Indholdsfortegnelse for Issue 27 i Cyclist Australia

It’s that time of year when we’re really starting to get into the groove – at least when it comes to harnessing our ability to burn the midnight oil in search of that next European win (by an Aussie, that is). It may have taken a touch longer than Caleb Ewan and his Orica-Scott team-mates had hoped, but the dogged young sprinter finally ticked his Giro d’Italia victory box on stage seven of this year’s race. Better still, he did it against some of the fastest finishers in the pro peloton. It was a wild sprint that went down to the absolute wire – and that’s why we just had to show Marcus Enno’s photographic work capturing the occasion in our Through the Lens spread (page 30). What a moment!…

Age: 23 Nationality: Australian Professional teams: BMC Racing Team (2017); Wanty-Groupe Cobert (2016); Team Illuminate (2016) Honours: 1st, Australian Road Race Championships (2017) 1st, Olympia Tour, stage 3a (2016) 1st, Team Pursuit, UCI Track World Championships (2016, 2014) 1st, Australian U23 Road Race Championships (2015) 1st, Australian U23 Individual Time Trial Championships (2015) 1st, Team Pursuit, UCI Track World Cup – Guadalajara (2014) He seemed to burst onto the domestic road cycling scene with his dramatic win over two-time champion Simon Gerrans at the Australian Road Nationals in January, but cycling purists are all too aware that 23-year-old Campbelltown native Miles Scotson was racking up wins and building a rather impressive palmares long before he stood atop the senior road race championships podium nearly six months ago now. With the…

When travelling, people often suggest uploading a map to your computer’s GPS device. This makes things straightforward and really reduces your chances of inadvertently going off course. However, Gloucester’s road network is hardly extensive and almost anyone could get by with a printed map – heck, even a hand-drawn rendition of this loop written in crayon should be sufficient. To summarise: you head north on Gloucester’s main street (Church Street), which veers onto Thunderbolts Way. Track this direction for few minutes before turning left onto Bucketts Road. Cross the rivers, bunny hop cow grates and follow the farm roads (bitumen and unsealed) until you scale Mud Hut Road and eventually end up back on Thunderbolts Way – you’ll know which one it is, as it comes at about 72km in…

‘I knew they would probably leave me alone a little. They wouldn't have believed I would hang in there for three weeks’ Almost thirty years have passed since Steve Bauer raced away to his finest of nine Tours de France. It was 1988, and he finished in fourth place overall, while also winning the first stage and spending five days in the race leader’s yellow jersey. Bauer rates the feat – which saw him become the second Canadian Tour leader after Alexi Stieda in 1986 – as a higher achievement than his 1990 Tour, when he wore yellow for nine days. ‘I didn’t have the jersey for as long, but I finished fourth,’ Bauer says. ‘I was fitter, had a better race overall.’ Now 57, Bauer is still relatively modest…

Trek really made waves when it launched its latest Madone 9 Series, with its engineers displaying some unconventional thinking for system integration. Most obvious is the front brake, fitted neatly into the front fork such that it requires a pair of hinged flaps at the front of the head tube (which Trek calls Vector Wings) to enable the bike to turn. The upshot of such outlandish design is a seriously fast bike, which Trek says it couldn’t have achieved without being able to take a more holistic approach, for example by producing more components such as its bar/stem combo in-house to maximise the performance benefits.…

‘I work on the principle that if you draw a line from the rear dropout to the top of the head tube, below that line is where all the pedalling stresses happen, so that can be built stiff. Then above that line I work on the comfort,’ says Sowter. ‘The bigger your down tube, the stiffer your bottom bracket section can be. The skinnier your top tube and seatstays, the more flex you can build in for comfort. ‘Companies such as Columbus are now making down tubes 44mm wide with wall thickness down to 0.35mm, which is great for stiff, light steel frames. I’d still like to see wall thicknesses get even thinner or certain tubes wider – increase a tube diameter from 10mm to 20mm and the stiffness goes…

