{"id":1500559,"date":"2024-03-26T06:29:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-26T03:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1500559"},"modified":"2024-03-26T06:29:00","modified_gmt":"2024-03-26T03:29:00","slug":"170mm-stems-the-only-reason-you-need-to-watch-this-gent-wevelgem-tech-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1500559","title":{"rendered":"170mm Stems: The Only Reason You Need to Watch This Gent-Wevelgem Tech Video"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Updated March 26, 2024 08:05AM<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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It\u2019s been a long time since I\u2019ve ventured north from where I live in France to Belgium for the races that prelude the \u201cHoly Week\u201d. The last time I was in Belgium for Gent-Wevelgem was way back in 2009, then a mid-week race, when Edvald Boasson Hagen won. As for E3 Saxo Classic, it\u2019s been on the bucket list. And now, thankfully, it\u2019s ticked off. And because of now striking the E3\/Gent-Wevelgem double header off the to-do list, I\u2019ve come to a conclusion, one that may be a little controversial.<\/p>\n

Are you ready? OK.<\/p>\n

The double-bill of E3 Saxo Classic and Gent-Wevelgem is a superior weekend than the Flanders weekend, and I include bundling the Flanders sportive and watching the race in that mix.<\/p>\n

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Both E3 and Wevelgem are raced at an ideal length for non-stop bags of action, a duration where it doesn\u2019t feel like you\u2019re waiting at the roadside for an age for the action, and backing them up with only a day between the two gives the hardcore Belgie fans a perfect chance to live on calories from Jupiler beer alone for three days.<\/p>\n

On top of that, if you head to the start towns, it\u2019s also a far more accessible location for fans to get a glimpse of their heroes, plus, luckily, for those that have to wander the pits (as I do) for tech content, it\u2019s a breeze, staff and riders are far more relaxed, yet there\u2019s still that pure Belgie buzz about it all.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a delight.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not your regular rail on a Selle Italia saddle. Someone wants a firm nose and no kids in the future.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Being a breeze to wandering the pits means that I have quite an extensive video for you. Staff and riders were all open and ready to chat, though as bloody usual, no one would delve too deeply into their tire pressures. Every mechanic seems willing to go to the grave with those numbers.<\/p>\n

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E3 Saxo Classic and Gent-Wevelgem are in no way \u201cfish\u2019n\u2019chipper\u201d races; that\u2019s far from the fact, in fact, very far from the fact. But they are races that sit just a smidgen below those that bookend the \u201cHoly Week\u201d, Flanders and Roubaix. Because of this, we see the kit that will be in its final testing phase before they roll out of Antwerp for the Tour of Flanders. Paris-Roubaix is a different matter.<\/p>\n

Lotto dstny had shunned the Zipp wheels they were using earlier in the season and swapped to Orbea\u2019s in-house Oquo wheels. For REASONS!<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Both E3 and Wevelgem will be the last races where they can truly test the equipment outside of recons. And this year, there are a few recurring themes, unless you ride for Cofidis! Tubulars are pretty much used across the board, and for the Belgian Classics, it\u2019s either 30mm or 28mm widths depending on how wide the internal rims are of your wheel sponsors. The only team using 32mm tubular was Ineos Grenadiers.<\/p>\n

Being in Belgium, it was no surprise to see a few long stems.<\/p>\n

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I\u2019m positive it\u2019s a law that if you turn professional in Belgium for a Belgium team, you get issued with a 140mm stem, no matter how well your previous bike fit you. Well, I\u2019ve news for you: 140mm is out, and 170mm is in. Yes, that\u2019s right. I said 170mm, which is a stem length that needs phoning through to let it know there\u2019s a corner coming up. I\u2019d hate to think how they handle it, but I\u2019m desperate to test one (now there\u2019s a video idea!).<\/p>\n

Just a bit tight on the rear stays for DSM-Firm-by Ech\u2019 it\u2019s a long name of a team -PostNL
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The other noticeable thing this year is that every team were pretty much on their standard race machines. Gone are the days when we saw \u201cendurance\u201d models rolled out. It wasn\u2019t that long ago when we see such bikes as the Trek Domane, or Giant-sponsored squads on the Defy. With almost every race bike allowing for wide tires, it seems the pros can have it all: aero and smooth.<\/p>\n

This 10-minute video has more tech crammed into it, so please hit that play button and enjoy.<\/p>\n

Cheers,
\nDave<\/p>\n

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Gent-Wevelgem Tech Gallery<\/h2>\n
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Team Cofidis have Look as a bike supplier. Corima is also owned by the same company. But what is interesting is that they seem to be the only team still on clinchers with latex tubes or tubulars.<\/span><\/span><\/span>
\nThere is all the evidence you need. Michelin Power Cup clinchers in 28mm. They\u2019re also the only team sponsored by the french tire company.
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EF was one of the first teams to switch to tubeless tyres several years ago, and there\u2019s no change in the team. Yet more Vittoria Corsa Pros in 30mm, Plus some tasty anodised Muc Off valves. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
There weren\u2019t too many aero chain rings on show at the start. But a few riders at Israel=Premier Tech were using the Vision TT rings matched to Vision\u2019s sister brand, FSA K-Edge cranks<\/span><\/span>
\nGirmay was the only rider at Intermarche-Wanty with this lovely glistening purple\/blue paint job on his Cube Litening Aero frame. <\/span>
\nIntermarche-Wanty\u2019s wheel supplier is Newman, a German brand that isn\u2019t all that often seen beyond Cube bikes in the marketplace. It\u2019s been several years that the team have used them. Tubeless tyres were the ever popular Continental 5000S TR. <\/span>
\nMany riders are using the pro-only Shimano Dura, Ace chainrings in either size 55 or 56m and mainly with a 40 inner- <\/span><\/p>\n
TotalEnergies\u2019 new bike sponsor is Enve. This is the first time the US based company has supplied a Pro Continental team with frames. Beyond the frame it\u2019s Enve equipment from top to bottom, with wheels and bars coming from the company too.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Updated March 26, 2024 08:05AM<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Source URL: https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-gear\/170mm-stems-only-reason-need-to-watch-gent-wevelgem-tech-video\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Updated March 26, 2024 08:05AM It\u2019s been a long time since I\u2019ve ventured north from where I live in France to Belgium for the races that prelude the \u201cHoly Week\u201d. The last time I was in Belgium for Gent-Wevelgem was way back in 2009, then a mid-week race, when Edvald Boasson Hagen won. As for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1500569,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[71],"class_list":["post-1500559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-velo-outsideonline-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1500559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1500559"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1500559\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1500569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1500559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1500559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1500559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}