Deceuninck-QuickStep's Philippe Gilbert won the 117th edition of Paris-Roubaix on Sunday, taking his fourth out of the sport's five one-day Monuments.
'The Hell of the North' features 29 infamous cobbled sections totalling 54.5 kilometres, with those pavé sectors dating back to Napoleonic times, and acting as some of the most brutal terrain in the sport. Riders make an array of changes when it comes to tech compared to normal road racing, offering a unique take on race tech at one of the hardest races on the calendar.
Wider tyres, double-wrapped handlebar tape, malleable bottle cages and additional brake levers or gear switches are common modifications to give riders the best chance possible of staying in the lead group to the finish line at the famous velodrome in Roubaix.
ADVERTISEMENT
Alongside the traditional modifications, the week leading up to the race saw two full suspension road bikes released by Specialized and Pinarello in the Roubaix and Dogma FS, respectively. While the new Pinarello failed to crack the top 20, Specialized's new Roubaix made up a staggering five of the top ten.
The new Specialized Roubaix has a claimed tyre clearance of up to 33mm and the brand's sponsored teams – Deceuninck-QuickStep and Bora-Hansgrohe – raced on a range of 28 and 30mm Specialized Hell of the North tubular tyres.
Like Specialized, Deceuninck-QuickStep mechanics had another new idea by taping a hex key to every rider's seat post designed specifically for the thru-axles on the disc-brake-only bike. The idea is that while the rider waits for the mechanic to arrive with a new wheel, the rider can take the thru-axle out ready to switch in the new wheel and allow for the quickest possible wheel change.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/paris-roubaix-tech-gallery-101-images-from-the-hell-of-the-north-1
No comments:
Post a Comment