The Aqua Blue Sport thread

[vedrafjord]

I am still extremely interested in how Eddie Dunbar gets on. Have posted about him before but he's basically a young Andy Schleck. He was never confident in his descending so he would go from way, way out in lumpy races and often win.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Re:

I am still extremely interested in how Eddie Dunbar gets on. Have posted about him before but he's basically a young Andy Schleck. He was never confident in his descending so he would go from way, way out in lumpy races and often win.

Recently though rather surprisingly his best showings have been on the cobbles and in the TT, and although he's clearly a climber, he hasn't shown "Young Andy" level at that yet.

I am looking forward to seeing how both he and Pedersen get on next year. On paper Aqua Blue seem to have made the best espoir signings of any team outside of the very top end of the WT. which is a nice change after their (now proven entirely correct) decision to focus on recruiting well established mid-level riders last year.

 

[Leinster]

This has to be a publicity stunt. Well, obviously it's a publicity stunt, but how far will the stunt go?

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/aqua-blue-sport-to-compete-on-3t-strada-disc-bike-with-1x-drivetrain-in-2018/

"Single-ring road bikes will be raced in the pro peloton for the first time in 2018. The Irish pro road team Aqua Blue Sport will compete on the 3T Strada, an aero disc-brake road bike notable for its absence of a front derailleur, 3T announced the news at Interbike."


Oh, and spot the deliberate mistake? I'm pretty sure single rings have been raced in the peloton before 2018. A long time before 2018, it must be said.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Re:

This has to be a publicity stunt. Well, obviously it's a publicity stunt, but how far will the stunt go?

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/aqua-blue-sport-to-compete-on-3t-strada-disc-bike-with-1x-drivetrain-in-2018/

"Single-ring road bikes will be raced in the pro peloton for the first time in 2018. The Irish pro road team Aqua Blue Sport will compete on the 3T Strada, an aero disc-brake road bike notable for its absence of a front derailleur, 3T announced the news at Interbike."


Oh, and spot the deliberate mistake? I'm pretty sure single rings have been raced in the peloton before 2018. A long time before 2018, it must be said.

I am not usually particularly interested in the details of the equipment pros use in the same way lots of fans seem to be. For the most part it's all basically interchangeable and there's little significant about which brand of chainset a team is using. I pay some attention to the visual design aspect of the equipment, but don't pretend to have any great knowledge of the technical specifications.

This though is weird enough that I'm actually curious about it. Would a pro team seriously try to compete on a bike with such an odd configuration? Even assuming it all works as promised there seem like some basic logistical issues (like changing wheels).

 

[Leinster]

The disc brake issue is being addressed. Within a couple of seasons everyone will be on disc brakes anyway.

The 1x is interesting though. On some races it won't make much difference. MSR or Roubaix, riders are pretty much on the big ring from start to finish anyway. 11-28 at the rear is standard now, and a 53-28 gear is lower than any pro would need on the Poggio or Arenberg.

The big question will be in lumpy races with steep slopes like Flanders, LBL, or Grand Tour mountain stages up the Angliru or Zoncolan. Presuming that riders will want their top end, and their low-end, gears to be similar to what they currently have, will they be happy to have bigger gaps in the middle?

 

[jarvo]

Re:

The disc brake issue is being addressed. Within a couple of seasons everyone will be on disc brakes anyway.

The 1x is interesting though. On some races it won't make much difference. MSR or Roubaix, riders are pretty much on the big ring from start to finish anyway. 11-28 at the rear is standard now, and a 53-28 gear is lower than any pro would need on the Poggio or Arenberg.

The big question will be in lumpy races with steep slopes like Flanders, LBL, or Grand Tour mountain stages up the Angliru or Zoncolan. Presuming that riders will want their top end, and their low-end, gears to be similar to what they currently have, will they be happy to have bigger gaps in the middle?

I can see them using the 1x setup in stages and races that don't require the small ring up front, as this will garner publicity, then when required they will have a modified version of the bike that uses a front derailleur and a 'normal' setup. There is no way a team would sacrifice rider happiness and ability to compete for the sake of commercial tie-up. Without competing or riders there is no commercial tie-up in the first place

 

[jarvo]

although having looked at the frameset again, not sure where the derailleur would actually attach as its all very compact in and around the bottom bracket and the downtube, so maybe they will be going 1x the whole time? Maybe they'll look at SRAM Eagle 1x12? I know its for mountain bikes, but could they develop something for the road based around this for the steep climbs?

 

[jarvo]

It would appear they are going with a single chain ring up front

will be interesting how they go next year, especially in some of the big mountain stages

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Yeah, if I was Denifl or Warbasse (or Pearson or Dunbar), I'm not sure that I'd be very keen about being the guinea pigs for this. It does look pretty cool though.

 

[Leinster]

They’re running a 9-32 cassette, apparently, which won’t quite give them the same range as a double with an 11-28, no matter what ring they choose.

 

[hazaran]

The big problem is not the range, it's the multi mountain stages where everyone takes it easy on the prior mountains and you have to ride 45 minutes at a terrible cadence because of the big jumps.

 

[Leinster]

Well yes, but I think the range and jumps are 2 factors that go hand in hand. 9-32 is a broad range, but will have jumps in it. 9-28 will still be a broad range, and have fewer jumps, but you wouldn’t want that for the high mountains.

 

[vedrafjord]

Not mad on this at all - a 1x might be ok for a commuter bike but not mountain stages, plus the bike is ugly as hell, although I guess we've been moving away from beauty to brute aero effectiveness and stiffness since the heyday of steel. On the other hand a 1x might have saved Andy Schleck in the 2010 Tour...

