- Believe it or not, this is the first time I've
ever done a mechanics truck tour on GCN
and I couldn't have picked a better team to
actually start with, in my opinion
because one of the mechanics here, Steven
is one of the oldest guys I've known inside
of the pro-peloton of mechanics.
So , he's just given me a little run-down
inside of the truck and well, let's go and have a look.
I'm so excited.
Come on.
(upbeat music)
- So in the back of the van here where I am
right, so the driver just sits the other side of here
there is a plethora of of kit
hanging around already.
Yesterday the riders took part in the time trials
so I've got most of the time trial bikes here
racked up on one side.
Now, the actual mounts for the bikes
they can be positioned differently
because they're attached on with these
kind of wing-nut thumb-nuts, if you like
So, easily a bike can be positioned higher
or lower accordingly, and that's particularly important
when you've got time trial bikes.
Such as these, because obviously the handlebars
on them are not the most practical things to work in among.
And then we've got wheels galore both sides.
I mean, the amount of wheels that can be kept in here
I'm actually totally unsure of.
But if we look up here
we can start to see little cheeky wheels
like, well, tubeless wheels here.
So some riders are using tubeless wheels.
Er, Victor Campenaerts, he was using
a tubeless front wheel in the time trials.
On the rear, he's still using a traditional tubular tire.
But maybe there's something coming
in the future, who knows?
Be great to see it really, 'cos I do like
a bit of innovation here and there.
On the right hand side, well
there's not that much in terms of bikes
because most of them are outside
either being washed or ridden. It is a rest day right now
so some of the riders are getting
a little bit of extra sun on
their legs and face and arms.
There's a box there, of spare frames and forks.
So, in the unfortunate case of
a rider crashing and snapping one
or cracking one, well the mechanic
that night, can easily swap everything over.
Now each and every bike, when it's racked up
has its own little compartment here for
the real wheel to sit in, as you can see.
And then it's got a bungee strap as well
than can simply go around and hold it in place.
The reason being, when the mechanic's
driving on to the next stage
They don't want a bike to risk popping out
of that little compartment and then, well
not only damage the paintwork of that
and the bike next to it
but also risk damaging the rear derailleur
or rear derailleur hanger.
Because if they get knocked even a fraction
the amount that that can knock out
the rest of the gears and the indexing
is actually quite amazing.
And above, we've got actually 24
separate power outlets.
Remember, most of the team, they're using
Campagnolo Record EPS
or Super record EPS rather.
And all the power is being proivided
internally inside of the actual racking system
and then pops out through this conduit
and then gives you these plug sockets
that they plug those extensions into.
If there's one thing that I recently learned
through rewiring my own home is
you can never have enough power outputs.
Now, let's have a look inside of this here.
It looks like a trap door, and it's not.
Let's see what's...
(groans)
Tell you what, its quite heavy, that.
Just move that bike out the way.
Inside a here
we've got all sorts of spare handlebars here.
So we've got road bars, we've got time trial bars.
We've got handlebar tape, we've got spare elbow pads.
These spare handlebar tapes actually
aren't the standard ones.
We've got some green ones there
some white ones, and also some red ones.
Now, they're hidden away from the riders.
Could be a little bit of bad luck really
to start showing off things
that could well be put onto your bike
if you went into a leaders jersey at a race.
Right, moving on then to another trap door
let's have a look what's inside this one
(groans)
Right. Oh my word.
We've got campagnolo spare parts.
Let's see exactly what's we've got.
The all say on them actually
"For Team Use Only".
That's probably because they're not in
the really top fancy packaging.
We've got cassettes, chain sets, more chain sets
cable sets, disc rotors.
You name it, it's in here.
Now, sufficient as a mechanics truck is
you never know how far away
from an electricity supply you're going to be.
So, for instance we've got
this 4-way extension cable here
with a 100 meter roll of cable. So I guess they could be at
the opposite end of a football pitch
or a soccer pitch and still have power
if they so be it.
That is great.
I couldn't like to have that if
it didn't have the windy wheel on it though
that'd be a bit of a nightmare wouldn't it, let's face it.
Also got Chain set here, just kicking around.
That's probably been swapped off of a frame
and , well possibly they don't have the exact
ones ready and waiting to go onto another one.
Let's have a look here.
We've got a few old broken parts too.
Of course, riders are putting
so many kilometers onto their bikes.
