
		<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC '-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN' 'http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd'>
		
		<html>
		
			<head>
				
				<title>Error</title>
				
			</head>
			
			<body>
			
				<center>
					Sorry, there has been an error.
					<br /><br />
					Error executing DB query
UPDATE statistics_hits SET category_id='3' WHERE id=''
1206 : The total number of locks exceeds the lock table size				</center>
								
			</body>
			
		</html>

		<?xml version="1.0"?><rss version="2.0"><channel><title>Bike - Tri247</title><link>http://www.tri247.com/index.html</link><description>Latest bike articles from Tri247</description><item><title><![CDATA[Workshop: Flying with your bike]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3344.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Would you like to take your bike on holiday, or abroad  for a competition?
Not sure what is the best way to pack it?
Not entirely confident you can put it back together when  you arrive?
This evening workshop covers the following:

         Airline/Eurostar policy
          What to pack your bike in
          How to pack your bike (road or mountain)
          How to unpack your bike (road or mountain)
          What tools/spares to pack

      This workshop is run by friendly City &amp;amp; Guilds qualified  mechanics with over 20 years experience working on bikes and travelling with  them around the world
      
        
          Date:
          Thurs, 29th May
        
        
          Time:
          7.15 &amp;ndash;  9.00pm
        
        
          Location:
          185 Pitshanger Lane, Ealing&amp;nbsp; W5 1RQ
        
        
          Cost:
          &amp;pound;15  (including drinks, nibbles &amp;amp; handouts)
        
        
          Telephone:
          (020)  8998 7271
        
        
          Contact:
          Corinne  &amp;amp; Scherrit Knoesen
        
 
          Website:
          www.thebikewhisperer.co.uk
        
      ]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Bike of the Race: Ean Brown]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3273.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[It&amp;rsquo;s a fact, triathletes love kit! And nothing gets more discussed, considered, argued about and drooled over than bikes. We love bikes too, so we thought we&amp;rsquo;d kick off our 2008 series of &amp;lsquo;Bike of the Race&amp;rsquo;. There are no rules involved &amp;ndash; you may be the fastest or the slowest in your age group. You may even be an elite athlete. You could be riding the most &amp;lsquo;bling&amp;rsquo; bike available, a rare Italian thoroughbred or an old shopper (with basket attached&amp;hellip;). Or, we might just like you! As always, our Tri247 staff will be out and about all over the country (well, the world actually), so if you get a tap on the shoulder and asked for a photo &amp;ndash; be nice to us, and smile!

Ean Brown
Scott Addict Ltd road bike


Our first bike of the race for 2008 belongs to Ean Brown. Ean is a Director of Pentland (www.pentland.com), who amongst a vast portfolio of brands, manage and develop Speedo (www.speedo.co.uk), who are making a return to the triathlon market in 2008. Speedo were one of the supporters and sponsors of the SPW Triathlon this year, which is where we spotted this ultra-light carbon machine, and just had to take a closer look.

The Scott Addict Ltd is quite possibly the lightest bike available, and if you want one, get saving - it doesn&#039;t come cheap! This is one scenario where you really do get less (weight), for spending more. That&#039;s hardly surprising when you consider the quality spec:

Full HMX carbon frame, including the dropouts. Even the external &#039;cosmetic&#039; layer of carbon has been removed to save weight.
Integrated seat post design
Integrated Moulding Process (IMP) forks
Mavic Cosmic Ultimate carbon wheels
Full Campagnolo Carbon Record groupset 
Fi&#039;zi:k Arione K:1 carbon saddle
Look Keo Ti pedals
Zipp Vuka Clip Aerobars


The final addition being a Garmin 705 GPS computer. Well, you wouldn&#039;t want to get lost on a bike like this would you.

This is Ean&#039;s second season of triathlon and, not surprisngly, he&#039;s really enjoying the bike though he did admit that actually he preferred Shimano components over Campagnolo. Still, I guess if you had a &#039;perfect&#039; bike, there would be no incentive to ever change it -- which would take away half of the fun.]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Bike and owner happily reunited]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3283.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Following on from Monday&#039;s announcement on Tri247 that the City of London police were in possession of a black, Triandrun stolen bike, PC Sanders has been in contact with us to report that due to this announcement the rightful owner has come forward and has happily been reunited with his bike. Sanders said, &amp;quot;thanks to Tri247&#039;s help we&#039;ve managed to reunite the bike with its owner&amp;quot;. The City of London Police are currently running a specific operation designed to target the activities of bike thieves.
]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Have you lost a bike?]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3271.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[The City of London police have been in contact with Tri247 regarding a recovered black triandrun bike, which they believe was stolen on the weekend of 18th-20th April 2008. The recovery of the bike comes at a time when the City of London police are running a specific operation designed to target the activities of bike thieves.

Jonathan Sanders (aka PC 962C) who is part of the operation says that he&#039;s anxious to restore the bike to its owner. He is in possession of the bike&#039;s serial number and a couple of other details - obviously you&#039;ll need to know these in order to claim it! 

