Someone brought this link up in the original Lance on a 29er thread, but thought it might get ignored as the 33rd post or whatever on that thread....very good article...
NEWS ARCHIVE THE LANCE MYSTERY BIKE
The web was alive and kicking last week with wild rumors about a mysterious black bike that Lance Armstrong was riding at his welcome home party in Austin, Texas. Was it a prototype Trek 29'er? Was it a road bike with disc brakes? Was it a prototype 2007 hybrid bike? It seems plenty of people had an opinion and a few of them were even close to being accurate. Here's what some of them had to say in the www.MTBR.com 29'er chat room:
* Is it a Trek 29'er? I saw a Trek 29'er at the 2004 Ore to Shore in Marquette Michigan. It had all the latest Sram stuff with Avid Mechanicals with Sram decals all over it. The calipers were numbered as if they were prototypes. Blackbox racing development since Sram purchased Avid in the spring? Any help out there?
CJSBIKE
* To me it kind of looks like a 26'er with 700c slicks... it's hard to imagine a 2+ tire fitting in the rear."
Donkecus
*Looks more like a high end city bike with a Wound Up fork and disc brakes. God only knows what he was doing riding around on that!
Sam
* The Trek website shows 2005 police bike with v-brakes... but under the picture it says:
UPGRADES OVER LAST YEAR - New frame design, disc specific.
Maybe that girl in the green shirt got a better picture
C.O. Jones
* That's not a 29er, nor is it a 26 with 700c slicks on it. It is what it is, which is a flat bar road bike with discs. Not a mountain bike, not a cross bike. Urban road bike deal, that's what it is.
Donkey
* Looks like centerlock XT disc brakes. Seat stays offer huge tire clearance, but often the chain stay are cramped. With those `23-30mm tires, he doesn't have much tire-seat tube clearance. Fork looks to be really short travel.
Cloxxki
* Rear end looks like it's from a Trek XO. Maybe it's just a cross bike with a flat bar and discs - targeting the commuter/courier crowd. If I had to guess, with Fisher trying to get the 29er thing accepted as a legit bike, Trek/Fisher would not market essentially one type of bike under two different name brands. Now I'm not a salesman or marketing guru, but it only makes sense to invest a minimal amount on a product that might not sell. If it does, change paint and decals and they can both have 29er models.
BrewDog
* I don't know...look close at that photo taken from behind....look at the seat stays just below the seat post...look how they have a larger hour-glass shape, much as a mt. bike would have...to accommodate larger tires...definitely not a road bike frame, and that's a lot of clearance for a 'cross bike... Also note that it's using a road crank set, double chainring, which suggests 'cross bike...hum...
NCJ01
* I saw a Trek Hybrid at the recent dealer show that was sporting disc brakes. It's not up on the website yet. How about some more info on that 29"er sighting in Michigan? I can't wait to see the pics! Riden' an Smilin'
Guitar Ted
* I was just at the local Trek store, and one of the wrenches had an email with pics of the bike. It's essentially a 'cross bike with a Wound-Up fork. Funniest thing was it was like a 16-lb bike, with carbon cranks, but with 4-lb bear trap pedals. Evidently, it was being built up while he was up at Trek for the tour.
Francis
* Hey Ron, what's up? What kind of bike was it? A GF? You think we could get him to race the SS class this spring?
BK
* I don't think the Zapruder (JFK assassination) film got this much attention (no, I am not old enough to actually remember the Zapruder film). Chances are that if Trek was going to introduce a 29er we would have already heard about it from our fellow members who went to their dealer intro. As a marketing guy, I know that if I worked for Trek, and I knew what kind of crowd Lance would attract at this parade where everybody would looking at what he was riding, I would want Lance to be riding something either: A. totally drool worthy experimental bike based on a production cycle (think Indy 500 pace car), or B. a bike that people can go in and order shortly and I'd want to hype it (think how the Chrysler 300 was in 2 or 3 rap videos or the Mazda Rx-8 was in X-Men 2 before they ever were made available to the public). Does the bike look familiar to our fellow members who went to the Trek dealer show? If not, I vote choice "A".
JV
WHAT WAS IT REALLY?
When the call came in that Lance wanted something cool to ride in the parade, the boys up in the engineering department jumped at the chance. Although every bike Lance races is taken right off the production line, this bike had to be different.
