During the last retreat of the Italian women's national team which was held in Sicily we noticed that the disc brakes of the time trial bikes of the girls of the Valcar-Travel&Service They are equipped with a cable system and not a hydraulic one, as is usually the case. To understand the reason for this choice, we spoke with Valentino Villa, team president.
A middle
The world of road bikes is now oriented towards the disc brake and that is how the Cannondale SuperSlice from Valcar-Travel&Service present an interesting variant.
«We decided to experiment with a new solution – Valentino Villa begins – given that the time trials are not long and it rarely happens that you have to pinch hard, then we opted for disc brakes with cable systemThis solution allows us to save some weight on bicycles which are by their nature heavy."
But what do the girls say? «The input we get from the girls is of a braking more similar to rim brakes, we can say it's a middle ground. For now, this choice hasn't created any problems."
Plumbers on the road
But can the cable-operated disc brake also be a solution for normal road bikes?
«On the bikes they use in training and racing – continues Valentino Villa – we have the system Shimano normal plumber (opening photo). Girls prefer it because in any case the braking is more progressive and when you run in a group it is definitely better."
Not just disc brakes
But Valentino Villa pays close attention to all the technical aspects of his team's bikes.
"We're very happy with Cannondale," she tells us. "The girls always tell me not to change brands, because they're very happy. The level of women's cycling has risen and the Athletes are looking at materials with increasing attention».
In modern cycling, details make the difference and you can win or lose a sprint by a few centimetres: «In this period we are experimenting with tubelessCannondale engineers have been telling me for a while now that there are advantages. Now we've decided to use them. Among other things Veloflex which supplies us with tires, introduced a new compound specifically for tubeless tyres and the girls' impressions are excellent."
Gradually
Another trend that Valcar-Travel&Service is working on is the one that sees the tighten the width of the handlebars.
«I am a person who needs to understand with numbers and data in hand – Villa explains – and now there is more and more talk of narrower handlebars for improve aerodynamicsIt's a change we have to make, but beyond the numbers, I'm interested in knowing how my athletes feel, so we'll do this update gradually, so that each girl feels comfortable with the new measurements. You have to combine numbers with feelings and find the best solution».
