How many bikes does a pro tour team get?

[9000ft]

I was wondering how many bikes a pro tour team typically gets allowcated from their bike sponsor per year. I know there are a lot of variables but I would assume that if a team signs with a manufacturer to supply bikes, it can't be totally open ended........ Can it? (it would be kind of cool to be able to go through top end bikes like candy )

 

[redtreviso]

I was wondering how many bikes a pro tour team typically gets allowcated from their bike sponsor per year. I know there are a lot of variables but I would assume that if a team signs with a manufacturer to supply bikes, it can't be totally open ended........ Can it? (it would be kind of cool to be able to go through top end bikes like candy )

It takes 20 extra treks per rider converted into cash and wired to Ferrari's bank account in the Canary Islands to supply some teams.

 

[Barrus]

No further talk about the supposed sold Trek bicycles in this topic, this is a legitimate question by 9000ft and I'm interested myself as well. I also wonder if teams such as Colnago and Cérvelo have more bikes at their disposable than other teams riding on bikes of thosemanufacturers

 

[redtreviso]

But seriously.. Not accounting for special paint jobs or prototypes or TT bikes or crashed. For a well financed team I would guess a rider gets 2 for training, one and a spare. For races 1 for race , a spare for the race and another spare in the truck..and at least another bare frame. So no less than 5.. In this age of exploding carbon fiber it might be a constant of 5 completely replaced 2 or 3 times a season.. If anyone asked a team they would probably say a rider has a training bike a race bike and a spare and they last all year.

 

[straydog]

It does depend on the size of the bike sponsor...but generally they are pretty generous seeing as Teams riding their bikes is their main source of advertising.

Most riders get one or two training bikes for use at all times....for racing purposes...well, everyone gets one of each (TT and Road frame)....then they need to cover mechanicals etc...but a fair few cyclists ride the same sized frames...

I have been at much smaller races and have actually seen teams run out of spares and guys have finished on another teams frame.

 

[Michele]

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/inside-the-team-sky-service-course

“We have about 100 bikes here right now and 80 pairs of wheels,” said Ilegems. “We hold them here for when the riders want to swap bikes. The riders email in and say what they need. What you’re seeing now is probably worth around two million Euros. At full capacity we can probably store up to four million Euros of bikes and equipment."

 

[avanti]

I was wondering how many bikes a pro tour team typically gets allowcated from their bike sponsor per year. I know there are a lot of variables but I would assume that if a team signs with a manufacturer to supply bikes, it can't be totally open ended........ Can it? (it would be kind of cool to be able to go through top end bikes like candy )

I suspect that most teams only get frames from bicycle company sponsors such as Trek, Specialized, etc. and that teams obtain separate sponsorships for wheels, seats, gears, tires, etc.

 

[redtreviso]

I suspect that most teams only get frames from bicycle company sponsors such as Trek, Specialized, etc. and that teams obtain separate sponsorships for wheels, seats, gears, tires, etc.

or not..It may be up the the bike company to supply the whole package and make the deals for all the components. A team might be overwhelmed at having to deal with a wheel guy and a tire guy and a stem guy and a handlebar guy and a seat guy on a daily basis..

 

[Michele]

Exactly; some teams get the whole package, while some not.
It depends on each case.

 

[Hairy Wheels]

But seriously.. Not accounting for special paint jobs or prototypes or TT bikes or crashed. For a well financed team I would guess a rider gets 2 for training, one and a spare. For races 1 for race , a spare for the race and another spare in the truck..and at least another bare frame. So no less than 5.. In this age of exploding carbon fiber it might be a constant of 5 completely replaced 2 or 3 times a season.. If anyone asked a team they would probably say a rider has a training bike a race bike and a spare and they last all year.

I think you might be off. It depends on the rider really...they get one bike for home...one bike for races. A TT bike is status quo for all riders these days. There are spare bikes/frames etc, but the riders don't get "spare bikes" so much as access to bikes as needed. That makes 3 per rider...but the name riders certainly have a few choices...so maybe 5 total for them. TT bikes are often used more than one year and even the small teams might use the "home" bikes more than one season.

Maybe 150 to 200 frames per year depending on team?

I was racing a UCI tour once and I was cross eyed sitting on a wheel coming back from a flat...I was on a Mapei riders wheel. His brakes definitely had "ultegra" on them...and I checked the next day before the stage, the whole gruppo...9spd Ultegra. We tend to judge the ProTour teams based on the fairy tail equipment they use at the Tour and other major races...the reality is a little different.

