Quintana Roo / Litespeed

DO:  I’m talking with Joe Bowers of American Bicycle Group and can’t keep my eyes off the Quintana Roo Cd 0.1. The coefficient of drag for this bike is…you guessed it, 0.1!

JB:  This bike is wind tunnel developed, not just wind tunnel tested. The original bike was going to be triathlon specific…we worked it over a little bit and it has a top tube now! We are shifting the air from the dirty side (drivetrain) to the clean side of the bike. We’ve allowed the downtube to shift that air to the clean side of the bike therefore it results in less drag on the frame and rider and less energy expenditure. I’m glad it’s not just triathlon specific.

DO:  When do you think we’ll see this on the road?

JB:  The bikes are in production and we’ll have rideable demos at Kona. We’re going to have more technical information on the website after Kona. We didn’t show this bike at Eurobike because we wanted to have some surprises for the American public.

We did take our Litespeed Blade to Eurobike and that won a top award for design.

DO:  I saw the Batmanish looking Blade. What can you say about the Blade? The Blade is back.

JB:  We had so many requests for it for years. We made such a name with the Litespeed Blade for years that was the standard for aero technology. Lance Armstrong went on to win the 99 Tour de France riding a Litespeed Blade with a Trek decal on it. With a bike with a heritage like that, we went to the batcave and we pulled out all the stops. It’s a very stiff bike and for the elite athlete it’s very efficient for maximum power outage.

DO:  If someone is looking to apply their power, they’re going to get it out of the blade?

JB:  Absolutely, that bike is all about speed. Nothing on that bike is leftover from the original Blade. With this bike there is a visible difference and when you ride this bike there will be a difference you will know. It is a step above the Saber.

DO:  I think it’s an excellent commentary on your part that you are listening to the needs of cyclists and what the customers want. Thank you for bringing that back and we look forward to seeing it in the Tour in 09. We’ll have to take some guesses as who might be riding that then.

JB:  Right now there’s nothing official. I would like to ride it myself but it would be tough to get the red lantern on day one. I don’t know if I could finish!