I think Tom Boonen likes his new bike. I mean, it could have been Mike Sinyard called him and was all like, “yo, Tom, bro – quit harshin’ on my rides”. But after Boonen’s emphatic victory celebration today at the Dwars door Vlaanderen, in which he pointed repeatedly at the top tube and grinned like an E-popping club rat on a velour couch, I think he really did like the bike. Cycling.TV‘s commentators suggested he was indicating something wrong with his front wheel, but why would anyone celebrate that?
Anyway, it remains something of a Pyhrric victory for Specialized, who makes no high-end road models in anything but carbon and offers no custom bicycle program. I caught a good glimpse of the Tom’s bike post-race, and it at least looks like a Specialized. Regardless of who put the thing together, though, the situation turns conventional industry sentiment on its head – the best rider in recent memory ditching carbon for aluminum, on the cobbles, because he was too uncomfortable. And keep in mind, this is from a company who makes a “comfort racing” bike. Now maybe you’ll believe me when I say not to believe everything you read.
Outside of Flanders, Aqua-Sapone maintained its high profile this season, while Francisco Ventoso took another group sprint in Spain. Cyclingnews churned out a kind of boggling couplet of articles, while Pez went more into wind tunnels than I’d ever want to go. I wasn’t the only one to notice Bjarne’s non-denial of EPO use yesterday, but there’s a good case to be made for letting the old bald guy slide. Velonews debuted the 2007 Tour of Germany, but without mentioning that no one ever associated with any doping ever could race it. And because none of that other crap is very entertaining, here’s something completely different.
You know with all this talk about Boonen’s bike and your stuff about Bicycling’s crap reviews make me want to rant that bikes are all designed for smaller people. Being 6’1″ and 220 I tried to use a lot of these guides for bikes – for taller people, but what felt comfortable for me never was the fit that all the “books” recommend. I don’t mean I like more upright handlebars or anything. The angles and the distance from the pedals to the seat to the handlebars that seem to be recommended by all these fitting models don’t seem to fit taller, heavier people. My brother (6’4″) has it even worse – he just buys a large frame and tinkers. Several other tall folks all just laugh at the selections. I think bike designers seem to look at 5’9″ people that weigh 160 lbs. as the design goals and angles just end up subtly wrong. More powerful people (like Boonen) really do have different needs and I’ll bet his back was hurting from having to stretch and crunch at the same time.
Hey Cosmo-
Thanks for the link to Oscar Freire: I Jam Econo. The man is on fire and he’s just too goofy to behold.
Peter