New Irish pro Conti team (aka The Aquablue thread)

Thud

Stream (in German) for Eschborn-Frankfurt
https://www.hessenschau.de/tv-sendung/livestream-fernsehen-100.html

Aquablue rider (Aaron Gate) in the break.
Sammy B in the race too, flat finish but 3500m of climbing

those crazy Germans have DJ's on the hills

Thud

Sam led around home bend but finished 7th

https://twitter.com/wcstats/status/991338020401045504

godtabh

Sam was racing in Germany today? Is that common a couple of days before he is due to start a GT?

Thud

godtabh wrote: »

Sam was racing in Germany today? Is that common a couple of days before he is due to start a GT?

Warm up race?
Got over the hills ok, which is promising for Giro

He'll likely not see the end of the Giro though, it's common enough for the sprinters to take an early plane home.

Who was the AB rider up there at the end today? Couldn't make him out.

CrowdedHouse

Deleted User wrote: »

Who was the AB rider up there at the end today? Couldn't make him out.

Casper Petersen finished 19th for AB


(I don't know what Sam was thinking, must have misjudged the distance to the finish)

Thud

I think Gaviria and Sam went too early

https://twitter.com/laflammerouge16/status/991337991082831876

Keeks

Deleted User wrote: »

Who was the AB rider up there at the end today? Couldn't make him out.

Aaron Gate.....

MB Lacey

Aqua Blue riders have been announced for this wknd's Tour de Yorkshire

Adam Blythe
Shane Archibold
Mark Christian
Calvin Watson
Eddie Dunbar
Daniel Pearson
Lawrence Warbasse

https://letour.yorkshire.com/tour-de-yorkshire-2018/mens-teams/aqua-blue-sport/

Nice mullet.

dastardly00

CrowdedHouse wrote: »

(I don't know what Sam was thinking, must have misjudged the distance to the finish)

Just at the very end of the video clip from Twitter you can see Gaviria banging his fist on his handlebar... so he certainly misjudged the course. And by the looks of it, Sam was trying to stay on his wheel so he ended up going too early also.

They mentioned it on Eurosport yesterday , Gaviria got it all wrong at the end going to the right when he shouldn't have leaving Sam in the wind which is likely why he felt he had to go when he did.

Thud

Delaney in the paper saying they may need a sponsor for next year. Business side not going as well as hoped.

https://www.independent.ie/sport/other-sports/cycling/i-have-invested-7m-in-cycling-and-they-wont-give-us-a-start-aqua-blue-boss-36864854.html

Has anyone bought anything from their site? i've gone on a few times but the range and prices weren't competitive for what i was looking for.
Best deals appear to be on Aquablue kit. They've launched a used gear section now too: https://preloved.aquabluesport.com/
Some ex team gear on there, aero helmets look cheap, these looked to be a bargain but sold already:
https://preloved.aquabluesport.com/advert/73

TychoCaine

I wonder why the 3T branding on Conor Dunne’s bike is covered up at 4 Jours de Dunkerque this week. Sponsor trouble??? See below for pictures:
http://www.stickybottle.com/races-results/conor-dunne-4-jours-de-dunkerque/

1bryan

TychoCaine wrote: »

I wonder why the 3T branding on Conor Dunne’s bike is covered up at 4 Jours de Dunkerque this week. Sponsor trouble??? See below for pictures:
http://www.stickybottle.com/races-results/conor-dunne-4-jours-de-dunkerque/

well spotted. That's pretty ominous.

Seems the dark clouds are gathering. Hopefully not the case though.

Thud

it appears to be just Conors' bike...

2nd pic here it's 3rd from left, missed opportunity with him in climbers jersey:
https://www.aquabluesport.com/blog/report-4JDD-2018-stage-2.html

Also in last pic before he got polka dot jersey so it doesn't appear to be related to race sponsor/jersey

Macy0161

Thud wrote: »

Has anyone bought anything from their site? i've gone on a few times but the range and prices weren't competitive for what i was looking for.
Best deals appear to be on Aquablue kit.

I always look but I've always found better prices elsewhere. Also tried to buy their kit offers, but the competitive prices always for very limited sizes.