Jonathan can be contacted by email at Jonathan.Sanders@city-of-london.pnn.police.uk or calling him on 020 7601 2602]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Boardman launches Elite range]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3254.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[It hardly seems a year ago that we sat in a room at Longleat and witnessed the unveiling of Boardman Bikes. After the presentation, and while the rest of the press were riding around the grounds on their machines, Tri247 got a very sneak preview of a carbon fibre, time trial/triathlon machine that was expected later in the year. As is the way with all these things, it took a bit longer!

Today, Boardman Bikes have announced their Elite range and the first of the machines is that TT frameset. Mind you, you wouldn&#039;t recognise it from that prototype! Gloss black and yellow will make this stand out a mile in transition and it&#039;s got all the boxes ticked when it comes to geometry. As will it ought, given that the design comes from the exceptional knowledge and experience of Dimitris Katsanis (frame designer of the current bikes used by British Cycling since 2002) combined with Chris&rsquo;s own cycling experience, attention to detail and passion.

Says Chris, &ldquo;With Boardman Elite we&rsquo;re aiming high. The bikes are designed for out-and-out performance. I have full confidence in saying that in the world of elite performance, these bikes belong in the very front ranks. Dimitris&rsquo;s level of expertise is second-to-none. I regard him as the most talented modern day designer of performance bikes, his qualifications for the task and track record in performance are hard to match.&rdquo;

The AiR/TT comes in three frame sizes; small, medium and large, and is supplied with aero fork and a reversible (74&amp;deg;/78&amp;deg;) seatpost and will cost you &pound;2,499. It will start to get into the trade in early June, we don&#039;t yet have a list of dealers. You can also expect to see some sponsored athletes riding them, although whether that will include Will Clarke and Alistair Brownlee we aren&#039;t sure.

The AiR/TT is the first of the Boardman Elite frames, there&#039;s a full-carbon road bike in the works as well but that&#039;s not going to appear until later in the year. You can check out all the details on the new Boardman Elite website: www.boardmanelite.com]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Review: T.ESS Megalight baselayer]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3215.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Late last year I tested out the the winter-specific, &#039;Platinum&#039; model long-sleeve baselayer from German manufacturer T.ESS. With warmer weather (supposedly!) approaching, the UK distributor for T.ESS, LewisKIT (www.lewiskit.com), sent me one of their year-round &#039;Megalight&#039; versions to test.



The &amp;lsquo;Megalight&amp;rsquo; range, which is available in long-sleeve, short-sleeve or vest style, is described as a &amp;quot;light, soft, versatile, all year round baselayer&amp;quot;. I received the short-sleeve (t-shirt style) to trial and see if it lived up to that claim.

The first thing to point out could probably be described as a Ronseal moment on opening the box - it&#039;s called &#039;Megalight&#039;, and it really is just that. However you are going to use this, additional weight or bulk  isn&#039;t going to be an issue.

As with the &#039;Platinum&#039; model I tested previously, I used a medium size (the smallest offered) which was fine, though at 6 feet tall I&#039;m probably border-line between a medium and a large.

Aside from the (lack of) weight, the first thing you notice is the texture of the material. It&#039;s extremely smooth and soft, almost silk-like. Fit is fantastic - very close, though not restrictive in the slightest, and the almost complete absence of seams assists here. In use I found it to be very flexible, in fact you just forget it&#039;s on. The neck-line is much lower cut than the warmer &#039;Platinum&#039; model which is a good thing - when it&#039;s freezing outside, being super snugg and tucked-up is fine, but in less arctic conditions, perhaps racing, a higher polo-neck style would get irritating. So, once again the T.ESS guys appear to have got the little things right, including the length which is sufficient to keep your lower back warm while cycling, but without excess material. 

While I found the &#039;Platinum&#039; to be superb in the depth&#039;s of winter, this &#039;Megalight&#039; version should offer the most versatility when conditions are not so extreme. I used mine as a base layer under a skinsuit (where the close fit is a real asset) during a chilly early season time trial, for running (including racing) and even as a base when standing around in civvies time-keeping at an event! I think (and will try it soon...) it would also be perfect under a trisuit during a duathlon, when the weather is just that little bit too chilly, but a full cycling jacket or similar would be excessive.

Like the previous test, it bounced back as new after every wash and stayed fresh too. 
I&#039;ll admit - I didn&#039;t really expect too much. I was (still am!) a big fan of the super-warm Platinum model reviewed last year, but, if anything I think this is even better. And here&#039;s the killer...I&#039;ve just checked out the price for the first time: &amp;pound;20 (&amp;pound;18 for the vest, or &amp;pound;25 for long-sleeve versions). Get in! That is very competitive pricing for such a high quality, super versatile and durable piece of kit that really delivers.

