Just next door to the Moto Journal office is the office of this wonderful magazine Le Cycle.
You know what it's like with guys from different fields when they get chatting around the coffee machine.
Jokes and banter ensue.
And they reckon that with a pro in the saddle, a bike can go faster than a motorbike in a downhill race.
Pfffff, whatever!
But chatter and conjecture can only get you so far.
So to show the bicycle lovers who is really the quickest on the road,
we chose this: the new Triumph Street Triple RS".
The ultimate mid-size roadster sports bike.
It's true that with this motorbike, we're not really giving them a chance.
But what did you expect?
We weren't going to choose a big GT
with a 100kg cameraman on the back like something from the Tour de France.
We're not here to take part, we're here to win!
This is the kind of test we love: warped, pointless and therefore absolutely essential.
Unless our cyclist friend has shot a hefty dose of EPO into his legs,
he's going to struggle against the new Triumph Street Triple RS.
Indeed, this year the little British bike really is setting the world alight.
Its engine size has gone up to 765cc, its power has increased to 123bhp
and all its parts, from suspension, brakes or electronic assistance, are top of the range.
The icing on the cake is the extremely intuitive handling of this little beauty.
The frame is narrow, the riding position is sporty but comfortable
and from the first few turns, you can feel the chassis impressive agility.
Finally, although the power of this three-cylinder is well up-to-scratch, it delivers it gradually.
This means that you can accelerate very early coming out of the corner without ever losing control.
Hmmm, all of that sounds suspiciously sporty!
And the Pirelli Supercorsa SPs fitted as standard on our RS version are there to prove it.
I'm telling you, it's going to be tricky for the guy on the pedals.
Especially as we kept one last ace up our sleeves.
- I know there's no chance of us losing, but just to make sure, I'm putting my faith in Matt.
He's the fastest journalist in the Moto Journal team. We're going to squash that cyclist!
- We're going to destroy him!
And we needed a special location for such a momentous duel.
So we came here, to the west slope of the Col de Menté.
A peak in the Pyrenees with an altitude of 1,350m,
with an incline of over 8% over the 2.5km which we're going to use for this race.
For the curious among you, the 10th stage of the 2017 Tour de France will pass through here,
but they'll be going uphill.
And finally, we needed a top cyclist.
And we found one in Maxence Moncassin.
The son of the former pro cyclist Frédéric Moncassin
is also a cycling expert and is now in his 2nd year in the under 23 category.
80kg of muscle, most of it in the thighs,
meticulous hair-removal,
minimalist equipment and a completely fearless attitude at his young age of just 20.
In terms of his ride,
we know nothing about bikes but his Moreno DR2S looks pretty handy to us.
Carbon frame, Shimano Ultégra derailleur, slick tyres and aluminium rims…hmmm
OK, not bad.
Except that he's facing our colleague Matthieu
and the RS version of the Street Triple, which is the bike's most sporty model.
The basis of the engine is a Daytona 675, with an increased bore and stroke and over 80 modified parts.
Although its design remains identical, the aluminium frame has shed 2kg.
The Street is now light as a feather with a dry weight of just 166kg.
The suspension is made up of a Showa BPF fork at the front and an Ohlins shock absorber at the rear.
As for braking, there are 2 large Brembo M50 callipers squeezing 310mm disks.
But the key innovation is the master cylinder
which has a second dial allowing you to adjust the travel of the brake lever.
The further you turn it,
the shorter the travel becomes and the quicker the brake power is applied.
Finally, you can only really appreciate this superb dashboard in full colour.
There are 6 display options,
it is very easy to read and particularly intuitive when you want to access the engine maps,
traction control, ABS or even the sensitivity of the throttle.
And, in the end, when you've gotta go, you've gotta go!
Obviously, from the first few metres, the Triumph took a comfortable lead
thanks to the power of its 3 cylinders.
While it harnesses 123bhp, Max's legs can only offer 2.
And that's where the motorbike established an unassailable lead over the cyclist.
But our rival gave it everything: taking racing lines and shaving the verges coming out of the corners,
last gasp braking
and the acceleration of a sprinter
raising Maxence's heart rate to 180bpm.
But despite an average speed of 50 km/h with peaks of almost 85 km/h,
the bike took 2:41 minutes to cover the 2km course compared to the 1:49 clocked up by the motorbike.
