Italian Lampre rider Alessandro Ballan has only been a professional since 2004 but it didn't take...
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The seat stay assembly was clearly borrowed
The fork crown is also equipped
This looks like a careless mistake, but
Like most of the riders in Sunday's peloton
Vittoria provides Ballan with 27mm-wide tubulars
There are no fancy 'wheel systems' to be found here
Not even alloy nipples make the cut here.
Alessandro Ballan (Lampre) is set to race Paris-Roubaix with a special machine created just for the cobbles.(Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
Ballan has only been a professional since 2004 but is already a favorite to win.(Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
Ballan's frame bears no model designation and its construction is indeed unique from any frame in Wilier Triestina's catalog.(Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
The rear wishbone includes a novel see-through section.(Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
The increased rear tire clearance requires the use of a long-reach Shimano brake caliper.(Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
The seat stay assembly was clearly borrowed from a 'cross bike, but turned around and fitted with an eyelet to mount the rear brake caliper.(Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
The fork crown is also equipped with a bit of extra clearance.(Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
This looks like a careless mistake, but the one-off dropouts are actually fitted with a bit of extra material to provide more tire clearance at the crown without resorting to new fork blades.(Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
Like most of the riders in Sunday's peloton, Ballan will run with double-wrapped tape.(Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
Vittoria provides Ballan with 27mm-wide tubulars specially made to handle the cobbles.(Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
There are no fancy 'wheel systems' to be found here ; just good old-fashioned 32-hole hand-built wheels with box-section aluminum tubular rims.(Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
Not even alloy nipples make the cut here. These wheels are laced with more reliable brass nipples.(Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
A little bit of insurance goes a long way as a dropped chain can mean the difference between glory and regret.(Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
Ballan's bike is otherwise fairly standard fare, including the team-only 'red' edition of Campagnolo's Record Ergopower levers.(Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
Ballan's bike is also equipped with his usual Campagnolo Record Ultra-Torque crankset…(Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
…although here a 46T inner ring replaces the usual 39T or 42T.(Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
Ballan is surprisingly tall at 1.9m and thus runs 175mm-long crankarms.(Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
A Chorus front derailleur is used here instead of Record.(Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
Ballan foregoes carbon in favor of aluminum for his Paris-Roubaix seatpost.(Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
The usual Look KeO Carbon pedals will help Ballan power along the pavé.(Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
Garmin GPS computers are suddenly everywhere in the pro peloton, presumably to help remind the riders of important upcoming sections.(Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
And yes, the Garmin Edge can even be configured to display in Italian!(Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
Ballan's spare bike differs in construction but is presumably similar in fit and handling.(Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
The spare bike is also equipped with an alloy Record crank instead of the new carbon iteration.(Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
The spare bike's front derailleur includes a custom chain watcher.(Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
You can never have too many spare wheels when it comes to Paris-Roubaix.(Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
Some Lampre riders, such as Massimiliano Mori, will tackle Paris-Roubaix on steel bikes.(Image credit: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com)
Pro bikes, April 12, 2008
Alessandro Ballan's Lampre Wilier Triestina Paris-Roubaix Special
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