Tri247 says: Very highly recommended, you really can&#039;t go wrong at this price for such quality and versatility.]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Cycling across America in memory of their mothers]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3211.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Best buddies and rugby team-mates Andrew Wyeth and Matt Dowse are undertaking a 3,000-mile bicycle ride across America in just 15 days this July, in memory of their mothers who both died of cancer. They hope to raise a massive &pound;100,000 for Leukaemia Research, The Royal Marsden Hospital and the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

They will cross the US from coast to coast, through four different time zones, climbing over 100,000 feet and aiming to cycle 200-250 miles a day at an average of 20 miles an hour. Putting this challenge in perspective &ndash; during the Tour De France, professionals average around 120 miles in a day&rsquo;s stage. Starting in San Diego, the route will take Andrew and Matt through the deserts of California, over the Rockies, across the Great Plains, over the Appalachians, and finally to Atlantic City.

Andrew, a teacher, and Matt, who works in the City, are spending all their free time in training at the moment, cycling wherever and whenever they can. As the summer draws closer and the nights get longer, they hope to ride for 100 miles a day consecutively in preparation. Indeed, they should be used to spectacular challenges by now - they cycled the 1000-mile journey from Lands End to John O&rsquo;Groats in eight days during the summer of 2005.

Matt and Andrew&rsquo;s drive and determination is fuelled by personal tragedy. Matt&rsquo;s mum, Pippa Dowse, was diagnosed with cancer of the womb in 2002, which she thought she had defeated. &ldquo;Unfortunately, in 2004 a tumour was found on the outside of her colon which spread to her liver and kidneys,&rdquo; explains Matt. &ldquo;She eventually lost her battle against cancer in May 2005 aged 66, but the Royal Marsden Hospital in London provided not only a great deal of expertise, but also support and compassion during tough times.&ldquo;

Gwyneth Wyeth, Andrew&rsquo;s mum, suffered from myeloma, a particularly aggressive blood cancer, and passed away in December 2001, aged 68. Andrew explains, &ldquo;My mother sacrificed much, as most parents do, so that her children could grow up to enjoy their lives to the full. Leukaemia Research is a cause very close to my heart and I hope that by raising money, I can help future sufferers achieve a more successful outcome.&ldquo;  

Andrew, 40, coaches and Matt, 37, plays for National League 3 rugby team Rosslyn Park, which is based in South West London. Andrew played for Rosslyn Park when they were in the top flight of English rugby in the early 1990s. When an Achilles injury ended his rugby career in 2004, he took up triathlon and this training should be invaluable for the punishing challenge that lies ahead.

Andrew and Matt are in need of one or two additional riders who are capable of covering 200 miles a day at an average of approximately 20mph. If you think you are up to the challenge, please contact Henry Winter on 0207 269 9019 or hwinter@lrf.org.uk. 

To sponsor Andrew and Matt in their fundraising efforts, please visit their websites: www.justgiving.com/usacoast2coast2008 to donate to Leukaemia Research and www.justgiving.com/usac2c2008 to donate to the Royal Marsden.]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Spring training on Cyprus]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_206.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Tri247&#039;s Editor isn&#039;t the only one to have been enjoying a bit of sunshine - Stelios Marcou has been out in Cyprus getting in some solid training for his Ironman campaign this year. Here&#039;s his report from Cyprus on cycling one of the island&#039;s best-kept secrets.



Over the last few years, I have travelled to Cyprus a number of times purely for either racing or training. These days my holidays differ wildly from when I used to go to Cyprus in my late teens; gone are the days when I used to spend my days bumming around on the beach for weeks on end and consuming copious amounts of alcohol during those long summer nights. So, it comes in stark contrast that I banked a mouth watering 25 hours of training in last week, but I am about to enter into the unknown, what with racing IM France in June and, for some reason, also signing up for IM Florida in November. My thinking behind this crazy plan is that seeing as though I am busting a gut to get fit for one Ironman, I might as well make it a brace and do another. I am also planning to race Antwerp 70.3 in August as a mid-season race, as well as a few other events for fun. To help me in this mammoth feat, this year I have taken on a coach to add structure and real focus to my training sessions. After attending some of his excellent training camps and knowing him for a few years now, I knew that there could only be one man for the job, and that is, the legend that is Steve Trew!

The facilities on Europe&rsquo;s largest island are surprisingly good. There are an abundance of decent 25m pools as well as a few 50m open air pools found in each of the four main cities. If the pool is not your flavour when on the continent, then a short drive in most directions will find you faced with miles of endless coastline, which will provide warm, clear waters, fantastic to swim in and, even in early April, a wetsuit wasn&rsquo;t really needed. I took mine with me because I knew I would be swimming alone for a few sessions, and after a winter of speedo only pool swimming, I needed the wetsuit swimming practise.

