How did Heras scorch the Vuelta TTs?

Oh, go on then, you squeezed it out of me. An eye-watering £1499. It goes on sale on 1st October.

The custom bar, co-designed by Jordan/Midland F1 engineers and Oval Concepts founder Morgan Nicol is being built in the UK.

“Our plan was to build this bar only for the Liberty Seguros Team and a couple Hawaiian IronMan competitors but the beauty of the final product, Roberto Heras’ stunning TT improvement at the Vuelta, and the resulting demand has been so great we kind of have no choice but to sell it.” said Nicol.

“When I also consider the high mold, unit and patent costs our little company has incurred to produce this product we really need to sell a few to begin to recover some of our expenses.”

The A911 JetStream aero bars incorporate the split wing design first developed with the A900 JetStream aero forks three years ago. Whereas the fork wings direct air flow around the high-drag spokes ripping through the air above the hubs, the bar wings direct air flow around the rider’s legs which are one of the biggest drag effects on the bike.

In addition to being fast, the JetStream bars are 300 grams lighter (at 550 grams) than the lightest production bars on the market, said Oval.

“Our plan was to build the production version of the JetStream bar in China but the very thin shapes and exotic F1 carbon weaves are proving difficult for my China factories to match. It is possible we will be able to deliver a less expensive version in 12 to 18 months but we’ll need to add 100 to 150 grams to the weight,” said Nicol.

“I hate to see a product go out at such a price, I truthfully could never afford one myself, but it seems there are people willing to pay for this level performance so we will try to accommodate them. Most interested customers so far are happy A900 aero bar owners who have been to the wind tunnel and have their Optimal Aero Position (OAP) locked so we can dial this bar and deliver the next level of performance.

To order the bar the customer must fill out a custom order form choosing stem and extension types, colours, lengths, and angles and then wire transfer the money to Oval. Delivery would be 45 to 60 days.

http://www.ovalconcepts.com

FAT CYCLIST ON HERAS:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/…/nelson_vuelta_quiz