With so much going on at the IRONMAN World Championships its easy to miss some of the new products that get launched over race week. One such product was the Airstreeem Super TT Plus. We take a look at the bike that was INSPIRED BY SPEEED (and yes that should have three e’s in it..).
Airstreeem Super TT Plus
Airstreeem is a family business set up in 2008 by former pro cyclist, Stefan Probst. The bikes are hand built in Austria and the company has its own in-house research/development team.
Our vision – to make professional products available for every rider and for every purpose
The Super TT Plus is, in Airstreeem’s own words, an “Eeevolution of our existing product with some really cool and unique features”.
Airstreeem Super TT Plus launched at IRONMAN World Championships 2017
Super TT Plus Features
AEROBOTTLE: 750ml volume and can be removed quickly in two steps.SPEEDCOCKPITSPEEDCOCKPIT: height adjustable without removing electronic shifting cablesSTORAGEBOX: space for gels and bars. Integrated Di2.
AEROBOX: space for tools and spares.SEATPOST: Seat angle adjustable from 70° TO 80°AERODYNAMIC INTEGRATED FRAME WHEELSET SYSTEMAEROBRAKEEASYPACKING
No details on price yet but you can find out more via the Airstreeem website.
How do you develop an innovative, all British triathlon bike from scratch? That’s what Martin Meir, the man behind REAP Bikes did. This is how he did it.
After a couple of weeks of social media teasing, Wattbike have today revelaed the Atom, their new product – and if it delivers as well as it looks, it will be another impressive piece of kit.
Perhaps surprisingly – given the current Wattbike Pro/Trainer costs £2,250 – the new Atom costs ‘just’ £1,499 [UPDATE – £1,599 as at November 2019]. That, in my eyes, makes it a very interesting product release. Here are the first details. We’ll have more on this very soon…
Wattbike unveils the new Atom – the smartest indoor bike on the planet
Marking a new era in indoor training, the new Wattbike Atom is Wattbike’s first fully connected, smart bike. More accurate and more realistic than any other smart bike available, the Atom replicates the resistance and sensation of riding on the road, to give the most authentic ride feel in the world, allowing cyclists to fine-tune their training and goals and gain invaluable insight into their performance.
Two years in development, the Atom is a light and compact, premium, smart bike born out of a desire to create the most accurate, precise and interactive indoor cycle trainer available to cyclists. Wattbike engineers, working with bicycle manufacturer Giant and British industrial designers Curventa, created nine prototypes and conducted over 500 hours of testing to produce and fine-tune the Atom.
“The Atom represents a radical step forward for Wattbike. Our first true home trainer, aimed specifically at cyclists, it serves the needs of the connected rider yet retains at its core our commitment to creating the most technically and scientifically advanced products in the world for improving performance.” Richard Baker, Managing Director, Wattbike
With a power range of 0-2,000 watts and +/-2% accuracy across the full power range, the Atom is more accurate than any other smart trainer. Designed to be used with any tablet, or smartphone device, the Atom features interactive shifters offering 22 gears. Resistance and power output can be controlled manually to simulate on-the-move gear changes and gradients of between 0-25%. Target power can be pre-programmed to auto adjust using the Wattbike Hub app, or by syncing with virtual riding platforms, such as Zwift, or TrainerRoad. Bluetooth and ANT+ enabled, the Atom wirelessly interacts with third party apps and devices, such as Strava, TrainingPeaks and Garmin.
A key feature of the Atom is the patented tools available via the Wattbike Hub. Climb mode offers six pre-loaded climbs, including Mont Ventoux and Le Tourmalet. Using Strava GPS and simulations from VeloViewer, the Atom’s resistance changes automatically to map precisely to the gradient on your virtual ride. Polar View is an analysis tool designed to improve your pedalling efficiency and power output, and the new Pedalling Effectiveness Score helps you assess the impact of changes in pedalling technique in real-time.
The Atom is fully adjustable to closely replicate real bike positioning. A tablet holder, positioned in front of the handlebars, accommodates devices up to and including a 12.9-inch iPad Pro, and two bottle cage holders are fixed inside the Atom’s zinc shield primed steel frame. The Atom is powered by mains electricity, or from October 2017 by a Wattbike battery pack with a battery life of 36 hours.
A radical step forward set to transform the indoor cycle experience, the Atom costs £1,499 inc. VAT and expands the Wattbike range. The Atom sits alongside the existing Pro and Trainer indoor cycle trainers.
Triathlete Lucy Gossage is a Wattbike ambassador, and of the new Atom she said:
“Everything I like about the original Wattbike still features in the Atom. Replicating data. Just jumping on and riding. No excuses if it’s bad outside. Everything that is good, but now with the added bonus of getting into my exact race time trial position.”
“I’ve always loved the Wattbike because it is quick and convenient to jump on and train with accurate data. You know exactly what you are putting out. But, with my winter training I have sometimes felt I’m missing out a bit with the fun stuff. So, using a Wattbike Atom, in my aero position, playing around with friends on Zwift, that is a complete game changer.”
“With the Atom’s shifters located on the hood you can change gear on the go which replicates exactly what you do on the road. It’s like combining my time trial bike with a Wattbike. You get the same data in your position without having to mess about with your race bike all the time.”
It is new bikes all round for the Brownlee brothers – but how does Alistair’s bike fit look on his new SCOTT Plasma. We thought we’d take an initial look.
