South Australia.com AIS' Bianchi FG Lite team bike
South Australia.com AIS - powered by Italian & Japanese bike technologyThe South Australia.com-AIS team rides a special version of one of the best road racing bikes in the world: Bianchi's FG Lite ALu Carbon. A multiple Tour de France winner once said, "It's not about the bike" but the team takes great confidence from the fact that our bikes have Bianchi's 120 year history behind them, and are the same machines as used by the Liquigas-Bianchi ProTour team. We know they're the best there is, and all we have to do now is pedal them! The Bianchi South Australia.com-AIS bike starts life as a set of aluminium and carbon fiber tubes made by Italian tubing specialist Dedacciai. Deda's engineers balance the strength and weight of their high-tech materials to produce tubing that Bianchi then welds and bonds into a lightweight but extremely reliable structure. Up front, Bianchi's full carbon fork gives precision control and provides shock-damping comfort on rough roads. The fork turns in an FSA headset. That combination of tubing and Bianchi's expertise produces a bike that handles perfectly. Team rider Shaun Higgerson says, "The Bianchi handles better than any bike I've ever ridden". His team-mate Wes Sulzberger agrees. "I notice how responsive it is when I'm climbing out of the saddle," he says. When the frames arrive at team HQ, it's the job of South Australia.com-AIS team mechanics to add the rest of the parts to make up the complete bike. Japanese component giant Shimano provides the team with its Dura-Ace transmissions, brakes, wheels and pedals. The Dura-Ace components have several decades of top-level racing behind them and have been ridden to victory in the last seven Tours de France – they are ultra-reliable and efficient. It's back to Italy for the team's handlebars and stems as ITM provides its Millennium 4-Ever components. Made from 7075 aluminium – the strongest aluminium alloy available – these ITM components are both light and extremely strong, ensuring safety in an area where failure simply cannot be contemplated. The Millennium 4-Ever handlebar allows the team to provide riders with a choice of handlebar shape as it's available with either a 'classic' round shape to the drop or an 'anatomic' design with shaped grip area. Whatever the shape, Fizik's Ck + Bar-Gel handlebar tape cushions the riders hands over their annual tens of thousands of kilometres of racing and training. The seating area also sees an ITM and fizik team-up. ITM provides the team with its Millennium 4 Ever carbon fiber and aluminium seatposts. A two-bolt clamp for the saddle rails ensures the team's fizik Arione seats stay firmly in place and provide a comfortable platform for the riders' racing efforts. None of this would be very useful without tyres, and the Italian connection comes through again with Vittoria tyres and tubes. Last but not least, Elite provides the team with waterbottles and cages. We'll leave the final word on the bike to team rider Jonathon Clarke. "It's light, responsive, stiff and corners well. What else could you ask for?" Nuff said. | Full specModel: Team South Australia Stem: ITM Millennium 4-Ever Brakes: Shimano Dura-Ace Crankset: Shimano Dura-Ace Wheels: Shimano WH7801 Seatpost: ITM Millennium 4-Ever |
