23 replies to this topic

[Rodaknee]

Not the first F1 team to make that claim

 

https://triathlonmag...test-race-bike/

 

[Risil]

Oh, as in cycling!

[#99]

Let me on it and I will show how to also make it the world's slowest 

[Requiem84]

Not the first F1 team to make that claim

 

https://triathlonmag...test-race-bike/

 

It's quite different from the more standard Time Trial bikes of other brands. They typically close the gap between the down tube and the rear tire, whereas the BMC/RB bike has left that gap open. That's quite surprising.

 

This is Colnago's newest bike, note how there is no gap between the rear tire and the frame below the seatpost:

 

[Ali_G]

Oh, as in cycling!

Came in assuming it was a motorbike.

[Catalina Park]

I was...

[BelievableNonsense]

It's quite different from the more standard Time Trial bikes of other brands. They typically close the gap between the down tube and the rear tire, whereas the BMC/RB bike has left that gap open. That's quite surprising.

 

This is Colnago's newest bike, note how there is no gap between the rear tire and the frame below the seatpost:

 

I'm a Canyon fanboy but that is beautiful. That and the C68, they've been on a roll. Also helps that Tadej is making them look even faster than they are! 

[Requiem84]

Cycling feels a bit like F1 in the 1990's: everyone starting to realize aero is much more important than weight, but the ways to improve aero on bikes, rider position and outfits are still pretty immature I'd say. Lot's to gain. Being an F1 fan I take great pleasure in optimizing my aero when riding my bike . 

[BelievableNonsense]

I'm actually just in the process of getting some new aerowheels. I had uhmed and ahhed over the Zipp 303FC or 404FC but have decided to go for the 404. The weight saving was negligible over my current wheels and it should be a bit better for keeping a bit of speed. 

 

Mind you, I am the weak point on my bike. At least when I use Zwift i don't have to worry about my position too much 

Edited by BelievableNonsense, 05 May 2022 - 10:29.

[Tony Mandara]

Cycling feels a bit like F1 in the 1990's: everyone starting to realize aero is much more important than weight, but the ways to improve aero on bikes, rider position and outfits are still pretty immature I'd say. Lot's to gain. Being an F1 fan I take great pleasure in optimizing my aero when riding my bike .

Kick the girlfriend off the back, throw away the bunch of tulips and close the umbrella..??

[Ross Stonefeld]

Cycling feels a bit like F1 in the 1990's: everyone starting to realize aero is much more important than weight, but the ways to improve aero on bikes, rider position and outfits are still pretty immature I'd say. Lot's to gain. Being an F1 fan I take great pleasure in optimizing my aero when riding my bike . 

 

Weight still matters. I'm on a late 60s Holdsworth and being skinny and poor always gets up the hill faster than rich and fat 

[Jerem]

I wish a F1 team could help design a track bike. This is the sort of exercise where the micrometric, "all in a vacuum" precision of F1 could be applied best.
But I'm not sure how much freedom the designers have with the most recent regulations.

[BelievableNonsense]

I wish a F1 team could help design a track bike. This is the sort of exercise where the micrometric, "all in a vacuum" precision of F1 could be applied best.
But I'm not sure how much freedom the designers have with the most recent regulations.

 

Granted it's not a current F1 team but Lotus have done a track bike as of last year

 

 

They also did the Lotus 108 which Chris Boardman rode.

 

 

 

But if there is one organisation which are probably worse with rules than the FIA it is probably the UCI

[KLF1F]

From the article in the OP:
 

 

Olympic medallist and Tour de France stage winner Fabian Cancellara was involved in the development of the bike, too.

I imagine they just put a motor in the bike then!
 

[BRG]

But if there is one organisation which are probably worse with rules than the FIA it is probably the UCI

The Lotus Boardman bike prompted the UCI to ban a lot of super expensive developments in the interests of not making the sport more and more costly.  The FIA could learn a great deal from them about keeping the feet of their respective sports on the ground.  And that's not mentioning the respective attitudes of the FIA and UCI towards performance enhancing substances.