What happens when a Pro triathlete gets a new bike? In the case of Lucy Gossage and her Simplon MR.T2, she seeks the expertise of bike fitter, Mike Taylor
2016 saw one of the most exciting finishes of the domestic triathlon season in Nottingham, where after being behind for almost the entire race, defending champion Karl Alexander overtook race leader Simon George in sight of the finish line, to win his second consecutive Outlaw Half Nottingham by just eight seconds. You can read Karl’s report on that race HERE.
Outlaw Half Nottingham 2016: Karl Alexander and Simon George
As he told us in a recent interview, Karl is targeting an Outlaw Half “three-peat”on 21st May in Nottingham. He’ll also be racing the Outlaw Half Holkham (2nd July) and full-distance Outlaw (23rd July), hoping to erase the memories of injury-induced DNF’s at both events in 2016.
He’ll have a new bike for 2017 – this Planet X EXO3 TT/Tri – the latest incarnation of their ‘Exocet’ range.
For full details on the bike, scroll through the image gallery above
“I was lucky enough to test ride the prototype of the EXO3 a few years back and provide Planet X with feedback. Since then I’ve been really excited to see and ride the finished bike and I have to say it was well worth the wait. This is a seriously fast bike, even standing still it looks quick!”
Karl Alexander and EXO3: Coming to an Outlaw Triathlon soon…
In recent years we have twice featured the race bikes of Susie Cheetham (www.susiecheetham.com). In 2014 it was the Orbea Ordu, and a year later it was the Falco V. A Cervélo sponsored rider from 2016, at Sunday’s IRONMAN South Africa Susie will be racing on their renege-topping P5X model, released to much fanfare at Kona in October.
For full details on the bike, scroll through the image gallery above
Susie says of the bike:
“The front end fully adjustable so gives amazing flexibility to get into any position. It’s pretty much a no compromise bike in terms of position and storage. There’s the option to have another storage box on the middle bottle cage (‘Speedcase’, pictured below), but I’ll run without it on race day.
And the final addition being added below…
Husband and Coach (and “bike bitch” – Susie’s words, not mine!), Rob, is applying the finishing touches by installing the CeramicSpeed UFO chain
And the end result…
“Sprinkled with fairy dust!”The storage locations on the P5X
When I posted our last Pro Bike feature on Twitter (the Giant Trinity Advanced Pro 1 of Kimberley Morrison), Great Britain Elite Off-Road athlete, Doug Hall asked “fancy doing an MTB one for the off road fans?” Great idea I thought – and threw the job right back at Doug!
And here were are, with a detailed look at Doug’s Charge Cooker Titanium 29er.
For full details on the bike, scroll through the image gallery above
Away from the Elite circuit for a couple of years, Doug will be back this coming Sunday at XTERRA Malta, the first event of the 2017 XTERRA European Tour.
Aside from something a little different to many of the TT bikes we have previously showcased, Doug’s choice of frame and components is all driven by personal choice, preferences (and budget…), in the absence of current sponsorship commitments.
Given that, how do you build an off-road triathlon bike, and what would you choose? Well, this is what Doug Hall did…
After a few years away from the XTERRA circuit, I’m back on the European Tour for 2017.
Challenging myself to race at a high level whilst holding down full-time employment can be a struggle, but the upside of this (other than resting 9-5), is that I can be picky about my bike tech and just purchase product without having to scrounge about for sponsorship deals like the old days!
Frame
Charge Cooker Titanium, 29er obviously. I spent a while searching for one of these. I’m quite particular about bike set up, I like a long reach but a short headtube and the Charge is spot on in the medium size. Whilst I love carbon bikes there is something about a Ti frame. It is super lightweight but offers a bit more flex resulting in a smoother ride and better traction on rough surfaces.
Fork
Rockshox Reba RL, a pretty basic unit but nice and light. It did come standard with a 100mm travel, but that meant the stack height being just that little bit too high. A quick hacksaw and thread tapping job reduced the travel to 95mm, voided the warranty but placated my fussiness.
Groupset
Shimano XT/XTR. I’ve been a late convert to 11speed on the mountain bike, but after testing it, I simply had to buy it. Crisp precise shifting across a frankly massive 11-42 range cassette, paired with a single 34t ring up front, renders the front derailleur obsolete and cast to the spares bin. Stopping duties are covered by Shimano XT brakes. I’ve found them to be as good as XTR but without the price tag and the constant worry of breaking a £40 carbon lever on a tree!
Wheels
Stans No Tube Grails. The grails are really meant to be used for cyclocross and gravel duties. Initially I slapped them on the mtb due to a spoke failure on the regular wheels but I found them to be great. Lightweight, wide internal width (bulks out the tyre) and I’m especially fond of these wheels as I hand built them myself onto dependable Hope Pro4 hubs.
Tyres
Vitorria Mezcal Graphene. Go to any mountain bike event and the pre-race discussion is all about tyre choice. I’m no different, I’m heading out to XTERRA Malta at the end of the month and the dry, rocky conditions require a particular tyre. A quick call to Jon Heasman at Vittoria and I had a new pair of boots for the bike, perfect for going fast and standing up to the abuse they’re likely to receive on the limestone trails. ThEese tyres are the first mountain bike tyre to have the super material graphene in them.
Finishing Kit
Easton carbon bar with Shimano pro Atherton grips, Fizik Gobi sadde atop a Shimano pro post, shimano pedals – I’ve had these for years and they are showing their age, but they just work!”
Fork
