Photos leaked on several online sources recently seem to suggest an impeding release of a new iteration of the Specialized Allez. Following on the heels of its recent launch of a new aero road platform, the California based company appears to be offering a more reasonably priced and practical alternative.

Images show a dramatically more aerodynamic looking seat tube and post, similar to that of the Venge. The seatstays also drop much lower on the seat tube as is the trend in many of the new generation of aero road frames. Meanwhile the front end retains the practicality of a ‘traditional’ stem and handlebar, as one would expect in a more budget orientated model and brakes appear to be standard calipers rather than the Venge’s wind cheating integrated units. We think the choice of traditional calipers makes sense for a less experienced racer or simply a rider who can’t afford multiple bikes.

Similarities with the brand’s top end bikes do not end with the tube shapes. The fork appears to be very similar to that used on the current Tarmac and the flat topped handlebars are reminiscent of those available on the latest venge. Paint jobs depart from the current ‘black everything’ trend and seem to be clear coated aluminium - not only does this reinforce that, yes, your bike is metal, it also saves valuable weight.

What is clear in the multiple instagram shots posted by dealers at Specialized’s annual product launch is that the bike appears to embrace the new Sram 1x11 drivetrain. Doing away with the need for a front mech allows designers much more latitude in the shaping of the bottom bracket area for a more responsive bike without weight penalties. The new bottom bracket shell certainly looks wider and stiffer than previous models, and a leaked catalogue also notes the use of Specialized’s ‘D’Alusio smartweld’ technology. The name refers to engineer Chris D’Alusio who has long been part of the design team at Morgan Hill and worked on the Venge and Tarmac models. Close ups of the frame suggest that the bottom bracket area is formed and then smart-welded onto the frame tubes. Presumably this is the ‘smartweld’ technology and involves a proprietary process that Specialized will reveal (or not) when the bike is launched.

What the leaked catalogue also suggests is that the bike may be available in 2x11 configurations in the future. Oddly, the catalogue lists the bike as equipped with Shimano’s 22 speed Ultegra but shows pictures of a 1x11 Sram model. Close ups of the current frame clearly show that it lacks derailleur mounts or guides. Perhaps this catalogue is entirely in error or perhaps the new bike will be offered in a more traditional set up in years to come. Although no mount is shown, the tube shapes on the photos we have seen do not seem to make the mounting of a braze-on front mech mount impossible. Perhaps clearance at the bottom bracket area may be a limiting factor as the frame leaked is labeled as an ‘Allez Sprint x1’.

A source close to the Morgan Hill headquarters confirmed ‘the Allez is going to be a serious contender for the best crit bike I have ever ridden, certainly the best aluminium one’. It’s refreshing to see a return to alloy bikes that offer a performance package at a reasonable price rather than merely an afterthought in a catalogue or a bike designed to look like a top of the lie frame regardless of ride quality. The use of a single front chainring decreases the cost of the bike with only one mech, shifter and chainring to account for, allowing for the company to spec what appear to be carbon bars, wheels and seatposts. This is the first bike we have seen to adopt a single chainring only design but it may be the first of a new generation.

Specialized has a long history of making fantastic alloy bikes and its current Allez is amongst the favourite budget performers. With the wealth of engineering and aerodynamic expertise available to the company the bike is certainly an interesting proposition for a racer primarily interested in flatter road events and time trials. If embracing this single chainring set up has allowed Specialized to create a much superior Allez frame then this might well be the budget race bike of choice for 2016.

Be sure to check for updates once more detailed information becomes available.

Everyone likes to think that they do things differently to everyone else or, if everyone else is doing it, they like to think that they did it first. What I’m saying is that everyone likes to think that they’re the trendsetter rather than the bandwagon jumper. In this constant battle to be the first, Cannondale thinks that other brands have become too narrow-minded; too focused on making the first super stiff bike, the first super light bike, the first disc brake carbon climbers’ bike etc. With the new SuperSix Evo, Cannondale don’t want to push any one area of the bike to an extreme but instead it wants to make a bike with a good overall balance.

Sure the new Evo is stiffer under power but it’s also smoother for more descending confidence. They’ve decreased the drag to give a more efficient and ultimately faster overall ride. Oh and they’ve made it lighter too. So stiffer, lighter, faster and more comfortable then? Well yes, but it’s all in moderation.

