In advance of Sunday's penultimate time trial at the Volta ao Algarve, the UCI has declared that Alberto Contador's Specialized S-Works aero rig does not meet specifications. Here's the jornalciclismo piece with the deets...

The Astana was informed by the International Cycling Union (UCI) that the machine Specialized S-Works has not been approved for competition. At stake is a piece on the connection between the tube perpendicular to the frame and fork. This piece makes the tube table is replaced by 9 centimeters instead of 8 centimeters regulations.

So basically there's a little connector between the head tube and the down tube that, when included (for wind drag reduction) increases the proper measurement of the down tube to 9cm, not 8. For the best explainer in the world (that I've seen) on what this is about, this Bikerumor article is mandatory reading. Complete with diagrams. Apparently the UCI is all about looking out for the little guy. Isn't that nice!

It's worth noting that Pistolero isn't the only cyclist of note riding Specialized. Saxo Bank (and Lampre and ISD and Omega Pharma) ride Specialized, and presumably they will take an interest in this ruling. World Crono Champion Fabian Cancellara was permitted to ride his Specialized S-Works in the Tour of Oman finale today, but from this picture Tony Spartacus appears to be riding a less gadgety bike than Contador was on his road bike today, so the impact to his ITT rigs is beyond me. Anyone seen his 2010 machine yet?

The significance to racing should be minimal. Bike manufacturers are the ones under pressure, and if teams aren't careful they could find themselves having to scramble to find replacement bikes at a time when they'd rather be, I dunno, calmly prepping their ace rider for a time trial? Somehow I think guys like Contador and Cancellara will soldier on.

This is a product review, so let's kick it off with a crib sheet...

Crib Sheet

Item: MyTach GPS Sports Training Watch

Manufacturer: AIM Technologies

Price: $250 (roughly)

Order: HERE

What is it? A multi-function, GPS-based watch geared specifically for cycling.

Strengths: Accuracy, functionality, price.

Weaknesses: No HRM; gradient meter performance

Rating: ★★★★ (4 of 5)

The world is quickly filling up with sports devices offering an array of features: heart rate, speed, GPS services, altimeter, calories, maps, music, Starbucks locator, gaming ability... OK I'll stop. Anyway, the trick is finding a device that has the things you are willing to pay for, while leaving out those you aren't. For runners, this is a snap: for some time Garmin and Suunto have been making an array of GPS-enabled watches starting with HR and adding in speed, distance and laps, in the $200-400 range.

For cycling, however, the choices have been more limited. There are HRMs, and an array of cyclocomputers, but the GPS-enabled ones are more or less limited to the Garmin line of larger, pricier (though excellent) devices. The latter will run you $350 minimum, even before you add in the maps, and not everyone wants to race with a computer the size of George Costanza's wallet.

Into this breach comes MyTach, with a watch device that is GPS-enabled, specifically oriented toward cycling, and can be had for under $300. It may not be perfect, but it's unique and probably close to ideal for those serious cyclists/racers hoping not to shell out the bigger bucks.

Details on the flip...

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Apologies to all for the delay in coming back to the collective.

My last visit to Interbike was two years ago, and the addition of the two evening (night?) races, the CrossVegas and the USA Crits finale, make for extremely long days. Thursday started off with the Armstrong press conference at 9am and finished at 11:30pm when the men's Crit race finished and I made it back to the hotel - and still hadn't processed the photos.

Also, both Stephanie and I noticed other changes at Interbike the first moment we set foot on the expo floor on Wednesday morning. The crowd attending the show was smaller, less exhuberant, less free stuff given out and the number of 'star' riders available to sign autographs was also smaller and mostly all Americans. The only European road cyclist was Mark Cavendish. Was this caused by Worlds being scheduled at the same time? The economy? The fact that many teams are switching sponsors?

We discussed this with a couple who own a bike shop and they confirmed our thoughts. The bike industry is taking a hit along with everyone else with the economy troubles facing us. A lot of owners are now faced with a big inventory and are not ordering 2009 wares from the vendors, or not in as high volume. And there were no major announcements to generate buzz. They went on to add  that the area that is still growing and making money was in the customization, including custom jerseys.

On with the show

The new Merckx

The ageless Merckx

updated: More photos here

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Greetings, er what day is it? what time?