1bryan

Thud wrote: »

it appears to be just Conors' bike...

2nd pic here it's 3rd from left, missed opportunity with him in climbers jersey:
https://www.aquabluesport.com/blog/report-4JDD-2018-stage-2.html

Also in last pic before he got polka dot jersey so it doesn't appear to be related to race sponsor/jersey

yeah. strange one. There's a big 3T on the jersey too so it'd make no sense to remove it from the bike but leave it on the jersey.

They only reason I could think of to cover the logo on Dunne's bike is that it was the plan for him to get in the break which wouldn't be unusual for him and as such be on the TV all day. Doesn't look good if thats the case.

gmacww

Macy0161 wrote: »

I always look but I've always found better prices elsewhere. Also tried to buy their kit offers, but the competitive prices always for very limited sizes.

I think part of their issue is that they are a window site and not a direct seller ala CRC. All the prices you see are sellers subscribed to AB and who pay a comission based of what they sell. All of these are Irish suppliers and mostly B&M stores so you're not going to get CRC prices on there.

I find the website quite bad and cumbersome with not enough filters so I tend not to use it.

cunavalos

Deleted User wrote: »

They only reason I could think of to cover the logo on Dunne's bike is that it was the plan for him to get in the break which wouldn't be unusual for him and as such be on the TV all day. Doesn't look good if thats the case.

or more likely it is not a 3T bike as due to Connors height, it makes it difficult for him to get the right bike fit.

The positioning of the seat stays is very different from the other bikes in the 3T range

gmacww

cunavalos wrote: »

or more likely it is not a 3T bike as due to Connors height, it makes it difficult for him to get the right bike fit.

The positioning of the seat stays is very different from the other bikes in the 3T range

The seat stays are good and it is certainly a 3T bike.

I noticed it was unbranded earlier when i saw the article. My immediate thought was that 3T are doing a good bit of rework on it at the moment and maybe he is riding an unbranded concept version. The wheels are still 3T branded.

mr spuckler

gmacww wrote: »

I think part of their issue is that they are a window site and not a direct seller ala CRC. All the prices you see are sellers subscribed to AB and who pay a comission based of what they sell. All of these are Irish suppliers and mostly B&M stores so you're not going to get CRC prices on there.

I find the website quite bad and cumbersome with not enough filters so I tend not to use it.

yep, I've really wanted to support them but have found it a bit difficult to use and as others have said not very good value other than for outsized stock.

Thud

hard to see but think 3T from headtube is missing too. Anyone on twitter? tweet Rick there and ask what's going on

Keeks

Strange that it is just Conors bike that is unbranded.....Maybe the the paintwork was not finish or he is testing a pro-type of some sorts.

Thud

Plot thickens...
unbranded in Driedaagse Brugge-De Panne and Nokere-Koerse
http://www.stickybottle.com/races-results/conor-dunne-de-panne/
http://www.stickybottle.com/races-results/conor-dunne-belgian-attack/
branded in Oman
http://www.stickybottle.com/races-results/conor-dunne-oman-aqua-blue/

Miklos

Could be something to do with the fact that he is a giant?

68 lost souls

Perhaps it was a bike he got in a rush with the team branding put on it?

TychoCaine

The 3T branded frame he's riding seems quite a bit smaller than this unbranded one. The curve on the seat tube seems different too. My money is on this not being a 3T Strada frame at all. Instead it's a similar looking bike from a different manufacturer that's available in XXXXXXXL that he's changed to because he can't get a good fit on 3T's biggest size.

godtabh

TychoCaine wrote: »

The 3T branded frame he's riding seems quite a bit smaller than this unbranded one. The curve on the seat tube seems different too. My money is on this not being a 3T Strada frame at all. Instead it's a similar looking bike from a different manufacturer that's available in XXXXXXXL that he's changed to because he can't get a good fit on 3T's biggest size.

That is 1x ready?

TychoCaine

godtabh wrote: »

That is 1x ready?

It's easy to remove a front mech hanger and smooth it out with filler before spraying it up in Aqua Blue colours.