1998 Triathlete Review

hen I was asked if I
would like to help
test ride a selection
of triathlon bikes
that fell within the
.£l,000 price mark,
I was a bit sus picious. During my young life. I have owned
all manner of bikes ranging from road to
mountain, with a healthy scoop of track
and triathlon thrown in. My experience
told me that £1,000 will buy you a nice
bike. evena decent entry-level race hike,
but to really take things to the competitive
edge you were going to have dig deep
for another 500 green ones at least.
To sa y my preconceived ideas were
slightly unrealistic would have been to
say[hat Kale Moss could do with loosing
a few pounds, 'I11e quality of frame,\vIK'Cl,
the bikes ... -;-Jot a problem: I thought.
The test was going to be run over a 70mile loop ... "OK, this wiII be a steady
training ride." We were to test the bikes in
and groupsct was outstanding, andthe fin-
in Sheffield. In fact, there are nothing but
ish to the bikes was immaculate. Surely.
hills in Sheffield - And they're big hills."
t 9 a.m the nextday, we all had a close
look at the bikes and chose our
weapons for the nJ~1 assault of the day
- a local 'warm-up" climb that should have
the suppliers were pulling a fast one, hoping to get a good review by putting in a
one-off "extra lo w-co st" hike. But no, we
Then carne the crippling blow to the
stomach. I was going to be riding wit h
three pro cyclists, very good pro cyclists,
carried a government health warning, Some
hours later, and after some rather scary
moments on the descents and a few less than
very good Xorthem pro cyclists. Stupidly,
I had to ask whom my companionswere.
en~'i"bIe climbs, thebiket<-'"
shops will build you an exact copy of any
one of the bikes on test.
were assured that the
companies
and
Sheffi eld ... "Right, there are a few hills
A
theonly thing Iefi todo
,,,I., complete,
'"I.' >top at a cafe and
The reply didn't nu ke it anyeasier to swal-
compare note" .
I was now really looking forward to gL1-
low. They were Mall Buckingham, Rob
tingout on the road. riding up and down
Newman and. finally. the infamousWayne
a bit, and posing for photos ... Little did I
realize the full horror of the test to which
these bikes (and I) were about to be put.
Randle, described once in Cycling Weeki)'
as -The hardest bastard on earth, with a
This wasoo.iously a popular "metinghole
forthirsty cydiss, as the menuread, "T"" or
Coffee - Cup. Mug. or Pintl"
I was to be one of four cyclists to test
32 ,6. April 1998
face that looks like it's been chiselled out
of granite:'
Of the bikeson choice, there were [\\-0
from the old school - 650wheeled, steep
angledtriathlon bikes- and two standard
7m: road bikes with tri-bars, Oneof the650's
wasa ''''Y smart Quintano Roo Kilo supplied
by Total Fitness Nottingham and the other,
an equally wellturred 0Ul AsiC'; Team tri bike
supplied by Multi\port.
Bespoke frame builderPaul Hewitt had
put forward an almos unbelievable7ln: road
bike. And the final bikeon test WJS a Dutch
bike going by the name of a VanTuyl from
Road House. I had never heard of the Van
Tuyl before; but with a sensible frame and
the newUltregra 9-'11'-'l<1 grouper, 0wascertainly an eye-opener, especially for a grand,
QR Kilo
between the frootof thesaddleand the pads
on the tri-bars wastooshort. In fall, avoiding
knocking your knees on the pads was virtu-
ally imp',,~ble when youwereout of the saddle. On the descents, thestability of the bike
definitely came into question. The smaller
wheels and steep angles moved the rider's
cenre ci WJWyforwards and slightly upwards,
so giving a twitchy ride, resulting in nervous
descents. At theeod ofthe day, it's a trade-ott
between aerodynamics and handling. To
achieve a better areo position, the QR loses
some of the handling and climbing ability
found on staodard 7m: bikes,
The overall weight was very low and this
was certainly noticeable on the climbs ...
Unfortunately, ourattention was rather taken
away from thisattribute by the unstable setupat the from end. A few years ago, it would
have been a rarity to set a bike in the transition area without theclassic"cow-hom"bars,
buttimes havechanged and thecow-horn is
now almost obsolete, Withthe forward-facingupturned handlebars youare rather limited on your hand positions and this makes
dirnhingand descending less relaxed. The
whole test team agreed that, with a simple
change of bat>, the overall feel of the bike
couldhave been vastly improved.
say the least'), and the saddlea San Marco
Active. Both the stl'ffi and sell pos wereQR's
OV.TI.
