GamJams Tech: Jared Nieters' 2008 Raleigh Competition

The last time you saw a Raleigh moving fast, it was probably beneath John Tomac and on dirt. Unless of course you've been doing some of the Haymarket Bicycles group rides early this season. For 2008 the team has elected to go with a Raleigh fleet. That's no small vote of confidence for the veteran manufacturer, given the other lines that Haymarket carries and that the team could have chosen (including Trek, Blue, Orbea, Kuota, Kestrel). Jared explained to me that Raleigh is hoping to make a big splash among serious cyclists once again. As a Raleigh dealer, obviously Jared has some incentive in seeing them succeed. But as an elite racer and the manager of an ambitious team, he's also not about to throw his leg over anything he thinks won't help the team achieve their goals for the year.

As I was unfamiliar with the Raleigh, Jared clued me in that in many ways it's comparable to the Scott CR-1. OK, what he said was "It's basically a Scott CR-1." Normally no manufacturer likes to be defined around a competitor's brand, but given Scott's ascension over the past few years to the pinnacle of weight-weeniedom in road frames, my guess is that Raleigh won't balk at the comparison.

The frame is, naturally, full carbon and weighs in under 1 KG. The seat tube has an aero profile that improves flow over the rear wheel. Perhaps more importantly, the graphics and lines are slammin - connoting more Trek and Blue than what we may all remember about Raleigh. I wish they would have kept the head badge, though.

Can't miss those hoops, right? So I'll talk about them next. They're the bomb-proof Mavic Cosmics, which the team uses for training and racing. For verticaler courses like Battenkill-Roubaix and The Tour of Virginia, the squad will switch to Mavic R-Sys wheels. At some point this year though, the team will be trying out Reynolds DV-46 carbon wheels. Is Reynolds the new Zipp? Seems like they're showing up in more places than Michael Caine.

Jared's bike is outfitted with Dura-Ace, right down to the Dura-Ace SRM crankset, which allows him to create AND measure formidable power simultaneously. That's versatility.

The lone exception to the Dura-Ace monopoly on the bike are the Cane Creek SL brakes, which Jared says are lighter and less expensive than Dura-Ace. But he swapped the DA pads back in because they provide a better bite.

My favorite component on his bike are his handlebars, or what he calls his mini-drops. He runs Bontrager Fit VR bars. They're marketed as women's bars, but are available with a 31.8mm clamp and up to a 44cm width, so they'll hold up to just about anything and anyone (at least I hope so - mine just came in). What's unique about them is that the reach is only 70mm (compared to 80-85mm for most bars) and the drop a super shallow 120mm (vs 140mm - 150mm for others). This allows Jared to ride his drops more comfortably and more frequently, and also gives him freedom to position his brake and shift levers optimally for riding on the hoods, and still have easy access when in the drops.

Now if you know Jared, you know he's a small guy. But before you dismiss the mini-drops as a superfluous modification to your own rig, you might want to ask Tom Zirbel, who is about 6'4" and 195 lbs, if his were at all helpful in his 20-mile solo break at the end of the final stage of the ATOC. I'm just sayin', maybe Jared's onto something.

Know of another bike that wants to be profiled in GamJams Tech? Do tell.