Apparently Bruyneel stopped for a minute, made sure that the neutral support meds would look after George, then went after the break.

I don't think it would be smart tactically to wait for a rider who has crashed and hadn't gotten back on his bike. Not in a one-day race. Its a bit different in a 3-week Tour. I'm sure that if George had gotten back on his bike quickly, and hadn't crashed so close to the finish, one or both of the Disco riders in the break would have been given orders to wait. But with 45 kms to go when he was still sitting in the ditch...no way.

---

Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

Given that, then with that amount of the race left to go, it sounds like it's every man for himself. Ironic, then that Discovery had 3 men still in it with 45K to go and Hincapie perhaps best set up for the win, but in the end none showed up on the results board! The unfortunate twists and turns of bike racing.

Fleck

---

---

Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Most telling in that photograph is his dissapointment and how aware the spectators are of his emotions at the time. Here's a guy that just flipped over his bars, yet no one is assesing his health or even talking to him.

---

*
The Dude abides.

It's been mentioned a few times already. It's a point those trying to draw some sort of conclusion about the integrity of Trek bikes conveniently overlook.

There's a report on cyclingnews.com to the effect that George felt the stem shortly before the the accident, that they felt it was damaged in the 30 km crash, that the team was trying to swap out his bike, that they couldn't do it during a section of pave, and that the accident occurred before they could. If the integrity of the steerer was compromised during the earlier crash, then it has nothing to do with anything. I don't think there's any manufacturer ot there that would warrant their bike or a component after it's been in a crash.

To expand on what I said earlier, I think it is extremely difficult to draw any conclusions about a single incident of equipment failure. Even more so when the failure occurs during P-R. And anyone who tries to do so after the bike has already been in a crash has no credibility -- they're either an idiot or they have an ulterior motive.

why on earth would Trek anondize and bead blast a fork steerer tube? That would make it more brittle right?

---

*
The Dude abides.

I used to ride with a guy that had bought Sean Yates Paris Roubaix bike, the one he rode in the early 1990s races. It had a RockShox on it. The guy rode it all the time. Great conversation piece.

---

*********************
"When I first had the opportunity to compete in triathlon, it was the chicks and their skimpy race clothing that drew me in. Everyone was so welcoming and the lifestyle so obviously narcissistic. I fed off of that vain energy. To me it is what the sport is all about."

irony(i ra ni) n. a mode of speech in which the literal meaning is oppsite the meaning that is actually intended.

The only irony in ANY of this is the fact that "irony" has been mis-used a dozen times. ;-)

Bottom line, stuff breaks, s#!t happens, and we have no control over any of it.

George is a great professional. His results prove it.

Trek is a great company with great products. Numbers prove it.

I have seen hundreds of broken stems, frames, forks, handle bars, from every company in the business. It is unfortunate that this happened on a grand and public stage but, both George and Trek will prevail I am sure.

There is no forum that debates the hundred of thousands, perhaps millions of rides that people have taken on Trek bicycles(or any brand) and nothing has broken.

Good luck and fast racing.

If Trek glassbeaded the steerertube it was done to make the part stronger,i would dought that they would anadize the steerertube, aluminum once anadized is very hard and slippery,by looking at the photos to me it looks like the stem worked it way of the steerertube,i do not belive the steerertube broke, As far as one frame surviving P_R and another not? well i could built you a super light frame and build another rider a heavier frame, common sence might tell you the lighter frame is not going to last,well things do not work that way,the rider on the lighter frame might have missed that real big pot hole and the rider on the heavy frame slamed right into it, I used to built Hi-po engines,someone wound come in and want to get another motor just like the one they have tons of races on,you use the exact parts do everything exactly the same,use as much care as you would working on the space shuttle and boom first run junk, i have alot of materials background and i have seen a lot of bike frames fail(ex frame builder) belive me it would have been just as easy for brand x to fail as it was for Treks failure, And i belive nothing broke on the Trek,simple mechinical mistake.

As for Tom you can feel all hurt that i am atacking you and trying to ruin your business/life/marrage/dog/cat etc etc well sir i call bullshit

"i would dought that they would anadize the steerertube, aluminum once anadized is very hard and slippery"

From cyclingnews:
CN: Is it a steel steerer?

