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Can you explain their contribution? In the Rio Olympics the british velodrome team used Cervelo bikes like every other top team. https://www.cervelo.com https:

Can you explain their contribution? In the Rio Olympics the british velodrome team used Cervelo bikes like every other top team. https://www.cervelo.com https://www.cervelo.com https://www.cervelo.com/en-ca/races-and-athletes/british-cycling https://www.cervelo.com/en-ca/races-and-athletes/british-cyc...

krona 10y ago
> Can you explain their contribution On the materials side there are things such as the resin the British team coats the bikes in is applied and manufactured by McLaren. I think the greatest contribution is probably the data analysis they provide the team during the events (for example, the british team bring their own cameras, sensors on everything that moves, etc.) . More info: http://www.mclaren.com/appliedtechnologies/case-study/uk-sport http://www.mclaren.com/appliedtechnologies/case-study/uk-spo...
- sir-velo 10y ago
  Company spokesperson: "Oh no, we didn't design or manufacture the advanced ultra light weight winning bikes - we made the resin and sensors." Next thing we'll hear about how they helped design the athlete's antiperspirant.
  - krona 10y ago
    Marginal Gains. (I'm not sure what your point is.)
  - ablation 10y ago
    What a bizarre, forthright anti-McLaren angle you're taking in this thread.
phonon 10y ago
Sensors http://www.mclaren.com/appliedtechnologies/case-study/uk-sport http://www.mclaren.com/appliedtechnologies/case-study/uk-spo... "A good example is our collaboration with Team GB cyclists. Drawing on our design expertise, we created sensor hardware to be fitted within bike frames. A non-GPS positioning system was created (GPS being unreliable inside velodromes) and bespoke data analysis software developed to monitor speed, power, cadence and other valuable metrics."
- sir-velo 10y ago
  Sensors? How uninteresting. When you sponsor a racing team you want to get credit for the machines they are riding rather than the speedometer.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - nathancahill 10y ago
    Nice try "sir-velo"
    - sir-velo 10y ago
      You're a smart one. I use one time logins for most articles but the facts speak for themselves.
      - sctb 10y ago
        We ask that you don't do this. Anonymity is fine, but HN is a community and members should have some sort of consistent identity that others can relate to. Otherwise we may as well have no usernames at all, and that would be a totally different site.
hellogoodbyeeee 10y ago
Here is a Bloomberg article talking about their data analysis consulting: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-10-02/mclaren-uses-racing-expertise-in-data-driven-consulting http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-10-02/mclaren-us...
jdietrich 10y ago
Mclaren also collaborated with Specialized on the development of the S-Works Venge bike. http://venge.specialized.com/#/sworks-mclaren-venge/working-with-mclaren http://venge.specialized.com/#/sworks-mclaren-venge/working-...
- poooogles 10y ago
  And the new Roubaix which came out this month.
Someone 10y ago
According to UCI regulations, all equipment used in races must be available for sale on the market, so in theory, they don't have better bicycles. However, chances are Cervelo only manages to deliver their newest designs to British cycling in time for important races. The scenario likely is somewhat like this: Cervelo develops new bikes in cooperation with British cycling, as that gives them a rich sponsor willing to pay for experimental designs. Also, bikes like these bikes are custom sized to their rider, and making one takes lots of time. British cycling doesn't have any incentive to finalize their design months before the Olympics because that would give Cervelo time to make bikes for the competition, and would rob them of time in which they could try out yet another bike. So yes, others can order those bikes, but chances are they cannot get them delivered in time. Also, chances are that British cycling knows better what kind of bike they want. Not everybody has the resources to evaluate zillions of minute variations on a bike frame in a wind tunnel. (Some background info at http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/racing/olympics/british-track-bikes-available-for-sale-price-tbc-40135 http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/racing/olympics/british-... (2012))
- semi-extrinsic 10y ago
  > Also, bikes like these bikes are custom sized to their rider, and making one takes lots of time. CF vacuum resin infusion layup (which I assume they're doing) is pretty fast, I can't see how making a complete bike from scratch would take more than two days if all the parts are in stock. (That doesn't mean they don't have long wait times still.)
poooogles 10y ago
>...Cervelo bikes like every other top team. Not true. There was actually quite a bit of variety. The French (patriotically) used Look bikes for Example.

