Our Reader's Rig of the week comes from Ana Pimsler in California, who shares her made-to-measure steel hardtail from Sycip Designs and a little about her five-year journey through bikepacking. Get to know Ana and find a closer look at her custom build here...The post Readers Rig: Anas Custom Sycip Designs Hardtail appeared first on BIKEPACKING.com.

Romain Bardet has announced his retirement from pro cycling. The Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL rider has renewed for another year with the Dutch team and has revealed that he will now race his final Tour de France. He will race on the road for the last time at next year's Criterium du Dauphin before fo...

Crank brothers Stamp 2 and HT PAO3A pedal reviewIn a recent poll on my instagram channel @ukgravelco I asked what things put people off trying a gravel bike. Overwhelmingly the highest results, apart from the cost of a gravel bike, was that people didnt want to have to wear lycra and didnt want to use clip in pedals.Well spoiler alert from the start, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO WEAR TIGHT CLOTHING OR USE CLIP IN PEDALS if you dont want to. That is part of the beauty of gravel biking, because its relatively new there are no rules and long may this continue! As a clip in pedal user on the gravel bike myself it got me thinking that maybe I should try riding on the gravel bike with flat pedals to back up my above statement. I do use flat pedals when riding my mountain bike so Im no stranger to the concept but that is used for a majority of off road riding. Gravel riding has a lot more potential tarmac riding (where i live at least) so that could make a difference. there was only one way to find out. The guys at Extra UK and Ison Distribution the distributors of Crank Bros and HT respectively agreed to send me a pair of pedals. I decided to try an affordable pedal, the HT PAO3A (not the snazziest of titles) which at time of writing costs 60 at full RRP and the Crank Bros Stamp 2 (see what they did there?) at 100 RRP to see what the difference would be by spending a little more.Crank bros (right) HT (left)the Crank Bros Stamp 2 pedal is from their quite extensive flat pedal range which they have been producing for a long time, so they know what makes a good flat pedal. They come in two sizes, this version is the large and the basic rule of thumb is to size the pedals according to your shoe size, theres a guide on the Crank Bros website for this. The Body of the pedal is made from aluminium. It comes with 10 10mm removeble pins per side, has a steel spindle and the pedal spins on an inner ignus bearing and twin cartridge bearings on the outside. They are only available in silver or black and have a 5 year warranty. They weigh 494g on my kitchen scales.side view crank bros stamp 2side view HT PAO3AThe shape of the body allows maximum mud shedding room and if you look from the side the pedal is concave, so the outer edge is higher than the spindle allowing your foot to sit in the pedal for maximum grip and security from slippage. its quite difficult to photograph this but check the video below for a better example of this.the HT PAO3A pedal in contrast is made of glass reinforced nylon with two in mould pins and 8 replaceable pins per side. Again HT make a huge range of pedals and these come with DU bushings and one dual sealed bearing. The platform is just a hair smaller than the Stamp but weighs less at 351g on my not very accurate kitchen scale. the platform also has the concave shape that is essential in a flat pedal. It comes in just about every colour you can think of and as its composite (plastic) theres no worry about it looking tatty after a few rock or gravel strikes as theres no paint to flake off.In use both pedals have performed flawlessly offering up oodles of grip in all situations. Now, as a clip in pedal user usually on the gravel bike, i found myself automaticaly twisting my foot to unclip such was the amount of adhesion to my foot when dismounting.Pedal dynamics wise theres a theory that clip in pedals are more efficient and give more power as