Tabla de contenidos para December 2017 en Cyclist

There are harder climbs than Mont Ventoux. At a distance of 21.4km and an average gradient of 7.6% it is certainly tough – anyone who has ridden up it will confirm that it’s a leg-sapping, soul-crushing beast – but it’s a long way from being the hardest. In recent issues we have had climbs that are higher, steeper and more brutal, so why did we pick Ventoux as the venue to do our test of climbers’ bikes on p88? In a word: notoriety. No climb is as simultaneously loved and feared as Ventoux. No climb can match Ventoux for stories and legends gleaned from its 66 years and 15 appearances at the Tour de France. No climb is as poignant, owing to the death of Tom Simpson near its summit…

TRAVEL Cyclist flew direct to Bergen from Gatwick with Norwegian (norwegian.com). Expect to pay between £200 and £300 for flights. ACCOMMODATION We stayed at the 121-year-old Solstrand Hotel just outside Osøyro. It has excellent views over the mountains and fjord, and the locally caught fish is perfect for an evening meal or breakfast. Even in July the fjord is too cold for all but the hardiest swimmers, but the hotel’s spa more than makes up for it. For details go to solstrand.com. BIKE HIRE Sykkel Butikken is one of the biggest independent bike shops in Norway and runs regular rides in and around Bergen. Find out more at sykkelbutikken.no. THANKS Firstly, thanks go to Marta and Sigbjorn of Bike The Fjords for planning our route, driving the support car and…

…Heroes ‘I really loved Miguel Indurain, not because of his riding style but because of his personality. But you can’t compare yourself to anyone else. Everybody is unique. Indurain was unique. Even Lance was unique. Froomey is really unique. I think it is the wrong approach – you can have idols to inspire you but you need to find your way.’ …Brothers ‘My older brothers Steve and Fränk have an age difference of four years and me and Fränk are another five years apart. Steve started cycling but he was lazy. He definitely had some potential but I followed Fränk and observed him and tried to make the best out of it. We both made it.’ …British cycling ‘This country’s success came very fast. It came like in Germany with…

CLINCHER Pros •Easy to fit •Simple to fix at the roadside •Wide range of prices and availability Cons •Prone to pinch flats •Can’t continue to ride when flat •Can be heavy and slow rolling TUBELESS •Good grip, rolling resistance and comfort •Good puncture resistance (with sealant) •Inner tube can still be fitted if necessary Cons •Can be fiddly to fit initially •Roadside repairs are trickier •Rim tolerances are imperative to rider safety TUBULAR Pros •Supple, with low rolling resistance •Light weight for tyre and wheel •Stays attached so can be ridden if punctured Cons •Expensive •Tricky to fit/replace/repair •You need to carry a spare tyre on rides…

TPI: thread count Standing for ‘threads per inch’, TPI is the number of threads within the fabric of the carcass. It’s widely accepted that a higher thread count (using a finer thread, just as with bed linens) means more supple tyres that will be lighter and have less rolling resistance, although they may be more fragile. In performance terms, the bigger the TPI number, the better (and more expensive) the tyre, but it’s not quite as simple as that. A high TPI might be because a brand has added together multiple plies of lower TPI fabric – so a tyre with three plies of 60TPI might be quoted as having 180TPI. Most road tyres range between 60TPI at the bottom end to 120TPI for high-quality race tyres, so a TPI…

If you don’t have a spare inner tube, tie a knot in the punctured tube to isolate the hole. It will be a bumpy ride home, but at least you’ll get there. Before leaving home, wrap a few layers of duct tape around your pump handle. It can be unravelled and used as the perfect fix for a gashed tyre. A bank note or used gel wrappers can be used to reinforce a large hole or cut in the tyre sidewall, to stop the replacement tube from bursting out. If all else fails, stuff your tyre with grass. Pack it tightly and it will give you enough of a cushion to ride to the nearest cafe to await rescue.…

‘At dhb we don’t pretend winter doesn’t exist, but with the right kit it doesn’t have to be a problem’ For cyclists, winter can be a dark and unsettling time, when the bicycle is banished to the shed and our finest summer kit placed at the back of a drawer. However, modern technology has found solutions to many of mankind’s problems over the years, and dhb has harnessed its wonders to make winter riding more comfortable, more affordable and even more appealing. ‘One of the key things we say at dhb is that we don’t pretend winter doesn’t exist, but with the right kit it doesn’t have to be a problem,’ says brand manager James Pullinger. The material at the heart of dhb’s solution is natural merino wool. Following the…

