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Although the clouds overhead were heavy and gray in Stuttgart Friday, there was a hint of optimism surrounding the three U.S. national teams that hasn’t been felt at a world championships in recent years. Perhaps that is because in addition to perhaps the best women’s team USA Cycling has ever sent, for the first time since 2003 Discovery Channel rider George Hincapie is spearheading the men’s elite team heading into Sunday’s road race. Hincapie’s 2007 season took saw him take an unceremonious and unplanned break after fracturing his wrist at the Amgen Tour of California, but he has

George Hincapie sat in a U.S. national team jersey Friday afternoon for lunch in Stuttgart with another dozen pros, but only two compatriots shared the meal. Joining him at the table were Brits, an Italian, a German sport director and one team manager with a Cheshire cat’s grin in the form of Bob Stapleton. Hincapie won’t officially don a T-Mobile jersey until later this season, but the 34-year-old American was the marquee name among 10 new riders unveiled for the German team for the 2008 season. For Hincapie, the move marks a clear departure from his past as he’s set to ride on only his

We were somewhere round Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold. — Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Okay, it’s 2008 and the inaugural Tour of America has just limped into Chimayo, New Mexico. Everyone has abandoned except for Steve Tilford and a couple of deranged Belgians who just cleaned out the Saints & Sinners liquor store in nearby Española after they tried to order waffles for dinner at El Paragua but got something that looked like rolled-up pancakes full of beans smothered in napalm. Junkies have stolen the wheels off the remaining team

Reynolds is filling a gap for 2008, admitting that it has not catered to the triathlon and time-trial segments and it’s built some new products to fix that very issue. The new Reynolds DV66 in both tubular and clincher provides noteworthy performance

Reynolds says that it tests to have the second lowest drag coefficient of all the wheels it has tested. The tubular set weighs 1350 grams and costs $2000; the clincher set weighs 1630 grams and costs $2350.

Element is Reynolds’ new carbon disc wheel built with an aerospace quality foam core. The carbon layers come from the hub and wrap up and over each side of the rim so there is ample overlap, making stronger, more durable wheels. 1100 grams and $1300

Reynolds molds in a valve stem cavity during the construction instead of cutting a whole out after the wheel is finished.

Reynolds’ Black Ops wheels. They weigh just 980 grams per set, and the wheel show to us had 247 g scribbled on it. I’m guessing it’s the weight of the 46mm carbon rim. A price isn’t set, but the wheels should be ready by January 2008.

The TT model has a narrower spacing on the front hub to reduce its frontal area by 50-percent. The wheelsets weigh roughly 1370 grams each. The narrower front TT hub concept is also available in the aluminum rimmed EA90TT wheelset.

The EC90SLX is a 24.9mm tall carbon tubular. Because of the smaller rim this set weighs in at 1170 grams. It was Astana’s front wheel of choice for most of the 2007 season.

Easton debuted a new crank after two years of development work on it. The EC90 crank has a hollow carbon spider and arms. A 175mm crank with its chainrings and bottom bracket weighs a mere 663 grams, and is only set to cost $600.

Metal is used for the attachment points; the pedal threads and non-drive pinch clamp is alloy while the bottom bracket spindle is steel.

Easton focused special attention to the bearings in the bottom bracket to cut down on seal drag. The outside of the high quality stainless steel bearing has a fairly standard seal but the inside has just a low contact dust cover.

FSA’s new K-Force carbon wheelset uses a new bladder molding process for the 50mm rim that allows for a highly refined finish right out of the mold. The set will feature carbon hubs, Sapim spokes and ceramic bearings for $1700 and should weigh 1340g

The titanium artisans at Moots have a new design for their new Cinch 27.2mm seatpost (31.6 and 30.9 sized posts are in the works); its clamp has been redesigned for easier installation and adjustment

Ritchey has a new 3/2.5 titanium Breakaway folding mountain bike.

The frame breaks down easily via this dual seatpost clamp...

...and this downtube coupling.

The Breakaway case has also been refined. There is no longer a plastic relief for the rear wheel’s cassette and the zipper has been moved to keep it out of the way.

Lake manufactured this custom color in its CX400 heat moldable shoe for the Jelly Belly team.

The CX330 has its Boa closure on its heel so that when tightened it locks a rider’s foot into the heel cup.

The 330 will have standard three bolt and direct mount Speedplay cleat attachment options in 2008. It costs $280.

Interbike - The industry gives back

Interbike - The industry gives back

World Bicycle Relief has given away over 25,000 bicycles similar to these in areas ravaged by the tsunami of 2005 and to health care workers in Zambia doing outreach to people’s homes fighting HIV/AIDS.

A typical wooden bike used for hauling goods in Rwanda.

A typical wooden bike used for hauling goods in Rwanda.