 

[SoLogy]

I read somewhere

that all Garmin riders are issued an AR1 and also have the choice between one of the F1 models or a Z model. In addition they also have a DA TT bike. So each rider gets 3 race bikes. In addition they would also have spare bikes for the team cars during races. I would assume that the riders also have training bikes which may not be the current models for their use away from races and that some riders also get preproduction models either for testing.

 

[**Uru**]

Cyclingnews did a story on Quickstep in the spring where they touched on this...could not find the link. They said the average rider got a road and TT bike for training and the same for events. Ad a spare to the mix just in case during races. Guys like Boonen got more because they got bikes with special paint jobs or would be riding prototypes. Come to think of it, I also saw a story on Radioshack and they had loads of bikes in storage even from the Discovey days. If you look at teams like Saxo, Sky, and Astana, each rider got even more bikes as they got a road bike, another rode bike for the pave, and a time trial bike.

 

[Race Radio]

The number of bikes a Pro team gets has gone up dramatically in the past few years as production in Asia has become more advanced. These days you would be amazed to walk into a service course and see hundreds of bikes. 10 years ago this was not the case.

The amount of money that a bike company pays to sponsor has also increased substantially from years ago.

 

[benpounder]

re training bikes. I wouldn't be surprised if many riders (except the top talent) are on previous years models. And then there are rider preferences - perhaps the latest changes do not suit a particular rider and that 2year old Pinarello fits perfectly.

 

[53 x 11]

re training bikes. I wouldn't be surprised if many riders (except the top talent) are on previous years models. And then there are rider preferences - perhaps the latest changes do not suit a particular rider and that 2year old Pinarello fits perfectly.

More often than not these are sold of at end or start of the season.

Its a way of paying the mechanics some bonuses. Although PostoDisco had other plans.

 

[craig1985]

More often than not these are sold of at end or start of the season.

Its a way of paying the mechanics some bonuses. Although PostoDisco had other plans.

If you go on the Davitamon/Predicator/Silence/Omega Pharma - lotto website at the end of the year, anybody who is Belgium and has a spare 3.000 euro can walk in and buy a team bike from the service course. I've read that some teams ride bikes because they may not be the best, more because the bike company pays more money.

But going back to Lotto, an article that appeared some years ago that stated that each rider got a training bike, a race bike, a spare, and a TT bike. But I'm sure you could use the spare or training bikes in a race if you really wanted too.

 

[benpounder]

But going back to Lotto, an article that appeared some years ago that stated that each rider got a training bike, a race bike, a spare, and a TT bike. But I'm sure you could use the spare or training bikes in a race if you really wanted too.

Looking at some photos of GT TT's it appears that some of the top guys have spare TT bikes as well.

Sastre in this years final Giro ITT:

 

[Tim_sleepless]

I also saw a story on Radioshack and they had loads of bikes in storage even from the Discovey days.

Really? That would be a bit weird, given that in theory they were completely different teams. Not saying it's incorrect, just seems a little strange.

 

[Tim_sleepless]

Looking at some photos of GT TT's it appears that some of the top guys have spare TT bikes as well.

Or 2 or 3 spares in the case of Rassmussen.

 

[Mondrian]

Teams are usually sponsored by frame manufacturers with complete bikes, of course component manufacturers chip in too so Mavic would team up with Canyon Campagnolo to sponsor Lotto.

Number of bikes can vary between each team and as always it depends on teams bargaining power (ranking) but generally each cyclist gets a new training bike and a race bike each season or before major races - i.e. a pair for the classics, another for Giro & another for the tour - high profile cyclists would probably get another for the Worlds and when you take TT bikes into consideration the total could be as high as 250/year for high profile teams. Standard agreement is that the bikes must be returned to the manufacturer at the end of the term so they would hand them 250 and expect 250 back but it usually doesn't work out that way and few find their way back to the sponsors - a lot depends on the relationship between the team and the bike sponsor, if they do really well and have a good relationship then they probably get away with holding on to the bikes.

I have had friends buy bikes from Lampre team at the end of a race a couple of years ago and according to the team they were specially made for the team so different from what you'd find in a shop which are replica's - It seems quite common practice by mass producers to make the replica bikes quite light at the cost of some stiffness and durability as your average cyclist never push their frames to the same limits that the likes of Cavendish & Cancellara & Hushovd do. I guess this is what makes the difference between mass produced manufacturers like Trek, Spec, Scott, Giant, Lampre, BMC & the high end producers such as Pina, Colnago, Look, Time, Ridley.