Stiffer

The stiffness change comes from the construction rather than a massive change in design. Cannondale continues with its BallisTec carbon fibres, paired with high-impact resins so they can keep the durability but use less material. Unlike some other brands the SuperSx has size specific construction so that the bigger frames should convey the same ride feel as the smaller frames. They do this by adjusting the lay-up for each size but since the rear triangle is made in one piece it means a different mould for each size, which obviously comes at a price.

The BB stiffness, Cannondale claims, is up by 11%. Not a quantum leap, but Cannondale also reminds us of the law of diminishing returns: any stiffer and you risk losing feel and spoiling the ride. One of the ways they have achieved the additional stiffness is by wrapping continuous carbon fibres around the shell that flow directly into the down tube and seat tube. The shell is the new BB30A standard, 73mm wide rather than 68mm, which allows them to flare out the seat tube and give it a bigger footprint. Cannondale is keen to point out that this doesn’t change the Q factor of the frame or cause any issues with ankle clearance. The headtube is a claimed 12% stiffer too – again seeking the sweetspot between handling and comfort.

Lighter

Weight has always been a core issue with the SuperSix Evo frame and that’s not changed. The Hi-Mod has dropped 67g of overall system weight with 30g of that coming from the new one-piece Speed Save fork. Half of that comes from the moulded carbon crown race. That equates to a whole package that claims to be now 9g lighter than the equivalent Trek Emonda – a bike that staked its claim as the lightest production bike out there.

Part of their diet package is also the inclusion of Cannondale’s own Hollogram SiSL2 chainset. It’s an ultra light chainset at 579g whilst also measuring up 72% stiffer than a Shimano Dura Ace crank. The model we had on test weighed 6.38kg ready to ride.

Faster

Although the SuperSix Evo is clearly not an aero bike if you look closely you’ll see that there have been subtle changes to the tube shapes. The tubes now have a TAP (Truncated Aero Profile). The waterbottles have been repositioned to reduce drag with the seat tube bottle now sitting in the shadow of the one on the downtube. This alone saved 15g of drag. A redesigned fork crown and headtube junction has also accounted for a 60g drag saving.

It’s not aero madness though with practicality and a fundamentally traditional looking design still winning through. Wind tunnel and CFD testing has shown that as long as the cables are run close to the centre line of the down tube then there is almost no aero benefit of running them internally, so Cannondale has shunned this modern trend, probably much to the relief of its pro team mechanics too.

More comfortable

Cannondale has previously had criticism that the old Evo didn’t have a balanced feel front to back. The new frame claims to be 21% more compliant with 15% of that coming from the redesigned rear triangle. Part of that comes from the use of the Synapse’s Delta seat tube but also the move over to a super skinny 25.4mm seatpost, something that has also been tried and tested on the Synapse.

The new SuperSix frame will accept 28mm tyres but they’ve not just crammed them in. The geometry has been tweaked with a 3.5mm drop in BB height to account for the increased ride height that larger tyres will bring. There have been other minor changes in the geometry too for a more linear stack and reach across the eight different sizes.

The SuperSix Evo will be available in Europe from September. For 2016 there will be a lower price point option with Shimano Ultegra and Mavic Ksyirums that still comes close to the UCI weight limit at 6.9kg.

Contact: cyclingsportsgroup.co.uk

David Devine, Cannondale product manager, on Cannondale Slate

‘When we started working on Slate about three years ago, “gravel” was just about emerging. But then it was really just a lot of 29er mountain bikes with drop bars and slightly skinnier tyres - kinda quirky and a bit “out there”. There certainly wasn’t this direct crossover to cross bikes or road bikes that we seem to have now.’

‘[Where I ride] you’re out on a road bike and of course you’re going to hit dirt at some points on the ride, so we’ve been riding “gravel” long before anyone ever said, “Oh, do we need a gravel bike to do this?” So, with Slate I definitely would not say that we set out to make a ‘gravel bike’. We set out to make a road bike that was just fun. It’s merely opportune that this happened at the same time as the boom for gravel bikes, but we’re not going to say this is a gravel bike.' 

‘Sure it’s a possibility to make a gravel bike, with geometry that’s taller front end and shorter reach, but [I think] what you really want is a bike that rides more like a road bike when you want it, which is probably more of the time, but then still handles gravel better. That’s what the Slate is about. It might have a suspension fork and wide tyres but it’s a road bike at heart. The thing is our industry does like its segmentation. Even now though I would be really surprised to hear someone walk into a shop and say, “Hi, I’m here to buy a gravel bike.” It’s great though that people that are more curious with their riding.’

