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So I guess this race is coming up this weekend and as usual has quite a few KM of cobbles. Do the pros set up their bikes any different for this race (ie, wider tires, more robust frame, heavier wheels)? Sounds like it must beat the crap out of you. Any ST's out there ever watched the race? What is it like?
It really depends from rider to rider and from team to team. Some get a completely different bike, there is an interview with the president of Time where he says that Boonen will not ride a VXRS on the cobbles because he wants something stiffer, so he rides a VXR with 200-300g extra carbon in the frame than the stock VXR. Of course that's not really that unusual, most bikes in the pro peloton aren't stock anyway and in Paris-Roubaix that percentage goes up even higher. Alu frames painted to look like carbon, that sort of stuff.
For CSC, they ride two different models. Standard R3s, and R3s with 10mm longer chainstays. We're trying out this new setup with a 10mm longer front center (a longer fork with bigger rake) and 10mm longer rear center, as we're considering to put such a model in regular production. Some riders like it, others don't. I think Michaelsen will ride with it, Cancellara probably won't. I'm really interested to see Cancellara go, that guy is such an animal. He is one of the heaviest riders in the race (except for Backstedt) and he has such enormous power. We're running into the problem that the R3 frame is so stiff in the bottom bracket that he has broken chains and even some of the chainrings are too flexible.
As for tires, there are two camps. There are some riders who ride extremely small, fragile tires, some even put track tires on. They say it is all about feel, and if you ride properly you won't flat. The race has been won several times by riders on track tires. Then there are those who ride with 24mm and 27mm tires. Another change is the gears, there are no climbs in this race so some opt for a 50t small ring (and a 54 or 55t big ring) so you can double-shift throughout the entire range and have very close gear spacing.
Gerard Vroomen
3T.bike OPEN cycle