A Pinarello that doesn’t cost the same as a holiday home in the Canaries? So what’s the catch? The distinctive wavy forks and seatstays are present and correct, and the ride quality – if you’re a Pinarello fan – is as firm and fast as you get on its more expensive cousins. In fact, if anything, the frame actually felt more comfortable than anything in the Dogma range, thanks to a subtly more relaxed rider position. That doesn’t mean there have been compromises in build quality. The carbon fibre frame still felt reassuringly stiff, especially on the long descents where I felt encouraged to throw it around the sweeping bends with abandon. By the end of the ride, I felt my confidence as a descender had increased – not a…

THE SPEC Model Merida Scultura Disc Team Edition Groupset Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 9070 Deviations Rotor 3D30 Chainset, Shimano RS805 disc brakes Wheels Fulcrum Racing Quattro Disc carbon Finishing kit FSA K-Force Compact bar, FSA OS99 stem, FSA K-Force seatpost; Prologo Scratch 2 T2.0 saddle Weight 7.48kg Price $7,999 Contact merida.com.au Merida is part of a royal circle of cycling brands that dwarf all others. Where many brands hire Far Eastern factories to build their high-end racing frames, Merida owns an enormous Taiwanese bike building business and numerous factories itself. It’s also big enough to throw its weight behind a WorldTour team, with title sponsorship of Bahrain-Merida, the new home of Vincenzo Nibali. So with money, marketing and manufacturing all on Merida’s side, the new Scultura should be a world-beater. Size…

Until some 200 years ago, life in Moothi was much as it ever was. The local Wiradjuri people gave little thought to the practices of the white people further east, over the ranges. After gold was discovered, waves of new folk came seeking fortune. The legend of Mudgee grew, and local gold miner’s son Henry Lawson added to it with his stories of life in the bush. These included The Grog-an’-Grumble Steeplechase, about a close race between city horse Holy Terror and local champion, The Screamer. ‘Twixt the coastline and the border lay the town of Grog-an’-Grumble In the days before the bushman was a dull ‘n’ heartless drudge, An’ they say the local meeting was a drunken rough-and-tumble, Which was ended pretty often by an inquest on the judge.…

$39.95, bbbparts.com.au With so many components specifying accurate clamping forces these days, it seems only reasonable to have a select range of drivers on hand for tuning in your own position. Handlebars, stems, seat posts, saddles and even GPS mounts tend to state ‘X Nm’ somewhere on the part. The Torquefix comes equipped with Hex keys ranging from 2-6mm along with a handy T25 and can be easily fitted into the handle. The click-mechanism while rotating clockwise indicates when torque setting is reached. Available in 4, 5 or 6 pre-set Nm.…

It's hard not to be biased as a cycling photographer, but I had my fingers (and toes) crossed for Caleb Ewan (Orica- Scott) ahead of every sprint finish at this year’s Giro d’Italia. The first few stages presented, at least on paper, the ideal bunch kick scenarios for the young Aussie. But things didn’t go his way as he went agonisingly close on stage one, where he finished second, and then pulled his foot out of the pedal on stage two. He was so close to his first Giro stage win, and I wanted to be there to capture it. We had a bugger of a day on stage seven from Castrovillari to Alberobello. A calculated diversion that would see us in front of the race convoy – after stopping…

The climb of Plateau de Beille had only been used five times previously by the Tour de France when, in 2015, Spain’s Joaquim Rodriguez joined the short list of names to have triumphed atop the mountain. In truly biblical weather, a soaked-through Rodriguez emerged from among the gloom-busting headlights of the Tour vehicles accompanying him on his ascent to take the second of his two stage wins at last year’s Tour, well over a minute clear of chaser Jakob Fuglsang and third-placed Romain Bardet. Indeed, every time Plateau de Beille has featured at the Tour, it has been employed as a summit finish, mainly owing to the fact that there is only one decent road up it, but also thanks to its ski-resort car park being big enough to cram…