you can push down and pull up but in the real world unless you are racing or analysing efficiency to a microscopic level I dont think theres a great difference, not one that would bother me out for a leisure ride anyway. Both these pedals shed mud 100% better than a clip in pedal. If you ride in the UK this is almost a year round problem. Clogged pedals and shoes can stop engagement between the rider and the pedal, not what you want in slippery downhil situations. Both the Crank Bros and HT pedals were there and accessible in all muddy foot out, flat out scenarios.So which is the best? well theres not a lot in it to be honest, the bearings in the Crank Bros pedal seem nicer and spin well without stiction, the HT bearings feel smooth but spin the pedal and it soon stops, this maybe though because the bearing seals are so good. The Crank bros pedal does feel more robust being made of metal and looks like itd take more knocks at the expence of a bit of paint and are approx 100g over the HT but it does come with a 5 year warrant.Grip wise theres nothing in it though. Both are at the top of their game, so i guess it comes down to that warranty and the slightly nicer bearing for me to prefer the Stamp pedal, but then I can put up with silver, if you want a colour and pay a lot less then there are no drawbacks to the HT pedal.check out the video below to see the pedals in action

Over the past week, we plugged 100 submissions from the Rigs of the 2024 Tour Divide into a spreadsheet to get a clear picture of the bikes and gear used in this years event. In this piece, we dive into the data and uncover some interesting stats, including where people are from, and the types of bikes, tires, drivetrains, gearing choices, and cargo setups theyre using, and much more. Dig into the Rigs of the 2024 Tour Divide Stats Analysis hereThe post Rigs of the 2024 Tour Divide Stats Analysis appeared first on BIKEPACKING.com.

Remco Evenepoel is currently in the French Alps training for the Tour de France. Although it would be expected that he remains there until making the trip for the Grand Depart, he actually intended on defending his Belgian road race national champion title. But this will not happen as he has fallen...

This weeks Debrief features new 5DEV titanium cranks, Zpacks' lightest one-person shelter, Indy's around-the-world OM-2P, a reminder to not miss the Swift Campout, colorful King headsets, new Sarma Panniers, two events to follow live, and much more. Find it all hereThe post Friday Debrief: New 5DEV Ti cranks, Around-the-World OM-2P, colorful King, and more appeared first on BIKEPACKING.com.

While the Tour de France yellow jersey is one of sports most fabled prizes, there is more than just prestige up for grabs at the 111th edition of the race in 2024.Alongside the yellow, green, polka dot and white jerseys, the Tour de France had a 2,295,200 prize pot to give out in 2023.This included a 500,000 overall prize for champion Jonas Vingegaard (VismaLease a bike). In total, the Dane received 535,220 through the course of the race, including prizes for stage wins, placings on stages and climbs. Riders can earn money from all the main categories, as well as on categorised climbs, intermediate sprints and for finishing within the first 160 classified riders in the race.All Tour de France teams have different formulas for sharing the prize money, but usually it's put into a pot and divided between every rider (and often staff) on the team at the end of the race. Cycling is a team sport with individual winners, after all.Heres how the 2023 Tour de France prize money was broken down. Tour de France stage winner prize moneyMichal Kwiatkowski celebrates a stage win and a nice bonus. - Tim de Waele/Getty ImagesThe winner of each stage earned 11,000 in 2023, as well as a place on the podium at the end of the day.Second place was worth 5,500, while the rider in third raked in 2,800.In fact, every rider down to 20th place (300) earned a share of the 28,650 on offer each day.Heres the full breakdown for each individual stage. 