Triathlon is also on the up in Cyprus and the Cyprus Triathlon Federation are doing a fantastic job in promoting the sport on the island. There is a national triathlon series which comprises of about ten races and it is worth mentioning that international athletes are always welcomed. I have raced at a few of these events now and although small in size, the average field comprises of about 60 athletes, it makes for a friendly intimate affair. The races are professionally organised, Bambos Spanoudes (Head of Cytrifed) certainly has attention to detail at the top of his list. More info can be found at www.cytrifed.org

The K1 Triathlon club is run by British servicemen out of the Episkopi Garrison. It&rsquo;s a fantastic club, everyone is very friendly and they also have a race series. Nick Kemp, who is the captain, has always been very inviting whenever I have wanted to race or train with them. More info on K1 can be found on their website www.k1triathlonclub.org

Cyprus&#039; best kept secret for cycling is in its interior. There are naturally lots of coastal routes one could follow, but the Troodos Mountain range with its peak, Mount Olympus, is certainly not for the faint hearted. I have ridden some of the Tour&#039;s toughest climbs; the Jou Plan and the Alpe, to name drop two. I have also ridden in Italy on routes that the Giro follows. I&rsquo;ll put my hand on heart and say that the Troodos climb will rival any one of these. It&rsquo;s an unrelenting 0m to 1,800m straight up in 30 long miles, winding through quaint little villages on a beautiful big backdrop, which if you have time to take any of it in, you aren&rsquo;t working hard enough.

On the subject of my new Garmin Forerunner 305 I cannot stress what a fantastic piece of kit this little beauty is. Not only has it not let me down yet... the accuracy and the reliability is second to none. I was a bit skeptical about switching from my Suunto T6, which I have been using for a few years now. The advanced physiological capabilities of the T6 are hard to beat, the basic stuff though, like speed, heart and distance I did find to be sometimes unreliable. The Garmin obviously does so much more than these three basic functions and, unlike its competitors; Suunto, Polar, Timex, etc, the Garmin is a one stop shop. There are no pods to fix onto your shoes or your arms. The built in GPS function works surprisingly well, both in and out of urban areas; hell it even seems to work in my living room. To add, and this was the decider for me being a mutipsort athlete, it has cadence, something that Suunto just hasn&rsquo;t got and from what I understand is some way from developing.

The days started early with sun being high up in the blue sky. Temperature at sea level at 10am was a lovely 18 degrees. Although I knew I wouldn&rsquo;t be needing them until much later on in the day, I used up one of the rear pockets on my jersey for arm and leg warmers. After a very short warm up (my parents live at the foot of the climb I was about to embark on) the fun began after only five minutes as I took a right turn at Erimi village a few miles outside of Limassol. The first section is eight miles long with gradients ranging between 8% and 12%. There is some relief after these eight miles, but only for a slight decent and flat section for about a mile, enough to take on some fluids and spin the lactate out of your legs. The next stage is half the first, but in the same vain, straight up! Again after a leg busting four miles you are rewarded with a short descent  and a chance to get onto to the drops and spin out for a mile and a half or so. This once again is short lived and the road kicks up again all too quickly for another five miles of ascent. The mountain range has now opened up as the valley has now been crossed and it is here where you see  breathtaking views.
  
It is probably worth mentioning at this stage that, during the week, these mountain roads are very quiet. Drive in the cities and you ride at your own peril, I guess not too unlike most cities around the globe. To add; the Cypriots over the years seem to have mellowed behind the wheel, and although you still get the odd nutter in a Nissan pickup truck running a red light and driving like there is no tomorrow with his hair on fire, on the whole the motorists seem very considerate to the cyclist.

I didn&rsquo;t see many cars at all that day and the ones I did see where mostly hire cars (very obvious as they have a red number plate that begins with the letter Z), a few locals who looked at me through their windscreens with amused bewilderment that this man is actually on a bike, cycling up a mountain. On a few occasions I think they must have felt so humbled that they gave me an extra wide berth and nearly caused a head on collision. Then there are the coaches crammed full of day trippers. These coaches have a similar climbing speed as a Tour Category cyclist (which is slow, considering we are talking about a motorized vehicle) and snail pace cornering speeds on the switchbacks. So it was much to my glee that into half of my ride I came across one of these coaches, this provided me with a bit of company for about 10km. Although it felt like a game of cat and mouse, the time certainly passed quickly. I don&rsquo;t think the driver had expected me to stay with him for so long and the passengers certainly seemed quite distracted from the views of the lush pine forests. Our party only ended when the coach pulled into one of the many vineyards which line the route for its passengers to sample some local wine, and to have a spot of lunch, no doubt.

Arriving into Platres at 1250m, there was a noticeable drop in temperature and although the sun was still shining, the last two hours and 30 minutes had been tough. I was fatigued, but the last few months of heavy training had paid off and I knew that I had loads in reserve (I was in a much better state than the last time I had attempted the climb). I was almost at my destination, but I knew that the last 14km would be the toughest of the day. The average gradient for this last section is over 10% and having ridden this road once before, it was good to know just how tough it was going to be. After all was said and done it passed surprisingly swiftly.

