The Japanese nationwide biking workforce is utilizing a brand new monitor bike on the Paris Olympics, which retails at £108,000 and has an uncommon left-sided drivetrain.
The V-Izu TCM-2, made by Japanese carbon producer Toray, was unveiled again in Might on the Japan Monitor Cup competitors in Tokyo. It had beforehand been noticed ultimately August’s UCI World Championships in Glasgow, the place it was ridden for homologation forward of the Video games.
The bike is characterised by its large entrance forks, aerodynamic design and, most notably, a drivetrain put in on the left aspect of the body.
Although unusual, this isn’t a brand new phenomenon in monitor biking. In 2016, USA Biking revealed a pursuit bike with a left-sided drivetrain, produced by bike model Felt. The model’s designers mentioned inserting the chainring on the within improved aerodynamics and dealing with, and combatted the impression of yaw.
As UCI guidelines state that each one gear have to be commercially accessible, the V-Izu TCM-2’s body alone is on sale for €126,555 (£108,000), a prohibitive price ticket that successfully takes it off the market.
It’s the most costly monitor bike on the 2024 Olympics, costing considerably greater than Staff GB’s Hope x Lotus HB.T, priced at £25,000 for the body, and Australia’s Issue bike, at £47,000 for the complete set-up.
(Picture credit score: SWPix)
The V-Izu TCM-2 was debuted on the Olympics on Monday by the lads’s workforce pursuit squad, who clocked a time of three:53.489 in qualifying.
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Benoît Bétoux, technical director of Japan’s excessive efficiency centre, mentioned he was “moved” by his expertise using the monitor bike earlier this yr. “It offers you a way of velocity and stability for the primary time in your life,” he mentioned.
The bike’s velocity was additionally famous by Koichi Nakano of the Japanese Biking Federation. “The very first thing that athletes say about this bike is that after you stand up to hurry, it is onerous to decelerate,” he mentioned. “Driving on inertia, the bike picks up velocity sooner than the particular person using the bike thinks.
“Alternatively, it appears to really feel heavy at gradual speeds. However I feel it’s a bike that may display its efficiency when utilized in high-level competitions.”
The bike sparked controversy when it was used on the World Championships final yr for its resemblance to the patented large fork design of Staff GB’s Hope x Lotus bike. Talking in August, British Biking’s head of efficiency Stephen Park mentioned there “may nicely be” trigger for authorized motion, though Biking Weekly understands none has been taken.
