Tour de France tech: Adjustable seatposts and funky graphics

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Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Cannondale) had this wild height-adjustable seatpost fitted to both of his Cannondale SuperSix Evos.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)

Intriguing FSA seatpost adjusts saddle height on the fly

That's all well and good but why bother? According to a team mechanic, Basso prefers a slightly lower height for smoother pedaling in high-cadence situations but a slightly taller one when he has to produce more power at a lower rpm. Of course this unusual seatpost is heavier than most of the ultralight carbon fiber or aluminum options normally used by Liquigas but supposedly the new ultralight SuperSix Evo frames leave enough wiggle room that Basso's bike is still barely UCI-legal (unfortunately, we didn't have a chance to weigh it).

The bikes of Van Den Broeck, Greipel, and Roelandts all followed a similar theme, using the same basic layout as the standard team issue bikes but with black base colors, different accent stripe colors, and a personalized image on the side of the down tube-head tube junction. Van Den Broeck's machine was decorated with a snarling leopard, Greipel's bike wore his usual menacing gorilla, and Roelandts' rig sported the visage of the Incredible Hulk. All three got custom headset top caps, too.

Gilbert's main and spare bikes were a little more elaborate, however, with checkerboard themes owing to his 'Fast Phil' nickname. One of his Canyon Aeroad CF bikes wore simple slate grey graphics but the other was finished in more appropriate red and yellow to celebrate his recent Belgian national road championship win (we'll have a more detailed look at Gilbert's bike soon, too, complete with specs and measurements).

Greipel received one additional modification that was purely functional: a custom, extra-stiff, forged aluminum stem to help bolster the front end. The extension shape was mostly lifted from the team's standard Ritchey WCS 4-Axis 44 except for a slightly more generous width (and the four-bolt faceplate actually is a Ritchey item) but the steerer clamp is much taller than usual and sports three pinch bolts instead of two. Wall thickness is much greater than usual, too.

He did let us shoot a couple of images of the rear end of the prototype as it peeked out from beneath a blanket inside a company van, though. From those, you can at least clearly see that there's no conventional rear brake, the surfaces are notably more angular, and the telescoping seatpost is apparently held in place with a hidden binder. The design of that post also suggests that it will be compatible with both standard saddle rails as well as Selle Italia's clever Monolink system.