Just kidding, I'll quit with all the aero questions. I'll revert to judging the book by it's cover and just say, whoa....cool.

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"What the mind can conceive and believe, the mind and body can achieve; and those who stay will be champions."

Looks like they are going for the same concept as the Kona Coast only on the front....That's pretty freaky looking though!

And check out Joseba Beloki's TCR Carbon Gold in the background, also featured on Cyclingnews.com:

http://tinyurl.com/44el



-David in Taipei

That is one old wheel. I am not sure of the exact model name, but it was out in the early '90s. Like the Mavic 3G,the Mavic I/O,the Mavic disc, the Zipp 3000, and the Campy Ghibli disc wheels, this little gem was not only very expensive but very rare.

Also, I would only see all but the absolute best bike handlers using this. I could see a lightweight getting killed using this wheel from a cross wind.

That's one really cool wheel, but I would / could never use it. You would have to be a great bike handler or weight 300lbs to be able to control that thing! (I'm an acceptable bike handler and no where near 300lbs!)

Wabbit: I believe that was a track setup, no? A kilo wheel, maybe?

-Robert

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"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~Anne Frank

I would wager that it was a track wheel for the Kilo, much like a good portion of the wheels that I have mentioned in my post. But, the pro riders have an equipment lust that is even deeper than mine, which when they see a wheel that could give them any advantage, including a "track only" front, they'll get it.

I would only be able to afford almost any of the wheels I had mentioned second-hand or on sale (as I got an old Zipp 3000 for the oh-so-low price of $700- damn! I wish still had that wheel...).

There's a cure for that malady.

It's called BANKRUPTCY! :),

-Robert

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"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~Anne Frank

I believe beloki rode that front wheel in the last time trial of the TDF last year (the one where they finished in the stadium). i remember he had a little bit of trouble keeping that bike straight when a crosswind came thru.

I believe you're thinking of the wheel Beloki used in the final stage of the Vuelta. That was a HED Kona Coast, with a front hub. It was painted with the Campy logos. He did have a little trouble right near the start as a side gust caught him. After that it was nothting but smooth sailing.

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"...like every writer, he measured other men's virtues by what they had accomplished, yet asked that other men measure him by what he planned someday to do."

That style of wheel is no less than ten years old. I remeber that wheel from my old USCF and track days.

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What if the Hokey Pokey is what it is all about?

Agreed. However, my point is that the wheel which was referenced as the start of this thread is not the wheel that Beloki road in this year's Vuelta. Check out the link below and you'll see that Beloki's wheel has three holes through the disk, as opposed to the four in Olano's. There was another image of Beloki's wheel out there somewhere, but which I can't find off-hand. It showed the wheel from a side angle during a turn, and the "spines" ala the HED3, were clearly visible. Further, I was told by the HED folks in Kona that Beloki's wheel was the Kona Coast with a front hub and Campy paint.



http://www.lavuelta.com/...bimagenes/index.html

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"...like every writer, he measured other men's virtues by what they had accomplished, yet asked that other men measure him by what he planned someday to do."

When I first started doing tri's, around 10 years ago there was a top triathlete (Donna Gould) that was an ex national team cyclist that used one quite regularly in races.

The one Beloki used was definitly a kona coast, well wasnt even called that at that stage - but remember John Cobb (or was it Dan?) telling us about it on this forum. Not sure if that is when the idea for the kona coast came from but at that stage it was just a Hed 3D with holes cut in it.

was the "black hole" that had no front axle. I think it was deamed "illegal" so disappeared quickly. Sorry I don't have a picture reference. I'll bet some of the bicycling types here know about it though.

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Frank,
An original Ironman and the Inventor of PowerCranks

Jim O'Brien has one on the wall in his shop at the Right Gear in Concord, NC: it has no axle, and it has a hole just behind where the axle would be...the rim rode on a series of rollers...he said it worked, but was VERY noisy and cost about 10,000.00 each to make the few that were made. Freaky!

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Quid quid latine dictum sit altum videtur
(That which is said in Latin sounds profound)