I hoped you would have pressed them about the service life of their waxed chains... if each of the rider's bikes has a new waxed chain installed after every competitive ride. Would the team's search for marginal gains include binning a used chain to avoid theoretical friction losses? I have the same question about tyres lasting only one competitive ride.
The wax chain and TT bike statement is crazy. I understood that they had team busses and have a mini paddock, but I thought they always had everything at the race already. This is next level logistics especially delivery of chains for what must be like every 2 days for new waxed chains on the bikes.
So they have 40 chains each week, 8 riders, so more or less one chain per rider per ride for the race bike. Maybe they put some wax lube if they run out. But yeah.. a freshly waxed one just runs better. And theres no time to hotwax chains inbetween.
@@dakalla I believe it's more a matter of required space more than it's a matter of required time for a hot-wax work area. I would be interested to know if the used chains are re-waxed or unceremoniously binned.
@@otherfish when you consider the longevity of a chain, re-waxed every 250 km, exceeds 10,000 km before 0.5% is indicated, then it's definitely, "we do it because we can"
It would be interesting to learn about the process back at Team Central.., xray frames and cranks before putting them into the team supply chain? Checking specs to ensure knock-offs aren’t accidentally introduced into the parts inventory? Inventory control… bar coding and scanning what comes in and goes out? Cooperation between teams and suppliers in areas such as wear and failure analysis?
Interesting thing with the bike chains, I'd never thought that they'd have them all ready to go and not using oil at all. Guess it's time to go full wax
Interestingly enough, that has not been the case for long. This is the first time i've heard about pro team waxing chains. Few years ago no one did that in the pro peloton.
Took me a long while to transition to waxing (I'm never an early adopter of anything new, especially when there's so much marketing behind it all) but I really enjoy and appreciate waxing. Well worth it ime.
BananaWax Drag & Friction Reduction Professional TdF Racing Chain Wax, Been Using this for 10+ years. Saves me Endless money on chains, jockey wheels, and general wear and tear. Most important your hands don't get Caked in Oil! When your Changing a Tyre on the Side of the Road and Ruin your Bar Wrap.
0:50 - what makes the "race bikes" race bikes and the "spare bikes" spare, is there any difference between the two or is it just random as to which gets used for the event vs which gets benched to the backup car?
BananaWax Drag & Friction Reduction Professional TdF Racing Chain Wax, Been Using this for 10+ years. Saves me Endless money on chains, jockey wheels, and general wear and tear. Most important your hands don't get Caked in Oil! When your Changing a Tyre on the Side of the Road and Ruin your Bar Wrap.
What happens with broken bikes in a crash? Obviously it depends on the damage but are they sent back to be repaired, fix them in house or if its too bad just dispose of them?
#askgcntech Other than maybe a trimming chip, is there any difference between the Race bike and the Spare bike? With a little bad luck at the start of a stage, the Spare bikes could turn into the Race bike.
Absolutely love the bus and truck tours. I’d love to know how they are powered (e.g., if there are elements like solar panels to incorporate renewable energy).
Only 40 chains per week? Wow, I thought it will be more. With a simple math: 40/7 days = 5.7 chains per day - with 8 riders means not everyone gets a new chain everyday? And it's even not including spare bikes.
Great tour!! But mind the bike Ted…. Don’t do a Hank on it 😂😂 also I get wax wears off but is it also a sign that the chains are stretched slightly in a week that their less efficient 🤔
Need to re-wax the chain every 200-300 miles or sooner if it's wet. For Visma LAB 1 chain is probably good for 2 days. It's not that they're stretched, they just need re-lubed. You can hear a difference between a waxed chain that's silent, and one that's ready to be rewaxed and is dry and noisier. Properly waxed chains don't really stretch much if at all - you can get 10000k out of one well maintained chain
BananaWax Drag & Friction Reduction Professional TdF Racing Chain Wax, Been Using this for 10+ years. Saves me Endless money on chains, jockey wheels, and general wear and tear. Most important your hands don't get Caked in Oil! When your Changing a Tyre on the Side of the Road and Ruin your Bar Wrap.