30/06/2015

Well the speculation is over. We’ve got a hands-on preview of the new Cannondale Slate and we can reveal lots about the new gravel bike. First up the frame is definitely aluminium with internal cable routing. The Slate frame looks similar to the new CAAD12 but it’s clearly oversized in places to suit the extra abuse the adventure bike will take. This is most obvious at the oversized headtube – it appears to be 44mm to cope with the stresses of the Lefty Oliver suspension fork.

The frame has fittings for Shimano’s new FlatMount hydraulic calipers although interestingly the fork remains PostMount. The aluminium chainstays and seatstays have been heavily profiled to absorb as much road vibration as possible. There are also eyelets on the dropouts and on the seatstays so it appears like the Slate will accept a rack. The Slate frame is also definitely BB30.

The inclusion of the Ultegra Hydraulic groupset is interesting, as we’ve only seen it with SRAM groupsets in the teaser videos. As this has a different paint finish to the models in the teaser videos we’re assuming the Slate will be available in a range of different specs. Cannondale 650B wheels and Maxxis Detonator tyres round out the build.

Update - 26/06/15

Cannondale have released a third video of their Slate gravel bike with more riding and showing us better details of the bike. This is clearly a finished production model they're thrashing around here and it gives us a first proper look at the Olive green paintjob. It's obvious from the video that it's going to be made from aluminium but a carbon bike may be in the works in the future. The hydraulic SRAM groupset complements the bike perfectly and the bike looks like heaps of fun. We can't wait to try it.

Turns out the big launch is for a new SuperSix and a CAAD12 but we're hoping to get our hands on a model soon. Expected availability for the Slate is Autumn 2015.

[Previous news - 23/06/15]

Cannondale teased us with news of a new gravel bike a few weeks ago by releasing a video featuring Tim Johnson and David Devine trashing the bike around some gravel trails. Cannondale have now released a second video that gives us a bit more info about the Slate.

First up: the name. They’ve come up with a new idea of a road bike and wiped the slate clean. Get it? Slate… One of the big leaps away from current road bikes is the move to 650B wheels. 650B wheels are all the rage in mountain bikes now as they sit between 26” (which are now all but extinct) and 29”. When paired with 42mm tyres, the outside diameter is the same as a 700c wheel shod with 22mm tyres. This means you have no penalty from the smaller wheel size but you do have loads more comfort due to the increased tyre volume.

The fork is a new model of Cannondale’s Lefty but with a more road friendly 30mm of travel. The Lefty fork is something of great debate amongst mountain bikers but it’s widely considered to be amongst the stiffest mountain bike forks available. The Slate matches this fork with a 71.5 degree head angle (giving a 66.3mm rake) and 405mm chainstays for a 1015mm wheelbase.

It’s looking like the Slate will be aluminium only and will be fitted with disc brakes – one model in the video is fitted with cable discs and one with hydraulic discs suggesting different spec levels and also frame versatility. We’ve currently got a CAAD10 disc in the office (review here: Cannondale CAAD10 Rival disc review) and the tubing profiles don’t look completely dissimilar so we can make a few guesses on how the bike will ride. The rear end will apparently be 12x142mm thru-axle dropouts.

There will always been some disagreement over what people call ‘cheap’ but with the advent of the Cyclescheme and other similar purchase offers, most really serious road bikes kick off around £1000. We took a quick straw poll in the office and when most of us took the first proper steps towards becoming cyclists, we each spent around £500 on our first bikes.

Some researched their purchase for months, others went straight out to their local bike shop and asked the staff for their advice. But what came out, time and time again, was that number - £500. It's here that road bikes begin to look like serious racers: the gear shifters are combined with the brake levers so your hands can stay in one comfy position, the frames are made of lighter materials such as butted aluminium, and perhaps even carbon fibre.

You can pick up a bike for less but often they're heavy, ineffecient and will grumble if you really up the mileage. They'll be fine for fair-weather weekend riding, but start training for a sportive and their shortcomings will soon show. With that in mind, we decided that to us ‘cheap’ road bikes are anything under £1000, but above £500, so (in no particular order) here’s a run down of our favourites.

Aprire Inverno Sora - £650

British brand Aprire’s first foray in the sub-£1000 market is an exciting prospect that requires serious consideration. The aluminium frame is light and comfortable, while the full Shimano Sora groupset and Mavic Aksium wheels make the bike an absolute bargain.