And well, sadly, part of it's crashing.
So sometimes things get broken and bent and destroyed.
Here we've got some old tubular tires that
they've obviously punctured.
And just to keep a note really
of probably how many they go through a year.
They just cut them up into a little section
so they've got that.
And also, so they don't put it into a bin.
Believe me, I've seen it at bike races
I've seen mechanics put things in bins
and I've seen fans go and take it out of there!
And obviously, they don't want broken parts
to be back on the road because they're unsafe for that.
So inside a here, we've just got a few bits and pieces
there's a chain rings and a saddle in there
that's been sort of scuffed up, probably during a crash.
Yeah, you can see there its broken
at the back of the rails.
Now very often mechanics work very long into the night.
In fact, they're the first up in the morning
and the last to bed.
So, there's a speaker in here so Steven
he can work to some tunes whilst he's going away.
We've also got a box here, or old rags.
They come in handy for everything and anything
you can't ever have enough of old rags.
They're old towels, actually.
We've got loads of different cassettes here
we've even got some 11 to 32's here ready
for the mountainous stages.
Steven just said to me that they're just lying around.
Who has, like Record and such like
Super Record 11 - 23 cassettes just lying around?
Bike teams, that's who.
I love it, I absolutely love this.
Right, we've also got a Lezyne track pump here
branded up Lotto Soudal too.
And get this, you don't see these very often
This is specifically designed for disc wheels
because of course you can't get in
to the valves on them with a standard pump
so by using one of these you can get in there
and put all that pressure in.
Here, we've just got a box of bits
'cos remember the mechanics, they're working outside
I'm working inside!
And look at this.
This is just loads of other spare parts again.
We've got valves for the tubulars
we've got the adapters again for the disc wheels.
Headset spacers, bolts, washers, derailleur hangers.
Err... we've got end caps, we've got EPS bungs,
if you like, for the frames.
We've got spare bearings for the headsets.
Bar end plugs, they go missing always.
They have to take everything with them.
So in among all the spare parts as well
of course, they need loads of spare tubular tires
because, so far actually this year though
its been a little bit wet, I've got to say.
And there has been a fair few punctures
so here we've got a load of Vittoria Corsa speed tubulars.
These are the more racy versions if you like
because they have a slick sensor part of the tread there
and on the side we've got that sort of
really individual style tread pattern.
So its just those lines that run through
there's no chevrons or file pattern or anything.
And up here, we've got Corsas
with the standard tubular model there
so they've got that tell-tale line tread pattern
and naturally, gummed side walls.
We love gummed side walls!
Take a little bit of extra maintenance
keep them nice and clean.
Right, inside of here then
now you'll see how good my Dutch is.
Right.
Pedallen; I reckon that's pedals.
Yeah.
So we've got inside of here, a load of spare pedals
we've got spacers for the pedals too.
Look Keo grip.
Inside of here
(groans)
Right. It's a heavy bit of kit here.
We've got a, this is a cleat setup machine here.
So its like beautifully CNC machined and made.
I might have to take some pictures of this
I fancy making one of these
turning one of these on my own lathe.
Stuurlint; I know what this one is
I've been through many a roll of this.
Handlebar tape.
There we are, its lizard skin, the team is sponsored by.
Its this sort of black, white, gray-ish
sort of cammo appearance.
Inside of here, a load of spare SRMs.
Sensors, mounts, we've got all sorts.
Right, Oplader's right there, that's charger.
Oplader.
No doubt charging.
EPS chargers for the Campagnolo group sets.
All those... it's amazing how much all these chains weigh
when you add them all together.
We got some Chorus chains, got Super Record chains
There's a little heater tucked away.
Look at that!
So, remember if you're working
and you're up in the mountains
You're going to need to try and keep warm
they're got that, for that reason.
Luckily today the Sun's shining, they're outside working.
Err...bottle cages, belon holders.
So Tacx, they're supplied by them
carbon models here.
In here We've got a load of spare tires.
Look at that!
Yep, tubeless tires, some of the riders are using them.
We've also got some training tires there too
so the riders going out for a ride on their rest day.
We've got some little mini pumps.
What's this? Talcum powder
They don't shower in here, that just helps sometimes
to put a difficult inner tube or tire onto a rim.
If you've never tried it, try it. It works.
Right, this is where all the business takes place really.
