Procycling.be and Rouse Artisanale has some photos of Campagnolo's 2007 Ultra Torque crankset. As the Fairwheelbike forum post indicated before, the bottom bracket axle diameter appears quite large and engages with each other by small teeth. A shot of the BB and crank spider area shows a rather small q-factor. The pictures appear to be of a lower line of alloy Campagnolo components. Carbon versions of these cranks have yet to surface.

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Campagnolo Goes Hollow with New BB Design
2007 Campagnolo; More Info
Campagnolo's New BB Design (cyclingnews.com)
Campagnolo Ultra Torque (light-bikes.de)

This one is from Inbred over in the mtbr.com forums.

Madskatingcow at mountainbike.be mtbr forums has posted real world pictures of 2007 Shimano XTR equipment. We've seen plent of pictures of the new shifters and derailleur, but this is the first sighting of XTR cranks and XTR front derailleur. The pictures are of XTR trigger shifters, XTR front derailleur, XTR disc brake controls and shifters, and the new XTR crank design. As I pointed out in a previous post, I rather like this new XTR look - more industrial looking. More like my SRAM stuff.

Previous reports suggested that the XTR design will have chainring compatibility with LX and XT models. There are also speculations that the middle and outer chainrings will be a hybrid ti/carbon.

Intense has released pics of a new racing frame, the FRO Spider. FRO stands for "For Racing Only" and represents a new line of Intense bikes that give the consumer, racing level equipment. The frame is made from Easton Ultra Lite tubing, claimed to be 4.9 lbs with shock. Compare this to an actual measured weight of a 2003 M Spider weighing 5.5 lbs (weightweenies.starbike.com). The Spider frame is designed around VPP suspension. Start saving your pennies because this frame is a limited production model, and as the name implies, recommended for racing only. The author made a point to state the frame has a "limited" warranty. Available this fall/winter. Read more.

Fairwheelbikes.com has a post by someone whose had their hands on 2007 Campagnolo equipment, including the new crank and BB combo. Straight from the horse's mouth:

"I just had my hands on 2007 Campy Prototypes. Unfortunately with the Rep present, photos were not an option. Here's what I can tell you from what I can remember:

ID of the BB spindle at the crank arm is a massive 25mm. This tapers internally through the Bearing and externally after the bearing (inside the shell so to speak. I couldn't get an idea of the diameter of spindle further down (my ring didn't compare to anything...) The interface in the center has 20 teeth aprox. 5mm deep on each side of the spindle that mesh much like two gears. A hollow alloy bolt holds the two sides together at 42Nm. I unfortunately didn't have a magnet handy so I can't tell you if the spindle with alloy or something else. The cups are seperate from the bearing and are sold seperately from the crank. The cups are the same through the range from Xenon to Record.

The Record cranks have been narrowed and made flat in order to keep the Q-factor the same as the current crank/bb set up. They're about 10mm thick at the edges, a small bulge down the center but otherwise flat and hollow. The most noticable part is that they're close to 50mm wide! The explaination given was that whatever is placed inside the crank before curing the carbon is then sucked out through a small hole in the back side of the crank (this is then covered by some sort of sticker on the prototype, I don't know how the production model will be).

Chorus cranks are nearly identical to Record, however won't be hollow. Centaur and down go to a forged alloy arm with a concave backside, in a similar shape from the front as the carbon cranks. Centaur will be available in black.

Centaur brakes are forged slightly different from Record and Chorus, with exposed bolts in the center where as Rec/Cho are hidden bolt forged. they're still nice and round but with hollows in the arms. As has been said above, similar in idea to ZG, only a lot prettier, as would be expected from Campy.

Most of the other changes are minor, however I have one change to make to my previous statements, Chorus will be going to the shifter that only allows 1 gear change at a time when going to smaller cogs. Record will remain the only one allowing you to dump as many gears as your thumb will allow. However, the shifting action on the thumb lever of the lower units is EXTREMELY shorts and VERY easy so tapping the lever multiple times for shifts will not be a problem. This new system also lightens up the levers pretty well and will make for an interesting dilemma when choosing shifters for a piece by piece build.

US delivery on the higher end parts will be late, Chorus and Record probably won't see light of day here prior to October. Bianchi will be delivery bikes with Mirage 10 at the end of this month for most markets, probably June/July in the states. These are the bikes that have been photographed and going around on WW forums.

More info as I get it."

We'll be watching closely for updates on the new Campagnolo equipment. Thanks NexusHeli.

Campagnolo follows suit with their latest US patent #7048659 for electronic gear shifting mechanisms. Abstract:

"A motorized bicycle gear shift device comprising a derailleur and an electric motor, associated directly with the derailleur, for controlling the derailleur and an electric transducer of absolute type, also associated with the derailleur for producing an electric signal indicative of the absolute position of the movable body of the derailleur."