krona 10y ago

> Can you explain their contribution On the materials side there are things such as the resin the British team coats the bikes in is applied and manufactured by McLaren. I think the greatest contribution is probably the data analysis they provide the team during the events (for example, the british team bring their own cameras, sensors on everything that moves, etc.) . More info: http://www.mclaren.com/appliedtechnologies/case-study/uk-sport http://www.mclaren.com/appliedtechnologies/case-study/uk-spo...

sir-velo 10y ago
Company spokesperson: "Oh no, we didn't design or manufacture the advanced ultra light weight winning bikes - we made the resin and sensors." Next thing we'll hear about how they helped design the athlete's antiperspirant.
- krona 10y ago
  Marginal Gains. (I'm not sure what your point is.)
- ablation 10y ago
  What a bizarre, forthright anti-McLaren angle you're taking in this thread.

phonon 10y ago

Sensors http://www.mclaren.com/appliedtechnologies/case-study/uk-sport http://www.mclaren.com/appliedtechnologies/case-study/uk-spo... "A good example is our collaboration with Team GB cyclists. Drawing on our design expertise, we created sensor hardware to be fitted within bike frames. A non-GPS positioning system was created (GPS being unreliable inside velodromes) and bespoke data analysis software developed to monitor speed, power, cadence and other valuable metrics."

sir-velo 10y ago
Sensors? How uninteresting. When you sponsor a racing team you want to get credit for the machines they are riding rather than the speedometer.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- nathancahill 10y ago
  Nice try "sir-velo"
  - sir-velo 10y ago
    You're a smart one. I use one time logins for most articles but the facts speak for themselves.
    - sctb 10y ago
      We ask that you don't do this. Anonymity is fine, but HN is a community and members should have some sort of consistent identity that others can relate to. Otherwise we may as well have no usernames at all, and that would be a totally different site.

hellogoodbyeeee 10y ago

Here is a Bloomberg article talking about their data analysis consulting: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-10-02/mclaren-uses-racing-expertise-in-data-driven-consulting http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-10-02/mclaren-us...

jdietrich 10y ago

Mclaren also collaborated with Specialized on the development of the S-Works Venge bike. http://venge.specialized.com/#/sworks-mclaren-venge/working-with-mclaren http://venge.specialized.com/#/sworks-mclaren-venge/working-...

poooogles 10y ago
And the new Roubaix which came out this month.

Someone 10y ago

According to UCI regulations, all equipment used in races must be available for sale on the market, so in theory, they don't have better bicycles. However, chances are Cervelo only manages to deliver their newest designs to British cycling in time for important races. The scenario likely is somewhat like this: Cervelo develops new bikes in cooperation with British cycling, as that gives them a rich sponsor willing to pay for experimental designs. Also, bikes like these bikes are custom sized to their rider, and making one takes lots of time. British cycling doesn't have any incentive to finalize their design months before the Olympics because that would give Cervelo time to make bikes for the competition, and would rob them of time in which they could try out yet another bike. So yes, others can order those bikes, but chances are they cannot get them delivered in time. Also, chances are that British cycling knows better what kind of bike they want. Not everybody has the resources to evaluate zillions of minute variations on a bike frame in a wind tunnel. (Some background info at http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/racing/olympics/british-track-bikes-available-for-sale-price-tbc-40135 http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/racing/olympics/british-... (2012))

semi-extrinsic 10y ago
> Also, bikes like these bikes are custom sized to their rider, and making one takes lots of time. CF vacuum resin infusion layup (which I assume they're doing) is pretty fast, I can't see how making a complete bike from scratch would take more than two days if all the parts are in stock. (That doesn't mean they don't have long wait times still.)

poooogles 10y ago

>...Cervelo bikes like every other top team. Not true. There was actually quite a bit of variety. The French (patriotically) used Look bikes for Example.