I rolled in to the Troodos square with a ride time of just under three hours and I was still in good shape. I stopped for a well deserved BBQ lunch (with chips!) a coke and quite shortly after the arm and leg warmers came out in preparation for the descent. And what a decent I was about to embark on, 30 miles of pure adrenaline. After my crash at the Nove Colli in Italy last year, I knew I wasn&rsquo;t going to see 103kph on my speedo (this is the fastest I have ever clocked). I needed to get my bottle back and this was going to be the perfect opportunity to lay a few demons to rest. For the first few kilometers I was riding those brakes to the point where I could feel the heat coming off my Fulcrum&#039;s, then it suddenly fell into place and I eased off and let gravity take over. Needless to say, I was grinning from ear to ear by the time I got back down to sea level!

]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Review: Focus Izalco Tria]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3104.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Welcome to our latest bike test on Tri247. Just as with other triathlon product we review, we actually get out there and use the things that we test and so we have a house test rider, affectionately known as &amp;ldquo;The Snake&amp;rdquo;, who puts all the bikes through their paces. Our bike reviews are split into two parts: a technical assessment of the components, geometry, etc which will tell you the physical facts about the bike and then a subjective review by the tester to see if it actually delivers on its promises.

The subject of our tests this month is the Focus Izalco Tria, a machine we first saw at the Cycle Show last year and wondered then just how Wiggle, the brand&#039;s UK importers, had managed to put together such an impressive bundle for just &amp;pound;999.99. (Actually it was launched at &pound;899.99 and has just moved to its regular price of &pound;999.99.)



Componentry
As we have often mentioned before, one of the ways that you can get a bike down to a price is to use unbranded or in-house componentry. A quick look at the Tria shows that Focus haven&#039;t played this game; everything here is a brand name item and of at least a whole price range better quality than you will find on anyone else&#039;s sub-&amp;pound;1000 bikes. With a time trial/triathlon set-up the components are almost always going to be a mix and so you get SRAM&#039;s carbon bar-end shifters married to a SRAM Rival front and rear mech with an FSA Gossamer TT chainset in 53:42 driving a ten-speed 11-28 cassette. Braking is handled by FSA with a set of their alloy aero levers and Energy calipers. The only slightly odd note is that 11-28 cassette which seems a little excessive, but SRAM make their cassettes in odd ranges. An 11 or 12-26 might seem to make a bit more sense but remember that the the chainset is a 53:42 rather than the more conventional 53:39 so those extra teeth will help at the low end.

So far, so good then. There&#039;s nothing there that&#039;s even remotely cheap or corner cutting. So, what about the other major bits? The bars, stem and tribars all come from FSA and if the clip-ons look a bit stretched out in the photo you&#039;ll need to remember that they are adjustable and you do need to adjust them to a length that suits you (and, ideally, trim the excess and plug the ends). The seatpost is part of the frameset so that&#039;s a stock aero alloy component while the saddle clamped on top is a Fizik Arione which is definitely not a cheap or in-house brand.

Wheels, then. What have they done here to scrub a few quid off the cost. Well, wheels are always built to a price and, while Easton Vistas aren&#039;t the sexiest on the market this is a &amp;pound;1,000 bike and they are very well suited, if not slightly better than you might expect. Which only leaves the frame as an area they might have trimmed back on, and we&#039;ll get to that in a moment.


 
  Frameset
 
 
  Frame
  Focus  aluminium alloy
 
 
  Fork
  Focus carbon aero with alloy steerer
 
 
  Headset
  Not specified
 
 
  Groupset/Transmission
 
 
  Brakes
  FSA Energy
 
 
  Brake levers
  FSA Aero alloy
 
 
  Front derailleur
  SRAM Rival
 
 
  Rear derailleur
  SRAM Rival, 10-speed
 
 
  Shift levers 
  SRAM carbon TT bar-end shifters, 10-speed
 
 
  Cassette
  SRAM 11-28 
 
 
  Chain
  Not specified
 
 
  Chainset
  FSA Gossamer TT alloy, 53:42
 
 
  Pedals
  None supplied
 
 
  Wheels
  Easton Vista
 
 
  Tyres/tubes
  Schwalbe Ultremo
 
 
  Finishing kit
 
 
  Saddle
  Fizik Arione
 
 
  Seatpost
  Alloy aero section supplied with frameset
 
 
  Stem
  FSA alloy 
 
 
  Bars/Aerobars
  FSA alloy aero base bar and clip-ons
 
 
  Bartape
  Regular cork tape
 


Geometry
This is a &amp;pound;1,000 bike and an alloy frame is what you expect here - and it&#039;s exactly what you get. The jury is out on the colour scheme; green and white just seems odd for some reason but that&#039;s probably just because we are so used to seeing bikes in bright, solid colours and it looks a little quiet in comparison. However, as has been said elsewhere, it is different and having a bike that stands out a bit can help in a busy transition! The fork has carbon aero blades and an alloy steerer and fits nicely with the frame for good front-end aerodynamics.

