Will Routley shows the wear of the 138-mile Stage 5, which went from Seaside to Paso Robles. The current Canadian National Champion is one of the emerging stars on the Pro Continental Team SpiderTech powered by C10. The team, which is directed by Canada’s most famous cyclist and former maillot jaune wearer Steve Bauer, has been making a mark on the Amgen Tour of California thus far.
Team SpiderTech sticks with their Canadian roots and rides Argon 18 bikes, which are based in Montreal. As a fully sponsored Shimano team, SpiderTech’s Gallium Pro road bikes get a full Dura-Ace 7900 group, which include: an SRM power meter, 24mm carbon wheels and pedals. Shimano-owned PRO, sets the team up with handlebar, stem, seatpost, saddle and water bottle cages.
When Argon re-designed the Gallium Pro for 2011, they had one thing in mind: stiffness. They increased bottom bracket stiffness by 10% over last year's Gallium Pro. To achieve this, the the size of the chainstays were doubled to create a Pro Tour caliber bike that would satisfy the team's top sprinter, Kevin Lacombe, who was 4th on Stage 2. Every rider in the race has a transponder for timing purposes, which is mounted on left chainstay.
While many of the Shimano sponsored teams are using the Di2 electronic group, the SpiderTech Gallium Pros are built-up with the 7900 mechanical group. Rather than the carbon offerings from PRO, the team rides alloy handlebars and stems. The Gallium Pro has a distinctive headtube. The proprietary design of the 3D headtube features an aluminum thread-in spacer which can be used to structurally extend the top of the headtube by a length of 10 or 20mm. This allows for higher handlebar positions without sacrificing stiffness, like you would if only headset spacers were used. Will Routley opts for the shortest possible headtube position, for a “pro fit”, but most consumers will appreciate the 10 or 20mm extension options.
If you made a line from the top of the Gallium Pro’s headtube down to the rear dropout, everything above the line is designed to maximize rider comfort, while everything below that line is designed for the most efficient transfer of the rider's power. Argon calls this the Horizontal Dual System. Bucking the sloping toptube design, the Gallium Pro has very little toptube slope from the headtube to the seattube.
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