Aprire Inverno Sora review

Pinnacle Dolomite Six - £950

Pinnacle has made a name for itself by delivering quality bikes at fantastic value and the Dolomite Six is no exception. The aluminium frame handles excellently and is incredibly versatile. Shipping with a Shimano 105 11-speed groupset (bar the long drop brakes) it’s a good quality bit of kit.

Pinnacle Dolomite Six review

Cube Peloton SL - £950

Another great value aluminium frame, but due to a lack of mudguard mounts or rack mounts this model from German giants Cube is more race than tour. The geometry also needs a close eye to ensure you get the correct fit as the sizing gaps are large, but get it right and it’s a fantastic little race bike.

Cube Peloton SL review

Boardman Team Carbon - £1000

The only carbon bike in our cheap bike round up, the Team Carbon is an upgrade worthy frame. There has to be concessions somewhere of course and the Team Carbon comes with a Shimano Tiagra groupset and own brand finishing kit. It’s almost worth it for the frame alone, even if it’s not terribly exciting to ride.

Boardman Team Carbon review

GT GTS Sport - £500

The cheapest bike in our cheap bike round up, the GT GTS offers a fun ride that is perfect for aspiring racers. The GTS Sport feels like a bike in £1000+ category thanks to its nice quality parts and low, aggressive position. 

GT GTS Sport review

Love the BMC SLR but can’t quite justify the price? Then have no fear as BMC have introduced an aluminium range that offer better components but at a cheaper price point.

The Teammachine ALR01 sees BMC revisit the world of premium-alloy frames for their sportive bikes. Coming in at a claimed weight of 1295g, the ALR01 also comes with a full carbon fork and is available in short size gaps right down to 47cm. With a refocus on the cockpit component, BMC say they’re listening to consumers requests in regards to bike fitting. The ALR01 also easier on the wallet than the carbon models: the 105 option will be approximately £1250 although UK pricing is yet to be confirmed.

BMC are also keen not to exclude the entry-level rider with full groupsets from Sora upwards. There is also a bit of a revamp in the paint department – BMC is offering new colours ranging from a very British red, white and blue to the perennial favourite, black and red.

As with the SLR, the ALR01 will be engineered for riders who are ‘aiming to climb walls’ as its fitted with compact 50-34 chainrings and an 11-32 teeth cassette. The ALR01’s design and alloy is claimed to ‘break new ground’ for the materials ride characteristics thanks to BMC’s experience with ACE technology (Accelerated Composites Evolution to you and I). This will certainly be something to watch out for, especially amongst new cyclists.

BMC has also upped its commitment to disc brakes by manufacturing all its GF01 range with disc brakes, ensuring the new-wave of disc-brake-loving-road-cyclists will be happy. This move will see BMC get an early foothold in the market and will allow them to perfect disc-braking systems for when the UCI start to implement them in professional road cycling.

Breaking with tradition, BMC have unleashed some Swiss flair and the Di2 Ultegra-equipped bike showcases what seems to be a rhubarb-and-custard inspired paintjob. The mechanical Ultegra and 105 versions have a much more classic and understated design.

The bikes little brother, the GF02, will also have new paintjobs and will be available in Tiagra to Ultegra Di2. The GF02 will come in six different sizes and varies between rim or disc brakes depending on the spec.

Contact: BMC

Once it was an unspoken rule to not wear team kits when out riding. They were badges of honour that you could only wear if you had earned them through blood, sweat and tears – proven only when you’ve made sure to drop a rider or two. This rule has now been scattered to the winds with the rise in cycling and, among others, the popularity of Britain’s own Team Sky.

Compounding this unwritten rule’s misery, Pinarello is releasing its new Dogma F8, also known as the Dogma F8 – TDF2015! – Carbon T11001K – 869 Rhino Paris...

The bike, with its hazard sign-like black and yellow design, certainly isn’t for the modest cyclist. Inspired by Chris Froome’s second Tour de France victory, it comes complete with decals of ‘Froomey’ and a rather intimidating-looking rhino printed on the side. Pinarello truly has made a bike for the ages.

You may think ‘what else could this bike pull out of the bag?’ Well there is the declaration that the Dogma F8 Rhino Paris could possibly be ‘the eighth wonder of the world.’

