A-D tt Carbon Limited reviewed by Cycling Pro Road Review Magazine

Choice. Value. Performance. Pick three.

A-D Bikes is the modern face of Austro-Daimler cycling and the company introducing the tt Carbon Limited to the global performance bicycle market. Cycling Pro Road Review Magazine caught up with President and Founder Fred Thomas at the 2014 Tour of the Catskills in early August and had a chance to ride the tt Carbon Limited and Talk A-D Bikes. “I wanted to create something completely new for the brand”, Mr. Thomas said as he warmed down from the opening stage ten mile out and back time trial. “When I was racing in the early eighties and nineties, time trial bikes as we know them today did not exist. Now they are ubiquitous and a necessary tool if you want to be competitive in a stage race. I wanted A-D to have a presence in this market.” Mr. Thomas finished the opening stage with a time of 21:14 which was fast enough for 6th place in the Pro 1 2 category (Thomas races for Downeast Racing out of Brunswick, Maine).

Cycling Pro Road Review Magazine took the tt Carbon Limited out the next day and rode the Tour of the Catskills time trial course. Riding this bike is like having a strong cup of coffee. Each pedal stroke stimulates the body, crystalizes the mind and lifts the spirit. It is everything the no nonsense performance cyclist will need in a time trial bike. We shot up the climbs, dropped down the descents and frequently found ourselves drifting along at thirty miles per hour on the flat sections. The TRP Aero brakes (which are included with the frameset) provided the control needed to negotiate the curves and the turn around. Mr.Thomas’ tt Carbon Limited is built up with 3T Brezza II aero bars, Shimano Dura-Ace 7900 ten speed mechanical drive train with 55T/42T chain rings, a Stages Power Meter, a Zipp 900 Disc tubular rear wheel and Zipp 808 Firecrest Tubular front wheel. The bike (size 50 cm) weighs 18 pounds (8.2 kg). The Champagne finish channels the original spirit of the brand and the A-D logo on the down tube differentiates the bike from anything on the market today. Mr. Thomas explains that the tt Carbon provided the inspiration for using the A-D logo on the down tube. “The logo fit nicely and it added some color. The market really liked it which is why it was introduced on the road and cross frames.” 

The Limited Series is the same as the previous generation tt Carbon except that the seat tube water bottle mount has been dropped (to accommodate a curved seat post), the seat post collar has been strengthened and the A-D logo wraps around the down tube more comprehensively. It continues to be an easy job to build up the frame set. “No black magic or power tools are needed. The frame set loves mechanics!” Mr. Thomas quips. Unchanged features include the A-D 41TT carbon front fork, the variable position seat clamp, the BB86 bottom bracket, the TRP 922 brake set and the Cane Creek 110 Series headset.

Cycling Pro Road Review believes that until the industry changes its dogmatic belief in supply-push economics, the market for performance bikes will remain competitive and characterized by oversupply. Why buy an A-D when there is so much choice around? Mr. Thomas explains. “These frame sets are inexpensive premium products that are well-made, comfortable and a blank slate upon which the consumer can create a masterpiece. If you want to ‘ride it now’, you go to the Big Three. If you want something inexpensive, there’s eBay. If expense is not a factor, there are the boutique brands. But if you are like most people, you want choice, value and performance. That is what A-D provides and reinforces with life time-warranties and customer support programs. Choice. Value. Performance. Pick three.” Cycling Pro Road Magazine believes that Mr. Thomas has the right idea and that he has delivered on all three points with the tt Carbon Limited while respecting the history of the brand. The next day, while Mr. Thomas was grinding through Stage 2 of the Tour of the Catskills (a 70-mile circuit race), we took the bike out for a longer ride. It went by very fast.

A-D Bikes runs a standard crash replacement program in addition to the refreshingly simple and innovative A-D Bikes Cash or Credit program. This allows the original owner of an A-D frame set to return it in exchange for a credit towards a new frame set or a fair market value cash payment. This means that A-D owners can easily extract the remaining value of their A-D frame set without having to deal with Craig's List or eBay. The full line of A-D Limited Series road, time trial and cyclocross frame sets are available at The Chain Station in Brunswick, Maine (Please ask for Jeff Yingling). The frame sets can also be obtained through Fit Werx 2 in Peabody, Massachusetts (Please ask for Marty Miserandino). For customers outside of New England, the frame sets can be obtained through the A-D Bikes Shopify Store. Please call Fred Thomas or Cycling Pro Road Review Magazine directly on 207 221 5151 with any questions. Dealer enquires are welcomed.

By Fred Thomas
Editor
Cycling Pro Road Review Magazine

The Internet of Bikes: 2014 Tour of the Battenkill

Like a migratory bird, I returned to Cambridge, New York last week for the 2014 Tour of the Battenkill. I was joined by Downeast Racing teammates Matt Moon, Hank Pfeifle, Eliot Pitney and Joe Lynch. The weather conditions were calm, but damp with temperatures in the 30s and 40s. Matt and I started the Category 2 race with about 70 other riders from all over the country and Canada for the 85 mile race. The race features some 12 miles of dirt roads, the steep dirt road climbs of Juniper Swamp Road and Herrington Road, fast descents and bucolic upstate New York scenery. My Austro-Daimler Superleicht Carbon Di2 Champagne made it through the race for the second time: lifting a page from the Roger Aspholm Book of Pro Cycling, I ran Zipp 202s with Vittoria Paves (loaded with Stan NoTubes liquid latex to keep away the slow leak monster). I carried and finished three bottles of Hammer Nutrition Sustained Energy and topped it off with some Chocolate Gu. I felt fine the whole way and I think the liquid energy diet helped hold off cramps. Clearly, I was ready for some real food afterwards.

This was the first year of competing in the Category 2 race at this event. Relative to the Masters category (where I really belong), the pace on the climbs is a lot faster and more riders are able to keep up.  There are teams too and thus more tactics. I rode conservatively at the back while Matt Moon sat on the front of the group. There were seven flats and two broken bikes according to Vittoria support officials. The dirt roads were soggy in places and many riders lost their balance trying to coast through that kind of surface: the trick is to keep it in a big gear, stay seated and pedal through. I had much practice with this technique the previous weekend around New Gloucester and felt at ease. I saw many riders loose their balance.

We arrived at Herrington Hill Road and this is where the remaining field started to break up. Once this climb was over, the field plunged down a fast descent followed by the climb up Meeting House Hill Road. There was gap that was extended here and before I knew it, the lead group had a break and I was in a groupetto of ten or so tired and bickering riders. Some of us tried to close the gap over the flats, Stage Road and the last ten kilometers, but there was no joy; the lead group remained in sight but out of reach. I finished 21st and although the Shoulda Would Coulda Brothers made a brief appearance, I sent them packing by appreciating the distance and pace of the race, the numerous opportunities there were not to finish the race at all (flats, falling off your bike, taking a wrong turn, etc), and by knowing that all the hours on the trainer (Hour of Power, Rosems, 40 x 20, etc) and all the early wake ups to get to the gym to lift weights and the training camp has paid off. I learned that I really have to ride at the front more (ride like Matt Moon) and not let myself get bullied into the comfortable, but sketchy neighborhood at the back of the peleton; although I can keep up on the hills, it is many times not possible to cover a move on a climb from the pack of the field, even if it is a small field. I obtained some chocolate milk  from the Battenkill Creamery for The Girls and Mr. Moon and we began the drive home. It was fine weekend of racing and many thanks to Jeff Dixon and Hank Pfeifle for making the Downeast Racing team happen. 

I just cleaned this thing!

Matt and Fred give nothing to the Papparazi

Three bottles of Sustained Energy later