"Just as we thought, there was no contest.
- Absolutely.
Under acceleration, once you're three quarters of the way through the corner,
the motorbike streaks ahead.
I think we must have carried about the same speed through the turn,
However, you're pretty good under braking up until the apex.
I think we must have carried about the same speed through the turn,
-At what point did you feel you not so far away from the motorbike?
-Under braking in particular I felt like was catching up.
But under acceleration, there was no contest, the motorbike has much more power.
Even though I was giving it all with my legs, it's hard to match.
-From your opinion Matthieu, which bike could be more equitable for a race like that?
-Honestly, unless you had a Goldwing with a trailer and the whole family in the back,
I don't see how you could lose.
-Even on a custom bike with no ground clearance, would it still be the same?
I think so. Obviously, he would catch up in the corners and maybe under braking,
but a motorbike has such fast acceleration that I would just streak ahead.
- Especially because you weren't even going flat out there.
-Maybe if I had a hand in my back
- OK, I've got an idea,
you were getting a hand from your engine,
but what if we did the same race free-wheeling? What do you reckon?
- What do you think?
- I'm up for it, you?
- OK, it's on, let's go."
"Come closer my children"
"Now you won't be so cocky.
- We'll see!"
This time, things are different.
Now, Matt will have to count on the finesse of his riding and the Street's chassis.
Luckily for him, the British bike is well kitted out on that side too.
Triumph has a habit of fine-tuning the geometry of its bikes,
and the new Street benefits from a very neutral behaviour
on turn in and changes of direction.
In the end, with a time of 3:23,
it was only 13 seconds behind a bike with the advantages of very narrow tyres and quality bearings.
But as well as the results of the race, we were taken aback by Maxence's speed and bravery.
Riding that fast in just a lycra outfit and cycling helmet, seriously,
the guys who go flat out in the downhill sections of cycling races deserve our utmost respect.
And it comes as no surprise that they give the media motorbikes a run for their money during races.
"In races, have you ever ended up overtaking media motorbikes?"
- Yes, it's happened to me before when I've come up behind motorbike riders.
But as you can see, when you have a rider on a really top bike, it's hard to compete, especially under acceleration.
- Before doing this video with us, what did you expect the difference to be?
- I didn't expect such a difference.
50 seconds over 2.4km, that's a lot. But I did my best, and I have no regrets
I got my revenge in the free-wheeling race
I thought the bike would be further ahead, but in the end it was only 15 seconds, so it was actually quite close.
- OK Matt, we kind of expected this victory. In your view, is the Street the best bike for this challenge?
- To be quite honest, yes.
It's got a great chassis, it's agile, it's light and since they've gone up to 800cc,
the engine has more power at low revs but also has good consistent power through the revs.
The shifter, the brakes, the front section, everything is great.
- We didn't give him a chance, poor guy.
- But even on a GT we would have thrashed him.
-Well,I need to finish this test, see you guys.
- Thanks
Delighted to have shut up our colleagues at Le Cycle magazine once and for all,
we headed home on the Street RS.
And we started to realise that it's pretty tough to find any flaws with this bike.
As for a lot sports roadsters, the protection is not fantastic,
it only takes passengers as a last resort
and the use of this type of bike is pretty limited since it's mainly designed as a high performance machine.
And then there's the price, €11,600, that's €2,500 more expensive than its immediate rivals.
But Triumph found a solution by offering 3 other less well-equipped, less powerful and less expensive models.
An R version costs €10,200, an S version for €8,900 and an S version suitable for the A2 licence for €8,500.
But there's just one issue. After clocking up miles and miles of winding roads like a maniac,
"Damn, I wasn't looking at the dash, we're out of fuel.
-Ha ha you, jokes on you now!
On the new Triumph Street Triple RS, we loved:
The efficiency of the bike,
the early avaible engine and the performance he proposes,
the very clean finishes,
the versatility for a sporty roadster
and the nice and clear dashboard.
We did not loved:
The price of the RS version
and the noise from the exhaust during long distances
For more infomation >> AutomaCover - #01 - Deixa Se Envolver/ Can't Stop / Vai Que Cola - (Cover Automasamba) - Duration: 3:11. 
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