The mechanic's workbench.
Probably not as big as what he'd like
but well, let's face it
it is in the back of a truck, remember.
So straight up, we've got some spare chain rings
just kicking about here and there.
Let's start in this cupboard down here.
Let's see what we can find.
Right, first up we've got a grinding wheel.
So, you'd be amazed at how often
things like this are actually used, believe it or not.
We've got one of those just in there.
Also got some Campagnolo bits.
What's this? A bleed kit for disc brakes.
We've also got... what's this?
Looks to me like a hot air gun.
Now the only possible reason I of one of these
is not to warm up riders'
cold fingers or anything
it's to umm
shrink heat-shrink tubing.
So remember, if you're using EPS cables
with standard brake cables
you want to try and get them nice and close together
so they don't get snagged or anything.
Put some heat-shrink over it
use that, and Bob's your uncle.
It shrinks it.
A box of Vittoria tubular glue.
Plenty of tins of that.
I don't miss gluing tubular tires
I'll tell you that for something.
What else have we got?
Right, something else from Wurth here.
We've got a couple of big old tools.
Hopefully, that's all right.
(laughs)
Right, lets see what we've got inside of here.
Cordless drill; let's see what we've got.
An angle grinder!
Not sure.... it's pretty well used.
Err... I dunno what you're going to be using that for maybe.
I've just spotted a few other bits as well, in the back.
We've got some... where is it, I just saw it?
Some bike wipes there, from Soudal
one of the team sponsors, of course
you can wipe your hands nice and clean.
And that one I knocked over, some Vittoria Pit Stop TNT.
So, some latex sealant
that's going to go inside those tubeless tires
to prevent any punctures.
A handy little measuring guide on there too
so you can simply fill up that reservoir and pour it in.
Right, let's see what's in these drawers then
I have to hold up the vice handle.
For a start, let's see...
What's this? Name stickers
Adan Hansen.
Oh my word!
This is like....
Again, more and more little spare parts
brake pads, we've got bolts, we've got disc rotor bolts.
We've got everything you could imagine.
All the spacers and bearings and washers.
More derailleur hangers, spare quick releases
bottom bracket cups there.
These are C-bear ones, that's one of the team's sponsors.
Spare derailleur pulley wheels, jockey wheels
grease there, so you can inject them
into the bearings themselves.
Valves, end caps.
Drawer number five.
Spare seat posts and stems.
Superleggero.
Look at that, Superzero even.
Wah, nice!
Lovely bits of kit.
And finally, let's see what we've got here.
Torque wrench from Wurth.
Remember, these days everything has a torque setting on it
so, that's ultra-important.
We've got the old hammer here as well
that's from Wurth.
Yeah.
Plastic mallet, lovely.
I'm not sure what this would be for
I suppose its just knocking out bearings here and there
That end wouldn't get much use, I don't imagine.
In case you get stuck in some snow, I suppose.
Nearly at the end now
We've got drawers here full of disc brake parts
Deda handlebar stem parts
all sourced specific for
these models of bikes they've got.
What's this?
Snap On.
That'll be for the through axles.
There's a couple of riders here using disc brakes
so it's nice and quick to do that
nice little bit of Snap On kit there.
Some Panini sticker albums there
get my hands on one of those in a minute.
And finally, up here we've got all these chain rings.
So of course, they match up with other models
so, because of shifting ramps and pins
everything like that.
Ideally they need to be matched up
they do work but
in the best case scenario
you want to match them up perfectly.
I've just found out actually, as well
that this truck can hold about 45 bikes.
And it used to hold 45 pairs of wheels
but these days it holds even more.
So it fits probably about 120 pairs of wheels these days
which is enough I reckon to get this Euro d'Italia.
So there we are, the Lotto Soudal mechanic's truck tour.
I would love to spend more time in here.
In fact my OCD just want to pick off this old
tubular glue on this wheel.
But all of that aside, a huge thanks
to the squad for letting my check it out
because let's face it, they're at work aren't they
right now and I've been interrupting them.
So I hope you've enjoyed it.
Like and share it with your friends
and let me know what was your favorite bit of the truck tour
down there in the comments section below.
Don't forget as well to check out the GCN shop at
shop.globalcyclingnetowrk.com
We've got a whole heap of goodies for you
and also for two more great videos
how about clicking just down here
and well, just on here.
S'nice and true, that.