Velo Vuelo Velo 8: first look at this $17K titanium wonder bike

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While on our last Tour de France tour, we stopped in at a bike shop in the Pyrenees to get some brakes adjusted and it took one client all of two minutes to purchase a new $5,000 bike. I know some people love bikes more than others and with a price tag of $17,000 I would love the new Vuelo Velo like a child. At Spyns we offer tours to major worldwide sporting events including Tour de France and the London 2012 Olympics. If you would like more information check out our websites. www.spyns.com and www.london-olympiad.com

Vuelo Velo are a tiny bicycle company based in Sydney, Australia who specialize in custom titanium. Their frames are built by Black Sheep Cycles in Fort Collins, Colorado, and the designs are definitely unique, with a strong emphasis on curved tubes and ultra-short rear ends.

The latest model, the Vuelo 8, continues that trend but adds on a slickly integrated Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 electronic groupset complete with an internal battery setup designed by long-time carbon builder Craig Calfee. Its seat tube is less curved than Vuelo Velo's more radical fixed-gear design but still allows for very short chainstays – at 388mm they're about 20mm shorter than standard.

"A conventional, longer chainstay will be a more sedate ride if all other things are equal," said Vuelo Velo's Marty Renwick. "But this particular bike is built specifically around the notion of lively response. A short rear end feels fantastic climbing, sprinting or carving a tight line in a sharp corner. It's all about heightening your sense of awareness, the connectedness to each moment – infinitesimal control, like an F1 car."

Additional rear-end stiffness comes from the 86mm-wide, press-fit bottom bracket shell, which provides room for widely set chainstays along with a large-diameter down tube. The curved seat tube has an actual exit angle of 69 degrees but an effective one closer to 73 degrees – so while the look is unusual, the fit is conventional.

Gently arcing seatstays and titanium's natural ability to smooth out the road lend a characteristically lively and comfortable ride – metal bikes still have their place in this world, though those requiring the highest level of performance should still look to carbon fiber. Just as intended, the rear end of the Vuelo 8 is surprisingly stiff and there are no issues with wobble or instability even at 72km/h (45mph). 

The front end unfortunately struggles to keep up and is noticeably softer than most carbon bikes and even some aluminum ones. Vuelo Velo specify a fairly generous 44mm-diameter down tube and 35mm top tube but even so, the Vuelo 8 wags a bit when you really stand on it and would benefit from an integrated or tapered head tube, or an even bigger main triangle. We were also disappointed to see low-rent cut vinyl decals on a bike like this.

The ultra high-end build kit of the bike seen here is rife with carbon fiber and includes a custom Dura-Ace Di2 internal wiring kit. Total weight is a fantastic 6.37kg (14.04lb) as pictured. Among the highlights are a custom Di2 battery housed inside the seatpost and a set of Shimano's latest sprint shifters – an extra set of buttons mounted on the drops for faster shifting and no need to move your hands when going full-out.

There are also trick Mad Fiber carbon tubular wheels, a full complement of cockpit components from ENVE Composites, Selle Italia's SLR Teknologika Flow saddle, and a SRM power meter. Additional lightweight bits include a Tune carbon fiber seat collar and bottle cages, Nokon aluminum cable housing and Cane Creek's AER headset.

Vuelo Velo estimated the price for the build as pictured here at over $17,000 USD. It'll be offered as a frame-only for $4400.00 USD, prepare to settle in for a long wait. Quoted lead time is five to six months after drawings are confirmed.

Spyns is an active travel company based in Whistler, BC (Canada). For more information about Spyns and our package tours to the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games, including London Olympics hotels, London 2012 tickets, and summer games VIP access, please visit our websites http://www.london-olympiad.com/ http://www.london2012-tours.com/ and http://www.london-tours-2012.com/ or call us toll-free at 1.888.825.4720. www.spyns.com.