This ride is basically split evenly between sealed and unsealed roads, so it was a bit tricky to decide what style of bike to take. Canyon’s Endurace CF SLR proved an inspired (and luxurious) choice. Jack was rolling on carbon Mavic Ksyrium Pro Carbon SL Disc wheels and Shimano Dura-Ace Di2, with Alex getting by on DT Swiss wheels and mechanical Shimano Ultegra. The Canyon Endurace is suitable for a ride like this because of its superior tyre clearance (it easily fitted our 30mm Schwalbe tyres and would handle up to a 33mm with ease) and revolutionary leaf sprung seatpost. Theoretically, these characteristics allow for a smooth and controlled ride and the Endurace did not disappoint. Harsh unsealed roads and rough bitumen were no problem and the 30mm tyres at…

Nothing invites a cliche quite like getting older. Age is just a number; it’s all in the mind; you’re only as old as you feel… the list goes on. But while we’d be foolish not to acknowledge that our physiology will alter as the years tick past, the good news is the extent and rate of the decline is much more in our control than we might think. The even better news is that cycling is a great choice for an ageing body. Let’s start with some encouragement. Next time you feel like using your passing years as an excuse, here are some examples of sporting achievements by individuals who might be considered well past their prime. Haile Gebrselassie ran a mindboggling 2h 03min 59sec marathon (a new world record…

It wasn’t long ago that a dream road bike started life as a frame in your hands. You would then pick the parts – wheels, groupset, bars, seatpost, saddle – that best suited your preferences and wallet. While this is still entirely possible today, at the top end of the market it’s a lot trickier, as brands design their own components to function with the frame. Take the latest Trek Madone – it will only work with the supplied cockpit, seatpost and brakes. All that’s really left to play with are the wheels and drivetrain. Specialized’s Venge ViAS, Canyon’s Endurace and BMC’s Roadmachine are similar stories. The result is that the consumer is required to stay within the manufacturer’s walled garden as the industry pursues its latest goal: system integration.…

Look was an early pioneer of system integration. A decade ago it created its own hollow carbon crankset and integrated bottom bracket system, plus its E-Post seat mast on its 595 model. More recently, in 2014, its 795 Aerolight took integration to a whole new level. With fully integrated brakes, a proprietary stem plus the ZED cranks and integrated E-post, Look claimed it was the world’s most aerodynamic road bike. Its appearance was divisive, though – the market simply wasn’t accustomed to such unorthodox designs.…

It was love at first sight – I had never seen curves so sinuous, alluring and mysterious. Unfortunately, my wife was with me, so I would have to wait until the next day for a closer look. I took the local bus and beat an elderly German hiker to a window seat. As well as enjoying the views, I listened for every change of pitch and whine in the engine. Apart from a couple of sections where it seemed the gears would start smoking under the strain, the gradients felt constant and manageable. The road surface appeared smooth and unblemished. And then a glance to my right after just 5km sealed my love: the view back down the valley showed a series of bends uncoiling towards a cluster of brightly…

$99.95, bontrager.com We’ve all been there during the winter months – sitting by the fire, feet up, with a pair of Ugg boots keeping our toes ‘oh so toasty’. Then you realise the milk has run out. A trip to the shops is inevitable, but you simply don’t want to sacrifice warmth for style. The Uggs stay on, and you walk up the street in apparel generally reserved for the home. You don’t care if people judge you. If this sounds like you, we have some good news: that same level of comfort and warmth has now arrived for riding. Think of them like a pair of Uggs that go over the top of your normal cycling shoes. It’s the ultimate in bootie luxury that’s reserved exclusively for activities outside…

