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Race tech: Giro d'Italia, May 14, 2009

Faster, softer, lighter

By James Huang in Padova, Italy

Ceramics for Sastre

Ceramic bearings are nothing new in the pro ranks but the ones on the bike of Cervélo Test Team captain Carlos Sastre were notably easier to spot what with their distinct blue anodized finish. Sastre has apparently chosen Enduro as his bearing supplier, including its top-end ZERØ bottom bracket and rear derailleur pulleys.

Enduro builds its ZERØ cartridges with Grade 3 silicon nitride balls and cryogenically treated chromium steel races said to be harder and more durable than stainless. To reduce friction even further, the bottom bracket foregoes supplemental contact seals in favour of aluminum labyrinth-type plates.

Like the rest of the team, Sastre is also now back on Rotor cranks with the development of its latest 3D model. Sastre's crankarms are further personalised, however, with special etching and some pink detailing, including the letters, 'PCY' - the first initials of wife, Piedi, and his two children, Claudia and Yeday.

Sastre's bike was fitted with an Enduro ZERØ ceramic bottom bracket.
Photo ©: James Huang
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More Enduro ZERØ ceramic bearings are found in the rear derailleur pulleys.
Photo ©: James Huang
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Rotor supplied Sastre with a specially finished version
Photo ©: James Huang
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Sastre also gets his own individually styled name decal
Photo ©: James Huang
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Lots of cush and a few special touches for Garmin

It's a good thing Garmin-Slipstream riders Dave Zabriskie and Bradley Wiggins don't have to foot the bill for their handlebar tape as both seem to use quite a lot of it. According to team mechanic Tom Hopper, both riders prefer their bars to have more girth beneath their hands and as such, he has to use multiple layers of tape in combination with fi'zi:k bar:gel padding to get the feel where Wiggins and Zabriskie like it.

Wiggins' Felt F1 is further customised with a pair of French O.symetric chainrings. Like the Rotor Q-Rings on the Cervélo Test Team bikes, the O.symetric rings operate on the premise of maximising forward motion when your muscles produce the most power while speeding the rider's legs through the dead spots.

The O.symetric rings utilise a far more radical shape, are rather thin and also wholly lacking in shift ramps and pins though and thus require a few modifications for proper shifting. Wiggins' Shimano Dura-Ace front derailleur is spaced back a few millimeters with a custom aluminum block and a newly available K-Edge chain watcher from AceCo is on hand to pick up the pieces.

Time trial specialist David Millar also got his own personalized touch - on his feet, not his bike. Specialized supplied the former UK national champion with a custom pair of S-Works shoes, complete with a British bull's eye printed on the heel.

The rear of the shoes is graced with a British bull's eye.
Photo ©: James Huang
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Wiggins' Dura-Ace 7800 cranks are fitted with O.symetric chainrings.
Photo ©: James Huang
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Team mechanics use a combination of extra layers of tape
Photo ©: James Huang
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Hey Tom, might be time for a new saddle, eh?
Photo ©: James Huang
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No oversized bars for Fuji-Servetto

Oversized 31.8mm-diameter handlebars and stems are currently the standard in the commercial marketplace but Fuji-Servetto's Fuji SL-1 team bikes were fitted with the 26.0mm size instead. This wasn't due to limited availability from supplier Oval Concepts, though, but rather choice according to company owner and founder Morgan Nicol.

Nicol says that while Oval Concepts continues to offer all of its bars and stems in both diameters, all of his sponsored teams have opted for the smaller size, saying they're well proven to be both strong and stiff enough for professional racing. More important to the teams, says Nicol, is the smaller size's lighter weight and reduced frontal area.

"The difference is fashion versus performance," he said. "Oval Concepts makes all of our bars available in 31.8 and 26.0 - the market demands it, so we do it. For mountain bike it makes some sense and it looks good - going 25 kilometers per hour. For road bikes it is a bad idea [and] for TT/triathlon bikes it is really ridiculous."

Fuji-Servetto is in the Giro d'Italia for the first time.
Photo ©: James Huang
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Fuji-Servetto have opted for the standard-diameter version
Photo ©: James Huang
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While Fuji-Servetto's stems go one way with their 26.0mm bar diameters,
Photo ©: James Huang
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Silence-Lotto's Francis De Greef stands at a rangy 1.92m (6' 4") tall.
Photo ©: James Huang
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Photography

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