DESIGNING A “SECRET WEAPON”

 By using unique carbon fibre material normally used for satellite construction, Trek found a way to bring their Optimum Compaction Low Void (OCLV) frame technology to a new level to meet the challenge of a super-light yet strong uphill Time Trial (TTX) and climbing bike (SSLX).

In 2005, the bulk of Armstrong's specially made bike used sheets of carbon fibers that weigh 110 grams per square meter. But here's where the sensors and strain gauging pay off.   Analysis of the results of stresses placed on every finite element of the frame were able to replace 110-gram sheets with 55-gram sheets in locations such as the socket that joins tubes together near the handlebars, the rear fork and the seat post.

Once identifiable weight is shaved off, the design of any Armstrong bike then factored in Armstrong's own preferences.  Lance Armstrong is a meticulous fellow who can instantly tell if the wheelbase has been altered by 3 millimeters. To provide the desired stiffness, the team relied on benchmarks from tests performed on the flexibility of the rear load-bearing arms of the bike known as the chain stay. To achieve comfort, the team relied on measures of the stiffness of the frame itself. And to predict jitter—the uncomfortable feeling that the bike is out of control on a serious descent—the Trek team relied on results of frontal impact deliberately entered into the database from crash tests.

 FOUR KEY DESIGN PARAMETERS 

1.)     Aesthetics

2.)     Weight 

3.)     Stiffness

4.)   Aerodynamics

AESTHETICS:

The centerlines are the skeleton of every bike made, the starting point for every design. These act as the road map. By mapping the hard points (bottom bracket, seat angle, top tube etc), engineers are able to get the geometry that the rider needs and, get an idea as to what the frame will look like. 

For all pros, the aesthetics or look of the bike matters, almost as much as its physical characteristics. "If you look tough and fast, psychologically you're tough and fast.  The Madone bikes are named after a hill in southern France that Armstrong uses as his test each year of whether he is prepared for the Tour. The Col de la Madone is a 12km climb that starts in the French village of Menton. It rises from close to sea level to 927 meters. Cyclists have long used it to test themselves.

    WEIGHT: THE 2-POUND FRAME

The lighter the better - the previous model weighed in at about 1680 grams (without fork) but the new TTX is 230 grams (8oz) lighter.  There's almost no weight left to slice off the bike for pros such as Armstrong. The International Cycling Union regulates the size, weight and other dimensions of competitive bikes, much the way the United States Golf Association and The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews do for golf equipment. The minimum weight of a road bike eligible to compete in the Tour de France is 14.96 pounds. The latest effort by the Orion team for Armstrong weighs a couple of tenths of a pound above the minimum. A 2-pound frame, in practicality, can be achieved today, thanks to the arrival of 55-gram carbon fiber sheets and the element analysis that can constantly identify points of least stress.  The effort to break that barrier will proceed carefully as there will come a point where the frame is unreliable.

STIFFNESS:

The new Trek Madone derived top-tube shape has a more rigid contour that makes the TTX more stable and transmits more power. Last but not least was aerodynamics. This was the hardest parameter to deal with, as we were looking for big increments in the wind tunnel numbers, but it turned out that the older frame was already really fast."   

Making a bike stiffer usually requires more, not less, frame material. So, the task at hand was how to build a bike that was lighter and stiffer at the same time. The answer was in extending the OCLV Carbon family to include a new member -- OCLV Boron. By adding the OCLV Boron composite, the result was a 15% increase in frame stiffness. Because each Madone frame is built using hand-laid strips of OCLV Carbon, it's a relatively easy process for our frame builders to strategically add directional strips of Boron at the bottom bracket.

  RECORD BREAKING RESULTS

Ultimately, what separates a bike that claims to be the lightest from a bike that wins the Tour de France seven times is its stiffness to weight ratio and the ride quality that results. Trek's performance road frame geometry is based on years of testing and evaluating with the best riders in the world. Each OCLV frame offers the ultimate balance of stiffness, comfort and handling.

THE SSLX

The SSLX is based on the production Madone SSL which uses our lightest OCLV 55 Carbon. However, for the SSLX we’ve introduced the newest member of the OCLV family, OCLV Boron. By hand laying Boron strips at the bottom bracket, we’ve created a frame that is 15% stiffer. To offset the weight of the Boron material, the designers at our Advanced Component Group have also created a special SL hardware kit - anything that could be drilled or milled was; from the downtube shifter bosses to the headtube inserts and rear dropouts.

ALUMINUM REFINEMENTS:

All the aluminium parts in a Trek [SSL] frame, have been addressed in some way.  Bits and pieces that were in past aesthetic where you have to attach something to the bike, where carbon fibre doesn't machine that well have been removed material as well as material that was discovered not to be of structural value."

Two items that were addressed came in the form of drop-outs and head-cups for the fork steerer, which had both been painstakingly drilled to save a few grams over its SSL predecessor. Interestingly, the addition of boron in the frame cancels out most of the aforementioned weight-saving, but the increase in stiffness in the area of highest torsional load was considered more of a priority. The SL, SSL and SSLX are all very similar in weight, they're all within 100 grams of each other.

The final piece of proto being played around with is an incredibly lightweight all-carbon fork, although it's yet to be decided whether this will make it into the SSLX package in '06. Armstrong and a few of his Discovery team-mates have all used it in testing with no noticeable difference.

VIBRATION DAMPENING

Equipped with Bontrager fork and wheels plus Bontrager oversized carbon stem, handlebar, tape, cages, and Buzz-Kill harmonic handlebar dampers.  Derived from an archery technology pioneered by bow company Mathews, these are plastic and brass or aluminium widgets that fit inside the ends of the bar and are claimed to cancel high frequency vibration and so improve comfort. The idea makes a certain amount of sense. If you add a weight to the end of a tube that's supported at one end (which is the situation with a bike handlebar) then it's going to have a different, and probably lower, harmonic frequency. 

 

HELMET                           

Giro has taken the F-One program literally in creating a name for the aero topper, calling the sleek silver head bullet the 'Advantage.'  What is so unique about this helmet is that we were able to overcome the major manufacturing challenges of building this helmet. It's as revolutionary as when the first in-mold helmets were introduced. Since the helmet is made on a mold, incorporating the portion of the structure below the midline of the helmet was very difficult to make.  Designers and engineers scrutinized every aspect of helmet design to maximize ventilation, performance and weight savings while maintaining the skull-hugging comfort and integrity.

CLOTHING:  Explore Swift Spin Advantages over Standard Bib and Jersey

Aerodynamic wind tunnel tested fabric – 151 grams less drag at 40km/hr

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