SD: No, it's aluminium; it's been blasted then anodized black.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2006/apr06/roubaix06/?id=/tech/2006/features/hincapie_trek



My guess is that they did this for appearance only. The stem has a cutout in the side through which you can see the steerer tube; plain aluminum would be faux pau!

And i belive nothing broke on the Trek,simple mechinical mistake.


Then why are Trek / Disco officials talking about analyzing the fork to see why it broke?

http://www.cyclingnews.com/...2006/apr06/apr11news

You are also reading far too much into Tom's comments. He should have explained himself better in the initial post, but I don't believe that any malice was intended in hos comments.

---

Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

I was so intersted to see what Demerley originally said that I went back thorugh this entire thread to read it.

Sorry Randall, you don't have a leg to stand on.

Normally I wouldn't have made a comment here- but Demerley made a comment about bikes and you seem to have taken it way too seriously or read way to much into it. Treat the guy with same respect you would any poster here, maybe a little more since his stuff is the biggest reason I even read this forum.

The man was talking about Cervelo. Did you even read what he wrote? Man, it was one sentence. Don't get your panties in a twist.

Anyway, Demerley fan or not, Trek is a big company and one broken fork that happened for reasons we'll probably never even know won't hurt them. Most Trek riders don't even know what Paris Roubaix is.

i was thinking the stem had a cutout and the steerer could show through,but now i belive the cutout is a depression and not all of the way through, just because some big wig says something has been anadized doesnt meen he knows what hes talking about

no panty wad here,yes i read it!!!! thats how i replied? Tom is a salesman i know the tone,belive me i know the tone,he has a history he could have said Cervelo was great and nothing else?? Are you reading my post??? nothing else,what purpose would it stand to say anything about any other bike? i am sure it was not the only thing to break in that race,, Would Tom had said what he did if he had Treks in his store??

Look i like Tom but i am not a STer who is going to hang on his every word,like so many others do,Tom likes tubulars i like clinchers he gets more flats riding clinchers i get more flats riding tubes,both are facts

The man has put up reviews bashing product he sold in his store on his own website. I'm not sure of the wisdom or thinking behind that, but at least he speaks his mind.

He wrote a review that bashed Cannondale and he has Cannondale in his store. Same for other brands too- like Felt and FSA.

Besides, he wasn't bashing Trek. He didn't even say the sacred "T" word.

ok i stand corrected he bashs every type of bike but the all mighty Cervelo,,no he did not sat trek,but if i say the president is a dumbass with out saying his name do you know who i am talking about???? And i was just using the president as a example,as i do not want a politic debate. PS if you have not noticed i speak my mind also,sorry i hurt your feelings by talking about Tom,i thought since Tom had been in the armed forces he was able to defend himself

"I think anyone making any conclusions about a bike brand or model based upon the success or failure in a single event is talking out of their ass."



Good point, Does everyone really think the R3 won the race? What ever happened to the abilities of the athletes pedaling the bikes? It was clear that Cancellara was en fuego and no matter what he rode a Cervelo, Pinarello, Trek, he would have won. There were a lot of bikes that held up to the rigors of Paris Roubaix, why isn't anyone sucking those manufacturers balls? I know that if the bike doesn't make it to the end neither will the rider, but there were several bikes that finished that day without incident and the winning Cervelo was one of them. But it was the athlete who rode the hell out the bike that made it happen. Or am I ass speaking?

Well, you could argue that it was George's fault, becuse he crashed very early in the race whigh might have damaged the steerer and caused the break much later in the race.

George didn't crah because "the wheel gets knocked sideways" but crashed because the left end of the loose handlebars fell into his front wheel and blocked the wheel. I have seen the slow motion several times and you han easily see that the front wheel blocks because it is hit by the loos handlebars.

Too bad he didn't held onto the handlebars after it came loose, it might have saved a bad crash. But of cousre you are never prepared for a broken steerer and only acts on instinct.

Here's the pic of GH's P-R steerer and stem, there's no doubt it was anodized as they said it was.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/...ncapie_trek/IMG_9944

A picture worth 2 words for sure.

HEADSET SPACER

http://www.cyclingnews.com/...es/roubaix_postbikes



George Hincapie's steerer suffered a disastrous failure that ended Hincapies hoes of a Roubaix victory.
Photo ©: Mike Carrucan

That breaks my heart.

---

customerjon @gmail.com is where information happens.