Did you find anything in the truck that makes this pro cycling team stand out from the rest of the field?
The wheel spinner. You should do a video on how pro teams break in new rotors and pads.
I hoped you would have pressed them about the service life of their waxed chains... if each of the rider's bikes has a new waxed chain installed after every competitive ride. Would the team's search for marginal gains include binning a used chain to avoid theoretical friction losses? I have the same question about tyres lasting only one competitive ride.
5 mechanics for 8 riders in the Giro. Impressive!
I've seen a lot of these team truck videos. These guys seem like the most professional of any of the teams. No wonder they win so much.
They certainly run a tight ship 👌
Half pints only for Jumbo.
What I got from this video is that the mechanics work hard. They have so much to do and to keep track of.
They have a super tough job! The pressure must be unreal 👀
The wax chain and TT bike statement is crazy. I understood that they had team busses and have a mini paddock, but I thought they always had everything at the race already. This is next level logistics especially delivery of chains for what must be like every 2 days for new waxed chains on the bikes.
So they have 40 chains each week, 8 riders, so more or less one chain per rider per ride for the race bike. Maybe they put some wax lube if they run out. But yeah.. a freshly waxed one just runs better. And theres no time to hotwax chains inbetween.
@@dakalla I believe it's more a matter of required space more than it's a matter of required time for a hot-wax work area. I would be interested to know if the used chains are re-waxed or unceremoniously binned.
Does a fresh hot wax chain lose speed/shifting/stretch etc... after one ride? Or is this a we do it because we can type thing?
@@otherfish when you consider the longevity of a chain, re-waxed every 250 km, exceeds 10,000 km before 0.5% is indicated, then it's definitely, "we do it because we can"
2:38 The smile on Alex's face. He's easily pleased.
He's in his happy place here 🤣
The value of those assets in that truck is insane!
Want to know about their security of the truck at night!
The orderliness of that van fed my ocd soul.
You and Alex share that in common 🤣
Loving the 40 chains a week info.
🤯
I like that disc brake bedding machine.
I have made one for my workshop 15 years ago which doesn't require them to be on the bicycle or wheel .
It would be interesting to learn about the process back at Team Central.., xray frames and cranks before putting them into the team supply chain? Checking specs to ensure knock-offs aren’t accidentally introduced into the parts inventory? Inventory control… bar coding and scanning what comes in and goes out? Cooperation between teams and suppliers in areas such as wear and failure analysis?
Nice idea! We'll see what we can do 🙌
The sheer number of cranks and chainrings was wild.
and with power meters, too 🤑
Big numbers right 🙌
Always enjoy a behind the scenes video, Looking at the tools, Stands etc👍
We love getting access too! Thanks to the team 🙌
Interesting thing with the bike chains, I'd never thought that they'd have them all ready to go and not using oil at all. Guess it's time to go full wax
And it's regularly shipped from the NL, that's impressive
Interestingly enough, that has not been the case for long. This is the first time i've heard about pro team waxing chains. Few years ago no one did that in the pro peloton.
Took me a long while to transition to waxing (I'm never an early adopter of anything new, especially when there's so much marketing behind it all) but I really enjoy and appreciate waxing. Well worth it ime.
Waxed chain is the way to go 🙌
BananaWax Drag & Friction Reduction Professional TdF Racing Chain Wax, Been Using this for 10+ years. Saves me Endless money on chains, jockey wheels, and general wear and tear.
Most important your hands don't get Caked in Oil! When your Changing a Tyre on the Side of the Road and Ruin your Bar Wrap.
I need just one of those S5’s in a size 56 please😅
We'll take one too 🙋
at the end of the season there is always a big 'garage' sale at the service centre
Great Video Alex this is what i like to see. Great job.
Any other teams you would like us to look into?
@@gcntech How about the Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale team with their "new" Van Rysel bikes..?
Nice sharing !
1:26 Alex tells a bike . . . "SORRY" 😀😃😄😁😆😅🤣😂
Great video, very revealing! Thanks Archie 😁
0:50 - what makes the "race bikes" race bikes and the "spare bikes" spare, is there any difference between the two or is it just random as to which gets used for the event vs which gets benched to the backup car?
