Time trial bicycle
A time trial bicycle is a racing bicycle designed for use in an individual or team time trials raced on roads. Special time trial bikes exist for use in a velodrome. Since the cyclist in a time trial is not permitted to draft behind other cyclists, reducing aerodynamic drag of the bicycle and rider is critical. One difference between a time trial bicycle and a road bicycle is the use of triathlon handlebars or aerobars; the main part of the bullhorns curves forward, but where the road handle bar curves down, the time trial bar ends. This provides a low tucked position, aerodynamic while providing good stability; the time trial bar uses a "clip on" bar or aerobar which attaches to the main bar near the stem and provides a position where the hands and fore-arms are close together and forward, providing a aerodynamic position. The aerobar became popular when Greg LeMond made up 50 seconds to defeat Laurent Fignon in the final stage of the 1989 Tour de France. Time trial races tend to be much shorter than road races, so comfort is less of an issue.
Control of the bike is less important, since there is little chance of bumping another rider and the courses tend to be less technical with little hill climbing, turns or descents. Differences from road bicycles include: Higher gearing. Since time trial races are short, the rider can ride at a higher pace. Deep rim or disc wheels, which are more aerodynamic; the tubing of the frame may be shaped like an airfoil to make it more aerodynamic. The top tube is a couple of centimeters shorter to give an adequate stem length when riding on aerobars. Since time trials are flat, more emphasis is placed on aerodynamics than weight. A time trial bicycle is similar to a triathlon bicycle. In fact, because the market for time trial frames is so small, many manufacturers are making triathlon bikes that are adjustable enough that they can be set up in such a way that they are legal to ride in UCI events; the three main differences are: a triathlon bicycle will sometimes have a steeper seat tube angle, which places less stress on the hamstring leg muscles, thereby saving strength in the hamstrings for the run which follows the bike portion of the race.
Several frames come with a seat post that when installed one way, give the UCI required 5 cm distance from the saddle nose to the center of the bottom bracket and when installed the other way gives a better triathlon geometry: creating a riding position that helps preserve the muscles used in running by emphasizing pedaling with non-running muscle groups. Some triathlon frames do not meet the strict rules governing the design and overall shape of bicycle frames specified by the UCI and adopted by USCF for use in sanctioned event; some triathlon bikes use smaller, 650c wheels instead of the traditional 700c wheels. The bike leg of a triathlon may be hilly and long, so the higher gearing, higher weight, lower comfort mentioned above for time trial bikes may not apply to a triathlon bike. Outline of cycling Time trialist
Stelbel
Stelbel was an Italian manufacturer of racing bicycles, founded in 1973 by Stelio Belletti. After World War II, Stelio Belletti joined his father, Antenore, in his workshop in via Giovanni Antonio Amadeo, in the Ortica district of Milan; the mechanical workshop specialized in the construction of other metal tubing structures. During the 1950s and 1960s, the Belletti Workshop collaborated with important Aeronaticaul and motorcycle companies in Italy, it was one of the first companies in Italy to operate a TIG welding machine. Stelio Belletti has always been a huge cycling fan and as a boy was part of local amateur cycling teams. Since the early 1970s, his experience as a welder fabricating motorcycle frames and aircraft fuselages pushed him to begin experimenting with the production of bicycle frames, combining steel tubing with TIG welding which at the time was a new technique in the bicycle industry. Encouraged by his father and by the results he had obtained, in the spring of 1973 he decided to found the Stelbel brand, allowing him to distinguish the production of racing bicycle frames from the other activities carried out in the family workshop.
The frames were produced in Via Alessandro Manzoni, 1 in Lucino, a fraction of Rodano in the province of Milan. Using the knowledge he had acquired as a mechanic and welder, coupled with his experiences as a bicycle racer, Belletti began to work on the production of a frame model that would encompass all the technological advances he had witnessed in his time; the racing frame model he created was called the "Integrale" model. The title on the patent states: Bicycle frame designed for competition with at least a portion of the tubes directly joined together through a welding process. Source: Central Patent Office – Patent N. 166907 The patent description illustrates in detail how the steel tubing is joined together to create a frame through a TIG welding process that uses a non-consumable tungsten electrode to produce the weld, protected during the welding process by an inert shielding gas. In August 1975, the UCI World Road Championships were held in Yvoir, Belgium. For the Championships, the Polish national cycling team was provided with Stelbel frames built specially for the event.
