CSK-BIKES

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Known throughout Indiana as one of the flashier local teams, Bacardi-NUVO has a two-part formula for standing out in the crowd. First is the team strip, thanks to team leader and crack graphic artist Declan Doyle. The second part is the topic of this piece: The bikes with the eye-popping graphics from CSK. The Bacardi-NUVO team bikes are hard to miss. Wes Seigler and Stratton Delany at Seigler Imports, the US importer of CSK frames, designed a custom paint job for the team. A classy black fades into red with fully caffeinated yellow decaling that nearly jumps off the tubing - perfectly matching the team colors of black, red, and yellow.

But first, what is CSK and what is the history of this frame-building company? Contrary to assumption, CSK is not just another assembly line produced frameset that is then branded by a virtual company who produce nothing more than decals to be applied to a frame. CSK frames are designed and built by Chang Sheng Kai, a former professional cyclist from Taiwan. Only 1000 frames are produced annually by his workshop in Taiwan and all are hand built.

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The Bacardi-NUVO team members had their choice of an all-aluminum Dedacciai 7003 frame or a model in the same Dedacciai aluminum with carbon seat stays. TrueSport was able to get our hands the all-aluminum model belonging to team rider Aaron Hubbell. Unsurprisingly the sprinters on the team selected the all-aluminum frame while the riders who tend not to bang handlebars at 65kph leaned more toward the aluminum/carbon frame.

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Beyond the paint job (entirely too much time has already been spent drooling over it) the next most striking bit of the frame is the wide variety of shapes and sizes of tubing. In fact, the only round tubes on the frame seem to be the head and seat tubes! The seatstays are oval, chainstays are rectangular, the top tube a squared-off triangle, and the down tube begins with an aero cross section at the head tube but morphs to the squared-off triangle with a rather dramatic expansion in diameter near the bottom bracket to enhance stiffness. Beyond the radical shaping the tubes provide further performance with triple butting and a proprietary thermal treatment.

The fork is an all-carbon model produced by CSK with deep-sectioned aero legs and a full carbon steerer which mates to the frame via an integrated hidden headset. One nice touch is the patented expander plug that sits flush with the top of the steerer to provide backpressure reinforcement against the stem clamp. A carbon top cap saves very little weight but adds a touch of flare that really helps the bike to stand out.

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Geometry on this bike is fairly standard for a compact frame. Aaron rides a medium, which gives him a 54.5cm virtual top tube, a 48cm t-t seat tube, 73.5-degree seat angle and 72.5-degree head angle - pretty standard fare. (The guys on the team ride the gamut of CSK sizes - from Eric Anderson on a small to Al Senft on an extra large.) Aaron tells us that his 12cm Deda Magic stem and matching 42cm bar allows a cockpit setup that stretches him out just a bit (he says that is a good thing) but allows positive control of the bike during sprints with comfort during long rides.

Keeping the bum in place is the ubiquitous Arione saddle attached to a standard Thomson aluminum seat post. Even though the zero-setback Thomson theoretically limits fore-aft saddle adjustment the longer rails on the Arione more than compensate, allowing a perfect position.

Components are courtesy of Shimano Dura-Ace, 10-speed of course, with a 53x39 up front and an 11-23 in the rear (yes, the 11 does see some occasional use). The bike as we saw it was equipped with a training wheelset but on race day the team use one of two variants of Bontrager's Race-X-Light wheels; the standard Race-X-Light or the X-Light Aero. Michelin's Pro2 Race provides the rubber. Finally, the power goes from rider to bike via Speedplay Zero pedals.

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Taking a step back and looking at this bike as a unit it is plain to see that other than the flashy paint job it truly is an everyday racing workhorse. A lack of idiotically light components, standard equipment that are both replaceable and durable, and sensible semi-affordable wheels show that this team values a bike that will reliably make it to the finish line every time. An upside to this sensibility is that for those of us not on the team, a machine very similar to this one can be built completely in the $3500 range or you can get your hands on the frameset only for a hair over $1000.