 

[Mitcholo]

From what I understand, the neo-pros on most teams get a race bike and a training bike only. If the new rider has demonstrated good TT prowess before his signing (i.e: being a good Amateur/U23 TTist) they'll get either a single race/train TT bike, or two for a bigger operation.
If said pro gets selected for a cobbled classic requiring special equipment, he'll probably get a bike or two for that, as well as more clothing.
If the rider gets selected for a stage race, they'll usually get more clothing and another bike (if he needs one).

Basically, they get bikes/equipment/clothing as they get selected for races. Jan Van Whatshisname racing for Willems Verandas who doesn't get selected for any big races probably won't be getting more than a racing bike, while Phillipe Gilbert will have access to any bike he really needs.

Granted, it's not the same for every team, but that's the basic model for most teams as I've understood it.

 

[9000ft]

Teams are usually sponsored by frame manufacturers with complete bikes, of course component manufacturers chip in too so Mavic would team up with Canyon Campagnolo to sponsor Lotto.

Number of bikes can vary between each team and as always it depends on teams bargaining power (ranking) but generally each cyclist gets a new training bike and a race bike each season or before major races - i.e. a pair for the classics, another for Giro & another for the tour - high profile cyclists would probably get another for the Worlds and when you take TT bikes into consideration the total could be as high as 250/year for high profile teams. Standard agreement is that the bikes must be returned to the manufacturer at the end of the term so they would hand them 250 and expect 250 back but it usually doesn't work out that way and few find their way back to the sponsors - a lot depends on the relationship between the team and the bike sponsor, if they do really well and have a good relationship then they probably get away with holding on to the bikes.

I have had friends buy bikes from Lampre team at the end of a race a couple of years ago and according to the team they were specially made for the team so different from what you'd find in a shop which are replica's - It seems quite common practice by mass producers to make the replica bikes quite light at the cost of some stiffness and durability as your average cyclist never push their frames to the same limits that the likes of Cavendish & Cancellara & Hushovd do. I guess this is what makes the difference between mass produced manufacturers like Trek, Spec, Scott, Giant, Lampre, BMC & the high end producers such as Pina, Colnago, Look, Time, Ridley.

Yeah, I was assuming that it varied quite a bit from team to team. I was just curious what a typical contract looked like between team and supplier. IE: "You get so many bikes of such and such a configuration, your riders must ride only our bikes (or at least bikes with our brand) during competition and training, we get them back at the end of the season", and so on.

I'm sure the stars get the pick of the litter and all the latest goodies, custom paint jobs, extra bikes, etc. I wonder how big a contrast the arrangement is between the deals the pro tour teams get and continental teams in Europe and the US. (and Asia/Oceania too since this is an Aussie based web site ) All told, just to pro tour teams, let alone the smaller teams, you've got to be talking a lot of bikes that a major and even smaller bike manufacturer gives away in sponsorship every year. you have to wonder what portion of their marketing budget goes to that.

 

[Denkoff]

wow ameswone

 

[Mondrian]

Yeah, I was assuming that it varied quite a bit from team to team. I was just curious what a typical contract looked like between team and supplier. IE: "You get so many bikes of such and such a configuration, your riders must ride only our bikes (or at least bikes with our brand) during competition and training, we get them back at the end of the season", and so on.

I'm sure the stars get the pick of the litter and all the latest goodies, custom paint jobs, extra bikes, etc. I wonder how big a contrast the arrangement is between the deals the pro tour teams get and continental teams in Europe and the US. (and Asia/Oceania too since this is an Aussie based web site ) All told, just to pro tour teams, let alone the smaller teams, you've got to be talking a lot of bikes that a major and even smaller bike manufacturer gives away in sponsorship every year. you have to wonder what portion of their marketing budget goes to that.

You are right on the pro contract top ones even get their shoes custom made. As for continental teams, they are usually sponsored by the distributor - so only a 50% discount unless its a high profile team and there is money to made there for the distributor in which case they might go the whole 9 yard and make a 100% sponsorship but doubt they woud get more than one each to the team.

 

[simo1733]

I think a lot of teams get new bikes for the tour de France