In terms of the bit that matters, geometry, there&#039;s obviously a massive difference between the Tria and most other bikes of this price. This is a true triathlon bike; a proper steep seat angled, short wheelbase machine. Build quality is good, the Germans don&#039;t go for shoddy, and the whole thing fits together just like it ought to. There&#039;s no fat on this design but there&#039;s no wastage either. On paper this bike really ought to be able to deliver; the frame looks to be stiff, the geometry is right and the componentry is solid enough to be able to handle anything you care to throw at it.


 
  Size
  S
  M
  L
  XL
 
 
  Seat tube length, centre to top
  500
  530
  560
  590
 
 
  Seat tube length, centre to centre
  &amp;nbsp;
  &amp;nbsp;
  &amp;nbsp;
  &amp;nbsp;
 
 
  Top tube length (horizontal)
  514
  532.7
  546
  563
 
 
  Bottom bracket drop
  70
  70
  70
  70
 
 
  Chainstay length
  400
  400
  400
  400
 
 
  Seat tube angle
  78
  78
  76.3
  76.3
 
 
  Head tube angle
  71.3
  72.3
  73
  73
 
 
  Fork rake 
  45
  45
  45
  45
 
 
  Wheelbase
  993
  1005
  1002
  1021
 
 
  Head tube length
  100
  120
  150
  180
 


Buying mail order
You might think that because the Tria is only available mail order you would be taking a bit of a risk but having recently visited Wiggle&#039;s operation centre in Portsmouth we can say that the care and attention taken by their mechanics in assembling and setting up bikes prior to shipping them out as &#039;Ready 2 Ride&#039; is at least the equal of any local bike shop and, in many cases, much higher. About the only issue is that of sizing but even here Wiggle provide good guidance and have specialists available to provide advice via email. Our advice, as we have said before, is to invest in gettng yourself &#039;fitted&#039; using one of the available systems like bikefitting and use that information to ensure that you both buy the correct bike and then get the set-up of the seat height and so on correct.

The Snake&#039;s report
Focus bikes are certainly becoming more common-place among the racks of a transition area. The German brand are only available in the UK through the mail order specialist Wiggle but the bikes are now even being ridden by such triathlon luminaries as Stuart Hayes and Michelle Dillon. Both Stuart and Michelle are known to the public and within the pro-ranks (or so I&amp;rsquo;ve heard!) as real bike riders within triathlon. Of course, Stu swims like a fish, and Michelle runs like the wind, but both of these athletes take the bike leg very seriously and as such they are careful to ride kit that supports their ambition, rather than just finding a sponsor to pay the bills.

I know all of you will be saying &amp;ldquo;But they are Pro athletes, they just ride what they are given&amp;rdquo;. I can assure you that Stuart and Michelle both have the luxury of choice in this area, which only serves to make the Focus stand out further from the crowd.

Out of the box, the bike looks great. The &amp;lsquo;Euro&amp;rsquo; bright green colours show that it&#039;s not one to shy away from a crowded market place for tri-bikes, the FSA Gossamer chain set with its solid chain ring, and the excellent FSA aero bars and brake levers really look the part. If you top this off with the carbon SRAM gear levers, the Fizik saddle and Easton wheels and you get a spec-list that is almost unbelievable on a bike at this price-point. More of that later however.

Of course, looks aren&amp;rsquo;t everything. It certainly talks the talk, but can it deliver the all important walk?

Getting the bike set-up doesn&amp;rsquo;t take too long, the aero seat pin slides up and down easily, and the saddle is easy to move fore and aft. The bars feel super solid and moving the pads around in order to get the width right is really easy. I must have spent less that five minutes in total, and this includes putting the pedals on, and was ready to ride out of the box. This fact supports Wiggle&#039;s &amp;lsquo;Ready to Ride&amp;rsquo; claim on all new bikes from them. The gears were perfect, the brakes well adjusted, and the tyres were even hard!

Throwing a leg over the bike and getting out on the road would always be the real test. I took the bike on a number of different rides &amp;ndash; once with a road group, a couple of interval sessions, a couple of turbo sessions, and then the final, all-important, test ride round Richmond Park.

In every situation, the bike felt great. In a group, it&#039;s often difficult to ride a committed time trial bike; they can be twitchy, over stretched out, and nervous on the road. The Tria was stable and sure-footed at all times. Given the broad range of gears supplied (11-28) it could climb pretty much anything in the area, and the brakes were reliable. The skinny aero brake levers got a little bit uncomfortable on a long descent, but this really wasn&amp;rsquo;t what the bike was designed for.

The fact that it felt so good riding in a group may have you wondering whether it would be as good on solo time trial efforts. Is it trying to be to much of a &amp;lsquo;Jack of all trades&amp;rsquo;?