BananaWax Drag & Friction Reduction Professional TdF Racing Chain Wax, Been Using this for 10+ years. Saves me Endless money on chains, jockey wheels, and general wear and tear.
Most important your hands don't get Caked in Oil! When your Changing a Tyre on the Side of the Road and Ruin your Bar Wrap.
That draw full of chainrings must be just like the one Alex has at home but his are all Shimano Dura Ace rather than Sham 😉
He should’ve asked how they keep the head units synced to so many chainrings, especially when it’s course dependant like that
Very nice video!
I need to go organize my garage..........
Awesome & Thanks :)
Awesome video!
#Question: The main and spare bikes must be set up identically so what tools and techniques are used to move riders measurements from bike to bike?
What happens with broken bikes in a crash? Obviously it depends on the damage but are they sent back to be repaired, fix them in house or if its too bad just dispose of them?
would have been good to understand how much effort it was to switch groups provider at such a level over the winter
What kind of wax do they use?
Making me think I got a text message at 3:06 😅
Winning these bike races is big business
You could say they take it seriously 😉
I want to know where the keep all the bidons for a full Grand Tour
Checked phone after notification sound in video. It was a BAIT
Hahahaha no messages? 😉
Wow! Very cool!
The Second Best Job of the Grand Tours, the bike mechanic for professional teams(money is no object!).
What happens if the bus breaks down or gets into an accident? Surely there must be some good stories from this happening in previous grand tours!
#askgcntech Other than maybe a trimming chip, is there any difference between the Race bike and the Spare bike? With a little bad luck at the start of a stage, the Spare bikes could turn into the Race bike.
paradise,
Absolutely love the bus and truck tours. I’d love to know how they are powered (e.g., if there are elements like solar panels to incorporate renewable energy).
Hopefully not
Motors! 😊
2:48 don’t talk about batteries 🫣🫢
Why not?
@@GeorgeD1 GCN have done a few videos speculating about theoretical motor doping lately. Its a joke comment though.
@@jons6125 Ah, yes. Haha! Didn't think about that, thank you :)
Maybe going with some lapel mics or something to improve the audio? It's great content but the audio is a bit unclear.
Only 40 chains per week? Wow, I thought it will be more. With a simple math: 40/7 days = 5.7 chains per day - with 8 riders means not everyone gets a new chain everyday? And it's even not including spare bikes.
Couldn't have mic'ed the mechanic?
Wow imagine the costs to keep all of that updated each year …phew
This truck practically has everything you need in road bike racing. Race is all you need to get this truck going.
Great tour!! But mind the bike Ted…. Don’t do a Hank on it 😂😂 also I get wax wears off but is it also a sign that the chains are stretched slightly in a week that their less efficient 🤔
Need to re-wax the chain every 200-300 miles or sooner if it's wet. For Visma LAB 1 chain is probably good for 2 days. It's not that they're stretched, they just need re-lubed. You can hear a difference between a waxed chain that's silent, and one that's ready to be rewaxed and is dry and noisier. Properly waxed chains don't really stretch much if at all - you can get 10000k out of one well maintained chain
A road only bicycle stock holding facility .
No hidden hub motors, right? ;) JK JK. Wonder what the total budget it is for that truck :O!!
Big bucks! 💸
That’s why consumers pay higher and higher price for those bikes. They aren’t worth so much money.
Even they do not have spare box of dura ace cranksets 😅
That's why they invited Alex 😉
@@gcntech I bet he was laughing at them all the way to the shed, eh peasants
40 chains a week!!!
Crazy isn't it 🤯
Pleas
I am ready to job
For me this was the worst gcn team truck interview.
Other teams have had more equipment etc. 🙁
Where's the drugs?
First
BananaWax Drag & Friction Reduction Professional TdF Racing Chain Wax, Been Using this for 10+ years. Saves me Endless money on chains, jockey wheels, and general wear and tear.
Most important your hands don't get Caked in Oil! When your Changing a Tyre on the Side of the Road and Ruin your Bar Wrap.