Bikes
Starting with the most fundamental part of the Tour De France, the bicycle, because without it the Tour De France would just be an incredibly long marathon. Bikes are man powered vehicles, that were introduced in the 19th century. Bicycles are used commercially, and professionally. One of the first credited models of the bicycle is the Dandy Horse which was made of purely wood and did not use pedals, but simply had the cyclist walking on it with their feet and steering with the front handle. In 1839 the first pedal driven bicycle was introduced and credited to Kirkpatrick MacMillan. This design was further expanded on by Pierre Michaux, and Pierre Lallement who added a mechanical crank drive with pedals on the enlarged front wheel, these were called velocipedes. Following this rear-wheel drive bikes were introduced, along with wire spokes. Following all of these advancements bicycles branched out into multiple different kinds such as: mountain bikes, bmx bikes, and road bikes/cycling bikes; which are the type used in the Tour De France (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle).
The road bike, otherwise know as tour bike is used in the Tour De France. There are many different models created by many different brands like: Pinarello, BMC, Giant, Bianchi, Katusha, Canyon, SCOTT, Trek, and Fuji. These are all companies that manufactured tour bikes for the Tour De France. (http://tour.bicycling.com/tour-de-france/tour-features/road-bikes-2014-tour-de-france) Tour bikes consists of many important parts such as: the frame, the pedals, axel, chain ring, fork, handle bars, side pull brakes, gear shifts, derailleur, clipless, seat, wheels, tires, spokes, rims and bearings
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bicycle_parts).
The models used in the Tour De France are typically used for: hard climbs, touring, time trials, and pursuits. Each model focuses on specific aspects to improve speed and efficiency. Bicycles used for hard climbs focus on more power and efficiency to allow riders to race up mountains while burning the same amount of calories. Touring bicycles are typically one of the lightest bikes in the race, as they are used for majority of the landscape of the race itself, the lighter weight allows for faster times. Time trial bicycles are used to travel incredibly fast and focus on lighter weights and more power to give athletes an advantage in a time trial portion of the race. Finally sprinting bikes are used strictly for power and gaining an advantage against other athletes and teams, when paired up with a fast twitch cyclist long distances can be covered very quickly
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bicycle_parts).
The frame of a bike comes in many shapes and sizes depending on the sport and are composed of many parts such as: the frame itself which has a few hollow compartments, bottom bracket, steer tube, and fork tube. The frame is made of carbon fibre to ensure that it is structurally sound, and light. The bottom bracket is the hollow area where the bearings are inserted. The steer tube is a section of the bike that goes into a hollow area in the front of the bike that allows for steering, this interacts with the fork tube which also attaches to the front and allows for the fork to move fluently with steering. A bike frame in the Tour De France weighs ~2.7kg, and is a majority of a bikes minimum weight of 5kg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bicycle_parts).
The bike also requires pedals which attach to the crank arms which go in the bottom bracket of the bike. Then there is the axel which serves the purpose of attaching a wheel to the bike itself. Then there is the chain ring which the chains of a bike rest on, and are switched on by the derailleur when activated by the gear shifts. Then there are handle bars which the rider uses to steer the bike and these are also made of carbon fibre to make sure that they are lightweight, and have the gear shifts on (the gear shifts follow a push in to increase gear and push out to lower gear principle). Then the side pull brakes, are the brakes used on touring bikes because they are lightweight and efficient. Then there is the clipless where a rider attaches his/hers racing shoes onto. Finally there are the wheels, tires, rims, and spokes. These all interact together to allow for a the “wheel” to turn properly. The wheels are ceramic or lightweight, the tires are clinchers or glue ons, and the spokes are flattened to be aerodynamic, and attach to a hub in the centre of the wheel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bicycle_parts).
The road bike, otherwise know as tour bike is used in the Tour De France. There are many different models created by many different brands like: Pinarello, BMC, Giant, Bianchi, Katusha, Canyon, SCOTT, Trek, and Fuji. These are all companies that manufactured tour bikes for the Tour De France. (http://tour.bicycling.com/tour-de-france/tour-features/road-bikes-2014-tour-de-france) Tour bikes consists of many important parts such as: the frame, the pedals, axel, chain ring, fork, handle bars, side pull brakes, gear shifts, derailleur, clipless, seat, wheels, tires, spokes, rims and bearings
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bicycle_parts).
The models used in the Tour De France are typically used for: hard climbs, touring, time trials, and pursuits. Each model focuses on specific aspects to improve speed and efficiency. Bicycles used for hard climbs focus on more power and efficiency to allow riders to race up mountains while burning the same amount of calories. Touring bicycles are typically one of the lightest bikes in the race, as they are used for majority of the landscape of the race itself, the lighter weight allows for faster times. Time trial bicycles are used to travel incredibly fast and focus on lighter weights and more power to give athletes an advantage in a time trial portion of the race. Finally sprinting bikes are used strictly for power and gaining an advantage against other athletes and teams, when paired up with a fast twitch cyclist long distances can be covered very quickly
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bicycle_parts).
The frame of a bike comes in many shapes and sizes depending on the sport and are composed of many parts such as: the frame itself which has a few hollow compartments, bottom bracket, steer tube, and fork tube. The frame is made of carbon fibre to ensure that it is structurally sound, and light. The bottom bracket is the hollow area where the bearings are inserted. The steer tube is a section of the bike that goes into a hollow area in the front of the bike that allows for steering, this interacts with the fork tube which also attaches to the front and allows for the fork to move fluently with steering. A bike frame in the Tour De France weighs ~2.7kg, and is a majority of a bikes minimum weight of 5kg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bicycle_parts).
The bike also requires pedals which attach to the crank arms which go in the bottom bracket of the bike. Then there is the axel which serves the purpose of attaching a wheel to the bike itself. Then there is the chain ring which the chains of a bike rest on, and are switched on by the derailleur when activated by the gear shifts. Then there are handle bars which the rider uses to steer the bike and these are also made of carbon fibre to make sure that they are lightweight, and have the gear shifts on (the gear shifts follow a push in to increase gear and push out to lower gear principle). Then the side pull brakes, are the brakes used on touring bikes because they are lightweight and efficient. Then there is the clipless where a rider attaches his/hers racing shoes onto. Finally there are the wheels, tires, rims, and spokes. These all interact together to allow for a the “wheel” to turn properly. The wheels are ceramic or lightweight, the tires are clinchers or glue ons, and the spokes are flattened to be aerodynamic, and attach to a hub in the centre of the wheel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bicycle_parts).