Thursday, June 9, 2011

Tour of California - The Bikes!!

So, one of my favorite parts of going to a professional bike race is getting a chance to see all of the absolutely cool bikes and bike paraphernalia that is at the cutting edge of the sport.  The first bike to really catch my eye was the Pinarello Dogma ridden by Team Sky (above). I'm partial to Pinarello, being Italian, and they are extremely cool too.  This one was ridden by Stage 1 winner Ben Swift.

The Dogmas ridden by Team Sky are very different than the ones ridden by Bissel that I posted pictures of last year. Just looking at the fork and head tube of the Team Sky bikes you can tell that these bikes have something really funky going on.

Next on the absolutely sweet bike list is the Cervelo S3 of Thor Hushovd.  Personally, I don't care what bike you're riding, if you're rocking the world champion's rainbow stripes the bike just looks so much cooler.

I'm not a huge Trek fan, but the Radio Shack Madones look very cool. For pure aesthetics alone they are one of my favorite bikes in the pro peleton.  This is Jason McCartney's ride parked in front of the Shack bus. I dig the bear graphic on the bus, and it is also one the bikes, at the top of the seat tube.

One of the newest and sexiest bikes of the pro peleton is the Specialized Venge. HTC was rocking them for the first time in the U.S. They are done up in a matte black finish that looks super stealthy.

BMC is a company that doesn't really excite me as far as bike design is concerned, but like Radio Shack, BMC really does have a great look. From their kits, to their bikes to their team cars (above), I love the way they roll.

I could go on for a long time raving about all of the great bikes from this years Tour of California but I'll hold myself back.  However, one bike that has to make it in is the Focus Izalco of Team Jelly Belly. They might not be a Pro Tour team, but they sure do ride Pro Tour quality bikes. The paint job of course just seals the deal for me. I love it!

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