Its name makes it sound like a classic Italian brand, but Tifosi is thoroughly British. Founded in 1999, it used to be known for producing robust, good value workhorses designed to cope with UK riding conditions. Note the phrase ‘used to be’. ‘About three years ago we sat down and had a discussion about where Tifosi needed to go,’ says Josh Lambert, Tifosi’s technical specialist. ‘We couldn’t lose sight of what Tifosi stood for, but we wanted the brand to move forward. Our local team, Spirit Racing, now called Spirit-Tifosi, is an excellent youth development team that was in need of a bike, so we designed one for them.’ The result was the Tifosi SS26, which Cyclist tested back in issue 54. Lambert likens it to ‘a sort of phoenix…

£265, met-helmets.com How do you make any item of cycling kit better? Simple, add some carbon. Met clearly took this on board when designing its new Trenta helmet because those white outer ribs you can see are linked by a 3K tow carbon cage. The company says the attributes of this cage allowed it to reduce the density of the EPS shell without compromising its ability to absorb hits, while also reducing weight (a medium is 223g) and shrinking the helmet’s frontal area. The new lid celebrates the Italian firm’s 30th anniversary, and it has made some bold performance claims for the Trenta: ‘It’s been proven to save 7% in drag when riding in a group at 45kmh,’ says Met’s Ulysse Daessle. If that sounds like a peculiar boast, the…

£2,400, saddleback.co.uk When it comes to shifting gears, it’s always been about cables and springs. Campagnolo gave us the first parallelogram in the form of the Gran Sport in 1951, and mechanical gears remained pretty much the same for decades. But recently we’ve been treated to a wealth of new concepts in groupsets, and the latest company to try something new is Rotor with its Uno system that uses hydraulic fluid to push and pull the front and rear derailleurs into position. It hasn’t been easy for Rotor to bring the groupset to market, though. We first saw the Uno three years ago at the Eurobike trade show and it has only now hit the shelves. As tricky as it may have been to design, on paper the idea of…

To download the route, go to cyclist.co.uk/68bergen. Starting in Osøyro, head east out of town on the 552 before turning left, signposted Samnanger on the 137. Stay on that road for 28km until a right turn onto the 7 takes you east towards Norheimsund. Switch onto the 136 to avoid the Haukanes Tunnel, and hug the coastline all the way south into Tysse before once again turning west on the 48. This gets you back on the 7, which will carry on all the way to Norheimsund (minus a few cliff edge roads to avoid some of the tunnels). Road 49 then takes you south for 42km to Mundheim. Take a right turn signposted Tysse. Follow the 48 north to Eikelandsosen, where you turn left towards Osøyro on the 552.…

It is Saturday evening in a bustling hotel bar in Stratford, east London, and Andy Schleck is frowning at his cup of coffee. ‘I should have a beer instead of a coffee,’ declares the Luxembourgish cyclist, nodding at the well lubricated football fans and wedding guests nearby. With his elfin smile and tousled hair, it’s hard to believe Schleck – the official winner of the 2010 Tour de France following Alberto Contador’s backdated ban for doping, and younger brother of fellow pro Fränk – retired from cycling with a knee injury three years ago, aged just 29. Even he sometimes forgets he can now embrace the giddy freedom of life outside the peloton, which is how he ended up with a glum Americano instead of a frothy tankard of British…

Latex is great Most regular inner tubes are butyl, but switching to latex could have several advantages. They’re lighter than butyl, and the higher elasticity and suppleness of latex means they also create less rolling resistance. Latex may also offer higher puncture resistance, as it tends to flex around objects rather than being pierced by them. So why aren’t we all using them? Latex is not so great Most obviously, latex is more expensive – approximately double the price of butyl. It’s also more porous, which means air pressure will drop over a period of days and the tyres will need to be continually topped up. Another downside is that it needs to be treated more carefully because the chemicals in oils and greases can damage the rubber.…

