Bike Feature: Melanzana’s 2023 Little 500 State Bicycle

by: Joe Ringer

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Little 500 bicycles are simple: they are single speed bikes with a coaster brake. The number of parts that are interchangeable are very few – but with just a glance, it’s clear to see that Melanzana’s Little 500 bikes are special, and that the individuals behind the setup have left no stone unturned.

One of the individuals is Jesse Smith, the owner and operator of the Bicycle Station bike shop in Columbus, IN. For Smith, deciding to support the team was easy.

"I love to sponsor teams and that kind of stuff, he said. "Grace (the captain of Melanzana) works part-time at the shop, so when she asked me to help, it was an easy yes."

Smith coordinated ordering parts, verifying the legality of the parts, and piecing the bikes together for the Melanzana team. Smith had acquired the components prior to the build and installed all of them in just one day.

Let's dive in:

The frameset of the Melanzana team bikes is State Bicycle Co.’s 2023 issue Little 500 bike (link) – standard throughout all the teams in this year’s race. The group opted for 50cm and 54cm bike sizes to accommodate their riders’ heights.

The centerpiece of the Zana bike is undoubtedly the 165mm Rotor Aldhu track crankset. Machined from 7055 aluminum, the Aldhu is the lightest alloy crankset available from Rotor. 

Smith mentioned that a change in rules this year regarding three-piece cranks caused some confusion, as the Rotor Aldhu crank was approved, then later ruled to be illegal after the team had made the purchase. At the time of purchase, the Rotor Aldhus were listed as "three-piece," but after inspection by IUSF, they were considered to be four-piece. 

Ultimately, the Aldhu crank will be allowed for this year, but Smith believes the rules regarding three-piece cranks may be subject to change next year.

Melanzana’s Rotor crankset is fitted through a bsa threaded BB-Infinite Shimano standard size bottom bracket. Smith opted to use the BB-Infinite brand for its smooth rotation and familiarity – as they are often used at his bike shop.

Bolted on to the cranks is a stainless steel Surly chainring. Aftermarket chainrings are allowed, as long as they are steel.

Currently, the chain is stock and came with the bike, but the team will use a more robust product, like a KMC-brand chain, coated in Silca’s Super-Secret Wax for race day.

The rims aboard the Zana bike are the Velocity Blunt SS – shallow mountain bike specific rims, which are some of the lightest hoops that can be found in a 25mm outer width. The wide outer width helps to improve the rolling resistance of the tire – meaning less force needed to keep the tire rolling – and smooth the airflow between the tire and rim. These rims were used on Melanzana’s bike last year.

The deeper version of these Velocity hoops – the 28mm deep Velocity Ailerons – can be found on the Teter team’s Little 500 bike. The greater depth of the rims provide better  aerodynamics, but hinder acceleration and increase rotational weight.

Laced to the front hoop of the Zana bike is a Dura-ace high flanged hub.

As shown in the photos, the valve stems of the tubes are a neon orange color – that’s because the innertubes are “bang for your buck, the best upgrade” in a Little 500 setup according to Smith – Tubilito latex tubes. Latex tubes allow less rolling resistance in the tires and less rotational weight compared to a standard butyl rubber tube. Smith said that “even if you have the stock wheels, you should run Tubilito tubes.”

Moving towards the cockpit of the bikes, the bars currently fitted are the Zipp Service Course Ergo 80 aluminum bars with 38cm width, wrapped in Zipp Service Course bar tape. Smith said that the team will likely use a Bontrager aero bar on race day, as it might be two to three watts faster than the Zipps.

Connected to the Zipp bars is a 100mm Specialized SL stem. One special feature of the stem is that the mounting and faceplate bolts are titanium – this saves about ten grams over steel bolts. It’s a marginal gain at best but shows that all the i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed on this build.

Rounding out the bike is a Salsa seatpost fitted with a Specialized power saddle in 155mm width.

Other miscellaneous parts include the Odyssey pedals, FSA headset cups, and a Wolf Tooth stem cap.

The Melanzana crew used these bikes for their Little 500 qualifications race this past weekend, placing thirteenth – perhaps a lucky number for the team, as they had the same placing in qualifications prior to their win in last year’s Little 500.

These same bikes can be found ripping around Bill Armstrong Stadium on April 21^st at this year’s women's Little 500 race, piloted by the Melanzana team members, themselves.

 

 

 

 

Pro tip for mobile users: 

You can click on photos and zoom in – there will be a (very) small white "x" in the top right corner in order to exit from the image when ready.

 

Also – huge thanks to the Melanzana team and Jesse from the Bicycle Station for the resources and approval to write about the bike! The team and Jesse did a great job sourcing parts and I think the build turned out great.