Serious cyclists gathered at Eden Bicycles in Castro Valley last week for the unveiling of what its makers are calling the "world's fastest bicycle" -- the Propel Advanced SL.
This 14.2 pound machine, easily lifted in one hand, is designed and built by Giant, a Taiwanese firm that is one of the big three bicycle brands -- the others being Trek Bikes in Wisconsin and Specialized in Morgan Hill.
Eden owners Chris and Erin Padavana held the reception Thursday evening to show off some of the first of these new Giant bikes to go on sale in the United States.
"We have a special relationship with Giant that allows us to get delivery preference," Chris Padavana said.
The new bicycles sell for about $6,000 to about $10,000.
Mike Stewart, an executive with Giant's U.S. division, based in Newbury Park, California, explained what went into making the Propel Advanced SL.
He said designers spent two years on the drawing boards and made 88 frame revisions. Prototypes were tested using computational fluid dynamics, a fancy way of saying simulated wind tunnel tests.
These simulations were checked against actual tests at the ACE wind tunnels in France, said Stewart. There Giant used a wooden dummy as the stand in for the human form which is the most important wind resistance variable.
The bicycle itself is made of carbon fiber produced by Toray Industries, the same Japanese company that supplies this light, strong metal substitute for Boeing's 787 aircraft.
The result, Stewart said, is a bicycle light enough to minimize aerodynamic drag while stiff enough to transfer the full force of the pedal effort into motion.
And just who might want a bike worth the price of a small used car?
"Someone who is trying to improve their perfomance on a specific road or route," Chris Padavana said, sipping on a beer at the open house last week
Read more about Eden's 10 year anniversary and its staff. Castro Valley Patch blogger David Ashton has his own tale to tell about Eden.
Velo News has reviewed the SL for the serious cyclist.
Jealousy is a stinky cologne. By your analogy humans should enjoy nothing and revert back to the era of cavemen. Do you watch or enjoy auto racing or professional ball sports. If so you should be ashamed. Do you invest in healthy foods or fitness? I bet not! However, you obviously have enough "barely getting by" money for internet service and a computer! Grow up troll!
Whether or not you wear payless shoes or not, before you criticize those that make different financial purchases than you, having money to buy better things does not mean you have bad priorities. The store just sells the bikes that the MFG sells as a complete package, Eden does not design them but they do understand what quality is and can direct an individual to this level of bike when they have the means to buy one.
Seriously, we were just talking about $6000 bikes with a childless couple we had dinner with last weekend. One of them said he estimates he has 20k miles on his road bike and that as long as he doesn't crash, it will last forever. However, as he is getting older, he is thinking about upgrading to a top of the line bike in order to cut down on the wear and tear to his ligaments and bones.
Sad part is I rarely ride it anymore. These days I don't care about having the Greatest and Newest anything. Except I'm still a Snob when it comes to Clothes & Food. You will never catch me in a Grocery Store hitting up the Bargain Bin or buying cheap items. I Custom order my Clothes, mostly Name Brand stuff $65 for Casual Slacks, $109 for Dress Pants, even my basic solid color t-shirts are $28 a piece. But again, I'm a Snob in this regard. I am also Single and don't have any Mouths to support so... lol.