Thought the Olympic Road Race course would be easy? David rides it and finds it’s anything but a walk in the park

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Cooke lands the big one.
Crossing the line after a long sprint to take her
first Olympic medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics

Spyns offers both London 2012 Summer Games packages and cycling tours to France (including the Tour de France). Spyns former clients will be thrilled to learn London 2012 organisers have unveiled the route for the men's 250-kilometre (156 miles) road race. The race takes place on the opening weekend of the Games, and will start on the Mall outside Buckingham Palace before heading south west towards Surrey Hills. Following the departure, riders will pass through the London boroughs of City of Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea and Hammersmith & Fulham, Wandsworth, Richmond and Kingston in what will be the biggest one-day bike race ever witnessed in Great Britain.David rides the London 2012 Olympic Road Race course

Thought the Olympic course would be easy? David rides it and finds it’s anything but a walk in the park

So what is the route of the London 2012 Olympic road race going to be like? Well, there’s only one way to find out, so with a rough idea of the route before the official announcement today, we (Richard, George and I) cleared a day in our diaries and, with enough food for a day's riding, set out for a recce.

While you can read about the course, and indeed see the route we rode and see some great photos of Team RCUK in action, I just wanted to share some of my thoughts on the course. When it was first revealed that the course would start in London and its featured highlights would consist of Richmond Park and Surrey’s Box Hill, there was plenty of criticism and mocking and no doubt the course will continue to draw much criticism in the run up to the event next July.

Having ridden the course it’s easier to get a real sense of what the racing could be like on the day.

Sure, there are no mountains in Surrey but the course designers have worked around this obvious shortfall to create a course that should provide for an open and exciting race. It favours neither sprinters nor breakaway specialists, with it easy to imagine the race going either way.

Once out of London and south of the M25, the route really comes alive. Into narrow and quiet country lanes the early climbs like Staples Lane will cause some explosive racing, and the roll into Dorking via the A25 is a lumpy old slog. Another factor to consider is the road surface; in general it’s appalling and we noted only a few short sections of sublime new Tarmac. But rather than being a negative and something else to criticise, the road surface if it's not repaired will add to the demanding nature of the route. It’s rough and in places really drags, and there are millions of potholes. We rode the route on steel winter bikes; I can only imagine what a carbon race bike with deep section rims will feel like on these roads. Not nice, I feel the answer is.

Then there's the nine ascents of Box Hill. Not a big climb but taking into consideration the ascent to Headley and the combined 2400m of climbing that the nine laps add up to, all ridden on the same rough and slow roads and extremely narrow in places, and it, I reckon, could be the ideal place for a breakaway. It’s hard to see the bunch controlling proceedings around this repeated section.

And, once the succession of Box Hill loops are over, it's anything but an easy ride to the finish. Here, the route planners really have picked a good route for ensuring that the race potentially causes fireworks in the last 60-odd kilometres.

Once out of Leatherhead it’s generally a downhill and fast route run on wider roads, but there are a few rises to consider, and in places there’s little shelter from the wind. If a group of six or eight riders are still intact along here they’ll need a decent cushion of time over the peloton, as they’ll be really hurting by now.

One thing is for sure, it's going to be one hell of a finish. The route offers easy access all the way through London and around Surrey, with spectacular views around Dorking, Box Hill and Richmond Park in particular – the sight of the peloton roaring over Putney Bridge will be some sight indeed.

How the race will be won is a difficult one to put forth an opinion. As Richard points out, most of the press are pointing at a bunch sprint, but I don’t think that will be the case. I just feel the challenging and tough Box Hill circuit will be too much for the sprinters to stay in contact, and it’ll be tough for a team like HTC-Highroad to control.

Instead, I’m going to put my neck on the line and say that the winner will come from a solo breakaway. From a racing cyclist’s perspective, a breakaway win will be scintillating to watch on roads that I know so well. A rider like Phillipe Gilbert, with his aggressive attacking style that won him the Omloop Het Volk in 2008 could be a prime candidate, the course could really suit his style.