Sorry for delay, but the day ended quite late with a great race last night, the Vegas cross when Kona's Ryan Trebon put the hurt on everybody in the final laps to take the win ahead of US Cross Champion Tim Johnson (Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com) and  Adam Craig (Giant). In the other story, Lance Armstrong riding in a LiveStrong kit raced hard and finished 22nd. Photos later...

Stephanie and I spent the day meeting old friends and making new friends,oh and collecting some autographed posters for the collective. There were less road cyclists signing stuff than previous years. And took a few photos of the shiny stuff ...

you know what to do

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Sui Juris and I were contacted by Rock Racing to check out their new kits. Sui's original suggestion was that we get the clothes, try them on, and write a post entitled "Today we tried on some clothes." I gently suggested that the post might be more effective if we spiced it up a bit, and we eventually settled on a Salon-style email debate. Here's what transpired...

Chris wrote:

OK, we've closed the loop. How about if we do this like one of those Salon debates, like where the two Sopranos fans would email each other back and forth?

Sui Juris wrote:

That’s an excellent idea, and it may well start with this one.  See, it strikes me that those on the West Coast are satisfied with a representation of reality (e.g., the Sopranos) whereas those of us on the East Coast are interested in actual reality (e.g., the Wire).  I fear that when I pull on this kit it’s going to be more "got yourself a gun" than helping me "keep the devil way down in the hole."

Chris wrote:

You guys on the East Coast are only satisfied by things that can improve your place on the world pecking order. We're OK with representations of reality, if they make us smile. In response, you guys insist on "reality," so you can point to the West Coast and call us names. And we're fine with that =)
 
I think this thing is going to make me smile. Rock Racing is a vehicle for fashion. I love fashion. I love Cycling, despite the black hole of fashion it has almost always been. Rock may have their issues, but I can't believe clothing is going to be one of them. Time will tell. Has yours arrived yet? I'm still stuck at work.

This may take a while... on the flip!

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Allrightie folks, it's that time of year again, the serious-bike-retail-show-fans-seeking-autographs-free-schwag-contract-negociation-party-free-schwag-drinking-what-the-heck-lets-add-two-races-all-in-Vegas event known as Interbike. Love it or hate it, it's the place to be at the end of the road season in the bike business in North America.

And I'll be there, reporting all most some of the happenings to PodiumCafe readers.  So what's going on, you may ask?

Bike  (frame, component, tire, saddles,  any techie stuff you can think of and more) vendors are showing their new wares to retailers, hustling for orders. Pro riders of all sorts sit in booths and sign autographs to bring attention to the booth.  Media is running around taking photos of anything that moves or is shiny, bonus points if it's shiny and moving. Oh, and lots of alcohol is flowing.

And to make it even more interesting, two races will be held under the stars: Cross Vegas and the finale of the USA Crits Series.

Update: I'll leave it up to Chris to come up with a way to distribute the schwag (mostly autographed posters) once I get back.

More on the flip (but before moving on, cool doodad from Vee again!)

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From VN:

Tour director Christian Prudhomme has introduced a unique compromise to the debate. Earpieces are being used in this Tour as always, but during the first 50km of each day’s stage, information about attacks will not be relayed until a rider has opened up a 30-second gap. That means riders will have to keep their wits about them much more than in the past and could create some interesting twists in the race.

Color me unimpressed. I guess it means that in the early part of the stage when guys are checking to see whether a break has legs, or who's in it, such matters will remain a mystery, at first. But 30" isn't too terribly much (if, for example, Evans snuck away) (which -- I know -- would never happen), and once the break got beyond 30", radios would operate as normal. And after 50km, regardless of what's happening it's all radios, all the time.

This is scaled back quite a bit from the original proposal to ban race radios on occasion, or on certain stages. The idea was that breaks should be allowed to go free and test riders' instincts as to whether and when to react. If radios were banned on a mountain stage, with Victory in the balance, the calculations would become even more significant and intriguing. I understand that riders have come to rely on radios for safety information, such as when a dangerous turn or narrow road is approaching. Surely there's a way to devise sensible radio silence, but just as surely that's now been punted to the offseason.

From Cycling Weekly, the sexiest hunk of carbon in the world:

Yep, these go to eleven. Also, Campy is busting out the old "Super Record" gruppo name. Will this change your life? Probably not. But if you stare at the next picture long enough, you're liable to believe anything...