11,000 5,500 2,800 1,500 830 780 730 670 650 600 540 470 440 340 300Tour de France yellow jersey prize moneyA yellow jersey win earned Vingegaard half a million euros in 2023. - Michael Steele/Getty ImagesIf winning the stage also put a rider into the yellow jersey, there was an extra 500 up for grabs, with the same prize on offer for each day a rider wore the maillot jaune.That, however, is small fry compared to the main prize pot for the general classification.The rider in the yellow jersey on the final podium in Paris in 2023 won 500,000, with Vingegaard taking the spoils. The prize increased back in 2016 and has remained the same since.Second place went to Tadej Pogaar, earning him 200,000, with Adam Yates taking home 100,000 in third.Each rider from fourth to 19th on the general classification steadily receives less money, and everyone from 20th place to 160th is awarded 1,000 for completing the roughly 3,500km course.Heres a full breakdown of the prize money awarded to the 10 overall fastest riders in 2023. 500,000 (Jonas Vingegaard) 200,000 (Tadej Pogaar) 100,000 (Adam Yates) 70,000 (Simon Yates) 50,000 (Carlos Rodriguez) 23,000 (Pello Bilbao Lopez) 11,500 (Jai Hindley) 7,600 (Felix Gall) 4,500 (David Gaudu) 3,800 (Guillaume Martin)Tour de France King of the Mountains prize moneyGiulio Ciccone wore the best climber's polka-dot jersey at the 2023 race. - Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP) (Photo by ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT/AFP via Getty ImagesA day in the King of the Mountains jersey was worth 300 in 2023, while the top eight in the final mountains classification were rewarded at the end of the race.The overall winner in 2023, Giulio Ciccone, received 25,000, while second place got 15,000.Heres a full breakdown of the prize money awarded to the top eight finishers in the mountains classification in 2023. 25,000 (Giulio Ciccone) 15,000 (Felix Gall) 10,000 (Jonas Vingegaard) 4,000 (Neilson Powless) 3,500 (Tadej Pogaar) 3,000 (Simon Yates) 2,500 (Tobias Johannessen) 2,000 (Jai Hindley)Tour de France climbs prize moneyThere's cash for cresting a climb in first place. - ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT/AFP via Getty ImagesIts not all about the general classification and the polka dot jersey each climb at the Tour de France has a prize on offer at the top.For hors catgorie and first-category climbs, the first three over the summit earn prize money; on second-category ascents, it's the top two, and on third and fourth-cat climbs it's just the first rider over.The 2023 Tour de France contained 30 climbs categorised as second category or above with six HC ascents and summit finishes. The HC climbs and summit finishes were worth 800 to the first across, 450 to the second and 300 to the third. The 10 category-one mountains offered 650, 400 and 150 respectively. HC1st category2nd category3rd category4th category 1st800650500300200 2nd450400250n/an/a 3rd300150n/an/an/a Edit Table For second-category mountains or hills, the first rider across received 500 and the second 250, while it was 300 to cross a third-category climb first and 200 to be the first over a fourth-category ascent.Riders can also boost their pay packets further by being the first across the highest point of the race. In 2023, the Souvenir Henri Desgrange, as the prize is known, was awarded to the first rider to crest the 2,304m Col de la Loze. That added 5,000 to the kitty of Felix Gall (DecathlonAG2R La Mondiale) last year.The Souvenir Jacques Goddet (5,000) is given to the first rider to reach the top of the Col du Tourmalet in the Pyrenees. The prize went to Pierre Latour in 2021 (the Pyrenean peak didn't feature in the 2023 Tour de France). Tour de France points classification prize moneyJasper Philipsen wrapped up the green jersey contest in 2023. - Michael Steele/Getty ImagesAs with the polka dot jersey, a day in the green jersey in 2023 was worth 300 so thats a lot of prize money that has headed Peter Sagans way in his Tour de France career. Even more so when you consider the 25,000 top prize for winning the points classification overall, which Sagan managed