It was the debut of Stelio Belletti’s product in an international competition. Belletti made 6 frames for another six frames for the men's road race; the Polish team was made up by racers Tadeusz Mytnik, Mieczyslaw Nowicki, Ryszard Szurkowski and Stanisław Szozda who, racing on Stelbel frames, won the gold medal for the team time trial race. Encouraged by the positive results of his frames, Stelio Belletti renounced all other commitments and began to focus on building racing bicycle frames. During the late 1970s, Stelbel frames continued to evolve, becoming refined and sophisticated, both in terms of technique and aesthetics. In particular, Belletti developed his concept of a fork crown produced in-house, which went on to become a hallmark of Stelbel frames; the development of the fork crown involved a distinctive production process and did not use any prefabricated components. The construction of the first Strada model dates back to 1979, saw the end of the Integrale model. In the 1980s, as the demand for Stelbel products continued to grow, new models were added to the catalogue and the company hired its first employees.
Stelbel began to focus on building time trial frames that featured aerodynamic solutions and were aesthetically pleasing. These years saw the production of the Dynamic frame model and an experimental model called the Punta dell’Est, which had an atypical shape for a frame at the time; the Punta dell'Est model was the main attraction at the Stelbel booth during the "Fiera del Ciclo di Milano" in 1985. Emblazoned above the booth was the slogan: "Stelbel" – Argon T. I. G. Lugless welded frames. Over the course of the 1980s, the internally produced fork crown underwent several modifications and improvements, but it remains one of the most distinctive features of the Stelbel brand; the first experiments with stainless steel frames date back to 1983-1984. The diameter and thickness of the tubes available on the market were not appropriate for constructing bicycle frames and were custom ordered from a steel mill in the province of Milan. Since 1983, the company adopted a serial numbering system for their frames.
Five consecutive numbers were punched into the underside of the bottom bracket, where the first two numbers indicate the year of production. The serial number on the frame should not be confused with the frame dimensions, which were punched into the underside of the bottom bracket as early on as the mid-1970s; the evolution of Stelbel frames continued unabated until 1990, arriving at the production of aluminum frames and the first mountain bikes in Italy. That year, due to problems of a private nature, Stelio Belletti was forced to close his doors with little notice. In September 2013 talks were held to take Stelbel frames in production again. Thanks to a collaboration between Cicli Corsa and Stelio Belletti, a new range of Stelbel frames is available. Notable models Stelio Belletti decided to begin constructing bicycle frames after an unfortunate incident with a racing bicycle he had purchased in Milan; the bicycle frame, according to Stelio Belletti, proved to be not properly aligned. Since the bicycle dealer was not in agreement with his opinion, Belletti decided to solve the problem himself by building his own bicycle frame.
This was in 1970. The time trial bikes that were supplied to the Polish team in 1975 for the UCI Wo
Marzocchi
Marzocchi is an Italian manufacturer founded in 1949 by the two brothers Stefano and Guglielmo Marzocchi. The company profile doesn't include hydraulic industrial pumps anymore but only suspension components for motorcycles and bicycles; the Marzocchi Pompe is still in the hands of the Marzocchi Family and produces gear pumps and motors in Bologna. In 2008 the company was acquired by American automotive parts manufacturer Tenneco. Up until the 1980s, Marzocchi were original equipment manufacturers for a number of Italian motorcycle marques including Moto Morini and Ducati, their oil shock absorbers being OEM for Triumph Motorcycles in the latter stages of their production at the Meriden plant, their later'Strada' model introduced a degree of air suspension to motorcycling and, like the oil shocks, were available as aftermarket fittings for a large number of models. Strada units were OEM for Triumph's T140LE Royal TSS models. A big advantage of the Marzocchi shock was its ability to be rebuilt, seal kits and service manuals being available.
