�����ԹϺ���

For many manufacturers, the Tour de France is a testing ground and launching pad for new rides. But often the race comes so early in the production cycle that only a few key riders get access to the new bikes.��Here are a few of the most notable launches we’ve seen from this year’s Tour de France. Even if you can’t ride ’em all yet, you can drool over ’em.��

Trek Émonda

The gets its name from the word émonder, the French verb meaning to prune or to strip away. That’s because the Waterloo, Wisconsin, bike manufacturer excised everything extraneous to create this lissome climber.

According to Trek, it is the lightest production bike in the world, with the top-line SLR10 tipping the scales at an almost unbelievable 10.25 pounds for a size 56. At 690 grams for the frame, it’s still heavier than the SuperSix EVO Black Inc., which Cannondale claims to be 655 grams, meaning Trek is getting the savings out of integrated components such as the direct-mount Bontrager Speed Stop brakes and the Tune hubs and tubular rims.

It might all seem a bit ridiculous given that UCI mandates bikes weigh a minimum of 14.99 pounds, which forces mechanics to supplement the bikes of riders like Frank Schleck and Haimar Zubeldia with four extra pounds of dead weight. Then again, the Émonda could be another sign that the governing body may soon lower or remove that limit altogether. The Émonda is available now and ranges from $15,750 for the SLR10 down to $1,650 for the S4, which is said to weigh 19.27 pounds.

Pinarello Dogma F8

The Italian manufacturer rolled out , its first ever aero model, ahead of last month’s Critérium du Dauphiné, and British outfit Team Sky is aboard the new bike at the Tour. Developed in conjunction with auto manufacturer Jaguar, the bike employs truncated airfoil tube shapes, not unlike the Scott Foil and the Trek Madone, and is said to not only have less drag than the previous top-shelf Dogma, but it’s also significantly lighter.��

Pinarello claims the frame is 80 grams lighter than the Dogma, with an additional 40 grams weight savings coming from the revised, and much-less-wavy-than-before Onda fork. Defending champ Chris Froome started the Tour with three identical F8s, all equipped with Shimano wheels and Dura Ace Di2 components. His understudy, Richie Porte, who took over where the Brit left off, is also riding the new bike.

Lapierre Aircode

French manufacturer Lapierre also got in on the aero movement for this Tour with its , which is currently being ridden by fifth-placed Thibaut Pinot and his entire FDJ team. The bike uses the same time-tested geometry as the , but the tube shaping is all new, with most tubes employing a Kamm Tail, teardrop-shape profile.

Lapierre makes additional aerodynamic gains with internal cable routings, an integrated seat post clamp, and partial integration of the brakes. The company also unveiled a second bike, the Pulsium, a comfort-oriented endurance frame with an elastomer built into the top tub near the seat post junction to provide vertical compliance. FDJ rode the Pulsium on the infamous cobbled fifth stage.

Fuji Transonic

Not to be left out, Fuji also unveiled an aerodynamic remake of its venerable SST, a bike we liked very much. Dubbed , the bike benefits from much of the wind-tunnel testing and computational fluid dynamics modeling that helped to create the , the TT and tri bike the company launched last year. The tube shaping here is similar, but not identical to the Norcom Straigt, and there are other familiar cues, such as the integrated wedge seat post clamp.

One brand new development is the direct-mount rear brake, which is wrapped into the seat stays with the carbon frame functioning as a block to keep the brakes out of the wind. Fuji says that a rider on the bike pedaling at 300 watts will save 24 watts over the SST and 21 over the Altamira, which equates to 65 and 55 seconds respectively in a 40-kilometer time trial. Team NetApp-Endura, which contributed extensive feedback on the bike in the development process, was enjoying great success aboard the Transonic at the Tour under Portuguese rider Tiago Machado, who was in third overall until he .

Specialized S-Works McLaren Tarmac

When Specialized launched the in May, we were surprised that there was no mention of a McLaren edition to complement the of previous years. But a few days before the Tour, the company unveiled the bike, which it developed in collaboration with the McLaren F1 team. Specialized says the bike took a little longer because the Tarmac platform was already extremely efficient, so it was a challenge to eke out gains.

The McLaren Tarmac is 10 percent lighter than the standard S-Works version, but those savings are said to come at zero cost to performance thanks to a proprietary lay-up process developed exclusively for the bike. The bike is spec’d with Shimano Di2 components, EE Cycleworks custom brakes, and Roval CLX40R tubular wheels built expressly for the McLaren and will sell for a stratospheric $20,000. Only 250 McLaren Tarmacs will be produced, and just two racers in the Tour were issued the bikes—Astana’s Jacob Fuglsang and Tinkov-Saxo’s Nicolas Roche.