in seven of the eight years from 2012 to 2019.However, Irish sprinter Sam Bennett ended Sagan's run in the green jersey in 2020. Mark Cavendish made a triumphant return to green in 2021.Wout van Aert topped the classification in 2022 and Jasper Philipsen won the green jersey last year. The top eight in the final points classification all win prizes. The 2023 ranking looked as follows: 25,000 (Jasper Philipsen) 15,000 (Mads Pedersen) 10,000 (Bryan Coquard) 4,000 (Tadej Pogaar) 3,500 (Jonas Vingegaard) 3,000 (Kasper Asgreen) 2,500 (Jordie Meuss) 2,000 (Matej Mohori)Thats exactly in line with the mountains classification.Each intermediate sprint one on each of the 19 road stages was worth 1,500, 1,000 and 500 for the first three riders through.These prizes are often swallowed up by the breakaway, with the sprinters keeping their powder dry for the stage finishes the prize money for the top 20 on each stage is detailed at the top of this article.Tour de France young rider classification prize moneyTadej Pogaar won his fourth white jersey on the bounce in 2023. - Michael Steele/Getty ImagesA 300 prize is also up for grabs for each day in the white jersey of best young rider (in other words, for the 2024 race, those riders born on or after 1 January 1999).In addition, the highest-placed young rider on each stage can claim a 500 daily prize.The top four riders in the final young-rider classification also win prizes. In 2022, 20,000 was up for grabs for the winner, with the prize money decreasing by 5,000 for each position in the top four.In 2020, at 21 years old, Pogaar became the youngest Tour de France winner since 1904, as well as securing the white and polka-dot jerseys. He won the same three jerseys in 2021, but was only the best young rider in 2022 and 2023. 20,000 (Tadej Pogaar) 15,000 (Carlos Rodriguez) 10,000 (Felix Gall) 5,000 (Thomas Pidcock)Tour de France team classification prize moneyThe top-placed team on each stage calculated by the cumulative time of each teams three fastest finishers claims a further 2,800 in prize money.Those daily times are all added up to form the overall team classification, and the top five teams at the end of the race also win cash prizes.Heres a full breakdown of the prize money awarded to the five highest-ranking teams at the end of the Tour de France in 2023. 50,000 (VismaLease a bike) 30,000 (UAE Team Emirates) 20,000 (Ineos Grenadiers) 12,000 (Bahrain Victorious) 8,000 (GroupamaFDJ)Most aggressive rider classification (combativity prize)All that attacking paid off nicely for Victor Campanaerts. - Victor LOCHON/Gamma-Rapho via Getty ImagesThere is one final prize at the Tour de France, with race judges picking their most aggressive rider in each of the first 18 road stages (so every stage except the two time trials and the final stage) to win the combativity prize.The previous days winner can be spotted by their red race number on the following stage. They will also be 2,000 richer.At the end of the race, a Super Combatif award is handed out worth 20,000.Wout van Aert added the most aggressive rider award to his green jersey in 2022 and Victor Campanaerts won the 2023 combativity prize. How does Tour de France prize money compare to other sports events?The White Marlin Open lured anglers with an $8.6 million prize pot in 2022. - Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post via Getty ImagesWhile 500,000 (approximately 432,500) for winning the yellow jersey is nothing to be sniffed at, the amount on offer for winning cyclings greatest race is low compared to other sports.Wyndham Clark earned $3.6 million for winning golf's 2023 US Open.In horse racing, the Saudi Cup winner is awarded $10 million. Most of that goes to the horse's owner, but the winning jockey can expect a 10 per cent share.The mens and womens singles tennis champions at Wimbledon received 2 million each in 2022.At sea angling's 2022 White Marlin Open, Jeremy Duffie netted a world-record-setting $4,536,000 for landing a 77.5lb white marlin.Still, the most fabled prize in cycling is not something to turn your nose up at prize money or not.