Meriden experimented with using Marzocchi front forks which were used on some Italian models. Meriden however closed down. Marzocchi shocks, albeit of more modern design, are still OEM for a number of manufacturers; until 2007, fork production was based in Italy. Since 2008, all forks have been made in Taiwan. List of bicycle parts List of Italian companies Official site
Solder
Solder is a fusible metal alloy used to create a permanent bond between metal workpieces. The word solder comes from the Middle English word soudur, via Old French solduree and soulder, from the Latin solidare, meaning "to make solid". In fact, solder must first be melted in order to adhere to and connect the pieces together after cooling, which requires that an alloy suitable for use as solder have a lower melting point than the pieces being joined; the solder should be resistant to oxidative and corrosive effects that would degrade the joint over time. Solder used in making electrical connections needs to have favorable electrical characteristics. Soft solder has a melting point range of 90 to 450 °C, is used in electronics and sheet metal work. Alloys that melt between 180 and 190 °C are the most used. Soldering performed using alloys with a melting point above 450 °C is called "hard soldering", "silver soldering", or brazing. In specific proportions, some alloys can become eutectic — that is, their melting point is the same as their freezing point, the alloy's melting point is lower than that of either component.
Non-eutectic alloys have markedly different solidus and liquidus temperatures, within that range they exist as a paste of solid particles in a melt of the lower-melting phase. In electrical work, if the joint is disturbed in the pasty state before it has solidified a poor electrical connection may result; the pasty state of a non-eutectic solder can be exploited in plumbing, as it allows molding of the solder during cooling, e.g. for ensuring watertight joint of pipes, resulting in a so-called "wiped joint". For electrical and electronics work, solder wire is available in a range of thicknesses for hand-soldering, with cores containing flux, it is available as a paste, as a preformed foil shaped to match the workpiece, more suitable for mechanized mass-production, or in small "tabs" that can be wrapped around the joint and melted with a flame, for field repairs where an iron isn't usable or available. Alloys of lead and tin were used in the past and are still available. Lead-free solders have been increasing in use due to regulatory requirements plus the health and environmental benefits of avoiding lead-based electronic components.
They are exclusively used today in consumer electronics. Plumbers use bars of solder, much thicker than the wire used for electrical applications. Jewelers use solder in thin sheets, which they cut into snippets. On July 1, 2006 the European Union Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive and Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive came into effect, restricting the inclusion of lead in most consumer electronics sold in the EU, having a broad effect on consumer electronics sold worldwide. In the US, manufacturers may receive tax benefits by reducing the use of lead-based solder. Lead-free solders in commercial use may contain tin, silver, indium, zinc and traces of other metals. Most lead-free replacements for conventional 60/40 and 63/37 Sn-Pb solder have melting points from 5 to 20 °C higher, though there are solders with much lower melting points, it may be desirable to use minor modification of the solder pots used in wave-soldering, to reduce maintenance cost due to increased tin-scavenging of high-tin solder.
Lead-free solder may be less desirable for critical applications, such as aerospace and medical projects, because its properties are less known. Tin-silver-copper solders are used by two-thirds of Japanese manufacturers for reflow and wave soldering, by about 75% of companies for hand soldering; the widespread use of this popular lead-free solder alloy family is based on the reduced melting point of the Sn-Ag-Cu ternary eutectic behavior, below the 22/78 Sn-Ag eutectic of 221 °C and the 59/41 Sn-Cu eutectic of 227 °C. The ternary eutectic behavior of Sn-Ag-Cu and its application for electronics assembly was discovered by a team of researchers from Ames Laboratory, Iowa State University, from Sandia National Laboratories-Albuquerque. Much recent research has focused on selection of 4th element additions to Sn-Ag-Cu to provide compatibility for the reduced cooling rate of solder sphere reflow for assembly of ball grid arrays, e.g. 18/64/14/4 tin-silver-copper-zinc and 18/64/16/2 tin-silver-copper-manganese.