Alex Burgess, team manager of Team Velo Bella in his Vegas best.

Lew’s new limited-edition special wheels with specific layups for specific rider weights and characteristics come with this red superlight Tune freehub and cost $15,000/set. The rear weighs just 427g!

The 307-gram mate to the above limited-edition Tune-equipped rear wheel. This pair weighs in at an amazing 734 grams!

Lew isn’t the only one making sub-400 gram wheels. Topolino’s Rafe Schlanger’s new project front wheel weighs a mere 363 grams. It uses a Reynolds carbon rim and has a different method of attaching the spokes at the rim than other Topolino wheels.

American Classic’s Mag 300 wheelset features a 280-gram magnesium clincher rim. The magnesium clincher wheelset weighs 1165 grams and absorbs high-frequency vibration, thus soaking up road buzz and granting more comfort and less fatigue to the rider.

Velocity’s new rim decorations are actually stickers.

Delta 7’s Arantix frame uses carbon fibers arranged in an “Isotruss.” Delta 7 claims that it is lighter, stiffer, stronger, and more resistant to impact than traditional layered carbon frame constructions because the open structure isolates damage.

The Delta 7 Arantix’s down tube. All of these fibers are strung and tied by hand, resulting in a 300-hour frame construction time and hence a $7,000 frame price tag. Lizard Skin makes light, 1mm-thin stretch covers for using this bike in mud.

Eric Sampson’s new Stratics complete road group includes a carbon crank and svelte front derailleur in addition to these parts. The whole group is quite light; Sampson’s Show Time group has aluminum parts rather than carbon and is far less expensive.

Shimano’s new Dura-Ace carbon crank retails for $1300 and weighs 709 grams complete. It is 10 percent stiffer than a current Dura-Ace crank and has the new XTR-style adjuster against the left bearing cup to preload the bearings.

Bettini has been cleared to defend his title on Sunday

Evans has one last shot at glory this Sunday

Hincapie and his teammate-to-be for 2008, Hammond

The supporting cast includes Julich and Farrar

Bettini and Freire are among the favorites

Abbott, Armstrong and Neben

Abbott likes the course

Lewis hopes the race boils down to a small group

Hincapie has been speaking with Stapleton for some time now. The two are seen here, chatting during February's Tour of California

A familiar face showed up in the Industry Crit. Mario's still Super, eh?

Bright lights big city

The Cheerwine leadout train took Van Gilder to the line

In 2018, long after global warming, plague and warfare had scoured the rest of humanity from the Earth, Steve Tilford wins the inaugural Tour of America, which began in 2008

Giro d’Italia winner Danilo Di Luca announced late Thursday he was pulling out of the cycling world championships. Di Luca's withdrawal from Sunday's elite men's road race came after calls that he be handed a four month suspension for his connection with a drugs scandal by Italy's Olympic Committee (CONI). "It's a scandal, the procurer has done everything so that I don't compete at the championships," said the Italian. Di Luca's withdrawal out came after a dramatic day at the world championships in which world road champion Paolo Bettini was reported to have

Bettini wants to ride, but won't give blood to do so.

Eisenmann says organizers insist on compliance

A perfect weather day yesterday ended with a road ride back to the stripwith three friends from SRAM, and today started for me with a ride backout to the Outdoor Demo at Boulder City’s Bootleg Canyon. After 5-10 minutesof standing around, I took off with maybe 100 other riders for the annualTourof Lake Mead, formerly known as The Hangover Ride. Still cool, verywindy and hilly, this 24-mile out-and-back offers some great views andcan offer a punishing pace at the front. I may have gotten a great warmup to riding mountain bikes at the pre-Interbikedemo, but before I got to ride my first bike

Ryan Trebon (Kona-Les Gets) and Lyne Bessette (Cyclocrossworld.com) won the inaugural Excel Sports CrossVegas Wednesday in Las Vegas. [nid:40750]A thousands-strong crowd journeyed to the Desert Breeze Soccer Complex to watch the first major cyclo-cross race to be held in conjunction with the Interbike trade show, running this week at the Sands Expo & Convention Center. CrossVegas was the brainchild of Coloradan Chris Grealish, a longtime 'cross promoter who organized the 2006 Boulder Cup, the fifth round of the U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross Series.