In a word &amp;ndash; no. I&amp;rsquo;ll put this in simple terms; the bike rips along. The excellent Schwalbe tyres feel fast and smooth, and the gears work in all situations. I have to say too, the carbon gear levers are lovely. It may be a small thing, but these are top of the range and exactly what the pros use. The fact that on their own they cost nearly 15% of the total bike price makes their presence even more incredible.

On a straight, flat piece of road, this bike feels great. The aero-bars are really comfortable and feel so stable, you find yourself happy cornering in them, rather than coming up to the &amp;lsquo;tops&amp;rsquo;. The aero tubing of the frame obviously helps the bike cut through the air as I found myself riding at higher speed than I would normally have done. The test lap of the park was conducted under severe conditions, so I won&#039;t reveal the time. It was snowing and windy, so it&#039;s just not fair. What I will say was that it was still faster than I expected.

I&amp;rsquo;ve ridden a lot of bikes; carbon, aluminium, steel and titanium, from pretty much every manufacturer. This bike sits up with the best I have ridden. It feels fantastic and is certainly all the bike anyone would need for a fast triathlon or time trial. Its responsive, comfortable, and has an incredible specification. All of this is said without any consideration of the cost. Regardless of price, this bike is a stand-out ride. Once you factor in the incredible price of &amp;pound;999.99 you start to wonder what is going on! It&#039;s not a promo price, or a sale bargain, this is the RRP for this bike. I would happily have suggested that this bike would cost &amp;pound;1,500, and even at that price point, the bike would stand out against the &amp;lsquo;bigger&amp;rsquo; manufacturer&#039;s products.

This has been an eye-opening test for me. I&amp;rsquo;ll be honest, and say that I started off being quite sceptical of a mail-order bike. I write this article fully converted. If you need a bike for triathlon, and you are sure of your size, buy this bike. You will never regret it and will always have a little smirk on your face as you see other bikes that are twice the price but not as good.

With the money you save, treat yourself to some deep-rim wheels and you will have the perfect race bike.

I could go on, but I won&#039;t. If you need further opinion, next time you see Stuart or Michelle at a race, ask them yourselves. Tell them the Snake sent you. They will let you into the growing secret that is Focus bikes and Wiggle.



Tri247 says: The Focus Izalco Tria represents a true bargain; it&#039;s the right bike at completely the wrong price! Back in September last year we figured at &pound;899 (with Wiggle wanting to be a bit aggressive at launch) it ought to be priced at around &pound;1,199 and in today&#039;s market with the Euro even stronger and prices tending to shift upwards it could comfortably sit at &pound;1,299 as an SRP. This isn&#039;t a run-of-the-mill compact geometry road bike that has had a set of tri bars slapped on - it&#039;s a properly thought through, well-designed and well-specified triathlon and time trial bike for someone who is serious about the sport. It&#039;s hard to think of anything out there that comes close; Trek&#039;s alloy Equinox 5 is possibly the closest but that&#039;s significantly under-specified in pretty much every respect compared to the Tria.

As a result, we&#039;ll unreservedly give the Izalco Tria a place on our A-List and that&#039;s a position that we feel is going to take a massive effort for someone else to shift. If you are looking for a proper tri bike then you have to consider the Tria. Spending any money buying one saves you over the competiton on a set of decent, low-cost deep section aero wheels like FFWDs for racing on makes more sense than buying many bikes at twice the price. We expect to be seeing a lot of green in transition areas this summer... ...and it won&#039;t have cost a lot of green to get them there either! ]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Workshop: cassette and chain]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3069.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Our regular series of articles on basic bike mechanics continues with Phil Walker taking a look at changing a cassette and chain, something that you really ought to be able to do yourself.



The chain and cassette is an area of the bike that needs to be maintained properly for the gears to work smoothly and, most of all, safely. If either the chain or cassette is worn you will experience slipping or jumping gears and poor shifting, especially under load when climbing or sprinting out the saddle.

If you were to look at a worn chain and cassette you would probably not notice any wear, this is where it is useful to have a chain wear indicator in your toolbox - examples like the Park Tool CC3 are dead easy to use and effectively just tell you &#039;worn/not worn&#039; which is perfectly adequate. A worn chain can easily break which could lead to a serious injury. Just a few simple checks will tell you if the bike is safe or dangerous to ride.


Important
When replacing a worn chain the cassette should be replaced at the same time. If you don&rsquo;t, the chain will potentially skip over the teeth on the cassette under load. It is important to replace any worn components with correct replacement parts; eg, 9 or 10 speed chain and cassette. If you don&rsquo;t feel confident working on your bike and you don&rsquo;t have the correct tools for the job, it is best not to attempt this task.


Cassette removal
You&#039;ll need the following tools to remove and re-fit a cassette: a chain whip, a cassette removal tool (specific to the type of cassette you are removing) and a spanner. Because old cassettes tend to be really dirty you&#039;ll also benefit from some disposable gloves, degreaser and rags!