CyclistGallery: Pinarellos classic bikesLife was tough for Giovanni Nani Pinarello in the 1940s. One of a dozen brothers, Nani scraped a living in the professional cycling ranks for several years until his team, Bottechia, bought him out of contract in 1952 for 100,000 lire.Despite this, during that time Nani had become something of a household name among the tifosi on account of being the last rider to win the maglia nera in 1951, a ceremonial black jersey awarded for finishing dead last in the Giro dItalia, but which race organisers ceased awarding the following year. So leveraging this odd popularity and armed with his buyout money, Nani decided to set up a bike shop on a piazza in the north Italian town of Treviso in 1953.That bike shop remains, but instead of someone elses bike hanging in the window, a Dogma with Lightweight wheels, diamante-encrusted stem cap and 20,000 pricetag hangs proudly on display. And whose name is it on that frame (and, ostentatiously, the top cap as well)?Fausto Pinarello, Nanis canny son, who with his late father helped grow Pinarello into one of the most coveted and successful marques in road cycling. So when Cyclist met with Fausto at his Treviso headquarters some years back and discovered what was hiding in his factorys eaves, we just knew we had to return one day, with a camera, to get the full story.Fortunately for us, Fausto was on hand and only too happy to tell it. Related Posts Pinarello Dogma F review: First ride impressions of Ineos Grenadiers latest race bike Pinarello changes the Dogma Fs recipe to get lighter and a touch faster Cyclist Magazine Podcast Episode 20 Mr Fausto Pinarello Gallery: Cinellis classic bikes A history of Bianchis classic bikes Colnagos classic bike collection Watch: Fausto Pinarello talks us through his personal bike collection Espada Hour Record, 1994Mike Massaro / CyclistForget about Bradley or anyone. Miguel is Miguel. Bradley is amazing, but for his Hour it was maybe six months preparation, but with Miguel, he won the Tour de France in the summer of 1994, then one month later he took the record dora, says Fausto Pinarello.At 6ft 2in and 80kg, with a resting heart rate of 28bpm and lung capacity of 7.8 litres (a comparable male is around 60bpm and 5 litres), Indurin was the perfect specimen for the Hour record. But the perfect specimen demanded the perfect bike and, as he was with Bradley Wiggins, Fausto Pinarello duly obliged.There was a guy from Florence University who worked with Lamborghini, and he sent me a letter saying, Do you want to try the wind-tunnel and talk aerodynamics, and I said, Yes, why not? I knew nothing of aerodynamics back then. Or carbon fibre. We made a frame in aluminium, went to the wind-tunnel with Miguel, did tests, then went away and designed the mould with a guy who made carbon fibre parts for Bugatti in Torino.We finished the bikes in July, went to the track with Miguel to test in August you know how hard that was? Everyone in Italy goes on holiday in August and in September he made the attempt. At the time Lamborghini had the Espada car, and Espada is Spanish for sword. It was the perfect name.At 9.25kg this bike wasnt especially light, and its interesting that the bars [from ITM] are unpainted to save weight while the rest of the bike has been treated to all manner of paint and graphics. It also cost 50,000 just for the mould and only two bikes came from it, making it a substantial outlay for the brand. But as Fausto remarks, The cost is no problem, because we are interested only in development. This is my philosophy.Prologo, 1989Mike Massaro / CyclistThis was the time-trial bike of Franco Chioccioli in the late 1980s. Francesco Moser had this shape of bike before us, with a 700c rear wheel and 650b front, so this bike design was not new, but it was beautiful. We shaped all the tubes, the curves, ourselves, but the tubes are from Columbus. The lugs have GPT engraved on them Giovanni Pinarello, Treviso, the name of my father. We won the 1991 Giro dItalia with Franco. He had tried many times before but in 1991 he did it with us.Riding for Del Tongo, Chioccioli had one sixth place and two fifth places in the three years prior to 1991. The most agonising must have come in 1988, when the young Italian, poised for victory, surrendered the maglia rosa to Andy Hampsten on the now infamous Stage 14, which saw riders battling some of the worst weather ever to hit a Grand Tour.Mike Massaro / CyclistThe Gavia was set upon by a fierce blizzard and few