However, if you fancy a change, the Dogma does come in some slight colour variants. There’s the more unassuming ‘Dogma Rhino Yellow’ that has only slight nuances of yellow, as opposed to the whole bike. Then there is the ‘Rhino Red’, built to celebrate the polka dot jersey. This red and black creation differs from the Rhino Paris only in colour, not in braggadocio.

Pinarello certainly doesn’t mind blowing its own trumpet and, to be fair, who can blame it, having won the Tour de France twice, the World Championship, and countless pro races.

However, let’s (try) to look past the bike’s colour scheme and focus on the features. According to Fausto Pinarello, the new F8 is a ‘powerful and responsive bike for every track’, something that it claims to be a product of its work with Team Sky and Jaguar.

Fausto said that Jaguar’s partnership has allowed Pinarello greater access to aerodynamics development with its in-house wind tunnel capabilities. This would no doubt help it ‘in creating a streamlined and aerodynamic bike without losing the typical characteristics of Dogma’.

Fitted with Dura-Ace Di2 and Dura-Ace C50 wheels anyone can now pretend to have won the Maillot Jaune. If you’ve got a spare couple of grand, that is.

Price: £TBC

Do you find that your dreams are filled with you getting your hands on a bike ridden by the pros? Well with the Tour over, Canyon look ready to ship out some of their professionally ridden bikes. These bikes come with real life experience of professional racing, and some even have the scars to prove it.

First up is Alex Dowsett’s 2014 Aeroad. This medium sized Aeroad weighs in at 6.95kg and is the first generation of the highly popular bike, bearing the Englishman’s name and a few nicks to go with it.

Decked out in Movistar green and blue and running Campagnolo Super Record EPS, Dowsett’s Aeroad would be perfect for any fan of the Spanish team. Then there are the tubular Boras. To fulfil every rider’s pro-dreams the bike runs Conti’s Competition Pro Ltd Competition. These are team issue only tyres, meaning you can’t buy them anywhere, no matter what that know-it-all down your local club says.mHowever at the end of the day, the bike is a used bike and with no real provenance to say that Alex Dowsett used it as a race day bike and not a training one, may make you question paying £4,499 for a used 2014 bike.

Then there is Nairo Quintana’s extra small 2014 Ultimate CF SLX. The Colombian’s tiny bike shares the same setup at Dowsett’s Aeroad with Super Record EPS but swaps out the tubs for Campagnolo’s Eurus clinchers. This suggests that this bike might not have been a race day bike but Quintana’s training bike. Even with the drop in wheelset quality and the fact that this bike could have just been Quintana’s training bike, the German company are asking £5,599 for it.

If you’re a Team Movistar fanatic, then you may be interested. However with all this talk of ‘cycling history’ and ideas of sporting memorabilia, where does this rank in the grand scheme of things?

Step up to the plate Babe Ruth. The legendary baseball player, George Herman ‘Babe’ Ruth was arguably the greatest player of all time, a claim that is backed up by his New York Yankee Jersey that was sold for nearly $4.5million. This is the most expensive piece of sporting memorabilia ever.

Then a little bit down the list there’s the first known set of football rules written called Rules, Regulation, & Laws of the Sheffield Football Club. Hand-written in 1858, the book details the early rules of the world’s most popular sport and was sold in 2011 for £881,250.

Lastly, right at the reasonably attainable is one of Sir Bradley Wiggin’s TdF winning Dogma 2s. Having won a competition, a SKY customer received one of the bikes that Wiggo actually rode to victory in 2012. He promptly put the bike up for sale because he wasn’t going to squeeze ‘into tightly fitting Lycra and use it every now and again to keep fit.’ The bike sold for £10,400. Make the Canyons seem quite cheap don’t they?

'Babe Ruth' jersey photograph courtesy of Dan Gaken

Founded in 1952, Italian marque Colnago is one of the most prestigious names in world cycling, and its new CLX is a bike that performs at the highest level whether you’re racing or out for a Sunday ride. And courtesy of the Cycle Show, we’ve got one to give away to one lucky reader!

The winner also receives two free tickets to the Cycle Show at NEC Birmingham on 25-27 September - visit Colnago at stand H71.

Click here to enter: Win a Colnago CLX

There is a story that when it came time for Mazda to update its legendary MX-5, the chief engineer has an idea that if it was to shave 1g off each component part it would add up to huge weight saving off the whole car. As it happens, due to various increases in safety concerns, the car put on 150kg but the theory still stands strong enough that Fuji gave it a try on the new SL.

