Given that carbon fiber's prominence in the road market, much of the discussion focused on the design and manufacturing process used for carbon bikes. We discussed carbon fiber's properties and the distinction between stiffness and strength and how those properties are addressed. Additionally we covered weave type and fiber types (i.e., high modulus v. ultra high, etc.) and we then went into the actual production methods (i.e., FACT IS, Triple monocoque, etc.) and the tooling and molding methods required for both and how they differ.
The discussion then turned to alloy as we covered the Allez (which rides incredibly well, though I'd love to see a BB30 frameset option) and much the conversation touched on many of the same points, but with alloy materials being the focal point. We talked about the various alloys (i.e., A1, M4 and M5/E5) and how hydroforming is applied to manipulate tube shapes above and beyond what's done with traditional tube butting techniques.
And then, well, it was time to ride bikes. On day two we were going to do two loops; one road, one cyclocross-ish.
This meant I got to play in the bike box once again, but before you scroll any further, a word of caution...
The best candy store/toy box on the planet...
I grabbed the S-Works Tarmac SL3 (this bike gets two thumbs up and I've been racing on a CAAD9 all season so I'm not just saying that) The SL3 is incredibly light (duh), super responsive and fasssst. It's surprising how light the bike feels underneath you without feeling noodley or flexy:
This is Chris, one of our SBCU Professors, who showed us the scenic route:
This was the end of the cyclocross section; some of us chose to ride Cruxs and Tricrosses while others stuck to our Roubaixs and Tarmacs.
Some of my SBCU classmates; gotta say, everyone was really friendly and the group got on extremely well...
That's Adam, another one of our SBCU professors, in the background changing his tire. He's... Australian and a great SBCU professor.
After the ride, it was back to the building where we finished our day by attending Chris' three and a half hour talk on Triathlon...memorable highlights from that talk were... at a speed of 20mph, the Shiv is SEVEN minutes faster than a Cervelo P4 over an IM distance bike split. That's like being on another planet.
Additionally, the design philosophy behind the Shiv and the Transition are slightly different; the transition is meant to be a sliver (i.e., very, very narrow) to reduce the effect of drag due to frontal area. The Shiv, while still very narrow, is designed for crosswind and efficiency in varying wind conditions. It's also slightly more aggressive (position-wise) and has an emphasis on power transfer.
After the triathlon-athon we covered the Globe line and the Rouleux. The Globe Haul, Live, Roll and, new for 2011, Daily are seriously sweet city bikes; I'm getting a Daily 1 myself and will add a rear rack and some bags, which will make it a great grocery getter and coffee bike.
And that was day two at SBCU. So far, so awesome.
Look for the final updates in a little while.
Until next time, thanks for reading.
Hubert
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