Tour De France Packleader Elite 16 Speed Road Bike

Packleader Elite brings a road bike with a mountain bike feel.
The thin 28c tires roll fast on pavement but are thick enough to take the punishment of cracks and potholes.
Smooth shifting through 16 gears will put you out front.


FEATURES:
FRAME: AlloyFORK Alloy 1 1/8” Threadless
SHIFTERS: Shimano Indexed Trigger Shifters
STEM Alloy 110 mm length
CRANKSET: Shimano 2300 52t/39t 170mm length
WHEELSET: 700c Doubled Walled Alloy Rim/Alloy Hubs 32h/8spd Cassette
TIRES: Kenda 700c/28c Road
F/R DERAILLEURS: Shimano Tiagra/Shimano 2300
HANDLEBAR: Alloy 60cm 22.2 Flatbar
SEATPOST: Alloy 27.2 300mm
SADDLE: Vader Saddle Cr-Mo Rails

HISTORY OF THE TOUR DE FRANCE

In early 20th century France, anyone envisaging a near-2,500-km-long cycle race across the country would have been widely viewed as unhinged.
But that didn’t stop Géo Lefèvre, a journalist with L’Auto magazine at the time, from proceeding with his inspired plan.
His editor, Henri Desgrange, was bold enough to believe in the idea and to throw his backing behind the Tour de France.
And so it was that, on 1 July 1903, sixty pioneers set out on their bicycles from Montgeron.
After six mammoth stages (Nantes - Paris, 471 km!), only 21 “routiers”, led by Maurice Garin, arrived at the end of this first epic.

Having provoked a mixture of astonishment and admiration, le Tour soon won over the sporting public and the roadside crowds swelled.
The French people took to their hearts this unusual event which placed their towns, their countryside and, since 1910, even their mountains, in the spotlight.

Le Tour has always moved with the times. Like France as a whole, it benefited from the introduction of paid holidays from 1936.
It has lived through wars, and then savoured the “trente glorieuses” period of economic prosperity while enjoying the heydays of Coppi, Bobet, Anquetil and Poulidor.
It has opened itself up to foreign countries with the onset of globalisation.
And now finds itself at the forefront of the debate on the malaise afflicting world sport in general.
Over a hundred years after its inception, le Tour continues to gain strength from its experience.