Fuji actually call the process ‘Fuji High Compaction [HC] Molding’, which eliminates the wrinkles that are usually common in high stress areas with tight bend, such as the head tube or bottom bracket. All those wrinkles end up full of resin, which all adds to the weight – or not if removed - the SL frame comes in at a claimed 695g.

Fuji has been using HC on its Altamira since 2013 but it has extended this to the seat tube and fork crown on the SL. The SL also eliminates half of the bonded joints on the Altamira (four down from eight). The seatstays and chainstays are moulded from two hollow pieces, which adds up to a claimed saving of 237g over an equivalent Altamira.

It’s not all just gram shaving though; Fuji claim the new SL is 9% stiffer that the Altamira in the head tube, 11% stiffer in the BB30 bottom bracket and 18% stiffer in the fork. The frame stiffness is down to the octagonal down tube and the fork stiffness is thanks to a Reinforced I-Beam (RIB) that runs down the length of the fork blades. There are other neat touches too such as stops that switch from mechanical to Di2 routing, an integrated chain catcher and chainstay protectors.

It’s not all stiffness, stiffness, stiffness either. The SL has ovalised chainstays in an attempt to increase comfort and each frame size benefits from different tube diameters and fibre layups to keep the ride quality the same between different sized tubes. People who ride smaller frames aren’t stuck with poor handling either as Fuji has invested in two fork offsets (52 and 43) to keep the trail consistent across the range (~58mm).

The SL has seen some early action at the USA Pro Challenge under Kyle Murphy but it will officially debut with Caja Rural-Seguros RGA at the 2015 Vuelta a Espana. Stephanie Genuardi said “We chose the Vuelta to launch this bike not only to show what our new bike can do on a world stage… but also it was at the Vuelta four years ago that our Altamira frame won us our first Grand Tour.”

The Fuji SL range comes to the UK with five models available that are expected to be available from October:

Fuji SL 1.1 - £8,499.99 – SRAM Red - 4.96kg

Fuji SL 1.5 - £3,399.99 – Shimano Dura Ace 9000 - 6.58kg

Fuji SL 2.1 - £2,599.99 – Shimano Ultegra Di2 - 7.50kg

Fuji SL 2.3 - £1,599.99 – Shimano Ultegra - 8.12kg

Fuji SL 2.5 - £1,499.99 – Shimano 105 - 8.10kg

Contact: evanscycles.com

As children we all did it, searching through cycling magazines to find the parts that would make up our dream bicycle. Some of us have never really grown up, and at Cyclist we still obsess over hi-tech components and shiny accessories. The only difference is that these days we are in the happy position of being able to bring all those special parts together to actually create a bike that will have Saudi princes and Russian oligarchs reaching for their platinum credit cards.

The premise is simple: find the most expensive stock items available and assemble them. Of course, this doesn’t mean these are the best items – that’s a subjective matter and, sadly, we are not in a position to test the finished product to see how it performs. Also, we used only stock parts – that means no custom-built frames or limited edition components. We avoided custom because, by definition, there’s no limit to how much you could spend on a bike once you decide it needs to be forged from pure gold and encrusted with diamonds.

Having tracked down the parts for our MEB (most expensive bike), we then contacted the suppliers and asked them to explain why their handiwork is so highly priced. This is the result…

Frameset: Storck Fascenario 0.6, £6,649

The heart of the build was the most difficult to determine. Even bespoke framesets plateau in cost at around £6,500, but at this price the lines between stock and custom begin to blur. Therefore, we chose to spec the Storck Fascenario 0.6 frameset, which at £6,649 is marginally the most expensive and remains a true stock option. 

‘The frame is constructed using Storck’s most complex proprietary manufacturing process, using HMF carbon fibre, our finest grade,’ says Storck’s Ian Hughes. ‘3D-CAD imaging was used to determine the lay-up of the unidirectional carbon fibre to optimise stiffness and vibration dampening. This makes the frame one of the most efficient and comfortable available off-the-peg. Weight is also kept to a minimum by using a one-piece monocoque construction that undergoes Storck’s patented Void Vacuum Controlled process, which claims to eliminate any imperfections in the carbon lay-up and reduce the resin content by 33%.’ As a result, the frame, fork and integrated brakes weigh just 1,310g. 

‘The challenge was to produce a road bike frame that would exceed the Fascenario 0.7, which held the title of “Best Bike in the World” [as judged by Germany’s Tour magazine] for three years. The 0.6 subsequently won the award so we achieved our goal.’

