The Bike That Beat Lance Armstrong - But How Fast Is It?!

We've seen that a road bike can beat a time trial bike from the 80's, and even the iconic Lotus 110, but what about something from this Millennium? Si and Ollie are back with a retro vs modern this time taking on Jan Ullrich's famous TT bike from 2002. This bike even made Lance Armstrong worried, but will it scare Si and Ollie on their modern superbike?

Useful Links:

Which bike would you like to see try and beat a modern road bike? Let us know in the comments! 👇

Watch more on GCN...

🎵 Music - licensed by Epidemic Sound 🎵
A Lick and a Promise - Splasher!
Backseat Rider - Lupus Nocte
Hidden Lines - Ooyy
I Will Arise - Dream Cave
Impact - AGST
Pink Pulsar - ELFL
Please Come Back - NIGHTCAP
The Rat Not the Tail - Harry Edvino
Wood Drop Falling Over - SFX Producer

#gcn #cycling #roadbike #bikerace #retrovsmodern #timetrialbike

The Global Cycling Network (GCN) is the largest online cycling channel in the world, bringing together a global community of road cyclists to celebrate everything that’s great about the world of cycling.

Our videos bring fans compelling daily content including expert tutorials, techniques, training, racing, cutting-edge bike tech, unparalleled behind the scenes event coverage, humour, entertainment, and more.

Presented by ex-pro riders, GCN offers a uniquely qualified insight into the world of cycling, and most importantly it’s fuelled by our passionate and enthusiastic fans – everyone who makes up the GCN community. We also bring the latest and greatest tech to your attention, showcase the best places in the world to ride and get exclusive access to events and races.

Welcome to the Global Cycling Network | Inside Cycling

Thanks to our sponsors:

Watch our sister channels:

[gcn]

What bike do you want us to try and beat next? Let us know in the comments! 👇

[crnkspinnr]

Ollie is SO fast @ 14:00 the shock wave of his passing blasted the trash bid over!

[LUCYDIAMONDBOXER]

14:02 the Green bin was so impressed it opened its mouth in awe, and fainted 😂

[RudiDwiHartanto]

Love the genuine discussion at the end! si and ollie best duo

[jaredjosiah]

Ollie is going so fast that he's knocking bins over!

[jamesheath]

Those T-Mobile and Telekom bikes just looked cool, something about the livery just looks so fast

[brianrainey]

That Ullrich bike is living room artwork. Stunning!

[felixblock]

The position is almost all that matters. The frame makes very little difference anyway. From my time trial experience I can say that very, very good aero handlebars like the Vision TFA & Co can be significantly faster than normal handlebars that only look aerodynamic but then have clamping devices everywhere, for example. But we're talking about maybe 8 watts at 45 km/h. Maximum. So only if you can hide the brake cables better with the TFA handlebars. Otherwise, there's not much to be gained. And I'm talking about the difference between basebar + extensions and not time trial bike cockpit vs. racing bike handlebars. The Walser is a super cool bike, no question. Walser himself once said that there was hardly any further development compared to the bike, so not much to get. Except, in this case, for the cable routing. But all in all, what distinguishes a road bike, whether aero or not, from a time trial or triathlon bike is most of all the position of the rider. And clearly: if the bike position is not adapted to the rider, then it is not maximally fast. With road bike positions, you can help a little with more degrees of freedom during the ride. This is hardly possible with a fixed TT position. Or significantly less. Ollie himself knows how much aero optimisations can make a difference, and it's crazy. In this respect, it is also the case that the Lotusbike MUST actually be faster, if the position is set correctly or can be set correctly. Because the frame itself and the handlebars and cables only make up a fraction. We are easily talking about 80% to 20% here. But the 20% includes not only the frame, but also all the rest such as wheels, handlebars, etc. In this respect, with a good time trial position, the time trial bikes should always, really always win, unless the course is very, very hilly. The Walser was and is a very fast bike. But what was really fast in 2003 was a well-trained Jan Ullrich, unlike many other years. Unfortunately - or fortunately in 2003.

[Aureas]

This is the most epic presenter duo since Dan and Matt.

[randyhale]

This had to be one of your best vintage bike test I've ever seen you guys so enthralled with. Bravo
to you both keep up the good work.

[scchua]

GCN should have a regular 'go-to' test circuit, much like a certain show of the past where 3 gentlemen and a mysterious white-clad test driver held entertaining drives. GCN should have a mysterious 'unknown' test rider to test these legendary bikes. LOL! Great show, Si and Ollie, and all the other GCN presenters!

[paulb]

I know Ollie puts some power out but blowing a wheely bin over with his draft takes him to another level!

[Jayneflakes]

Olli's science based answer to the question is exactly why we love his presentation skills. This was a fascinating video, hope none of the team got too cold, although my heart goes out to the freezing cold camera person on the back of the motorbike.

[dree]

Great vid. 🙂
I'd like to add a bit of further information on Walser and the bike from my memory:
Walser not only built tt bikes but also racing sleds which was what he started with. The bikes were actually a smaller part of his business than the sleds.
In late 2003 (I think) German magazine "Tour" visited Walser in his factory in Switzerland where he told about doing night shifts before the 2003 Tour. I think not all Bianchi riders had their Walser bike ready for the prologue and the last ones arrived just in time for the team time trial (stage 4 I think). During these night shifts he was eating old chocolate easter bunnies with expired best before dates as it was the only thing available and it paid a toll on his stomach but the bikes arrived on time for the team time trial. :-D

More over the success of these bikes wasn't really new as Team Gerolsteiner was using them at least since 2002 (while being supplied by Wilier officially). Michael Rich served as a test driver for Walser and Gerolsteiner whenever they tried something new. When Gerolsteiner folded some of these were up for grabs at the sale at the headquarter.

Around 2010 Walser created a tt bike in cooperation with Focus. I remember an interview from that time in which he explained that the shape of a rider's leg influences the whole aerodynamic and so building a bike for an unknown group of buyers is guessing in this regard but he tried to create a shape which would work with most legs and get a good result despite not being perfect for anybody as it's not possible.

Since then he seems to have vanished away a bit from the cycling scene as far as I know.

[johnschlag]

I appreciate you guys actually uttering the name Lance Armstrong. It seems to have been verboten for a fair number of years. Great bit guys, keep the content coming!

[Rideurbikenkma]

I have the road version of that bike, with the full sexiest Dura Ace ever made, and it is lighting fast, and super responsive. It is one bike I will never sell, even have the full TMobile kit as well. Can ya tell I'm a huge Jan fan lol.
Good video guys!

[spikewalker]

Holy crap: when the bin blew over at 19:23. That nearly made me spit my tea across the room!

[werdsmyth]

Big love for the B4040. But could I propose a new GCN test track, not far from the B4040? The Little Somerford > Great Somerford > Dauntsey loop is almost exactly 10km. And you can pop in for coffee in my kitchen when you've finished. Just don't ride it in the other direction (because I have the Strava KOM and want to keep it that way!).

[DigiDonkey]

I'd love to know how you're managing to get such clear audio when riding. Storm force winds and going for it, yet totally crisp and clear! A vid on documenting your tour/bikepacking would be brilliant.

[bikeanddogtrips]

geez.. Ollie is so fast and powerful now that the draft from his bike is able to knock over wheelie bins 14:01 #thecyclingpoltergeist