If there’s one thing having ridden the course has taught me, it’s that it’s too easy to judge a course and the possible outcome without having ridden. Only having ridden it can I get a feel for how it really rides, the challenges it’ll offer the pros and how the race could possible pan out. The mainstream might stick to the Mark Cavendish victory song for the next 18 months, but the route is perfectly setup for an open, thrilling, exciting race that no one will forget for a long time.

Spyns is an active travel company based in Whistler, BC (Canada). For more information about Spyns and our package tours to the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games, including London Olympics hotels, London 2012 tickets, and summer games VIP access, please visit our websites http://www.london-olympiad.com/ http://www.london2012-tours.com/ and http://www.london-tours-2012.com/ or call us toll-free at 1.888.825.4720. www.spyns.com.

www.london-olympiad.com

Spyns started as a small company offering luxury cycling tours for the Tour de France. As time has passed and happy clients have returned, the company has expanded but still kept that small friendly feel. Now that we offer Olympic tours we will have a few cycling clients coming with us to London and checking out the 250km Men and 140km Road Race. We will have VIP refreshment tents set up along the route for our clients only. If you would like to join us for a glass of champagne as the leader passes, check out our website and chat to Ryan about our tour option. www.london-olympiad.com

London 2012 Olympics road race route details emerge

Road racing at the 2012 Olympics will begin and end on The Mall, in front of Buckingham Palace.

Details have today emerged of the road race route for the 2012 London Olympics. The event looks set to end in spectacular style, with riders sprinting down The Mall in front of Buckingham Palace.

Both the men's and women's races will also start at The Mall, with riders heading from there to the City of Westminster before crossing the River Thames at Putney. As expected, they'll then head to the undulating terrain of the Surrey Hills, south-west of the English capital.

There, they'll follow a figure-of-eight course, with a diversion around Box Hill which could provide a launching pad for breakaway attempts. The peloton will then return to central London via Richmond Park, crossing back over Putney Bridge before a final race through the streets of the city centre towards The Mall. The men will cover 265km, while the women will race over 140km.

A course for Cavendish?

With a relatively flat final 15km, the race could offer Mark Cavendish a prime opportunity for an Olympic gold medal in front of a home crowd. It would be the first true sprinters' finish to an Olympic road race since 1996, when professional riders were allowed to compete for the first time. The past five Olympic road races have been decided by breakaways.

Italy's Fabio Casartelli (Barcelona, 1992), Switzerland's Pascal Richard (Atlanta, 1996), Germany's Jan Ullrich (Sydney, 2000) and Spain's Samuel Sanchez (Beijing, 2008) all took victory from small groups, while Italy's Paolo Bettini claimed his gold medal with a successful solo attack in Athens in 2004.

Similar results have been observed in the women's race, with Australia's Sara Carrigan matching Bettini's solo endeavour and Britain's Nicole Cooke winning from a small group in Beijing.

Spectator-friendly

London proved its ability to host a world-class cycling event when it hosted the Tour de France's Grand Depart in 2007. The Olympic route appears to continue that tradition with the spectator-friendly course designed for 2012.

The route looks set to avoid the controversy faced by organisers of the Beijing Olympic road race, which was criticised by riders and observers alike for the absence of spectators and atmosphere along its course. The sections through London will offer many thousands of people a chance to watch the race, with the Surrey Hills also offering a number of options for fans.

In central London, spectators will enjoy vantage points in the boroughs of Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham, Wandsworth, Richmond and Kingston.

Points of interest on the Olympic route will include Buckingham Palace, Richmond Park, Twickenham, Teddington, Bushy Park and Hampton Court Palace, as well the Surrey districts of Elmbridge, Reigate and Banstead, Guildford and Woking, and Mole Valley. The climb to the top of Box Hill is likely to be one of the most popular vantage points.

Spyns is an active travel company based in Whistler, BC (Canada). For more information about Spyns and our package tours to the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games, including London Olympics hotels, London 2012 tickets, and summer games VIP access, please visit our websites http://www.london-olympiad.com/ http://www.london2012-tours.com/ and http://www.london-tours-2012.com/ or call us toll-free at 1.888.825.4720. http://www.spyns.com/.