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Muc-Off’s Lightweight Oversized Precision Shifting (LOPS) made its world premiere in the individual time-trial stage on the penultimate day of the 2020 Tour de France.
The system, which unites a highly advanced titanium body with supremely efficient coated pulley wheels and bearings, was used by Team Bahrain McLaren leader Mikel Landa on 19th September. As with all its products, a combination of real-world testing and cutting-edge lab work was a significant part of the development process for LOPS, said the brand. Managing director Alex Trimnell said LOPS was the result of ‘innovation, investment and instinct’.
“I’m immensely proud of our efforts in creating a class-leading oversized pulley wheel system in the most challenging conditions,” said Trimnell. “Anyone who’s visited our new, leading-edge laboratory and met our PhD-qualified staff will understand the value that Muc-Off places on science, but sometimes you have to trust your instinct, too. Nothing was going to disrupt ‘Project Landa’ – not even COVID-19.
“Our people dug deep to meet a non-negotiable deadline, and Mikel will now start what might be the most important time-trial of his career with a significant technical advantage. When you’re competing at the sharp end of events like the Tour de France, it’s essential to work with partners who share your commitment to success. Muc-Off’s unstinting efforts in the face of a pandemic to provide Mikel with the most efficient drivetrain imaginable proves that they have a work ethic to match our own.”
“Our partnership with Team Bahrain McLaren presents us with opportunities to work with world-class athletes and world-class engineers. Together, in the earliest days of the partnership, we identified an opportunity to develop an oversized pulley wheel system. To lead on its development and delivery during a pandemic is a testament to the people I’m proud to call colleagues.”
Read the September issue of BikeBiz below:
