New Olympic bike for Cooke

Nicole Cooke Olympic bike

GB Olympic medal contender and Halfords Bikehut cycling team leader Nicole Cooke has been supplied with a new bike especially for the Beijing Olympics, by sponsor Halfords Bikehut.

Nicole’s carbon fibre frameb is a preview of what is to come in the 2009 range of Boardman bikes. Nicole’s Halfords and GB team mate Sharon Laws will also receive the new bike.

Chris Boardman, creator of the Boardman bikes range, said: “We wanted to give Nicole and Sharon something extra special for the road race in Beijing.

“British Road Race Champions Nicole and Rob Hayles have been using the ’08 bikes all year with great success and have provided some great development feedback. “We’ve used this information to build on the success of last year’s range with some exciting results. Nicole’s new bike is a preview of what is to come from the 2009 range of bikes.” Boardman concluded.

Cooke, currently training in Italy, said of the new bike: “It’s really great and feels very light. Just from initial riding you can tell the geometry is perfect, and it handles beautifully. It’s exciting because it has so many great features and new additions; I’m really looking forward to putting it through its paces in training and racing”

The new carbon range of Boardman bikes will be launched later this year and will be exclusively available through selected Bikehut at Halfords and standalone Bikehut stores. The range will comprise of 16 new models.

Frame
- Sub 1kg frame weight
- 1.5" oversized lower fork steerer and headset for increased front end stiffness and steering responsiveness
- The frame also has a special 1.5" compatible fork constructed from unidirectional high modulus carbon fibre which weighs only 360g and is designed to be incredibly stiff and light
- Internal rear brake cable routing with entry and exit points carefully positioned to maximise brake performance
- Internal outer gear cable routing through the oversize head tube to maximise gear shifting performance
- Aero section down tube profiled to maximise both aerodynamics and lateral stiffness
- Oversize box section chain stays for increased lateral stiffness.
- Curved seat stays to enhance comfort - essential in a long road race like the Olympic Road Race.

Overall bike weight comes in at approx 13.66lbs excluding pedals

Website - www.teamhalfordsbikehut.com