2015 Bicycle of the Year: Trek Émonda SLR 10

I know it is not typical to write about such a high end bike in this blog. Reason being that they are just at such ridiculous price points that any breakdown or review of such high end bikes is essentially rendered moot because the bike is unpractical for 99% of the readers. Yet, it is still fun to ooh and aww at the top of the line road bikes. Moreover, it says a lot about a brand’s innovation, engineering, and insight as a whole when they produce bikes so good as to receive such praise from industry experts and beat the very sterling competition. This year, Velo News voted the Trek Émonda SLR 10 as bike of the year, an amazing feat that Trek should surely be proud of.

The engineering of this bike in an effort to minimize weight yet maximize performance is right on, Trek has definitely hit the nail on the head with this build. For example, as seen in the image below, the Bontrager Speed Stop brake system mounts connect directly to the frame, this sheds weight by eliminating unnecessary parts. However, even better still, this also increases performance of the brakes. The Speed Stop Brake system also utilizes a wide set design to allot for wide road rims and/or tires.

Another engineering differentiation of the Trek Émonda SLR 10 is the one-piece fully integrated bar/stem; seamlessly the most lightweight system possible while still maximizing stiffness, strength, and subsequent performance. These drops are129mm drop and have 93mm reach. Naturally, the stem angle is not adjustable as it is an integrated handlebar and stem combo; throughout years of testing an professional feedback, the current 7 degree and resulting horizontal position of the integrated stem has been found to perform the best on the Emonda. No need to worry about switching it out, it has been very precisely engineered to maximize performance while minimizing weight. In addition, the handlebar system is compatible with Trek’s new integration system, Blendr; Blendr allows riders to connect electronics such as computers, garmins, or cell phones to the handlebars without the use of zip ties or otherwise (pictured below).

The Tune Skyline carbon tubular wheels combined with Vittoria Crono CS Tubular, 700x22c tires are the pinnacle in lightweight performance wheels. As many may know, wheelsets are at the crux of weight loss/gain in bicycle composition. Tubular wheelsets make up the lightest possible wheel, tire, and tube combination out of the three systems currently in production. And, as mentioned in previous blogs, they have both the best rolling resistance and professionals agree that they perform the best in handling ability.

Not a single detail has been overlooked in the Trek Émonda SLR 10, it is these details that have earned this bike the title of bicycle of the year by Velo News. Even Jagwire’s new sectioned housing, which makes cable routing look like vertebrae is unique, cool, and still serves the purpose of shaving grams. The SLR 10 comes with the cleanest DuoTrap S mounting system to date. The Speed Trap integrated computer sensors is now on its second generation where they have now mastered ANT+ connectivity as well as Bluetooth.

The Trek Émonda SLR 10 comes equipped with SRAM RED 22, 50/34 compact crankset. The true genius of this bike lies in the Ultralight 700 Series OCLV Carbon frame though. Years of research, development, and testing have gone into the production of this frame. Each tube shape is uniquely designed to maximize the performance of the bicycle while minimizing the weight. The perfect balance of stiffness and weight. An excessive amount of carbon has been sacrificed in the research and development of this frame; it is well worth it though as the rider can put the hammer down on this 10.25 pound road bike with 100% confidence.

Tuesday Banter: Shaved arms and beard, do they matter?

In a previous segment of Tuesday Banter, we reviewed the testing of leg hair drag at the Specialized wind tunnel. In the tests of Shaved vs. not shaved legs at the Specialized wind tunnel, what was found was amazing. Among the riders tested, an average of 70 seconds over 40km was saved. Over a minute in a 40km distance is massive time savings. This is approximately the same difference achieved from aerodynamic efficiency as switching from a standard round tube bike to an aero bike such as the Venge. Ergo, the question remains what kind of aerodynamic efficiencies can be gained from shaving the rest of exposed body hair.

In the first video here, Specialized utilizes their state of the art wind tunnel to test the drag of a beard in the segment titled “The Win Tunnel: To Beard or Not to Beard.”

After running multiple tests and analyzing the results, it was found that the tested subject Joe, did gained only less than a second over 40km from shaving the beard. These type of gains are nearly negligible. Ergo, if a rider has an emotional attachment to their facial hair, or simply keeps a beard out of laziness or for convenience, his aerodynamic efficiency shan’t be affected by his beardyness.

Naturally, the other ares of exposed body hair when in cycling bibs and jersey are to be tested to come full circle. Ergo, specialized has tested the effects of shaved arms in the Specialized segment titled “The Win Tunnel: Are Shaved Arms Faster?” The video of said segment follows here.