The descriptions and figures stay true to prototypes seen previously on the web.

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The wave of electrical patents and componentry may mark a new era in cycling, propelling something as basic as pedaling two wheels into the future. Along with publishing a patent for an electrical front hub generator, Shimano has patented a cycling computer whose display changes color/brightness based on the time of day (Patent #7049944: Bicycle Display with Color Changing Atributes). Based on the initial schematics, from 6am-10pm, the backlight will be orange, and from 10pm-6am, the backlight will be blue. Two questions: 1) how many people ride from 10pm to 6am; and 2) what about daylight savings time. A smarter display would be a backlit LCD that actually senses ambient light and changes display settings automatically, much like what my PDA does now.

This got me thinking about high-tech cycling computers. First it started with distance and speed, then adding cadence, inclination, altitude, and heart rate. Garmin's Edge 305 appears to be the end-all-be-all of cycling computers incorporating a GPS unit into a fully-loaded cycling computer and heart rate monitor, all in a clean wireless package.

Those little red computers often seen in the peleton are SRM displays showing the cyclist, along with their basic cycling information, their power output measured at the cranks. Every bit of information from riders' heart rate, speed, distance, and power output can also transmitted over a modem on the bike to team coaches as well as cable networks so television viewers can gage how their favorite peleton rider is doing during the race.

All these features in a cycling computer makes me wonder how far this bicycle technology will go. With today's 'iPod' and 'Blackberry' society, I wouldn't be surprised if the next generation of consumer cycling computers played your favorite music, take your voice calls, or check your e-mail, all while you ride your favorite singetrack. Hey, why not? Nike and Apple just teamed up to make the iPod a running computer, you can surf the web in a bicycle side-car in the Phillipines, and the Japanese have already replaced the rider with a robot. Whoa, scary. This conversation can serve no purpose anymore. Goodbye.

Related articles:
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Nike + Apple = iPod Sport Kit (gizmodo.com)

Check out this vlog on singletrackworld.com. Some SRAM reps explain the highly upgraded x.9 trigger shifters and derailleur, new avid brake levers and mono-caliper with lots of carbon, ti, and aluminum, and a new dirt bike fork from Rock Shox. Another interesting note is the SRAM 'Matchmaker'; a clamp that integrates avid brake clamps and SRAM shifters with Poplocs, computer and GPS clamps (see Keyword: Integration).


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A tech report on cyclingnews.com confirms my earlier post of how Bontrager teamed up with wheel guru, Steve Hed, to produce the new Aeolus wheelset (see Bontrager Thinks Aero). This new line of wheels have a Bontrager foundation with HED aerodynamics. The tech report also reveals that new Bontrager wheels will have DT Swiss hubs with interchangeable hub bodies so that one can use either Shimano or Campagnolo cassettes. This is great for those feeling resitricted to either one or the other and definitely goes along with the theme of giving the consumer flexibility in component selection (see Keyword: Integrated).

The Bontrager "team" doesn't stop there. Apparently the new OCLV Boron carbon cranks/BB combo are a product of a collaboration between Race Face and Stronglight. Whoa! What's going on here? Bontrager seems to be getting a whole lot of outside advise on products lately, blurring the lines between manufacturers. When are you buying a Bontrager product and when are you buying a HED, DT Swiss, Race Face, Stronglight, or Truvativ product? You can't fool us, Bontrager; those XXX Bontrager carbon cranks of last year look too much like Truvativ Rouleur GXP carbon cranks.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not bashing Bontrager but merely making an observation. It's not like they hide the fact that they get outside input into product development. The new OCLV cranks have a Race Face badge on the BB and Stronglight on the rings, for example. Plus, some of these new products appear to be new designs (Aeolus wheels and OCLV crank arms), not just rebadged components like before. So long as Bontrager (and team) adds genuinely new products to the market, I think the consumer will get a better product (but at a cost, I'm sure).

Did I mention these new cranks and BB combo are claimed to weigh in at a feathery 700 grams? Compare that to Shimano Dura Ace FC-7800 cranks that weigh 779 grams, Truvativ Rouleur GXP cranks that weigh 835 grams, and FSA K-Force MegaEXO cranks that weigh 785 grams. The Race Face Cadence alloy cranks weigh a claimed 860 grams. Do you think Bontrager was forced to find a new source for their cranks after SRAM bought out Truvativ?

Related articles:
Bontrager expands Aeolus wheel line and adds carbon crankset (cyclingnews.com)
Tech Talk: Bontrager and the Importance of Being Aero (velonews.com)
News from the Homefront: Trek's Carbon Commitment (mountainbike.com)