1839 American Charles Goodyear perfects the art of vulcanisation to change the properties of rubber using additives (sulphur) and heat 1868 Clément Ader patents the first ‘rubberised’ wheels, essentially solid rubber bands, to replace the iron strips previously on wooden wheels 1887 John Boyd Dunlop invents the inner tube and develops the first pneumatic tyres for bicycles 1891 French brothers Édouard and André Michelin develop the first ‘easily detachable’ (it still took around 15 minutes) tyre, held on with clamps, not glue as per Dunlop’s design 1891 Charles Woods invents a two-way valve, allowing for easy inflation and deflation of tyres and inner tubes 1939 Butyl rubber is invented during the Second World War, due to shortage of natural latex rubber, which is harvested from tropical trees 1999 Mavic develops…

TRAVEL Cyclist flew from Paris to Papeete with Air Tahiti Nui, which along with Air France is the only airline to offer a single carrier journey to Tahiti from Paris. Air Tahiti Nui offers special rates to competitors in the event, with flights costing around £1,500 with bike carriage (visit airtahitinui.com  for details). Once in Tahiti, Velo Club Tahiti can arrange transfers. PACKAGES Velo Club Tahiti organises cycling packages with rides in Tahiti and nearby tropical island Moorea. Prices start at £1,000 for accommodation and a number of meals ( larondetahitienne.com ). The Ronde Tahitienne is also the culmination of a Polynesian cycling cruise with Santana Adventures. Prices start at £2,280. Visit santanaadventures.com  for details. ACCOMMODATION We stayed at the Manava Suites…

What’s The Best Way To Lose Weight? Full Windsor Amazonia cap, £12.99 full-windsor.com Castelli Perfetto Long Sleeve jersey, £175 saddleback.co.uk Castelli Sorpasso 2 bibtights, £150 saddleback.co.uk Sidi Wire Carbon Vernice shoes, £325 saddleback.co.uk Big In Bergen RIDER RIGHT Lazer Blade helmet, £159.99 madison.co.uk Primal Wind Vest gilet, £45 primaleurope.com Sportful Giara jersey, £75 c3products.com Sportful NoRain armwarmers, £27 c3products.com Gripgrab Roadster mitts, £39 gripgrab.com Sportful Giara bibshorts, £75 c3products.com Sportful NoRain kneewarmers, £32 c3products.com Gripgrab Classic Regular cut socks, £8.49 gripgrab.com Planet X Pro Build shoes, £99.99 planetx.co.uk Gripgrab toe covers, £18 gripgrab.com Gripping Stuff Continental GP4000S II, £59.95 conti-tyres.co.uk Vittoria Corsa Control G+, £54.99 zyrofisher.co.uk Schwalbe Pro One, £66.99 isondistribution.co.uk Specialized Roubaix…

£160, c3products.com When in winter would you ever find yourself wearing bibtights but not a base layer? Exactly. So is there any good reason why the two items should be mutually exclusive? Sportful thinks not, so it has created a garment that’s a clever combination of the two – although it does look like something Jane Fonda might have worn to do her 1980s workout videos. The manufacturer says creating the base layer and tights as one means fewer seams and improved breathability, eliminating bib straps that can bunch and cause discomfort while also offering better all-round support for the tights. On the front of the tights there’s a windproof layer over the thigh area, which gives added protection where it’s needed most without adding too much bulk. And most…

£3,499, vielosports.com Lightweight isn’t known for doing things on the cheap. Heinz Obermayer’s early handmade carbon wheelsets cost eye-watering sums back in the late 90s, but that didn’t stop many top pros of the time dipping their hands into their own pockets to race on them, including a certain blacklisted Texan. It set a precedent that still exists today. The German company’s handcrafted carbon wheels still come at prices that wouldn’t look out of place in a car showroom, but by developing an automated manufacturing process for the rim construction of its latest Wegweiser wheels (cutting production time by around a third), it has produced its first ‘budget’ set of wheels. At £3,499 for the pair, budget is a relative term, but by Lightweight’s standards they’re a bargain, saving £1,300…