Tin-based solders dissolve gold, forming brittle intermetallics. Indium-rich solders are more suitable for soldering thicker gold layer as the dissolution rate of gold in indium is much slower. Tin-rich solders readily dissolve silver. If the soldering time is long enough to form the intermetallics, the tin surface of a joint soldered to gold is dull. Tin-lead solders called soft solders, are commercially available with tin concentrations between 5% and 70% by weight; the greater the tin concentration, the greater the solder’s tensile and shear strengths. Lead has been believed to mitigate the formation of tin whiskers, though the precise mechanism for this is unknown. Today
Bianchi (company)
F. I. V. Edoardo Bianchi S.p. A known as Bianchi is the world's oldest bicycle manufacturing company in existence, having pioneered the use of equal-sized wheels with pneumatic rubber tires; the company was founded in Italy in 1885 and in addition to bicycles it produced motorcycles from 1897 to 1967. In 1955 the joint-venture Autobianchi was created together with Fiat and Pirelli for the manufacturing of cars – Autobianchi was subsequently sold to Fiat in 1969. Throughout its modern era, Bianchi has been associated with the Italian Giro d'Italia and Tour de France winners, Fausto Coppi, Marco Pantani and Felice Gimondi. Edoardo Bianchi, a 21-year-old medical instrument maker, started his bicycle-manufacturing business in a small shop at 7 Via Nirone, Milan in 1885. Bianchi pioneered the front-wheel caliper brake. Since May 1997, the company has been part of Cycleurope Group, owned by the Swedish company of Grimaldi Industri AB. Bianchi and Ferrari announced in July 2017 a partnership to produce a new range of'high-end' models.
The SF01 was their first collaboration bike. Data from Bianchi website Racing Specialissima Oltre XR4 Oltre XR3 Oltre XR1 Sempre Freccia Celeste Oltre XR2 Endurance racingThese models are manufactured with women's-specific geometry under the name Dama Bianca, a reference to champion Bianchi rider Fausto Coppi's lover Giulia Occhini. Infinito Intenso Intrepida Vertigo Impulso Via Nirone 7Triathlon and time-trial Aquila Aria Pico AluCyclocross Zolder ZurigoAll road Allroad Vigorelli Volpe Lupo StradaVintageManufactured according to a configuration and with materials common in the late 20th century Eroica The Bianchi reputation began when the company sponsored Giovanni Tommasello, the winner of the Grand Prix de Paris sprint competition in 1899. Fifteen years it was making 45,000 bicycles, 1,500 motorcycles and 1,000 cars a year. In 1935 Bianchi sponsored Costante Girardengo, one of the first Italian stars on the road, its bicycle sales rose to 70,000 a year. In 1950 Fausto Coppi won the Paris–Roubaix on a Bianchi equipped with what was named the Campagnolo Paris–Roubaix derailleur gear, for which Bianchi bicycles featured the necessary special drop-outs until 1954.
He won the race by two and a half minutes on a bicycle equipped with Universal brakes, Bianchi steel handlebars and stem, a Regina chain and a four-speed freewheel with shaped teeth. It had Nisi rims, Campagnolo hubs and Pirelli tyres, it was made for sale only in 59 cm, smaller than the bike that Coppi used. A variation known as the Campione Del Mondo followed Coppi's win in the 1953 world championship. Riders of different eras have been associated with Bianchi including Felice Gimondi, who continues his association with the company. Recent riders include Danilo Di Luca, Mario Cipollini, Gianni Bugno, Laurent Fignon, Marco Pantani, Moreno Argentin and Jan Ullrich; until 2007, Bianchi was a cosponsor of Liquigas. It did not supply teams from 1959 to 1964 nor from 1967 to 1972. In October 2011, for the 2012 season, it was announced that Bianchi had been signed to a two-year deal to co-sponsor and supply bikes to the UCI ProTeams Vacansoleil-DCM and Androni Giocattoli-Venezuela; these sponsorships continued in 2013 and for 2014, with Vacansoleil-DCM ceasing to exist, Bianchi again supplied Androni Giocattoli-Venezuela for a further year, the new Belkin Pro Cycling Team.
