07 Jul Armstrong’s new Trek modeled on AMD 64-bit processors
WATERLOO, Wis. – Coming out of the Tour de France’s fourth stage Wednesday, Lance Armstrong and the U.S. Postal team are once again in the lead. That must make the designers at Trek Bicycles happy: they made the bikes the team is riding.
Founded in 1976 in Waterloo, Wisconsin, the now-international company has provided U.S. Postal with bicycles from the beginning, and it is now hoping its latest designs will help lead to a sixth consecutive victory for the team.
Trek’s newest tool is AMD’s series of 64-bit processors, which boast improved speed.
“Each year as Trek explores new ways to improve the bicycles for Lance and the USPS Team, we also look to improve our product development tools. AMD has provided the technology to enable that improvement,” said Michael Sagan, senior designer and technology principal for Trek’s Advanced Concepts Group. “With the AMD Opteron and AMD Athlon 64 processors, our design team has saved hours developing frames, which translates to seconds saved for Lance and the team – and that is invaluable.”
The tour has 20 stages that take riders from one town to another, plus a “prologue”– a trial course in Liege. By Thursday, it will be in Stage 5, between Amiens and Chartres. The entire race spans a grueling three weeks.
Each stage presents unique challenges, which Trek needs to model in its computer simulations. Virtual wind-tunnel testing needs to be able to mimic real-world conditions as closely as possible to make the bike fit the need. Of course, riders still need some time to get used to the new bikes in real conditions. For example, Armstrong rode Trek’s new ultra-light Madone SSL in the Dauphine Libere Stage in early June before taking it to the Tour de France for use in some stages.
According to AMD’s statement, the company is helping Trek use its existing 32-bit applications on the new 64-bit platform, in addition to taking advantage of the expanded memory and performance.
“Competing in a race such as the Tour de France demands using every resource to remain ahead of the competition, and AMD’s superior technology has enabled Trek to design standard road, climbing and time trial bicycles that are truly cutting-edge,” Lance Armstrong said in a statement before the race began.