The finish WJS, asyouwould expect, very
protessional: and as with the old Model Ts,
youcan haveany colour IUU like as longas
~'s black.
This bike L' one of the thoroughbreds of
thetriathlon world, and if you want to go
fast on a Ilattish course, there wouldn't be
much that em touch it. Itoozes aerodynarni<..'i, and for long-courseracing, itwould have
to be one of the top contenders.
With a few personal tweaks, thiswould
make the pefect bikefora relatively strong
rider on a flat lWISe. And, if all-cot speed L'
what you are after, you need not look any
further. Overall there wasa k~ ofbike foryour
pound here. And with QR being fairly new
into the UK, anyone choosing this as their
met bike will certainlyget some attention in
metransition area.
Asics Tri 420
Another simple area of improvement we
g
uintano Roo has always had a good
reputation, but wsh thatreputation has
invariablygonea ratherhefty price tag.
This »ke rewrites the QRrule book, putting
pay to the perception of "nice bike if you
can afford it." The Kilo lakes irs name from
thealleged weight of the frame. Speculation
has arisen to theaccuracy of this fact: but
whatever itsaauaI ,wigh~ itcanmt be denied
that the Kilo is probablyone of the lightest
frJl11CS on the market.
Due to its small dimensions, there was no
loss in stiffness, and under acceleration the
frame fell fum and responsive. The angles are
very stee p (78-<1egrt'eseat tube), givingyou
the feeling that you were peddling from
behind you(ifyouget my drift). Once inthe
aero position, however, it was pos.s. ible to
transmit all yourstrength to the pedals.
Although the Kilo gave a very powerful
and aerodynamic position, it was n<X panicuIarly suoed todimbing or descending. Whil'il
climbing,every rider found that the disance
34 '" Apri11998
felt could have beeo with the tri-bars themselves. ThebarswereSyntace and, therefore,
ci very good standard witha mmfonab1e and
sturdy ride. The problem concertedthe position of the gear levers, rnocnted in between
the "loop' of the tri-bars. With only a small
gap on either side ci theshifters, we found it
dilftcultincertain geat> to 0'Cl a fum hold of
the lev ers. Asolution might have been a tunbinatioo ofstandard drop bat> with STI brake
levers. Smallalterationssuch as these could
beachievedfor little ornoextra expense and
wouldcertainly improve the hill-riding ability
of the bike.
The wheels werebuilt em QR's own hubs
with plain gaugespokes, Velocity deep rims
and Hutchinson Krono tyres, Thewheel setup was adequate for training and racing;but,
if you bought this bike, your first major
upgrade would have to be a pair of aero-
wheels. The bike does not come supplied
with pedals; but, as they are normally quite
a personalchoice anyway, they are best fared
as an after sale add-on.
The grtJUpset was a standard Shimano lOS
with an upgraded Shirnano Ultegra
rear
mc'C11. This isa tried and tested combination
that works well. The brake levers wen:
Modolo(notanyof the roadies' favourites, to
en
s it turned out, this bike was the sur-
A
prise of the test __.Sure Asia; make great
shoes and their running kit L\ some of
the best around. But could they put a bike
together? First impressions were, yes.
TheTri 420 hadsensible drop handlebars,
SfX1I1ed ~11 brake levers and itcameas standard withclipkss pedals. Asics had decided
to 0'0 witha 650 wheeledbike for the test,
IJUt thereare rumours of a 700c bikeappearingon the market soon. For a fIN anempt
at producing a racing bike, they had n<X tried
to over-sntch themselves, It L' sometimes felt
by new companies corning into the market
place that they will only he noticed if they
produce something radical, Such is not the
case. The fall that there is a new company
on the sceneisenoughto gain all the attention reeded. Theframe wasmade from heat
treatc<17005 gradealuminium with ''''Y professional welding and attention to detail that
incorporated a replaceable rearhanger- A
,ita! cornpcoeru on anyaluminium bike. The
angles on the frame werenol. asextreme as
the QRand, therefore, resulted in a more
relaxed and stable ride. TI,e testteamagreed
thatthe Asics bikeclimbed and descended
vel)' well for a 650wheeled hike and, at a
push, handledalmost a' wellasa 70De. With
this in mind, there werealso the benefits of
a 650 present as well: quick acceleration, a
more aerodynamic position and reduced
rolling resistance,
TIle ride wasn't (00 "hard" for a tightangled, aluminium bike. Thisalways has to
be a consideration fora triathkte wl..'!'C, after
riding [l at OUIfor overan Inlr.theymust then
be able 10 stand up str.Iight and run without
reaching forthe IlCafCS support to stopthem
fromfaUing over.
