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Lance’s New Rigs - The Inside Skinny
In each of his six previous Tour de France victories, Lance Armstrong has always proven the most competitive in the two stages that are the most distinctive and demanding; the climbing and time trial stages. Lance excels when race conditions allow superior talent to shine through. The same holds true for Trek. For the last six years we have supplied Lance with an array of made in America, OCLV Carbon race bikes - the ultimate in race winning technology.
For the 2005 Tour de France, the last chapter in Lance’s seven year odyssey on the roads of France, Trek has supplied Lance with two wild new bikes; the Madone SSLX climbing bike and the TTX time trial machine. Both have proven to be lighter, stiffer and faster than anything we’ve build before.
The SSLX is based on the production Madone SSL which uses our lightest OCLV 55 Carbon. However, for the SSLX we’ve introduced the newest member of the OCLV family, OCLV Boron. By hand laying Boron strips at the bottom bracket, we’ve created a frame that is 15% stiffer. To offset the weight of the Boron material, the designers at our Advanced Component Group have also created a special SL hardware kit - anything that could be drilled or milled was; from the downbtube shifter bosses to the headtube inserts and rear dropouts.
Just like the Madone SL that Lance raced in the Tour last year (with the Plata Negra flame scheme paint job), the blue flame scheme on the 2005 SSLX was chosen from the Project One menu by Lance himself.
As with every other bike Lance has raced, the Trek TTX was developed with the aid of hours of wind tunnel testing. However, the TTX was the first bike we’ve built with the aid of computational fluid dynamics. Our CFD process has not only taken hours out of the development process, but it has also empowered our designers and engineers with the most accurate tool yet to produce cutting edge frames that will cut through the air and shave seconds off the clock.
Like all OCLV Carbon frames, the TTX was born and bred in Waterloo, Wisconsin. A modern bike, handcrafted one at a time in the traditional style that has always defined the art of frame building. It’s not just a bike, it’s a Trek.
TTX Details
Top tube
One-piece head tube/top tube borrows from the signature Madone frame design.
· Shaped design makes front end of bike stiffer when accelerating or climbing out of the saddle.
· Deep cross section helps create lift in cross winds yet is very aero in head-on winds. Lift is good.
· Narrow/necked down center section of head tube decreases frontal area therefore decreasing drag.
Down tube
· Improved aero shape – more like a double sided axe than an airfoil – helps air bridge from the front wheel on the downtube.
· Deep cross section helps create lift in cross winds while remaining aero in head-on winds.
Bontrager TT Aero fork
· Narrow cross section compliments the broad leg depth of the fork leg to maximize efficiency.
· A specified cant to the fork leg’s air foil shape reduces low pressure that accumulated behind the fork legs. This was discovered thru CFD.
· Aero shape helps air transition from the back of the fork, across the front wheel and onto the aero tubes of the frame.
Seat mast
· Deep section, foil shaped seat mast helps eliminated turbulent air between rider’s legs.
Seat tube
· Cut-out helps air transition from the frame tubes to the disc/rear wheel.
· Deep cross section helps with lift in cross wind situations.
· OCLV Carbon Honey Comb used at the top tube and bottom bracket junctions to save weight and provide lateral stiffness to the frame.
Bontrager aero bar
All new design, delivered to Lance right before the Dauphine Libere. Used by George Hincapie to win the Dauphine TT prologue.
· OCLV Carbon make is light and super stiff.
· One-piece design eliminates drag caused by excess seams and joints.
Bontrager Aeulus wheels
- The Bontrager Aeolus, named after the Greek God of Wind, is a joint project between HED wheels and Bontrager.
- The Aeolus begins with a Race XXX Lite tubular rim made in Waterloo, Wisconsin. The rims are shipped to HED in Minnesota where they have the expertise and equipment to add on an aerodynamic and structurally enhancing deep section to the XXX rim.
- 16 gauge DT butted and bladed spokes are wind tunnel proven to be fast.
The Bontrager Race X Lite Aero Swiss made hubs.feature torque sharing technology, cartridge bearings, star ratchet aluminum freehub body, and titanium skewers.
For a more complete breakdown of both bikes, stay tuned to the Trek web site where you’ll be able to follow the latest, up-close goings on with Lance and the team on Scott Daubert’s Road to The Tour column (found in Insider Perspectives). Also, a new “Bikes of The Tour” web module will also be launching within two weeks. Stay tuned & keep your fingers crossed for Lucky Seven!
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The Details of the Trek TTX
In each of his previous six Tour de France victories, Lance Armstrong has always proven the most competitive in the two stages that are the most distinctive and demanding; the climbing and time trial stages. Lance excels when race conditions allow superior talent to shine through. The same holds true for Trek. For the last six years we have supplied Lance with an array of made in America, OCLV Carbon race bikes - the ultimate in race winning technology.
For the 2005 Tour de France, the last chapter in Lance’s seven year annual odyssey on the roads of France, Trek has supplied Lance with two wild new bikes; the SSLX climbing bike and the TTX time trial machine. Both have proven to be lighter, stiffer and faster than anything we’ve build before.
As with every other bike Lance has raced, the Trek TTX was developed with the aid of hours of wind tunnel testing. However, the TTX was the first bike we’ve built with the aid of computational fluid dynamics. Our CFD process has not only taken hours out of the development process, but it has also empowered our designers and engineers with the most accurate tool yet to produce cutting edge frames that will cut through the air and shave seconds off the clock.
Like all OCLV Carbon frames, the TTX was born and bred in Waterloo, Wisconsin. A modern bike, handcrafted one at a time in the traditional style that has always defined the art of frame building. It’s not just a bike, it’s a Trek.
Top tube
One-piece head tube/top tube borrows from the signature Madone frame design.
· Shaped design makes front end of bike stiffer when accelerating or climbing out of the saddle.
· Deep cross section helps create lift in cross winds yet is very aero in head-on winds. Lift is good.
· Narrow/necked down center section of head tube decreases frontal area therefore decreasing drag.
Down tube
· Improved aero shape – more like a double sided axe than an airfoil – helps air bridge from the front wheel on the downtube.
· Deep cross section helps create lift in cross winds while remaining aero in head-on winds.
Bontrager TT Aero fork
· Narrow cross section compliments the broad leg depth of the fork leg to maximize efficiency.
· A specified cant to the fork leg’s air foil shape reduces low pressure that accumulated behind the fork legs. This was discovered thru CFD.
· Aero shape helps air transition from the back of the fork, across the front wheel and onto the aero tubes of the frame.
Seat mast
· Deep section, foil shaped seat mast helps eliminated turbulent air between rider’s legs.
Seat tube
· Cut-out helps air transition from the frame tubes to the disc/rear wheel.
· Deep cross section helps with lift in cross wind situations.
· OCLV Carbon Honey Comb used at the top tube and bottom bracket junctions to save weight and provide lateral stiffness to the frame.
Bontrager aero bar
All new design, delivered to Lance right before the Dauphine Libere. Used by George Hincapie win the TT prologue.
· OCLV Carbon make is light and super stiff.
· One-piece design eliminates drag caused by excess seams and joints.