The findings of the testing of shaved arms vs. not shaved arms were as predicted after analyzing the results of the prior two wind tunnel tests at Specialized. Shaved arms does in fact increase aerodynamic efficiency, much more than shaving of the beard, but much less than shaving of the legs. It was found that shaved arms were an average of 19 seconds faster over a distance of 40km. This represents a decent size chunk of time saving from aerodynamics; significantly more than the under a second saving from shaving one’s beard, yet significantly less than the 70 second saving form one shaving their legs.

Ergo, if a rider is going to shave anything at all, these should be the legs. And while you are at it, it couldn’t hurt to toss the arms in there under the razor. A rider nee bother with the beard, it is affecting his aerodynamics at a negligible rate.

Carbon Road Wheels: Bontrager Aeolus 3 D3 Clincher

Though it is not often something that is generally sought when purchasing carbon road wheels, it is worth noting that the Bontrager Aeolus 3 D3 Clincher wheels come with no weight restriction. There is something to be said about engineering and design with so much confidence that the manufacturer openly advertises no weight restriction on their wheelsets. This is the case for the vast majority of Bontrager wheels. And from personal and shop experience, I can tell you that the high end Bontrager wheels are manufactured to this standard. The Aeolus 3 D3 Clincher wheels are highly durable, even in all conditions, they spin with very little resistance and have fast and powerful acceleration.

The Aeolus line of wheels caries the D3 title because of their new Dual Direction Design. What this means for the rider is that the rims have been designed to be aerodynamic both where the tire is leading and where the rim is leading, hence dual directional aerodynamics. In aerodynamics tests, performed by Bontrager,  the Aeolus 3 has lower drag than the Zipp 202 and the Zipp 303 at all yaw angles from 0° to 12.5°. Of course, when thinking critically, these tests have been performed by Bontrager, naturally they are not going to publish results that make their product appear inferior. However, as a third party, who carries both brands we are in a position to make an objective review.

The Aeolus D3 wheelsets are light for their depth, and this is true for all depths, there is no disputing this fact. Moreover, from personal and shop experience we can tell you that they are very durable, it is no wonder that Bontrager proudly puts no weight limit on them, and continues to stand by their durability and manufacturing. These wheels are heavily ridden by customers and colleagues alike, through rough streets of New York and New Jersey, they both rarely need truing and continue to have smooth spin in the hub. A colleague of ours was actually even in a fairly significant accident with this wheelset and they still held up.

These personal praises of the Aeolus D3 wheelset  coincide with that of other professional reviews. Professional reviews also claim that they have fast acceleration, and of equal importance, they maintain their speed on par with other wheels in the same class. Some experts even claim they maintain their rolling speed even better than others in their class. And as previously mentioned, because of their durability, they are ridden with confidence in a multitude of terrains and conditions. In addition, they maintain stability even when ridden in crosswinds, an important consideration when riding fairly deep aero rims.

A breakdown of Bontrager’s testing of the wheelsets in comparison to the competitors can be found in the following link.

Bontrager Aeolus D3 Testing

The information can be analyzed and provide valuable insight. However, of course such information should be analyzed critically as the tests have been conducted by Bontrager themselves.

All of this being said, Bontrager definitely holds their own against the big dog competitors such as HED, Zipp, and Easton. We highly recommend them. And because of their durability, they are perhaps a better option for those which consider this a big factor in wheelset choice. Such is a great all around wheelset for the recreational cyclist who demands performance, those who do not necessarily have the means for a separate set of wheels for race day, or even serious competitive cyclists who need something durable for everyday use.

Feel free to direct any questions my way. As always, I am stoked to answer any and all questions as well as provide professional expertise.

S-Works Road Shoe: Body Geometry at the Most Crucial Point

Everything happens through the feet.

Always pushing the envelope, Specialized has designed their lightest and stiffest road shoe to date. Weighing in at a mere 200g (1/2 pair 42) and with a stiffness index of 13 for the carbon sole, this S-Works Road Shoe screams performance. However, the true benefits of this shoe are realized with the body geometry fit, the best fitting and most efficient road shoe Specialized has made yet. In this newest model, Specialized has minimized bulk by thermowelding nearly all parts of this shoe together, eliminating the need for stitching. The tongue is more sleek and supple than other brands road shoe, or even previous models of S-Works road shoes. This saved material from the tongue has been allotted to the midsection as well as creating a more defined heel cup. This alone has significantly increased the efficiency of the shoe by nearly eliminating heel lift as well as significantly eliminating other unwanted lateral movements that decrease efficiencies of road shoes.