1111: front end ofthebikehad obviously
beenthought about and that nu de a vast diffcrence to thefeel and handling of the bike.
The dropped handle bars opened up the
number of positions to hold, and the 511
brake levels were a sensible choice. th e other members of the testing team were all a
little sceptical of the bike before the test, but
with a few miles under thehelt we aU agreed
that the ride felt relaxed and comfortable,
and I for one foond the hike to be fast and
enduring.
TI,e aero-bars were the 3lTf Blo Ann,
and, while not as good a quality as the
Syntace, they were fully adjustable and the
smll JX"l, removed the krce-krxxking problems experienced earlier.
TI,e groupsct was Shimano 105 throughout, a reliahle and widely accepted groupset.
The scat postand stem were of adequate
quality, Trans Xand Kalloy Uno, respectively, and the saddle was a Selle lul ia Nitrox,
which " following in the fooLsteps of the
much respected Flire ItaliaTitanium saddle.
A' with theQR. the wheelswerem e area
wherethe Asics Tri 420lacked a little. With
ULT hubs laced into Rigida DPIS rim, they
came out on the heavy side but were per-
rc'ltly adequate to race on.
TIle tight posit ion ~\'C it good flat speed,
and the Il'K>I'e convenoonal front endgave it
c1imhing and descending abilities beyond
llIostotl..,650\. One'( a~in, the pc1foo bike
for a mungcompetent rider, but not so limited to the pan-flat course. Bearing in mind that
most of the races in Britain arerun on rolling
terrain. itwookl be wellsuited to the UKrace
scene.
There '< one otherpoint that must hementioned about this bike; It retailed for under
£900, wellwithin the limit set. Thisextra saving could be put towards a better pair of
wheels or an upgrade in groopsct. It could
even beput ina high..inten...~ savings account
so that, by the time the London Triathlon came
around again, you could probably alford to
enter it!
Paul Hewitt
he next 1\\'0 bikes we tested were the
T
700chikes. Paul Hewitt. as in Hewitt
Cycles, was providing one of the bikes
and from previous experience we were
expecting a high standard of both frame and
wheels.
Paul is renowned for his wheel-building
experience and is currently providing the
Ambrosio Pro-cycle team with their circular
weaponI)'. TI,e bikethar arrived blewall our
expectations out ofthe water. The finish tothe
fQIiDe was Paul's personal trade mark: Black,
;a and while (as can be seen on Annie
Emmerson's race hike). a classic but rather
appealing colour scheme that lends iL<e1f well
to the clean racing lines of the bike.
The frame was the only one on tCS[ that
GUIle as cuscm (ie., buih from scratch to e adi
rider'sown IXT.'On:.ti measurements)and was
made from theexcellentColumbus Neuron
tubing, l hi, lUbe set has a fine reputatiotl with·
in lhe indusll)' and was chosen for it..; light
weight and exceptional ridequalities. Steel
frames, unlike other,stiffer materials, will pn>vide an adequate rigi<htythat atthesametime
won'tshakeyour kidnc,., loose over a rough
bit of road
The angles on this frame werea 101 more
relaxed than the twoprevious 650's, but this
is standard for a 700e frarre where theemphasis ismoreon all-round riding rather than a
pore time-trial Sl1-Up.Theriding position was
superbly comfortableand, fromthe moment
that Wayne, Matt and Rob goton the bike, it
wasobvious to Sl."'e that they looked more at
ease and started to really throw [he hike
around on the descents,
This bike was stable andresponsive, allowingany rider to gainconfidence quicldy and
easily without the fe-ar of the rearend suddenly steppingout or the front wheel from
goingaway from underneath you.
Within the package came tri-bars and by
simply moving the saddle slightly forward
coupled with a shotterstem. an aerodynamic tirne-tr.tiling position coukI beachieved dtn
wooldpot JTl(JS( low-profile bikes to shame.
Having said that, this ,sa bespoke bike, and
Paul can buildyou a tailor-madeframe spedfic toyour size and net.x
. is.
The front end was laid out sensibly with
Protile ZB\ srappcdto 311TFormu bars and
most importantly, tothe ~m brake levers. 111is
bikeoozed quality and thought, and itwas
dIe little touches that made aU thedfference
- Thepolished3lTf Synthesisstern leading
to the 3lTf bars wrapped in coordinated
Cinelli cork tape, jusllovely.