In 2015, the latter became Team LottoNL-Jumbo and Bianchi's only UCI Pro Continental sponsored road team. The most demanding rider may have been Pantani. Sara Mercante, head of Bianchi's research and development, said: "Pantani had specific ideas about what he wanted, he had 30 different frames a year from us—with different angles and weights on each one. He changed his bike after every ride. I'd discuss improvements with him. He'd ask to have the geometry changed by, half a degree, just to make sure the bike was perfect. He'd want different angles for different races. He's ask us to tweak the length of the top tube by half a degree. Pantani was quite obsessive."Bianchi is headed up by CEO Bob Ippolito, who before joining Bianchi was the Executive Vice President and General Manager of Pacific Cycle, headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin. Bianchi bicycles are traditionally painted Celeste, a turquoise known as Bianchi Green. Contradictory myths say Celeste is the colour of the Milan sky, the eye colour of a former queen of Italy for whom Edoardo Bianchi made a bicycle and that it was a mixture of surplus military paint.
The shade has changed over the years, sometimes more blue more green. Bianchi USA is the United States division of Bianchi based in California, it oversees the production of bicycles built in Italy for the worldwide market. Bianchi took part in motorcycle races, where one of its first riders was Tazio Nuvolari, whom Ferdinand Porsche called "the greatest driver of the past, the present, the future."The company began making trucks in the 1930s and supplied the Italian army during World War II. It was that that brought the end of production shortly after peace returned because the factory had been so bombed. Bianchi continued with motorcycles the 125cc Bianchina and the Aquilotto, an auxiliary motor for a conventional bicycles. Bianchi took on Lino Tonti as its research engineer in 1959, it produced 250, 350 and 500cc machines and took part in grands prix in 1960. The company produced a model for the Italian army and a civilian scooter, the Orsetto 80. Piaggio bought out Bianchi Motorcycles in 1967
Di Blasi Industriale
Di Blasi Industriale is an Italian manufacturer of folding bicycles and mopeds, based in Francofonte, Sicily. The company's products are suitable for being transported by car, boat, or airplane, are designed and manufactured in-house; the founder of the company, Rosario Di Blasi, began development of a folding scooter in 1952, which by 1968 had evolved into a Zanetti-powered folding tricycle called the DIBLA 7, shown at the Turin Auto Show as a prototype. In 1974 Di Blasi began production of a folding moped with a Franco Morini motor and single-speed transmission called the R2. In 1979 the model R7 replaced the R2 and featured an engine of Di Blasi's own design as well as a multi-speed transmission; this moped has been continuously improved and is still in production as the R7E. It has been used by the Polizia Stradale, the Traffic Police division of the Italian National Police, aboard their helicopters; the R7 is sold by Di Blasi of America as the "Express." It is used worldwide by a number of different "chauffeur" companies, who will drive it to meet the customer, fold it up and put it in the trunk of their car, drive the customer wherever they need to go, such as home from a bar or party.
One such company, serves part of the Netherlands. In the southern US, Zingo Transportation provides this service. In Australia the Di Blasi R7 has been imported and run as part of their designated chauffeur service by Scoot2you Personal Chauffeurs on the Gold Coast and in Brisbane and Melbourne and shortly in Sydney as part of their growing Franchise. In 1974, the company introduced a folding bicycle called the Avia; the model Avia is notable for having featured the first folding pedals developed. The Avia evolved into the model R20, R50, R6, R4, R5, R21, R24, the R22; this bicycle series has characteristically been one of the most compact and folding bicycles on the market. The company has produced folding pedal tricycles since 2000: the R31, R32, R34. List of bicycle parts List of Italian companies Official website Di Blasi of America
Colnago
Colnago Ernesto & C. S.r.l. or Colnago is a manufacturer of high-end road-racing bicycles founded by Ernesto Colnago near Milano in Cambiago, Italy. Instead of following his family's farming business, Ernesto Colnago chose to work in the cycle trade, apprenticing first with Gloria Bicycles at 13, subsequently taking up road racing. After a bad crash ended his racing career, he began subcontracting for Gloria, opened his own shop in 1954, building his first frames the same year. While building frames, he remained much in demand as a racing mechanic, he was second mechanic on the Nivea team Giro d'Italia under Faliero Masi in 1955 being employed as head mechanic for the Molteni team of Belgian cycling legend Eddy Merckx in 1963. The company first became known for high quality steel framed bicycles suitable for the demanding environment of professional racing, as one of the more creative cycling manufacturers responsible for innovations in design and experimentation with new and diverse materials including carbon fiber, now a mainstay of modern bicycle construction.