$579, 700g (EU 45), bontcycling.com.au All new for 2017, the Vaypor G is about to take your off-piste adventures to new high-perforrming heights. Featuring Bont Cycling’s renowned unidrectional and monocoque carbon fibre chassis, Durolite upper and uber-soft suede leather inner, you’ll receive all the usual biomechanics efficiency as the Vaypor S, with an outer sole designed specifically to get you over the most technical of terrain – when your legs and wheels give up. With a 3.6mm stack height, two-bolt hole cleats, replaceable heel guard, grip pads and a dual BOA retention system, the Vaypor G is the place to turn for those more attracted to the dirt over pavement. We’ll report back soon, on cyclist.com.au, with a more in-depth review.…

Combine the fairway-green fields with the cloudless May afternoon and I’ve found myself in cycling paradise Restlessness sets in as we steer off the A1 and onto The Bucketts Way. ‘Surely,’ I think, ‘Gloucester is close and we’ll be on our bikes soon.’ As my anticipation builds, Alex delivers a blow: ‘The Bucketts Way goes forever,’ he proclaims, as if reading my thoughts. ‘It’ll take us at least an hour to get to town.’ This timeframe means I have no choice but to get comfortable in the middle seat of the van. I forget my aching legs and stiff back as I watch the Upper Hunter’s landscape change from beautiful to unforgettable. If this is Gloucester, I want to know why no one has mentioned it before. It’s a quiet…

With its own wind-tunnel in its Californian headquarters, an already established working relationship with the McLaren Formula One team and a penchant for producing seriously fast bikes (such as its Shiv TT bike), Specialized was perfectly poised to pounce on performance gains through integration. The Venge V iAS is the consummate example of system integration, thanks to Specialized having total control over virtually every component on the bike. Only the derailleurs, shifters, disc brakes, chain and cassette are not made in-house. The result is a bike that, Specialized claims, will be 116 seconds faster than a standard road bike over 40km. That’s a saving not to be sniffed at, and depending on your tastes this is a seriously cool looking bike.…

Leave San Sebastián on the GM-2 in the direction of Playa Santiago. After 13km or so you will pass the turn off for Playa, but keep on the GM-2 in the direction of Valle Gran Rey. After approximately 34km, you will come to a roundabout where the GM-2 meets the GM-1. Turn right on the GM-1 to Vallehermoso. Follow the GM-1 in the direction of Agulo. You will pass through two tunnels and climb for approximately 8km. At the settlement of Las Rosas (soon after the second tunnel) look out for a right-hand turn signposted Centro de Visitantes, Juego de Bolas. This is the start of a 14km climb that eventually rejoins the GM-2. At the junction, turn left and retrace the route back to San Sebastián.…

While UCI regulations continue to flip-flop around the use of disc brakes in the racing peloton, manufacturers are already well ahead of the game. Dedicated race machines like the Merida Scultura are now being optimised to accommodate and perform with hydraulic calipers and rotors affixed. The offering? Pro-level machines for the ‘street sign’ racer. At the other end of the spectrum is the Cube Attain, a hardy, enjoyable and well-rounded package for those not yet ready to step up to the sprint line. When that day comes, however, the Attain is ready to go. And the race commissaire won’t mind just one bit.…

THE SPEC Model Cube Attain GTC Race Groupset Shimano Ultegra 6800, 11-speed Deviations Shimano RS500 brake callipers Wheels Mavic Aksium Elite Finishing kit Cube Performance Stem Pro stem, Wing Race Bar Compact bars, Performance Post and RP 1.0 saddle Weight 8,250g (53) Price $2,499 (RRP $2,899) Contact 99bikes.com.au Cube categorises its latest Attain as a race/endurance bike, claiming it is ‘as comfortable as it is fast’ and employs the ‘best off-the-shelf technology available’ to provide ‘unrivalled performance’. With an excellent frame and quality component selection, this assessment is on the mark. There’s a lot to like about the Cube Attain. Initially, the Attain feels like a pure race bike. A few clicks down the cassette and some revolutions out of the saddle sees it spring forward, encouraging the rider to…