Prosecutors have demanded that former world cycling champion Johan Museeuw be given a "hefty fine" as the doping trial against him and ten others opened in Courtrai, Belgium, on Thursday. Museeuw, along with six riders including Mario De Clercq, Jo Planckaert and Chris Peers and four others including the chief defendant, veterinarian Jose Landuyt, are accused of trafficking and taking banned performance-enhancing drugs. Prosecutors demanded a two year sentence, half of it suspended, for Landuyt, and an 18-month sentence, half of it suspended, against Herman Verseele, the physiotherapist who

Fabian Cancellara might have been satisfied with his 2007 season after wearing the yellow jersey for the better part of a week and winning two stages at the Tour de France, but the chance to defend his rainbow jersey in the elite men’s world time trial race proved too alluring. Laszlo Bodrogi of Hungary claimed silver at 52 seconds off the pace with Dutch rider Stef Clement taking bronze at 57 seconds slower on the rolling 44.9km course in the hills around Stuttgart,. But this show was all about Cancellara. The big Swiss time machine caught his one-minute man, Vladimir Gusev of Russia, at

It was a soggy day in Stuttgart as the elite men set off in pursuit of the world time-trial title. But a little rain couldn't keep Fabian Cancellara off the top step of the podium for the second consecutive year. Nor could it prevent Casey Gibson from chronicling the day's action.

Cycling’s international racing calendar was turned upside down Thursday after the UCI announced that the three grand tours and select one-day classics are no longer part of the ProTour cycling calendar. In a sweeping restructuring of the European racing calendar, the UCI vows to forge ahead with its controversial ProTour concept that will open with the Tour Down Under in 2008 and potentially include national tours in China and Russia in 2009. “This is about being realistic and pragmatic,” McQuaid said. “It’s not a position that the UCI has created. (The grand tours) could have come aboard

Nearly 19,000 people packed into the Sands Expo & Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, for the opening day of the indoor portion of the 2007 Interbike trade show on Wednesday. Aisles were packed and booths were abuzz on the show’s opening day. And besides the goings-on inside, two races were organized alongside the show. The first was the Boulder-Denver Courier Events-produced Excel Sports CrossVegas, held Wednesday night. Kona-YourKey.com’s Ryan Trebon won the well-attended event — and in the process took some revenge on Christian Heule (Stevens), who won Star Crossed and the Rad Racing

Frank Arokiasamy, the man behind the proposed 27-stage Tour of America in 2008, realizes racers and race fans are skeptical of his plans for the race from New York City to San Francisco. Nonetheless, he has hired a 25-person team to handle logistics, sponsorship, team management and other hurdles — including convincing people that he is serious. “I’ve been working on this for the last five years,” Arokiasamy said. “It started, actually, while I was watching the Tour de France, July 2002. I was watching the American really dominate the race. I got frustrated because … I couldn’t watch the

Specialized founder and president Mike Sinyard, along with trusted colleagues Chris D’Alusio, Don Langley, and Mark Reidy and friends Randy Berggold and Mark Duroy arriving after riding from Morgan Hill, CA to Boulder City, NV

A good champagne dousing awaited the six riders after their 600-mile, 5-day odyssey. Reidy said, “at times, with Chris and Don on the front, this was hard as the (famously hard) Specialized lunch ride, in the middle of a 140-mile day!”

A well-deserved champagne toast from water bottles was bittersweet “Yesterday we were feeling sad it was almost over,” said Sinyard. “It was a fantastic ride. You can’t imagine riding across Death Valley!”

Tire Balls as packaged, 30 per tire, pre-inflated. Currently, they are only made for downhill tires.

Thisis why you can’t pinch flat with Tire Balls; the air can’t move out of the way when you your tire hits a sharp edge. Instead of moving, the air must stay right there and increase the pressure, like a progressive spring in an air shock.

Installing the tire with Tire Balls in it is no easy task, as they are already inflated (with a basketball pump) before you put the tire on the rim.

The inside of a TAG wheel.

TRP (Tektro Racing Products) cyclocross cantilever brakes, in carbon (top) and aluminum in various colors.

TRP's low-profile carbon cantilevers

Outdoor Demo Day 2 - A Zinn's Eye View

This Spot Brand steel belt-drive single speed 29er is decorated with heat marks and clear powder coated.

The Spot beltring won’t leave a rookie mark on your leg like a chainring can.

The Carbon Drive Systems (CDS) belt has carbon strands in it and is almost unbreakable under tension.

The dropout for a belt drive must come apart, else you could not install the belt on the bike. CDS sells dropouts like this with a key that allows it to open up.

The Lenz Sport Milk Money is a shiny, full-suspension single speed 29er with 80mm of rear travel and nary a cable guide to break up its clean lines.

The concentric pivot of the Lenz Milk Money. As the swingarm pivots on the bottom bracket shell, the length of the chain does not change as the suspension compresses – a critical feature of a single-speed full-suspension bike.

Lenz dropouts are horizontally adjustable to properly tension the chain. Since the seatstay bolts to the dropout, this is one design that could work with the CDS (Spot) belt drive, since you could swing the seatstay out of the way to install the belt

You lube the Milk Money’s pivot with an automotive grease gun through the Zerk fitting under the bottom bracket.

Cancellara repeats as world time-trial champ