One of the first big victories on a Colnago frame was in 1957, when Gastone Nencini won the 1957 edition of the Giro d’Italia bicycle race on a Colnago bicycle. In 1960, Colnago achieved more recognition as Luigi Arienti rode to a gold medal at the Rome Olympics on a Colnago bicycle. By the late 1960s, Colnago was regarded as one of the builders of the world's best custom road race frames. While Ernesto was the head mechanic of the Molteni team, riders such as Gianni Motta raced on Colnago bikes. A win on a Colnago in the 1970 Milan-San Remo race by Michele Dancelli for the Molteni team inspired Colnago to change his logo to the now-famous'Asso di Fiori' or Ace of Clubs. After the demise of the Faema team, Eddie Merckx joined the Molteni team, what ensued was mutual innovation—as Colnago describes it: "Merckx was an up and coming champion, I was an up and coming bike builder. So it was a real honour to work for a great champion like Merckx, it helped us to grow... when we made special forks, special bikes."
This included the super-light steel frame used by Merckx in 1972 to break the world one-hour record. With a growing reputation from their racing wins, Colnago plunged into the market for production bikes. In the U. S. the early seventies witnessed another bike boom, Colnago "pumped out bikes as though the future of humankind was at stake." The mainstay of the Colnago line in the 1970s was the Super, followed by the Mexico, named in honor of the successful hour attempt. Other models were added including the Esa Mexico. While the finish on these early Colnagos could be variable, they were great riding bikes and developed a cult-like following. In 1979, Ernesto Colnago presented Pope John Paul II with gold-plated steel bicycle. In response to criticism that his frames were not stiff enough, next Colnago experimented with ways to change the behavior of frame components. In 1983, he introduced the Oval CX with an oval-shaped top tube to add stiffness, he experimented with various crimped-tube frames which became production models as their top of the range frames, beginning with the "Master."
"Master-Light", Master Olympic and Master Piu extended the range. Colnago built a frame from Columbus tubing used by Giuseppe Saronni to win the world professional road race championship in 1982, afterwards a short-lived collection of bikes were badged with the Saronni name. In 1983, Giuseppe Saronni would go on to win the Giro d'Italia stage race on a Colnago bicycle. Since the 1980s, while Colnago continued to produce high-end steel bikes, they began to produce bike frames using material other than steel including titanium, aluminum and mixed material frames. One unique frame from this period, the Bititan, has a dual titanium down tube. Crimped and oversize tubes appeared on the Tecnos–one of the lightest production steel bikes produced, the same oversize tubes and crimping were used on the aluminum Dream frame. In 1981 Colnago prototyped the CX Pista–a full monocoque carbon fiber bike with disc wheels, shown at the Milan bike show. Subsequently, Colnago worked with Ferrari in developing new carbon fiber technology, Ernesto credits their engineers for challenging him regarding fork design, which led to Colnago's innovative Precisa straight-bladed steel fork.
Colnago experimented with multi-material frames, including the CT-1 and CT-2 constructed with titanium main tubes, carbon fiber forks and rear stays, a constructed Master frame constructed with steel main tubes, carbon forks and stays. Colnago's early attempts at carbon fiber frames were not commercially successful, but the lessons learned were embodied in their flagship frames, such as the C-40, the most sought after bicycle, its successor, the C-50 –respectively named for Colnago's 40th and 50th years in bike building; these carbon fiber frames set new standards of excellence. They were built using a modified form of traditional bike frame construction, substituting carbon fiber lugs for microinfusion cast steel, carbon fiber "tubes" for the complex steel tubes used for steel frame construction. Similar building techniques are used in the latest offering, the C59, named for its year of production. While we take for granted the spread of carbon frames, their success was not a foregone conclusion: “When we built the C40 we were the only ones to build carbon frames and all the mechanics and competitor technicians were saying that they would be too dangerous to use on cobbled roads with the straight carbon forks.
There was a company that wanted to fit suspension forks on the bicycle, but I wasn’t going to have suspension forks on the C40. The night before Paris- Roubaix I had Mr. Squin
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