Which one doesn’t look like the other?

The prototype levers – possibly made from aluminum






Unmarked rear derailleur






Tim “sharp-eye” Schamber noticed that David Millar’s SRAM equipped Scott Addict looked a little different. The usual carbon fiber shift levers were aluminum in appearance with no identification. So at the conclusion of stage 6 I went to the team cars to get the scoop on these unbadged levers.

Luckily for me I ran into the owner of the bike in question, David Millar. In his usual candid self he told me that they are prototype levers. The changes include a shorter throw to activate the gear shift for the rear derailleur and a trim adjustment for the front derailleur. I would speculate that these levers are lighter and other improvements in the Force group would include ceramic ball bearings in the bottom bracket. I have no idea cost or time of availability, but I would guess that Interbike would be a great place to show off new stuff.


Speaking of David Millar…he got fourth in the field sprint today just being pipped for third by Hincapie. I asked him what the hell he was thinking. His response was he is feeling better and decided to go for it. He said whenever he goes for “fieldies” he usually gets fourth. I jokingly asked if he was going for the win tomorrow in the flat circuit race. “I’m going for it at two k to go.” I told David that I was going to print this and he said go ahead. Then he promised me we’d do some damage at the post race party. I’ll take photos…

The guy in yellow is Millar

4 comments

  1. Josh Boggs says:

    I’ll be down after the race in Atlanta. I’ll help you and Millar with the damage at the party. Give me a ring.

  2. Chris says:

    Trim??

    I have Force components and listened to SRAM state over and over that a front trim was not necessary on their units. I guess they changed their minds.

  3. Jason Schifo says:

    Hey Neil…
    Over at thepaceline.com I was checking out the Lisa Kurtz photo’s and it seems like you found your way into pretty much each days set. Nice work……and great Job on the coverage. The youtube.com videos were excellent especially the one where you asked Levi if he was saying you were fat – that was priceless.
    Thanks for great work.
    Jason

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