"The thought was to originally use a 7500 hybrid bike as a starting base," said Ray Waxham, one of the project engineers, "but a modified cyclocross frame was what we decided on." And with that Ray and fellow engineer Mark Andrews went to work.
The boys started with a standard 58cm XO-1 cyclocross frame kit. The bike was made from the ground up with no rear brake bosses, so there was no brake boss removal going on. Next, they added some new cable guides on the down tube (derailleur) and top tube (brake line) plus a new Trek rear dropout with an integrated disc mount. When it came time to join the tubes, they were sent over to the premier weld area where they specialize in the double-pass, smooth welds used on Klein frames.
For the front fork, Ray called a friend at Seven Cycles and they donated a beautiful carbon fiber Wound-Up fork with disc tabs that Seven uses for their tandems. With the bike finally taking shape the boys proceeded to start souping it up. Most of the parts are stock components (hubs, rims, etc.) but they don't normally get used together on one bike.
Headset: Black Chris King 1-1/8" headset
Handlebar: Bontrager Race XXX Lite
Stem: Bontrager Race XXX Lite stem (100mm x 7 degree) with carbon spacers,
Grips: Bontrager lock-on
Seat post: Bontrager Race X Lite carbon (20mm offset, 27.2)
Seat: Bontrager Race Lite
Derailleurs: Shimano XTR
Shifters: Shimano XTR
Brakes: Shimano XTR 965 Hydraulic
Crank: 175mm Bontrager Race Lite with a GXP bottom bracket (53/39)
Cassette: Shimano Dura-Ace nine speed (12-25)
Wheels: Bontrager X Lite 700c rims with splined hubs, DT 14/15 gauge spokes (28)
Tires: Bontrager Race Lite 700x28
Seat collar: Borrowed from a LeMond Ti bikes
Paint: Project One custom (yellow base coat for graphics with black overcoat)
IN THE END
No, the bike Lance was riding was not some secret, new Trek 29'er. Trek is not making a 29'er. The closest thing you can get to the "Austin Bike" is to start with an XO-1 frameset ($690 at your local dealer) or a complete bike ($1320). Or, if you're looking for a cool 29'er, look no further than your Gary Fisher dealer (or www.garyfisher.com) because they have a bunch of 'em. If you want to see what other cool bike projects Trek is working on, just keep track of what bike Lance Armstrong is riding.
NEWS ARCHIVE THE LANCE MYSTERY BIKE
The web was alive and kicking last week with wild rumors about a mysterious black bike that Lance Armstrong was riding at his welcome home party in Austin, Texas. Was it a prototype Trek 29'er? Was it a road bike with disc brakes? Was it a prototype 2007 hybrid bike? It seems plenty of people had an opinion and a few of them were even close to being accurate. Here's what some of them had to say in the www.MTBR.com 29'er chat room:
* Is it a Trek 29'er? I saw a Trek 29'er at the 2004 Ore to Shore in Marquette Michigan. It had all the latest Sram stuff with Avid Mechanicals with Sram decals all over it. The calipers were numbered as if they were prototypes. Blackbox racing development since Sram purchased Avid in the spring? Any help out there?
CJSBIKE
* To me it kind of looks like a 26'er with 700c slicks... it's hard to imagine a 2+ tire fitting in the rear."
Donkecus
*Looks more like a high end city bike with a Wound Up fork and disc brakes. God only knows what he was doing riding around on that!
Sam
* The Trek website shows 2005 police bike with v-brakes... but under the picture it says:
UPGRADES OVER LAST YEAR - New frame design, disc specific.
Maybe that girl in the green shirt got a better picture
C.O. Jones
* That's not a 29er, nor is it a 26 with 700c slicks on it. It is what it is, which is a flat bar road bike with discs. Not a mountain bike, not a cross bike. Urban road bike deal, that's what it is.
Donkey
* Looks like centerlock XT disc brakes. Seat stays offer huge tire clearance, but often the chain stay are cramped. With those `23-30mm tires, he doesn't have much tire-seat tube clearance. Fork looks to be really short travel.
Cloxxki
* Rear end looks like it's from a Trek XO. Maybe it's just a cross bike with a flat bar and discs - targeting the commuter/courier crowd. If I had to guess, with Fisher trying to get the 29er thing accepted as a legit bike, Trek/Fisher would not market essentially one type of bike under two different name brands. Now I'm not a salesman or marketing guru, but it only makes sense to invest a minimal amount on a product that might not sell. If it does, change paint and decals and they can both have 29er models.
