Special Forces…: "Testing one, two, three..."

Well: I tested the GIANT Trinity… 

I took the bike outside and had all set for a posh ride: my ZIPP Disc wheel and the 303 front wheel and felt like “King Louis on the banana”…

It took exactly 4 km to end my test ride: flat disc wheel… guuuaahhh! So I had to push my bike all the way home because I didn’t want to kill my rim. Half an hour late: once more: 303 front and back…

Once I got clear of Hamburg City (30 (!) traffic lights of which I normally need to stop at 15…) I lay down on the aerobars the first time. “What a feeling” I thought… every bit of energy I put in the pedals landed on the road. I could feel that I was lying further down and slip streaming the wind a lot better than on the GIANT TCR I normally ride. I started hammering the 110 Km Test I wanted to do. I did not check speed or heart rate… I just pushed (and pulled) the pedals. After the 110 (I had my GPS with me) I rode back home and had a look: 110 km averaged 39,8 km/h…. not bad for an elderly guy.

What made me so fast on that bike?




Choose your height...



"His highness: DON'T MOVE!"



The biggest difference to any bike I have seen or ridden is the fork, handlebar & stem unit: they are all attached to each other directly and have five fixing point plus a large clamping surface between the handle bars and the stem. This unit is by far the stiffest I have ever experienced.



Zero surface...

Long and low: fighting the wind...

Next point is my sitting position: this is something new for me personally: I am sitting further over the bottom bracket and further to the front. This rotates my body around the bottom bracket. By doing so I can lower the stem / handle bar and get into an even better aerodynamic position. I definitely need to get used to this because after the 180 Ks I did altogether on test day my neck was tired.

Hidden party blocker....

Aerodynamics is the word anyway (as you will all know): both breaks are hidden out of the wind and all the cables are hidden in the front cover (which is the connection of stem and fork). Looking from the front you can see the bike slices through the wind.

The frame stiffness is really good which sums up of the frame and the stem / fork unit. I never had the impression the bike was loosing power to any side especially when climbing or accelerating.

All in all this is a personal report and shows my impressions. Check the photos. I have added some details.

The Challenge of Fuerteventura can come and Ironman Frankfurt is also getting closer. I am starting to have day dreams on them… THAT’S GOOOOOD…!!!

Aces High