[TennisUK]

It's a bit of a conservative looking bike compared to some time-trial (but non-UCI compliant frames), for example this:
 

 
I imagine that's because the RB one is UCI compliant for road racing - but the fact it's being used in an Iron Man suggests it's maybe not UCI compliant after all (as Iron Mans and Tris are not regulated by the UCI).
 
Being free'd from the constraints of UCI regs (which banned the Lotus 110 - a road version of the 108 track bike in about 1995 from memory) means designers can do some mental things.

Lotus have provided input on the fork design of the Hope track bike team GB use these days - though that is quite a different kettle of fish compared to a road or tri bike:
 

Edited by TennisUK, 05 May 2022 - 15:37.

[pdac]

Is this the result of the budget cap and what to do with those leftover people?

[TennisUK]

More likely BMC figured they could make some money flogging licensed bikes…

[BelievableNonsense]

Some more money. They're bikes seem to be really overpriced. Though I've only briefly ridden an old aluminium street racer from years ago. Still, out of the big brands BMC would be low on my list value wise. They don't even make it into my 'dream garage'

[SCUDmissile]

Looks like such a beautiful machine.

[Frank Tuesday]

Cycling feels a bit like F1 in the 1990's: everyone starting to realize aero is much more important than weight, but the ways to improve aero on bikes, rider position and outfits are still pretty immature I'd say. Lot's to gain. Being an F1 fan I take great pleasure in optimizing my aero when riding my bike .

They've know for a long time. But bicycle aero is much more variable than F1 aero. In an F1 car, the only exposed part of the driver is the helmet, and it is largely stationary. On a bike, all of the rider is exposed, and the riders body parts move in relation to the bicycle. And different bodies are shaped, and move differently. RedBull's aero will be the same no matter who you put in the seat. Not so on a bike.

Edited by Frank Tuesday, 06 May 2022 - 00:35.

[Requiem84]

They've know for a long time. But bicycle aero is much more variable than F1 aero. In an F1 car, the only exposed part of the driver is the helmet, and it is largely stationary. On a bike, all of the rider is exposed, and the riders body parts move in relation to the bicycle. And different bodies are shaped, and move differently. RedBull's aero will be the same no matter who you put in the seat. Not so on a bike.

 

The first real aero bikes for non-Time Trial courses in cycling only started showing up about 10 years ago. Up to that point the main focus was weight reduction. For Time Trials indeed they started realizing the importance of aero a lot earlier (Lemond and his Triathlon set-up in the last TT of the TdF of 89 vs Fignon). 

 

In the current peloton you now start seeing riders doing regular stages in full aerosuits (Campanaerts as an example). It's still a pretty immature field in cycling imo and large gains will still be made in the coming years. F1 teams teaming up with cycling teams could really result in a lot or marginal gains that together end up in quite some watt-savings. 

[ArnageWRC]

There's more to cycling than road & track; the real skilled riders are seen off road on MTB. Very little aero on mountain bikes.....For XC it's about being lightweight and efficient. For Downhill & Enduro it's suspension & tyre tech. Most new cycle tech is first seen on MTBs, as road is still full of old school conservatives/ luddites who hate the latest tech. 

 

Downhill is often called the 'F1 of cycling' as that is where the most new tech is tested and raced.

[BelievableNonsense]

There's more to cycling than road & track; the real skilled riders are seen off road on MTB. Very little aero on mountain bikes.....For XC it's about being lightweight and efficient. For Downhill & Enduro it's suspension & tyre tech. Most new cycle tech is first seen on MTBs, as road is still full of old school conservatives/ luddites who hate the latest tech. 

 

Downhill is often called the 'F1 of cycling' as that is where the most new tech is tested and raced.

 

 

The dropped post which Matej Mohoric used which pretty interesting to me. As someone who doesn't really have much interest in mountain bikes and such, it did put a smile on my face watching his descent. 

 

I've probably bothered some road purists by going for disc brakes on my most recent bike. They look better and stop better. No idea why the fight  back against them,