 

[King Boonen]

I've very interested to see how they go on a 1x bike. There's what, 14 different ratios on a 2x11, give or take a few fractions of an inch? With bolt through axles and disc brakes they've basically announced 1x12 speed is coming to a peloton near you soon I think. If that happens then they're giving up 2 ratios and suddenly the gaps seem less drastic and more manageable.

a 44T up front and a 9-32 cassette gives a larger range (132 - 37.1) than a standard and 11-28 (130.1 - 37.6).

I have to admit spending most of my time on a fixed gear I think too much is made of the gaps on flat and rolling roads, it's in the mountains where I'm really interested to see if this works.

There is an obvious driver behind this, and I don't think the added chain and cassette wear will be good for consumers, but I think that the pros might actually quite like it if it runs well.

 

[May0maniac]

Yeah, the added chain and cassette wear is a big problem for normal costumers, the jumps could be a bit of a problem on mountain stages, rolling terrain and flat should be fine.

 

[42x16ss]

I hope for 3t’s sake they’ve got this right, because the Strada is the only road racing frame in their range. Their other frame is a single chainring “gravel” bike.

There would be nothing worse for a sponsor than a mid season bike change.

 

[Leinster]

I’m sure it’s as big an issue for SRAM as for 3T. Especially with their record on high-profile front shifting problems.

Have there been issues with 9t sprockets on MTBs? I’m nearly sure I read that there’s a very good reason why road cassettes haven’t gone below 11t up to now. I just can’t remember what that reason was.

How much straight-through is there in a 9-32?

 

[King Boonen]

MRB goes down to 10T. It requires a special free hub body as a standard free hub is too large for anything smaller than an 11T. That might be why you heard it a nyt been done. I’m guessing there is also minimal chain wrap on a 9T cog so I wonder if broken teeth due to high load will be an issue.

 

[Leinster]

I’m guessing the 9t will be titanium or something.

Again, maybe it’s something where a WT team with a near bottomless supply of parts will be less concerned about high turnover of itty-bitty cogs than anyone who has to shelll out their personal hard-earned on their ride.

 

[42x16ss]

Re:

I’m guessing the 9t will be titanium or something.

Again, maybe it’s something where a WT team with a near bottomless supply of parts will be less concerned about high turnover of itty-bitty cogs than anyone who has to shelll out their personal hard-earned on their ride.

Aqua Blue may be a strong Pro Conti team but they hardly have the budget to go and replace sub par sponsor equipment on their own coin the way JV did when Slipstream got fed up with SRAM a few years ago.

Unless they’re willing to risk a mid year sponsor change, Aqua Blue could be walking a tightrope. Hopefully both the team and 3T have done their testing and research.

 

[jarvo]

Re: Re:

I’m guessing the 9t will be titanium or something.

Again, maybe it’s something where a WT team with a near bottomless supply of parts will be less concerned about high turnover of itty-bitty cogs than anyone who has to shelll out their personal hard-earned on their ride.

Aqua Blue may be a strong Pro Conti team but they hardly have the budget to go and replace sub par sponsor equipment on their own coin the way JV did when Slipstream got fed up with SRAM a few years ago.

Unless they’re willing to risk a mid year sponsor change, Aqua Blue could be walking a tightrope. Hopefully both the team and 3T have done their testing and research.

I think I read 3T were or had developed their own wider range cogs called Bailout and Overdrive (both are 9-32) so would they be using a 3T cassette with sram front chain ring and shifters?

Bailout - 9-10-11-12-13-15-17-19-22-26-32

Overdrive - 9-11-12-13-15-17-19-22-25-28-32

the jumps are not ridiculous for everything but the high mountains where you may not get an ideal cadence?

but I guess a decision like this would not have been taken without rider consultation and pre-testing? its too dramatic a thing to do without some background research and talks taking place.

It would not be good PR to see riders being spewed out the back on a steep mountain because they couldn't get the correct gearing from your 'innovative' bike

 

[FilipeFD]

Just another kicking for team @AquaBlueSport . It’s confirmed, no Grand Tour.

https://twitter.com/RickDelaneyABS/status/983669891910729728

 

[PeterB]

Re:

Just another kicking for team @AquaBlueSport . It’s confirmed, no Grand Tour.

https://twitter.com/RickDelaneyABS/status/983669891910729728

Someone please explain how it works in the sport of cycling to this guy. His team, his project, but if he gets invitation at the expense of another team and another project, that is okay? I am a fan of this team but the sooner they understand the reality the better.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Victims of timing, with the upsurge again in Spanish ProConti teams and with so few WT teams from Spain and Italy, the national flavour of the home Tour is heavily eroded. It is not surprising that Spanish ProConti teams are preferred for the Vuelta (the one other team is a team whose sponsor is a major sponsor of the Vuelta also) and Italian ones for the Giro, surely - especially given one of those Spanish wildcard teams functions as a de facto home team for a very passionate cycling region which is hosting an important mountain stage in the race. I can only really make a case for ABS vs. Burgos-BH, as I'm not sure which of their riders is expected to add the same kind of audience investment as some of the prospects on the Euskadi team. The stage win for Denifl last year was spectacular, definitely, and was the team's defining contribution, but the fan connection problem that comes from their over-reliance on established journeymen that led to the debate over the value of the wildcard last year has not changed so with two Spanish teams stepping up to the ProConti level and with two wildcards almost certain with the long-established Caja Rural wildcard and Cofidis' close relationship with Unipublic, they and Manzana were always going to be the most likely wildcard teams from 2017 to miss out going forward.

 

[Breh]

He brings a new PCT team to the scene and gets an invite right away. Two Spanish PCT teams emerge and this guy is pissed these two new teams get an invite to the GT in their homecountry.