Freecaster.tv covered the live launch of Scott’s new F01 aero road racing bike that HTC-Columbia’s Mark Cavendish and others will be racing in this year’s Tour de France, which also doubled as the team introduction…and unfortunately for us gear-oriented folks, the coverage was about 99% focused on the team and not the bike.
We managed to grab a few screenshots to hold us over until official images are available, all of which are after the break.
About the team, there were a few good quotes from Cav and Bernie Eisel about the race and the bike:
When asked about stage wins and the Green Jersey, Cavendish said they’re still looking for as many stage wins as possible, but that the Green Jersey will be more of a focus this year. He also said their (presumably his and the teams’) power numbers were up from last year. (How is that possible?)Â About the bike, he said: It’s incredible, you know. I give all my suppliers quite a lot of s*%t wanting them to make a bike as stiff as possible, and Scott’s really done it.
Bernie Eisel, about the race: We’re all nervous. The TdF is not a normal race. We won six stages (last year), so the pressure’s high. When asked about the loss of Hincapie, Eisel said “George had more experience, but I’ve tried to replace him. Well, you can’t replace George, but I’ve tried to replace him in the sprints and lead outs.”
The team owner also mentioned that they now have Skype as a sponsor, whose logo appears on the arm of the new team jerseys. He said they’ve been using it for international calls and video calls because it saves them a ton of money since their teammates and races span the globe. It sounds like a commercial for me to type that, but Skype rocks. We use it here, too, since our contributors are in the UK, Spain and various U.S. states.
Click here to watch the video and check out the bike after the break…
Scott had three goals when designing the F01: stiffness, aerodynamics and lightweight.
Tested in the Mercedes wind tunnel, and Scott claims its the fastest in the wind tunnel for the bike alone and with a mannequin (versus competitors), offering a 20% increase in wattage. Aerodynamics Technology helped with design, uses an aerodynamic leading edge with a fluted design on the trailing edge.
Scott says it’s the first aero road racing bike that’s made to perform not only on the flats, but everywhere. It’s just 840g for the frame only, only 5% heavier than the Addict, and very, very light for an aero bike…heck, it’s very light for a bike, period.
It measures at the same stiffness as the Scott Addict, but offers huge improvements in aerodynamics.
