tire sponsor does not make tubulars. Even
> > then, pro teams lie about what they really use. They stick some of
> > their sponsors tire labels over a competitors tubulars.
>
> The trend towards colored tires makes that difficult.
And the trend towards not even trying to disguise sponsor-fudging makes
it easy.
The secret is to put the sponsor logo in big bright letters, and hope
that in the winner's photo it shows up more prominently than the dubious
equipment. Featured on this page are shots of T-Mobile riders flagrantly
fudging sponsorage:
http://www.campyonly.com/rumors.html
Behold the Shimano, er, Record Titanium front derailleur:
http://www.campyonly.com/images/rumors/2004/t-m2.jpg
If you don't recall Shimano offering a carbon fibre brifteur, that's
because they don't:
http://www.campyonly.com/images/rumors/2004/t-m1.jpg
I'm far too cheap to spend money on equipment (you think I'm joking,
right? Dave knows that I did all my early-season races with someone
else's cast-off tire on the back of my bike. I think I did pay C$20 for
my front, though) so I ride clinchers. But the pros not only have the
luxury of generous tire budgets, they also have cars following them
around with complete wheels and bikes in case they get a flat.
But I carry no brief for this debate. I use clinchers because they're
cheap and they're not stopping me from winning races.
My lackluster training, now that's stopping me...
--
Ryan Cousineau,
[email protected] http://www.sfu.ca/~rcousine/wiredcola/
President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club