Campagnolo Velocehad beenselectedas
the groupsetforthe Hewitt bikeand was VOledhesr groopset for itsprice by the testing
team. For the money, we feltitwasfar supc~
rior to theShirnano 105. Thefinish was excellent, the shifting quality comparable to
groupsets twice its price, and the final nail
in the lOS'swas that the Veloce comes with
nine shiny spmckct' (a, oppccd ioShmaros
eight), TI,e feel was finn, but without fingerbreaking stiffn""" and the"click"it produced
madejust the right sound. After 50,000 gear
change'S. it beco mesvel)' irnponant that yeo
like the sound.
If the groopset was good, thenthe wheels
were good plus one. Paul, as mentioned earlier. has been supplying the Ambrosio Pro
teamwith wheels and he wasable to find it
inthebudget to pot them on thetestbike. For
the techno junkies out there, the rimswere
Ambrosio Futura, laced with IS ACI spokes
on the front and 24 on the back. The hubs,
arguably [he best on the market, were
Triathlet• .Ii. 35
Sachs New Success cartridge hearingsand
silky smooth. The finished wheels wer e
Van Tuyl
very light without losingstilfness, and the
deep rims together with the low-spoke
tube - Both had been added to improve
the overall stiffness of the frame,
Although the angles were slightlymore
relaxed (74 degrees) than on the Paul
Hewitt, the oversized 7005 aluminium tubingand the more acutelyangled forksgave
this bike a chunkier, ' tighter" look. Wayne,
Matt and Rob. who had seen the hike
before I had, were fighting to get the initial ride. From first impressions, I couldn't
work out why. It really didn't look like
anything special.
The Van Tuyl was to be my last ride of
the day. I had just tackled the "easy side'
count, maintained a high degree of aero-
dynamics, all so important while riding
against the clock.
With VI' clipless pedals and a Flite
Titanium saddle, this bike not onlylooked
great, but handled very weU. TIle only area
of criticism was the forks -
specifica lly,
the rake, which we all felt was a little too
much, therefore, giving perhaps an overexaggerated feel of stability, A change of
fork could remed y this 'fault" instantly.
Apart from that, this bike had no obvious llaws and with the standard700<: frame
could he convertedto winter-training nKX.Ie
at the blinkof an eye. Combined with the
superb ride and the ease with which tyres
for 700<: bikes can be found, it makes the
Hewin a wise and educated choice for any
rider on any course. Hell. it might even
gain you some more respect at the local
cycleclub!
Points of note on this otherwise standard 70Gc frame were a secondary brace
fined between the down tube and the steer
tube, and an airfoil cross-section down
he final bike on test was a linle hit of
a mystery. It had comedirectly from
of Home Moss (in a icy gale), and I was
getting tired. What I needed was inspiration, and it ClI11e in the form of this Dutch
wonder.
It rode cleaner, faster and more positive
Holland and went by the name of
Van Tuyl.
[hat was spec 'ed to be the lowest in the
T
than any of the others, and with a frame
Van Tuyl range, As you would expect, the
ride was very comparable to the Hewitt;
but with tighter raked forks and a stiffer
aluminium frame set, the Van Tuyl just
had the edge of its steel opponent.
This bike didn't relyon gimmicks to be
good. There were no fancy decals, no
unusual tube configurations, no hyped-up
bladed forks or exoticmaterials - Nothing
stood out, but everything was noticed. It
maysound like I had huilt the hike myself;
but when you are truly impressed with
something, you feel it almost your duty to
tell everyone else. And I can only hope
that, given the chance to ride one of these
bikes. you take it.
Moving onto the running gear, and Road
House had managed to stretch their budgetto accommodate a fullShimano Uhegra
9-speed groupset ... a real bonus on a
grand's worth of bike. The Ulregra was
better than the Veloce, but not by much.
For my money, the Veloce has the looks,
but the Ultegra's silky and faultless changing just cannot be ignored.
The onlyarea where the Van Tuyl stumbled a little was in the wheel department.
The over-laced (too many spokes) Rigida
DPI8's, did not do the the rest of the bike
any justice. There was nothing wrongwith
the wheels per se; they were just in a different class to the frame set and group.
Conclusion
owngrade the VanTuyl's group to
Veloce and stick on Paul Hewitt's
wheels and you'd have the pick of
the hunch for under a grand ... Well, that's
my opinion, anyway.
J must say, however. that if this test had
heen conducted on the pan-flat roads of
Norfolk as opposed to the quad-melting
hillsof Yorkshire, the needle of attraction
may very well have pointed in the direction of one of the 650'5.
It's horses for courses. and all four of
these bikeswere thoroughbreds.
D