but Hampstens 7-Eleven team had brought sufficient kit, so while Hampsten got ski gloves, glasses, woolly hat, extra layers and even a hot drink, Chioccioli got armwarmers and a headband. Even then, Hampsten rode with ice on his bare shins and was a shivering wreck at the line, so it was no surprise when Chioccioli limped home nearly five minutes later.He could hardly have blamed the Colnago he was riding that day, but equally he might well have had much to thank the Pinarello Prologo for, having used a descendent of this bike to scoop three stages on his way to finally being crowned Giro dItalia champion.Parigina, 1996Mike Massaro / CyclistAn evolution of Miguel Indurins Hour record Espada, but one amputation away from pretty much being the bike thrown by Bjarne Riis in 1997 (see below), this Parigina belonged to Andrea Collinelli, who rode it at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, USA.We sponsored the Italian track team, and they rode with these Graeme Obree-style bars, says Fausto, referring to the outstretched Superman position the Scot had pioneered and used to great effect to beat none other than Collinelli at the 1995 Track World Championships.It was therefore little surprise to see the Italian adopt the same position in 1996 and go on to take not only gold in the 4,000m individual pursuit but also the world record previously held by Obree, completing the distance in 4min 19.699sec. Their bikes could not have been more different, however Obrees was steel and homemade, while Collinellis was the absolute cutting edge of its day.When we used the Paragina for Riis, the UCI ordered us to cut off the tail over the rear wheel to make the bike legal for road cycling. Of course a road bike needs a brake too, so Riiss time-trial bike had to have a normal fork, but here there is a fairing over the front wheel.Mike Massaro / CyclistIn fact, such are the aero lengths Pinarello went to that this Parigina has textured trip strips running down the outside-front of the fork legs to help smooth airflow. Its something you may have spotted before on older versions of the Ridley Noah. Not that Fausto will hear any of it.Who had this on their bikes? When was that? Dont ask me to say something, I can only say that it is my job to make the best bike, and this bike was 1996, and by 1998 the position and the frame style was illegal.Parigina, 1997Mike Massaro / CyclistIn 1997, in the last time-trial of the Tour de France, Bjarne Riis [riding for Team Telekom] takes this bike and throws it like a butterfly, says Fausto with a wry smile. Indeed a clip can be found online of a distraught Riis tossing his Parigina Italian for Parisian like a discus after two mechanicals in a row, first a puncture and then a dropped chain.I know the reason. Riis [the defending champion] was nervous because the young guys were coming through: Jan Ullrich [Telekom] and Abraham Olano [Banesto]. By the last time-trial the Tour was already over for him, but he wanted the stage. He was obsessed with weight, and he said the bike was too heavy so he wanted to lose one of the chainrings and the front derailleur.Mike Massaro / CyclistWe all suggested he did not, but he did, and without the derailleur the vibrations from the road meant the chain came off. But the thing is, the same day Ullrich won and Olano came second on a Parigina [Pinarello sponsored both Telekom and Banesto].The Parigina is based on the Italian track team bike from the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. Commentators say it is for the lady because it has no top tube, and when the UCI saw Riis with it at the Danish National Championships they told us we had to cut the tail off if we wanted to take it to the Tour.So we did. It had so much material that we just took the same bike and cut off the tail with a saw and repainted it. In fact, it had so much material that the brake under the bottom bracket actually worked quite well because there was no flexing!Dogma FP, 2006Mike Massaro / CyclistOscar Pereiro won the Tour in 2006 on this bike. Well he lost, then he won, because of that American guy on Phonak what was his name?Its a ruefully rhetorical question, but the answer is Floyd Landis, who was stripped of the 2006 Tour a year after the fact, handing a retrospective win to Pereiro and making this the last metal bike to win the Tour. Because, while the seatstays and fork are carbon, most of the Dogma FP is something else entirely magnesium alloy.For me magnesium is the best material in the