whitemax

When they switch from one bike to another. For ex. Wiggins once rode an Orbea for Garmin; wonder how he would compare it to the Pinarello he rode for Sky. Contador rode a Trek with Astana; wonder how he would compare it to the Specialized Tarmac. I wonder if there's much more than dimes worth of difference between the upper end bikes they get paid to ride, what they'd say.

Dan333SP

I think the differences are probably pretty marginal if any between the frames. I would expect them to have stronger opinions about switching from one group set sponsor to another (shimano to campy ect.) but generally I think they don't say anything because of obligations to their sponsors.

I would be curious to get into their garages after they retire to see what they ride when they are no longer obligated to be on a particular brand.

nemeseri

I really doubt that they care about what frames, groupsets, wheels they get. They can have exactly the same fit across brands. Groupsets? I don't think there is so much difference between dura ace / red and super record (they have to use to them and that's it). Wheelsets? Every manufacturer has a wide range of wheels they can pick the right one for the course.

bassogap

I do remeber a time in the 90s when motobecane was still in the pro peleton....but they were decaled "MBK"

all te riders said that stoo for "made by Klingons"

gsa103

I'm sure the pros could tell you differences between the frames. Though I suspect the best feedback is probably from the bottom of the pack riders, since the riders will have input into frame designs, so riders will likely have frames designed to feel good to those rider.

The other thing is that once you get above ~$1500 there aren't really bad frames, just different frames. And in many cases you'll see riders on a mix of bikes to suit their tastes and a particular race. A Specialized team might have riders on Tarmac, Venge, and Roubaix frames, potentially all on the same stage.

Darth Lefty 

It's interesting to see how this goes in different sports. In the USA, in TV sports where different people have different sponsors, the participants are trained to blather all their sponsors' names when presented with a camera and microphone. I'm thinking specifically of NASCAR but you can see it in any other kind of racing. I'm betting that cycling follows the pattern, at least on the record.

patrickgm60

That's my guess, also. Most/all the high-end RBs are excellent. The fact that the manufacturers have to sponsor (i.e. donate lots of bikes to) the teams suggests that the differences are inconsequential.

As to what is in the retired pros' garages: my guess would be mostly bikes that were given to them, by their team, at retirement.

EventServices

They just put up with any eccentricities a frame or equipment might have. It's part of being a pro.
But there are plenty of stories of riders/teams who have had to paint over good equipment to look like a sponsor's equipment. i.e. 7-Eleven riding Serotta frames painted over to become Huffy. Or Motorola riding Caloi frames that were actually Eddy Merckx.


Most pro riders either give their bikes back at the end of the season or sell them off for the cash.
I know that American teams sell their bikes at the end of the year. (I bought a Kuota TT bike in the parking lot right after the last stage of the Tour of Missouri.)

Astellas just offered up their entire inventory of Litespeeds. They have a new bike sponsor for 2016.

Erzulis Boat 

Yes and no. My nephew is a pro cyclist (real deal, real stage races), and he definitely feels the difference.

He said the Trek was more comfortable than the Marin frame for example, but it all evened out in the end. He loves electronic vs. cable etc.

In a nutshell, it's all OK, but there are differences to be sure.

Hermes1

I wondered about this as well.

Erzulis Boat 

My nephew is only 21, but he definitely kept his Trek TT bike. Everything else got sold/discarded etc.

Trakhak

The Cannondale sales rep who visited the shop where i worked in the mid-'90s told us that Miguel Indurain bought one of their bikes when he retired.

Evidently Indurain had a falling out with Pinarello when he retired from racing before his contract was up. Maybe he didn't want to ride one, or maybe they came around and collected his bikes---not sure which.

The rep said that Indurain asked some of his friends on other teams for recommendations, and the two bike brands that got the most votes were Colnago and Cannondale.

Could be that Mario Cipollini was one of the guys touting Cannondale. He was the sprinter for the Saeco-Cannondale team, and he and Indurain were both unusually tall for pro cyclists, so that would make sense. (There's probably a Youtube video of the moment in the 1997 Tour when Mario Cipollini turned to a television camera during a stage and said, “Cannondale is best bike.")