Pinarello's new Bolide F HR 3D track bike is "the fastest bike on earth" and has a £25,000 price tag (for the frame)

marmotte27 wrote:

People please stop this madness...

What madness are you referring to?

No brake caliper holes on the fork or bridge on the rear, never mind cable routing. How do they expect these to sell these to the road-going fixed-gear market?

Narrow, non-standard dropout spacings too. Good luck fitting a Rohloff or a dynamo hub.

Will it take a basket?  I like to make progress with a stylish wicker number and (on the down-low) I think it improves my aerodynamics.

I'm not an expert and without going down a gender rabbit hole, but I'm guessing the men can produce more power than the woman hence them trying out/using new materials and technologies to produce the frames available to the men that can withstand the power they produce. Whilst the frames available for the women's team are already suitable and optimised for the power that they can produce using existing technologies and material. A lot of the extra costs will be from R and D.

Fair points. I'd be interested to see comparative testing that showed women wouldn't do any better on the super-expensive version though.

NotNigel wrote:

I'm not an expert and without going down a gender rabbit hole, but I'm guessing the men can produce more power than the woman hence them trying out/using new materials and technologies to produce the frames available to the men that can withstand the power they produce. Whilst the frames available for the women's team are already suitable and optimised for the power that they can produce using existing technologies and material. A lot of the extra costs will be from R and D.

I suspect the material choice is 100% down to the 3D printing system being used for the men. I.e., this is the only one both 3D printable and strong enough for a men's bike frame.

I think the price is mostly academic, they won't be selling many (or any even), the price exists so they're technically "for sale" thereby not falling foul of Article 1.3.006. You'll recall that the black unbranded British Cycling UKSI "secret squirrel club" bikes years ago had a notional price tag of over £100k in order to satisfy the UCI, I'll bet they didn't sell a single one. 

Rendel Harris wrote:

Well, as the men are all getting the best bike and the women the half-price version you're not giving the women the best possible chance, are you?

Like with all sports, a lot of women's national cycling teams have been subjected to horrendous misogyny and inequality (cough Brailsford cough), but in this case the stronger vs lighter rationale does make intuitive sense.

I would have also liked to see this explained. Given them the benefit of the doubt with rose tinted glasses I am wondering if the higher speed the men do mean that the aerodynamics of the more expensive bike work better/make more impact. 

I hope it had been analaysed and found the women will be FASTER on the other bikes rather than just they've given 'worse' bikes because they are women. 

The best technology (and money) goes to the category with the best results. There is more money poured into MotoGP than in Moto2.

cyclisto wrote:

The best technology (and money) goes to the category with the best results. There is more money poured into MotoGP than in Moto2.

At the last major international track championships, the Europeans in January, Italy's women took gold, so they are producing pretty good results.

No I mean between men and women. Italy is a team, women and men, different categories.

Yes, I know, you said the best technology and money goes to the category with the best results and I am pointing out that the Italian women are achieving very good results and so that would not be a reason not to provide them with the best technology.

Is there any reason to assume the women aren't being provided with the best technology?

Well, as discussed above possibly the women aren't getting the new technology because it's not best suited to them, but the fact that the men are getting bikes that cost twice as much as those supplied to the women does at least make one wonder whether there is as much investment in their machines as there is in the men's.

Investment by whom though? If Pinarello is offering a very expensive bike that works for men and a less expensive bike that works for women, who is at fault? Pinarello? Or the Italian federation (or whoever is responsible for the riders' equipment)?

Yes that makes sense too, as good teams in the same categories are treated with better budgets.

But in the more popular categories where performance is better, there are higher budgets too, unless we are discussing events like LFL where popularity, thus budgets can be high too, but probably for other reasons.

I was pleased to see ITV are showing live MotoGP.

There's an interesting article on the BBC website regarding equipment supply / design for women against that for men - although nothing mentioned about cycling.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/68542035