This is a Campy Record equipped Orbea from one of the teams, can’t remember which one. The main reason I took this photo was the front wheel – this team was one of several (including the Navigators) that used Campy Bora wheels. The bike to the right is Scott, also Record equipped. Can’t remember that team, either. I should have taken better notes.
This is a Norco branded bike, Dura Ace equipped, it appears. This is another brand I had never heard of. Note the TruVativ carbon crankset, Reynolds wheelset and Tufo tubulars. Also, pay particular attention to the Madone-esq seattube. As with the Orbea, I didn’t write down which team used these bikes.
I do know which team used this particular steed. I don’t, however, know the rider who sat atop the bike. The front wheel to the right may belong to Bobby Julich’s bike. I snapped a few Cervelo shots just for the forum. We do love Cervelo, don’t we?
Norco is a Canadian bike company that has been around forever. They do just about everything - bikes and beyond. Norco is the house brand name and they also distribute a few other brands based elsewhere in the world. They would be the Canadian equivelant to Trek or Specialized, sort of.
I thought Jelly Belly was on the Orbea, but I wasn’t sure. I got into a bit of an argument with a couple of representatives from Jelly Belly at the finish line. Three ladies with the team didn’t like where race security positioned me near the finish line. They thought I was going to be in their way when the riders started coming in. I assured them I would squat down and let them take their own photos, but that apparently wasn’t good enough for them. I was cold, tired, hungry and in quite a bad mood. I let them know quickly that I would get out of their way, and they needn’t worry about missing a photo op. But they kept on. Suffice it to say that I was quite irritated with them by the time Danielson and Leipheimer came by. Had they been males, it could have gotten ugly.
The Norco bike looked pretty nice. I had never heard anything about that brand before. Being at the race was as much a learning experience for me as anything. I learned quite a bit, but I still know relatively little about road cycling.
Bikes these days, to a certain degree are like cars. There are a few high profile brands( Trek, Specialized, Colnago or Cervelo in the Tri world) that most know about, but there are a number of others that may be completely off the radar screen due to low distribution or they may just be a national brand available most only in their country of origin.
A combination of trickle-down technology and advanced and superior manufacturing techniques world wide have meant that there really are not huge differences between various models at the various price-points. The differences are quite subtle, but could still be important ie fit.
Truvativ is bigger in MTB circles and came out with the integrated bottom bracket cranks around the same time Shimano did. My shop was pushing me towards them over the XT integrated as the guy felt they were a better crank at a similar (or slightly cheaper) price. He was a downhiller and loved their stuff.
Norco is a large parts distributor in Canada (possibly the largest), and has been a maker of kids bikes and low end adult bikes for just about ever. A few years ago they decided to go high end with mountain bikes, and I understand they turned out a decent product. They’re battling the same stigma that Brooks faced when they began the transition from “K-Mart shoes to real running shoes” about 10 years ago though…
This is the first year that I’ve been aware of their roadie line. While they look pretty nice, and sponsor a local pro team here, you won’t find me on a Norco bike anytime soon. Having said that, I did get my doors blown off at a local TT by a Symmetrics dude on a Norco.
I have a TruVativ crankset in my collection of bike parts at home. I used it for a while, but took it off. It’s an Elita 55/42 w/Isis bottom bracket. I had it on a Giant for a while, but took it off after a few months. I’ve thought about putting it on an old frame just for kicks, but I doubt I will. It’s used, but in excellent shape. Most of the bikes there had Shimano, Campy or FSA cranks; this was the only TruVativ I saw.