world. It is not lighter than carbon but it is lighter than aluminium, and because the wall thickness and diameter is bigger [than aluminium for the same weight], magnesium bikes are stiffer but more comfortable as there is more material to absorb vibrations.But it was hard to work with, very flammable, so when you work it there is always one guy who has to stand with a fire extinguisher. And while I love the material, carbon fibre was higher performance, so we made the carbon monocoque F4:13 in 2006.For this bike FSA created the Mega Exo standard [the first oversized BB for 30mm crank spindles] just for me I wanted a bigger BB shell for more stiffness. You know our components brand, MOST? That name comes from this BB, meaning Movimento Oversized and ST meaning first. We did it for three years, but it is no good. You get noises, and the bearings need changing every six months.Galileo, 2000Mike Massaro / CyclistSee these ridges here? The tube is wider at the base and gets thinner as it goes up. Its the same for the down tube and the seat tube. These ridges look like a telescope, and you know who invented the telescope? So the down tube tapers from something like 42mm at the bottom bracket to 36mm at the head tube.True enough, stiffness was the aim with this bike given that it belonged to German powerhouse Jan Ullrich, who would famously turn heavy gears with mock-nonchalance to psych out rivals on climbs. To that extent, all the tubes intersecting with the bottom bracket shell have been drawn as wide as possible so wide in fact that some of the welding bead has had to be ground off when facing the shell.Mike Massaro / CyclistHowever despite the large frame size, burly appearance of the aluminium tubing and those early deep-section Campagnolo Bora wheels, total weight with pedals is a remarkable 8.45kg.The seatstays are carbon, made for Pinarello by Time in France. But Time, they use two screws, but we just glue the top of the stays to the frame. Dedacciai made the tubing, it is hydroformed to make the shapes, so to glue in the stays the aluminium had to be perfect.The chainstays are my design too, called Dyna, like dynamic. I have a patent for the way that they twist and flare towards the BB, for rigidity. This bike was painted by Giancarlo. He started one year before me, 1978, and he still works here. But he will retire in a few months. He is even older than me!Espada carbon TT, 1995Mike Massaro / CyclistWhile Pedro Delgado kicked off Tour de France success for Pinarello in 1988 under the auspices of the Reynolds team, it was another Spaniard who would propel the brand into the Grande Boucles history books.Miguel Indurin won the Tour de France with us from 1992 to 1995. This is the second bike like this of Miguels. The first was the one for the Hour record on the track. Six months after that we made this time-trial bike for the road, and Miguel won the 1995 Tour de France with it.For the sport, that 1995 edition of the Tour may be seen as a mixed bag. By winning it, Indurin equalled Anquetil, Merckx and Hinaults record of five wins, and would only be eclipsed in consecutive wins by Lance Armstrong several years later (interestingly, once stripped of his wins, the 1995 Tour would end up being Armstrongs highest officially recognised finish 36th). But the 1995 Tour was also marred by tragedy, when a helmetless Fabio Casartelli crashed on Stage 15 and died from head injuries.Mike Massaro / CyclistYet as tragic as this was, theres no question that images of Big Mig in that edition remain some of the most iconic of the time, an era-defining rider aboard an era-defining machine, never to be repeated.By 2000, the UCI had banned such frame shapes and the mismatched wheel sizes, and by 2003, after the death of another rider, Andrey Kivilev, from head injuries, the iconic images of casquette-wearing riders such as Indurain had been consigned to the history books by the mandatory introduction of helmets.Banesto, 1995Mike Massaro / CyclistThis is the one, written here number two, says Fausto, peering at numbers stamped on the underside of the BB on this Banesto-branded Pinarello. Miguel had five bikes in a season. Number one was for training at home, number two for racing, then two for the two support cars, and one spare. For Geraint Thomas or Chris Froome we make two race bikes: one for the Giro, one for the Tour. Miguel used the same one. And in 1995, this was that bike.With four Tours under his belt, Indurain did what no one had done before and added