Italian Lampre rider Alessandro Ballan has only been a professional since 2004 but it didn't take...
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The seat stay assembly was clearly borrowed
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The fork crown is also equipped
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This looks like a careless mistake, but
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Like most of the riders in Sunday's peloton
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Vittoria provides Ballan with 27mm-wide tubulars
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There are no fancy 'wheel systems' to be found here
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Not even alloy nipples make the cut here.
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Alessandro Ballan (Lampre) is set to race Paris-Roubaix with a special machine created just for the cobbles. (Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
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Ballan has only been a professional since 2004 but is already a favorite to win. (Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
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Ballan's frame bears no model designation and its construction is indeed unique from any frame in Wilier Triestina's catalog. (Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
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The rear wishbone includes a novel see-through section. (Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
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The increased rear tire clearance requires the use of a long-reach Shimano brake caliper. (Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
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The seat stay assembly was clearly borrowed from a 'cross bike, but turned around and fitted with an eyelet to mount the rear brake caliper. (Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
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The fork crown is also equipped with a bit of extra clearance. (Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
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This looks like a careless mistake, but the one-off dropouts are actually fitted with a bit of extra material to provide more tire clearance at the crown without resorting to new fork blades. (Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
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Like most of the riders in Sunday's peloton, Ballan will run with double-wrapped tape. (Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
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Vittoria provides Ballan with 27mm-wide tubulars specially made to handle the cobbles. (Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
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There are no fancy 'wheel systems' to be found here ; just good old-fashioned 32-hole hand-built wheels with box-section aluminum tubular rims. (Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
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Not even alloy nipples make the cut here. These wheels are laced with more reliable brass nipples. (Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
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A little bit of insurance goes a long way as a dropped chain can mean the difference between glory and regret. (Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
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Ballan's bike is otherwise fairly standard fare, including the team-only 'red' edition of Campagnolo's Record Ergopower levers. (Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
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Ballan's bike is also equipped with his usual Campagnolo Record Ultra-Torque crankset… (Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
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…although here a 46T inner ring replaces the usual 39T or 42T. (Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
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Ballan is surprisingly tall at 1.9m and thus runs 175mm-long crankarms. (Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
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A Chorus front derailleur is used here instead of Record. (Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
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Ballan foregoes carbon in favor of aluminum for his Paris-Roubaix seatpost. (Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
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The usual Look KeO Carbon pedals will help Ballan power along the pavé. (Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
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Garmin GPS computers are suddenly everywhere in the pro peloton, presumably to help remind the riders of important upcoming sections. (Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
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And yes, the Garmin Edge can even be configured to display in Italian! (Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
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Ballan's spare bike differs in construction but is presumably similar in fit and handling. (Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
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The spare bike is also equipped with an alloy Record crank instead of the new carbon iteration. (Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
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The spare bike's front derailleur includes a custom chain watcher. (Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
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You can never have too many spare wheels when it comes to Paris-Roubaix. (Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
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Some Lampre riders, such as Massimiliano Mori, will tackle Paris-Roubaix on steel bikes. (Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
Pro bikes, April 12, 2008
Alessandro Ballan's Lampre Wilier Triestina Paris-Roubaix Special
