Cervélo TestTeam riders will be using the new 3D cranks from ROTOR Bike Components, when they start the 09 Giro d’Italia tomorrow.
“The Rotor 3D cranks are the first cranks to have been designed with the input of a pro cycling team together with our Rotor engineers,” said Ignacio Estellés, President of Rotor Bike Components. ”Drawing on a wealth of technical experience, this innovative product was developed collaboratively with Cervélo’s engineers, Cervelo TestTeam riders and the TestTeam’s mechanic staff. We are passionate about supporting the riders, because they need these products in order to do their job well.”
“We have a four step protocol for product development with the TestTeam,” Damon Rinard, Cervélo TestTeam Race Engineer explains. “A partner, in this case Rotor, develops and tests the proposed new product. We then review it and check the in-house data, testing it in different riding situations. Then the Cervélo TestTeam mechanics install it and the riders try it in training; both provide us with their feedback. Once it’s been approved at these three levels, the product is then available for the fourth level: use in races.”
The result is the Rotor 3D crank - extremely stiff, to meet the high demands of Thor Hushovd, Heinrich Haussler and other sprinters riding for Cervelo TestTeam, yet lightweight enough to satisfy the needs of Carlos Sastre and his fellow climbers on the team.
Utilizing a special manufacturing process, named the “Trinity Drilling System,” an extruded aluminum bar is intricately CNC machined with three drilled holes through the length of the crank. The result is a unique triple hollow crank arm that enables Rotor’s engineers to remove the excess aluminum in the core while still maintaining the structural strength of the crank. With this new system Rotor engineers find that they have significantly improved the Hollowminum technology they developed for their Agilis Evo cranks.
The graphic design on the 3D cranks is unique with their impressive laser graphics. A special limited edition version of the product, with pink stripes along the crank (in a nod to the Giro) has been created for Carlos Sastre, with a special symbol that Sastre contributed etched with his name.
Stay tuned to RoadCycling.com for a review of the new Rotor 3D cranks once we get our hands on them.