a fifth consecutive Tour to his palmars, with the footnote that this would be the last time a steel bike would win the Tour de France.The tubing is by Oria, a Venetian company that is gone now. At the time it was considered oversized! The top tube is lowered to keep the triangle stiff but the seat tube and head tube stick up above it to give Miguel the position. He rode the same sized bike with us for 20 years: 59cm x 59cm, then 180mm x 180mm. That means the cranks were 180mm long and the [horizontal] distance between the bottom bracket and the top of the seat tube was 180mm. He also always rode Selle Italia Turbomatic saddles.Miguel has a collection of all the bikes he ever won on. Erik Zabel [whom Pinarello sponsored at Team Telekom] also has a similar museum. We would give these guys their bikes. I know Ineos are different and they usually ask riders to buy their bikes, unless they know for sure they are going to keep them as souvenirs.Telekom TT, 1996Mike Massaro / CyclistThe forerunner to the Parigina, Bjarne Riiss steel Team Telekom time-trial bike was only around for a season, but what a season it was for the Dane. For Pinarello too.Having sponsored Pedro Delgados Reynolds team in the late 1980s, Pinarello found itself usurped by Spanish brand Raseza after Spanish bank Banesto took over Reynolds in 1990 (Indurin won his first Tour in 1991 aboard a Raseza branded bike). That left Pinarello sponsoring only one team, Del Tongo-MG Boys, but success still came when Franco Chioccioli took the Giro in 1991. Pinarellos future was looking bright, but then the unthinkable happened.Sometimes you lose a team because you lose a team; sometimes you lose a team because someone steals it from you, says Fausto cryptically. At the end of 1991 a new sponsor came on board with Del Tongo Energie and it brought with it Bianchi. Nobody knew! Thats not how you do business.Mike Massaro / CyclistI heard the bike company sponsoring Banesto was about to go bust, so I did my first team deal, with Banesto, in 1991, aged 29. It was a huge amount of money, my dad says, Ohh, but we made history with Miguel.In 1995, Bjarne Riis was trying to win the Tour riding a Bianchi [at Gewiss-Ballan], but we won with Miguel! The same weekend a guy came to me from Telekom and asked if I was interested in sponsoring them. They were with Eddy Merckx bikes, so I called Eddy and said, Is this OK? I never steal a team. He said, Yes, go, go, go. Three months later Bjarne signs with Team Telekom and he wins the Tour riding a Pinarello.This article was first published in 2020. Related Posts Pinarello Dogma F review: First ride impressions of Ineos Grenadiers latest race bike Pinarello changes the Dogma Fs recipe to get lighter and a touch faster Cyclist Magazine Podcast Episode 20 Mr Fausto Pinarello Gallery: Cinellis classic bikes A history of Bianchis classic bikes Colnagos classic bike collection Watch: Fausto Pinarello talks us through his personal bike collection The post Gallery: Pinarellos classic bikes appeared first on Cyclist.

The Tour de France is starting in just over a week and all analysts are sharp to give their thoughts and analyze the upcoming edition. Whilst perhaps not the top four favourites to win the race, Jos de Cauwer talks about the four names which bring the most spotlight into the race: Tadej Pogacar, Jo...

Introduced almost two years ago, absoluteBLACKs GRAPHENpads make some big claims. Utilizing a graphene-coated and finned back plate plus a graphene-infused pad material itself, the brake pads lead AB to claim up to 35% improved braking performance on long, sustained descents. Apparently, the pads are good enough that Tadej Pogacar has been trying them on his own bike along with other members of Team UAE, despite not being contractually obligated to do so. Performance claims aside, the big news today is that the pads have gotten a bit cheaper due to optimized production costs. For example, at the time of publishing in 2022, the SRAM eTap AXS pads were $62.99 per wheel. That same set of brake pads now runs $51.90. Still expensive for a set of disc brake pads, but its nice to see a price decreasing instead of increasing lately. (All images/AB)AB is also adding two new MTB fitments SRAM Code and Magura MT5/MT7. Both sets of brake pads are $42.90 per wheel, though the Magura set is four pads (8 are needed per bike). Both are available now. absoluteblack.ccThe post absoluteBLACK GRAPHENpads Get Less Expensive, Add New MTB Compatibility appeared first on Bikerumor.