What are the red things they have covering the spokes at the hub? They only appear on the picture of Boonen standing next to his new bike. I dont seem them in any other photos. Some sorta shipping protection?

http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2007/tech/probikes/quickstep_specialized_boonen/Tom_Boonen_man_and_machine.jpg

and do you believe specialized is not making any custom frames for the riders? i thought one of the perks of being the top riders of the top teams was to have a frame custom sized. many believe (me included) that you dont really need a custom frame because part specs can get you pretty much what you want. but arent some pros particularly sticky about, say, top tube length AND stem size?

[QUOTE=weltyed]What are the red things they have covering the spokes at the hub? They only appear on the picture of Boonen standing next to his new bike. I dont seem them in any other photos. Some sorta shipping protection?QUOTE]

It's new design that's part of the hub. The spokes are lace throught that red part making the spoke shorter than the standard spokes. IMO, it's ugly and heavy.

http://www.specialized.com/OA_MEDIA/equip/07WheelRovalFuseeStar_l.jpg

what i find odd is that they arent on every hub in the pictures. even the closeup of the new hubs.
maybe the difference between training wheels and race wheels?

http://www.cyclingnews.com/tech/2007/probikes/?id=quickstep_specialized_boonen

what i find odd is that they arent on every hub in the pictures. even the closeup of the new hubs.
maybe the difference between training wheels and race wheels?

http://www.cyclingnews.com/tech/2007/probikes/?id=quickstep_specialized_boonen

Annually every teams goes through experimenting new equiments. My guess is that they're experimenting every components Specialized has to offer.

what i find odd is that they arent on every hub in the pictures. even the closeup of the new hubs.
maybe the difference between training wheels and race wheels?

http://www.cyclingnews.com/tech/2007/probikes/?id=quickstep_specialized_boonen


The wheels in that link aren't the Specialized Rovals pictured above. The wheels in the link are training wheels I believe. Either way they're the Fulcrum 5's.

Sure they are. You just have to look through it -- some of the pics have racing5's, some have the Rovals. I don't know if they will race on the rovals or if it is a publicity shot.

Fulcrum wheels = Campagnolo = Quick*Step's wheel sposor (at least last yr)
Roval wheels = Specialized = Q'S's bike / other equipt. sponsor.

As to the hubs, they are heavy but theoretically more aero. We'll see...

The Rovals are just a publicity photo. The official wheel sponsor of the team is Fulcrum. You will not see the QS guys riding these things, for obvious reasons.

Since the "Star" hubbed Roval wheels are designed as an aero wheel, they should be compared to similarly aerodynamic wheels, like the Hed (Specialized) three spoke. Weight wise they obviously won't be comparable with lightweight wheels, but they were never meant to be.

There are other wheels in the Roval line that are sub-1500 grams, but they look just like normal wheels. In theory the shorter spokes of the Star hub are stronger than longer spokes, allowing for a narrower bracing angle and a more aero front profile while reducing the effects of crosswinds and super-heavy rotating rims.

made a stiffer wheel, too.


In theory the shorter spokes of the Star hub are stronger than longer spokes, allowing for a narrower bracing angle and a more aero front profile while reducing the effects of crosswinds and super-heavy rotating rims.