The 2018 Gran Fondo World Championships will be held in Varese, Italy. There will only be one UK qualifying event, the Tour of Cambridgeshire, which is already almost full. If you’re willing to travel, there are a number of alternative events on the Continent worth looking at. It would be good to see extra qualifying events added and the standard raised to, say, the top 10% in each age group. The venue for the 2019 championships has already been announced as Poznan, Poland. Complete series information is available at ucigranfondoworldseries.com.…

Dear Frank These days road bikes come with disc brakes, wide tyres, even suspension units. At what point does it cease to be a road bike? Alan, via email Dear Alan My brother sent me a photo of him proudly riding his new gravel bike. It has a Lefty suspension fork, big tyre clearance, a tall riding position and a 1x drivetrain. In other words, it’s idiotic. Don’t get me wrong, I love riding gravel. I’ve been doing it for something like forever. I love riding on the road too. It’s my daily redemption – how I feed the good wolf, so to speak. The rhythm in my legs and breathing of my lungs coax me into a restorative meditation as I hover just above the ground like a bird…

1985 Born into a cycling family, with father Johny having ridden eight Tours in the 1960s and 70s 2005 Makes his pro debut for Team CSC in the Volta a Catalunya at the age of just 19 2008 Takes the first of three white jersey wins at the Tour; places fourth in the Olympic Road Race 2010 Wins two Tour stages and places second overall, just 39 seconds behind Alberto Contador 2012 Awarded the 2010 Tour following Contador’s backdated doping ban, but misses the 2012 race through injury 2004 Wins the road race and time-trial in Luxembourg’s Under-23 National Championships 2007 Finishes second in the Giro, his debut Grand Tour, winning the young rider’s prize in the process 2009 Follows a second place at Flèche-Wallonne by winning Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2011 Wins…

On a car tyre, the grooves are to disperse water and prevent aquaplaning on wet roads. The contact patch of a road bike tyre is so small that this isn’t an issue, so it would seem best to have a completely smooth tyre to get the maximum amount of rubber in contact with the road at all times. Yet Paolo Brivio, product development manager at Pirelli, presents a convincing argument for keeping bike tyres in the groove. ‘Grooves aren’t for grip in the wet or for water drainage – they’re there to create more movement in the rubber or deflection of the tread in that area, improving the ability of the tyre to adapt to the profile of the road. Grooves help provide feedback to the rider in braking or…

Cyclist: We’re often being told the pro peloton is switching to 28mm tyres. Is that really true? Dan Sevine: Our riders are only using 28mm tyres at the Classics such as Paris-Roubaix, and that’s a heavy duty Continental tub. But as soon as those races are done, the bikes come back and we take them all off. Our guys’ go-to tyre is the Continental Pro Ltd Competition 25mm. Although I would say that the 25mm Conti does measure up a little bigger than most other brands. Occasionally in time-trials riders will use the 22mm slick. Cyc: So they’re not all going super-wide, but what about pressures? Are they all running significantly softer tyres now? DS: For Roubaix, most riders were running somewhere around 4.5-5 bar [65-75psi]…

Etxeondo Orhi bibshorts, £145, etxeondo.com Ewan says: ‘A day on Mont Ventoux is always going to be a big one so I was really impressed by the quality of Etxeondo’s Urakki chamois in these shorts. It stayed comfortable no matter how long the gradient forced me to ride in the saddle. And the design includes hardly any seams so the shorts fit like a second skin.’ Giro Prolight Techlace shoes, £349.99, zyrofisher.co.uk Sam says: ‘You’d be hard pushed to find better footwear for climbing a big hill. The sole is stiff, the upper is breathable and the Techlace straps are comfortable. Best of all they’re half the weight of a lot of rivals, so as a rider who needs all the help he can get going…

Dear David, félicitations on your 37-8 rugby-score-of-a-victory over Brian Cookson in the election to become head of the UCI. I hope your mauled predecessor handed over the lanterne rouge and UCI-branded rucksack on his way out of the headquarters in Aigle, Switzerland. As Breton takes over from Briton – one white male cycling cognoscente from northwest Europe replacing another – at the top of an ailing global sport’s governing body, I’d like to take this opportunity to speak on behalf of my fellow cycling fans. No sooner had you taken over the reins than we were treated to the sumptuous spectacle of the World Championships in Bergen, Norway. Perhaps your first move should be to use some of the wads of cash paid by Qatar to host last year’s Worlds…