Saunier Duval-Prodir sponsors coordinate efforts to supply team riders

Image 1 of 44

A Saunier Duval-Prodir team car awaits…(Image credit: James Huang)

Tech Feature: Saunier Duval-Prodir team tech, March 16, 2007

The island of Majorca sits just off the coast of Spain and has long served as an ideal training ground for a number of professional cycling teams thanks to its glorious combination of excellent early-season weather, varied terrain, and abundance of good roads. For the Saunier Duval-Prodir team, this setting lies conveniently close to its home base, and Cyclingnews Tech Editor James Huang made the trip to the island to see what the team is riding for 2007.

The Spanish Saunier Duval-Prodir team roster is filled with impressive talent, including Gilberto Simoni, David Millar, and new signing Iban Mayo. Simoni and Mayo have made names for themselves climbing the ascents of the Grand Tours, while Millar is best known for his exploits against the clock. After a long hiatus away from the sport, Millar, in particular, has made a triumphant return to the ProTour, most recently with his prologue win at this year's Paris-Nice.

In seeking the "perfect balance between light weight, stiffness, and aerodynamics," Mavic has gone on a carbon fiber binge diet to develop its new Cosmic Carbone Ultimate. The new wheelset utilizes carbon fiber for the rims, front hub shell, and even the spokes, all of which are co-molded and/or bonded together to form a single structure. Published weights are certainly top-tier at just 1185g per pair, as is the suggested retail price of US$2750.

In addition to the new nearly all-carbon content, the Cosmic Carbone Ultimate uses a new (for Mavic, at least) construction method. New unidirectional bladed carbon fiber spokes now stretch the entire span of the wheel, being first bonded to one side of the rim, then passing through the carbon hub shell flange, and then bonded again to the other side of the rim. The only exception to this is the non-driveside of the rear wheel, which incorporates short threaded sections of spoke to allow for wheel truing. According to Mavic, the new spokes are not only more aero than a traditional 1.8mm diameter stainless steel spoke, but also twice as stiff and 35% lighter.

Saunier Duval-Prodir clothing sponsor Castelli claims to equip the team with the only two-material jersey in all of the ProTour. The front of the team jersey is based on the same material Castelli uses on its aerodynamic Split Second jersey, while the rear is made of a hardier material for better pocket support. According to Castelli, the super elastic and form-fitting front of the jersey provides much of the benefit of the Split Second even without that jersey's dimpled fabric, to the tune of 40 seconds saved per 40km (the Split Second claims to save 58s per 40km).

For climbing stages, Castelli will supply Simoni, Mayo, and others with its new Superleggera jersey. The Superleggera is built with a new ultralight material which yields a short-sleeved jersey weighing just 69g (in large). In addition, Castelli says the material will barely absorb water, meaning that it won't get heavier during the typically hot conditions of the Tour and Vuelta, and won't feel cold on the way back down since there is little fluid to evaporate.

For time trial specialist Millar, Castelli will construct a special skinsuit utilizing the dimpled fabric from its Split Second jersey. Unlike the Split Second, which uses dimpled fabric only for the leading edges, Millar's suit will ultimately use the unique fabric throughout for maximum time savings. Ultimately, Castelli's goal is to also integrate full-finger gloves into the sleeves to reduce turbulence at the wrist.

After much speculation, SRAM finally introduced time trial-specific gear in the form of a pair of bar-end shifters and time trial-specific brake levers. SRAM's new TT shifter (there is no specific model designation for either the shifters or brake levers) are said to be the lightest on the market at just 140g per pair. No, they don't incorporate any sort of DoubleTap internals, opting instead for a conventional mechanism. Weight savings are achieved through the use of a true carbon fiber lever, composite body and expander wedges, and aluminum hardware.

One unique feature is the adjustable rotational positioning of the levers themselves. Instead of the industry-standard "levers up or levers down" options, the lever itself on SRAM's new shifter can actually be rotated to the user's liking to provide a truly custom fit. As expected, the new shifters will work only with SRAM's Force and Rival rear derailleurs, and is offered exclusively in 10s rear/friction front configurations (there is no friction option for the rear). Shifters should be on the market at the time of this writing for a retail price of US$195 for the pair.

Cyclingnews had the opportunity to test ride Saunier Duval-Prodir's actual team bikes (my bike came courtesy of Frenchman Christophe Rinero), fully equipped with Mavic's new wheels, SRAM Force components, and cockpit bits and pieces from Ritchey and fi'zi:k. After a few days of rolling along the roads of Majorca, it's no wonder why so many teams train there; rolling terrain is in abundance, and there is a surprising amount of climbing to be had if you want it.

In spite of the racier fit and position, Scott also managed to make the Addict slightly more comfortable. Whereas the CR1 would have the occasional tendency to make smaller impacts feel more square-edged, the Addict incorporates just enough vibration damping to maintain sensation in your hands without detracting from road feel. That being said, larger impacts are still met with a solid kick in the rear, but that is to be expected.

Mavic clearly nailed the 'stiff' goal with the new Cosmic Carbone Ultimate, as these are easily the most rigid-feeling wheels this tester can remember. According to team rider David Millar, "There is no flex in these wheels." Normally those sorts of words would be categorized into marketing hyperbole, but in the case of the Cosmic Carbone Ultimate, the incredible lateral and torsional stiffness is immediately noticeable from the first pedal stroke, and not in any sort of subtle manner. Just to make sure we weren't imagining things, we also rode the bike with a set of Mavic's Ksyrium ES wheels which only served to reinforce our initial impressions.

One of Majorca's less-endearing traits is its tendency for crosswinds, and there certainly was no lack of them during our trip. Mavic claims that the new wheelset scores roughly the same as its Ksyrium ES in this respect, and we would almost argue that the deep-section Cosmic Carbone Ultimate actually felt more stable. High-speed aerodynamics were also obviously quite good, and the light weight was most welcome on one particularly steep climb.

Braking on the new wheels was somewhat harsh, at least when equipped with Swiss Stop Yellow King pads (recommended by Mavic). To be fair, we'd personally have braking performance lie more on the grabby side of things than the non-existent one, and racers normally will enter corners hot and brake late, anyway. Once accustomed to the grabbiness, however, braking was predictable, quiet, and most importantly, quite powerful.

Saunier Duval-Prodir certainly has some lofty ambitions for the season ahead. As in other top-tier levels of sport, the sponsors have stepped up to the plate to assist the riders in achieving those goals and Millar's prologue win at Paris-Nice certainly bodes well. Although we only had a brief taste of what this true ProTour team uses, it's clear that there is little left to be desired in terms of equipment. Stay tuned for more in-depth product reviews of some of Saunier Duval-Prodir's gear, including one special project…