BrewDog
* I don't know...look close at that photo taken from behind....look at the seat stays just below the seat post...look how they have a larger hour-glass shape, much as a mt. bike would have...to accommodate larger tires...definitely not a road bike frame, and that's a lot of clearance for a 'cross bike... Also note that it's using a road crank set, double chainring, which suggests 'cross bike...hum...
NCJ01
* I saw a Trek Hybrid at the recent dealer show that was sporting disc brakes. It's not up on the website yet. How about some more info on that 29"er sighting in Michigan? I can't wait to see the pics! Riden' an Smilin'
Guitar Ted
* I was just at the local Trek store, and one of the wrenches had an email with pics of the bike. It's essentially a 'cross bike with a Wound-Up fork. Funniest thing was it was like a 16-lb bike, with carbon cranks, but with 4-lb bear trap pedals. Evidently, it was being built up while he was up at Trek for the tour.
Francis
* Hey Ron, what's up? What kind of bike was it? A GF? You think we could get him to race the SS class this spring?
BK
* I don't think the Zapruder (JFK assassination) film got this much attention (no, I am not old enough to actually remember the Zapruder film). Chances are that if Trek was going to introduce a 29er we would have already heard about it from our fellow members who went to their dealer intro. As a marketing guy, I know that if I worked for Trek, and I knew what kind of crowd Lance would attract at this parade where everybody would looking at what he was riding, I would want Lance to be riding something either: A. totally drool worthy experimental bike based on a production cycle (think Indy 500 pace car), or B. a bike that people can go in and order shortly and I'd want to hype it (think how the Chrysler 300 was in 2 or 3 rap videos or the Mazda Rx-8 was in X-Men 2 before they ever were made available to the public). Does the bike look familiar to our fellow members who went to the Trek dealer show? If not, I vote choice "A".
JV
WHAT WAS IT REALLY?
When the call came in that Lance wanted something cool to ride in the parade, the boys up in the engineering department jumped at the chance. Although every bike Lance races is taken right off the production line, this bike had to be different.
"The thought was to originally use a 7500 hybrid bike as a starting base," said Ray Waxham, one of the project engineers, "but a modified cyclocross frame was what we decided on." And with that Ray and fellow engineer Mark Andrews went to work.
The boys started with a standard 58cm XO-1 cyclocross frame kit. The bike was made from the ground up with no rear brake bosses, so there was no brake boss removal going on. Next, they added some new cable guides on the down tube (derailleur) and top tube (brake line) plus a new Trek rear dropout with an integrated disc mount. When it came time to join the tubes, they were sent over to the premier weld area where they specialize in the double-pass, smooth welds used on Klein frames.
For the front fork, Ray called a friend at Seven Cycles and they donated a beautiful carbon fiber Wound-Up fork with disc tabs that Seven uses for their tandems. With the bike finally taking shape the boys proceeded to start souping it up. Most of the parts are stock components (hubs, rims, etc.) but they don't normally get used together on one bike.
Headset: Black Chris King 1-1/8" headset
Handlebar: Bontrager Race XXX Lite
Stem: Bontrager Race XXX Lite stem (100mm x 7 degree) with carbon spacers,
Grips: Bontrager lock-on
Seat post: Bontrager Race X Lite carbon (20mm offset, 27.2)
Seat: Bontrager Race Lite
Derailleurs: Shimano XTR
Shifters: Shimano XTR
Brakes: Shimano XTR 965 Hydraulic
Crank: 175mm Bontrager Race Lite with a GXP bottom bracket (53/39)
Cassette: Shimano Dura-Ace nine speed (12-25)
Wheels: Bontrager X Lite 700c rims with splined hubs, DT 14/15 gauge spokes (28)
Tires: Bontrager Race Lite 700x28
Seat collar: Borrowed from a LeMond Ti bikes
Paint: Project One custom (yellow base coat for graphics with black overcoat)
IN THE END
No, the bike Lance was riding was not some secret, new Trek 29'er. Trek is not making a 29'er. The closest thing you can get to the "Austin Bike" is to start with an XO-1 frameset ($690 at your local dealer) or a complete bike ($1320). Or, if you're looking for a cool 29'er, look no further than your Gary Fisher dealer (or www.garyfisher.com) because they have a bunch of 'em. If you want to see what other cool bike projects Trek is working on, just keep track of what bike Lance Armstrong is riding.