Robert Hunter’s Phonak Hearing Systems BMC Roubaix special

The team from Phonak Hearing Systems spared no expense when it came to kitting out their riders for
Roubaix, despite not having a rider who was an obvious candidate for victory in the ‘Hell of the North’.
Mechanic Stephane Maechlur told Cyclingnews each of the team’s eight riders received a one-off bike for
this special race, an aluminium BMC Streetfire SSX.

“This is only for Paris-Roubaix - it’s the hardest race!” he said. “Normally, we use carbon frames but this
race, everyone is on aluminium. It’s almost the same as the carbon frame except that it’s a bit longer in the
wheelbase - [the frames] are more abused in this race because of the cobblestones, so they are a bit
heavier, but also a bit stronger and can take more punishment.”

This happened to be the Swiss mechanic’s inaugural outing at Paris-Roubaix, guided by head mechanic
Frédéric Bassy, so we asked him whether the thought of washing a plethora of mud-caked bikes till midnight
tomorrow had crossed his mind yet. Maechlur laughed before replying, “Of course, it’s more work than the
other races, especially after the race, but it’s a very special race for everyone, not just the riders.”

While the BMC frames would be only used for this race only, the 32 spoke wheels - a selection common with
just about every team Cyclingnews visited - are used for all the cobbled classics, again a diversion from the
lighter though more brittle (not to mention less compliant) carbon wheels the Phonak riders normally use.

All saddles looked brand-spanking new, so a question worth asking was whether some of the riders had
chosen a different model seat for a bit more cush in the tush. “No, they’re all using the same saddles, but
sometimes they do change for different races - they always change something,” Maechlur smiled, “but not
for this race.”

Okay, so what happens to these frames once this race is over?

“They go back to the service course and wait for the race next year,” Maechlur chuckled lightly. “These
ones (pointing to the more traditional green, white and yellow painted bikes) are from last year, so we will
most likely use these as the spare bikes for next year.”

출처: http://www.cyclingnews.com