Specialized‘s investment in research and technology becomes more and more apparent every year. Stress testing is utilized to determine stress points. These stress testing results are then utilized to determine where material can be eliminated, and where it needs to be added to reinforce areas that are prone to stress. Such technology is how Specialized has developed the Smartweld technology, producing some of the best riding aluminum frames on the market. The S-Works Road shoe has been designed in the same manner, the result has been the asymmetric optimized Powerline carbon sole which is ultralight and realizes a stiffness Index of 13.0. The asymmetric design is a result of eliminated material where it is not needed and reinforcing areas where it is needed. Producing a super stiff yet light carbon sole, all power transfer to the pedal, nothing is lost.

As previously mentioned, the development of this shoe has not been about simply eliminating material, and resulting weight; the development has been about eliminating material where it is not needed but supplying material where it is needed. The result of which has been a more sleek fitting, supple, lightweight, yet very stiff shoe that performs better than any other. These are quite ambitious goals. The result has not come up short. I personally own the S-Works MTB shoe which has undergone the same research and been designed in the same manner, I have been riding mine for over a year now. My personal review of the shoe coincides with other expert’s product reviews. The toe box fits better than any other shoe I have ridden, the supple tongue is comfortable on the forefoot yet not bulky, and heel lift has been eliminated. The thermowelding has not only eliminated bulk, it has reduced the occurrence of hot spots or uncomfortable pains that occur over distance. Personally, I ride mine 100 miles and am still not bothered to leave them on for my post ride meal and coffee, comfortable yet snug with nearly no unwanted stretch and play. I would highly recommend them.

The two independent Boa® S2-Snap dials micro-adjust on-the-fly and this system is easily replaceable. The Body Geometry sole and footbed optimize hip, knee, and foot alignment, the result of such is increased performance as well as comfort. This shoe comes in four colors schemes as well. If you are not a fan of the super bright white/white design or of the flashy asymmetric cosmetics in both the white/red, and white/black designs, the the black/black design (personal favorite) is sure to please. You can’t go wrong with all black everything.

Tuesday Banter: Funny Cycling Kits!

I must admit, though I am an all black kit and clothing kind of guy myself, there is something to be said about whimsical jerseys and cycling kits. There is something fun about showing up to your Saturday ride with friends and having the most colorful and sometimes hilarious kit, especially when you are feeling strong and pulling them around all day. Bicycling.com has scoured and found some of the funniest kits out there in the following feature. A few are definitely worth highlighting, and I have followed with a couple of my personal favorites from experience.

Feature: 12 Crazy Cycling Kits

This kit is my particular favorite from the feature, I literally laughed out loud as I came across this one while scrolling through. The Banana kit by DJ Clever Kits from Sommerville Sports! Need we say more? This kit speaks for itself in our opinion. Vivid photography of real bananas, no animation here, completely covering the jersey. Peers at your weekend ride will simply be amazed, and may even get a chuckle, or two, or many.

I think that most who have grown up in the 90’s can agree that this kit is pretty much totally AWESOME! Think Zack Morris, Kelly Kapowski, Samuel “Screech” Powers, and A.C. Slater; If “Saved By the Bell” had a cycling club, this would surely be their team kit. Another amazing Australian cycling export, Attaquer is making super high quality cycling apparel with the attitude desired by even the most outspoken cyclists.

Okay, once again I am at a loss of words. What can really be said about a majestic Unicorn spewing rainbows all over the place… nothing more than “AWESOME”! This unique kit is designed for Halters Cycles in New Jersey, a bit jealous that they thought of it first to be completely honest. Yet it wouldn’t work for our branding here in Brooklyn anyhow. Either way, bravo Halters Cycles, totally awesome and I would be amused to say the least if I saw this jersey on the way up to Nyack or down to Surf City.

One of my personal favorites, the team Near Naked men cycling kit. Team Near Naked has joined together to raise money for the Male Cancer Awaerness Campaign, specifically male prostate cancer. So, not only is the kit hilarious with a nearly naked appearance and simple foliage covering rider’s bits, but team Near Naked is out their riding in the fight against cancer; a cause that is difficult to not admire. I had the pleasure of lending one of my bikes a couple years ago as Team Near Naked premiered the kit in a photo shoot at Look Mum No Hands’ Clerkenwell location in London  as seen in the following photo. Riding for a good cause, we are all about it.

And lastly, the Heinz Beans kit! Yes, a thousand times yes.

Made by Foska Clothing. Please let us know about any funny cycling kits you know of or may own. We would love to hear about them, always a good chuckle.