Secure the bike, ideally in a workstand, and remove the rear wheel and then remove the skewer (taking care not to lose those little cone springs...). Take the cassette removal tool and fit it into the matching slots in the end of the cassette and then replace the skewer through the tool and the axle but don&#039;t fully tighten it - it&#039;s only there to stop the tool falling out! You can get cassette tools with stub axles already fitted which provide an alternative way of ensuring it stays in place.












You now need to fit the chain whip onto the teeth of the old cassette so that it rotates in a clockwise direction - the chain whip will be used to stop the cassette just going round and round when you try to undo it. 

Now fit the spanner to the cassette remover and rotate it anti-clockwise while holding the chain whip against the pressure. The locking ring should be tight so don&rsquo;t be afraid to use some force until loosened off. A loud &#039;zip&#039; noise will be heard when it loosens off.








You can now remove the skewer and fully remove the lockring. At this point it&#039;s worth dropping the whole of the old cassette into a bag to keep the grease and gunk away from everything. Clean up the freehub body with a rag soaked in degreaser and then re-grease in preparation for re-fitting the new cassette.

Cassette installation

Tools needed to re-fit a cassette are the cassette remover and spanner and some grease. In an ideal world you would do it up with a torque wrench but most people just rely on using a decent sized spanner and a bit of grunt!

When fitting the new cassette be careful to fit all spacers and shims included. Pay special attention to which shim goes where, you definitely don&#039;t want any bits left over! Slide each cog (sprocket) onto the freehub body, both Shimano and Campagnolo cassettes are &#039;keyed&#039; so that each sprocket will only fit in one position - you may have to check the location of the key each time if you aren&#039;t familiar with the process. The red dot in the picture highlights the smaller key slot on a Shimano cassette. Repeat until the whole cassette is fitted.








Now apply a small amount of grease to lockring threads and screw the lockring into the freehub body to clamp the sprockets in place. Now fit the cassette removal tool and the skewer but this time make sure the skewer is tight against the removal tool. Using the spanner, turn the cassette removal tool clockwise until it is tight. If a torque wrench is used, tighten to 40 Nm. Spin the cassette, check for smooth operation. There should be no lateral movement and all the sprockets should be tightly clamped onto the freehub body.

Chain replacement
Removing a chain is a simple process but there are a few guidelines to follow to make it more straightforward. You&#039;ll need a chain tool, sometimes called a chain breaker or splitter, a replacement pin for the type of chain you are using and some disposable gloves - chains get really gunky!!

It is important to remove the correct pin when splitting the chain, failure to do this will result in a weaker chain. Always elect a chain pin that is identical to adjacent pins, do not attempt to remove previously removed pins or any pins that look different to the others or you could be introducing a weak spot into the chain.

Place the chain into the chain tool, align the driving pin with the selected rivet on the chain and
turn the handle on the chain tool until it stops, keeping it at a right angle to the chain. Normally the pin will still be engaged in the chain plate. Now back off the chain tool and remove it from chain.












To separate the chain fully, hold each side of the protruding pin and bend the chain towards the protruding pin whilst gently pulling on chain to separate the links. Remove the chain from bike and bag it with that old cassette, be careful not to cover yourself in oil!

Fitting a new chain
When you unbox the new chain you will always find that it will be longer than the chain you removed. For the gear system to work correctly the new chain should be shortened to the same length. Shortening the chain is very similar to removing the chain, see the above instructions. Take into consideration that there are inner and outer plates so double check before you remove any links.

Guide the chain over the smallest front chain ring, over the cassette, then through the jockey wheels on the rear derailleur. Make sure that the protruding pin is facing away from you.

Lift the chain off the front chain ring and let it hang over the bottom bracket. This will give you more slack when connecting the chain together. Pull the two ends of the chain together. Slide inner plates into the outer plates and align holes, the protruding pin should hold chain together.











Now take the special connecting pin, lubricate the tapered end and insert it into chain until it touches the old protruding pin. Back the chain tool off enough so the chain can fit into the cradle and then wind the new pin into the chain until it looks identical to every neighbouring pin. If the old pin had been left in the outer plate the new pin will have pushed it out, throw this old pin away.

Before you continue make sure that you have pushed the pin far enough in. The chain will now have the tapered end of the new pin protruding away from you, this needs to be removed before the bike is ridden. Use the chain removal tool or pliers to break the taper off the new pin, simply twist it  sideways. Check chain pin alignment again and then check links for tightness. Loosen any tight links by twisting the chain carefully.

You can now re-hang the chain on the front chainrings and, assuming that you measured up correctly, all the gear indexing should work correctly. Your final action is to re-lubricate the chain - although they are always pre-lubed it&#039;s only a thin coating to protect them in storage and transit.



Phil&#039;s top tip
If you are intending to remove the chain on a regular basis for transporting purposes you will weaken the chain greatly. A great way around this is to use a Connex chain or a Connex quick release link. With this link you can remove a chain in a matter of seconds. They are compatible with both Shimano or Campagnolo chains.






]]></description></item></channel></rss>