Quoted message said:On 19 Apr 2007 10:33:02 -0700, "[email hidden]"
Quoted message said:email hidden said:Lot of odd things used on the special, custom, one-off bikes for this
ride.Quoted message said:Quoted message said:2003 or 2004 Chorus cranks with non hidden fifth spider arm, ala
Record and 2005 onwards Chorus. Metal shim under the front derailleur
clamp. Tektro or Shimano or something long reach brake calipers on a
team sponsored by Campagnolo to provide space around the 27mm
tubulars. Set screw through the seattube to hold the seatpost in
place.http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2007/apr07/roubaix07/tech/?id=/tech/2...Quoted message said:Quoted message said:Record skeleton brake on back. Older normal looking Record brake on
the front instead of the skeleton style. Chain watcher of course.http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2007/apr07/roubaix07/tech/?id=/tech/2...Quoted message said:I wonder if the regular gear is really too lousy to deal with a mere
50km of pave, or if this is the mechanics' one chance per year to
really let their hair out.Quoted message said:Like what does using an old Chorus crank accomplish? And the
derailleur shim? I've fit 27mm tires into Campy calipers, why can't
they?Quoted message said:Joseph
Dear Joseph,
The racers look for stronger-than-regular gear because they bounce
over the cobblestones faster and harder than regular riders.The impact energy rises with the square of the velocity, so if I hit
the cobblestone at 20 mph with an impact of 400x, a racer who weighs
as much as I do and hits it at 25 mph will suffer an impact of 625x.
about 56% harder.(Okay, more believable cobblestone figures might be 15 mph for me and
27 mph for the racer, so the impacts would be 225x versus 729x, with
the racer hitting the rock three times as hard, but surely you don't
begrudge my innocent Walter-Mitty moment where I'm imagining that I
could stay within 5 mph of the real Paris-Roubaix racers.)
Ok, but we are not talking about orders of magnitude here. Does bike
equipment really have such a low threshold of failure? Admittedly 50km
+ of constant bashing is quite a bit more punishing that hitting a big
pot-hole once in a while, but I think all this comes in the better
safe than sorry category and isn't strictly necessary.
Quoted message said:The shims appear to be intended to stop things from moving during the
race. Apparently unshimmed regular equipment moved in training rides,
so the mechanics had to try something.Wider brakes appear to be intended for mud clearance (too bad it
didn't rain) and to make wheel changes with wide tires a little easier
and faster (even the winner flatted).
Fast tire changes are important, indeed.
Quoted message said:Chain watchers help over the cobblestones (the regular equipment
happily bounces off) and also make a difference when getting up after
a crash (putting the chain back on takes time).
Chain watchers I consider part of a normal setup. Too bad lots of
modern carbon frames cannot accomodate them.
Quoted message said:Some of the modifications and substitutes may be as useless as you
suspect (or even counter-productive), but they're a typical response
to a bad situation. When experience proves that regular gear isn't up
to the job, you try to cobble (sorry, couldn't resist it) something
together that works.
Or mechanics afraid to see their job prospects hobbled by their lack
(or the riders'!) of cobbling skills.
Joseph