Wheels: Reynolds RZR 46 Team, £4,499

In the search for the most expensive wheels, our first stop was German brand Lightweight, which specialises in insanely priced hoops. However, our research revealed that the biggest pricetag is attached to the Reynolds RZR 46 Team tubular wheels, at £4,499 for the pair. 

Their narrow, pointed rim profiles have Kevlar reinforcement and buck the trend of rounded deep-section rims. Reynolds says the RZR’s profile is inherently lighter and, thanks to the Swirl Lip Generator (SLG), more aerodynamic. The SLG is a 0.9mm lip on the rim’s leading edge that Reynolds claims smoothes airflow as it passes onto the aerofoil-shaped spoke faces, translating into a 12.5-second gain over 40km. Reynolds also claims to have eliminated the inconsistent braking that blights some carbon rims. It has developed a ‘Cryogenic Glass Transition Braking System’ – a redesign of the brake track laminate and pads (£60 for four). The laminate is now temperature-conductive to withstand higher extremes than regular laminates. Plus the rear wheel includes a ‘torque flange’, a third layer of spokes that Reynolds claims increases torque efficiency, and therefore performance. 

Tyres: Challenge Criterium Seta Extra, £110

At £110 per tyre, the 250g Challenge Criterium Seta Extra tubular tyres are handmade with a silk carcass at 300 threads per inch, so have a higher thread count than most bed sheets. These tyres aren’t vulcanised either, ensuring the tyre is supple and responsive, while the rubber compound achieves high grip with low rolling resistance, making it the choice of many pros for Classics races and Grand Tours alike.

Saddle/seatpost: Dash Carbon Standard Post Combo, £799

It’s a common theme in the bicycle industry – as weight decreases incrementally, price increases exponentially. This rule certainly holds true for the £799 Dash Carbon Standard Post Combo. 

‘Dash is a small independent company in Boulder, Colorado,’ says James Heath of Ubyk, Dash’s UK distributor. ‘Its saddles are handmade and are some the lightest products on the market. With the Standard Post Combo, Dash obsessed over the balance of form and function.’ The fruit of this approach has allowed a fully adjustable seatpost combination with a weight as low as 112g, depending on specification.

Chainset: Storck Power Arms G3 cranks plus Carbon-Ti chainrings, £1,600.98

To go with our Storck frame, the most expensive cranks we could find were the 400g Storck Power Arms G3 cranks, retailing for £1,100. Storck says the price is down to their impressive stiffness-to-weight ratio, which comes from the arms’ full carbon fibre construction. 

Adorning the crank arms are Carbon-Ti’s chainrings. The rings have a carbon internal structure mated to titanium teeth. ‘Carbon-Ti’s chainrings are completely made in Italy,’ says Tom Oborne of Evolution Imports, Carbon-Ti’s UK distributor. ‘It would rather keep production costs high than risk low quality and poor quality-control checks in the Far East. The titanium teeth offer exceptional shifting performance and are super durable, and the internal carbon keeps weight down while maintaining stiffness.’ 

The 74g outer ring has an RRP of £267.99, and the 32g inner ring comes at £232.99.

Groupset: Campagnolo Super Record EPS, £1,876.96

Our MEB wouldn’t be complete without a bit of Campy, and a large chunk of our groupset is provided by Campagnolo’s Super Record EPS (the price is for the combined parts specced). The EPS rear derailleur uses carbon fibre and titanium, but that’s not the only reason for the hefty pricetag. The groupset is still made in Italy and carries with it a near-religious heritage having once been the sole choice of the pros.

The £385 cost of the Super Record cassette is attributable to the multiple titanium sprockets, and the use of the ‘Ultra-Shift’ tooth design to improve shifting and decrease chain stress.

The chain is one part of the groupset where Super Record has been usurped in favour of the £86.99 KMC X11SL DLC chain. Its 243g weight is made possible by machined-out plates, and while light weight is usually at the expense of durability, the chain’s diamond like coating (DLC) increases wear resistance to prolong chain life. 

For the brakes we switched to Nokon cables, which come with a suitably weighty pricetag of £139.95. Nokon’s patented bead-like cable outers feature linked segments that reduce cable friction through bends and stabilise pressure internally so braking modulation remains precise and smooth.

Bar and stem: Enve SES Aero Road, £605

Durability and quality rarely come cheap so it should be of little surprise that Enve contributes handlebars and stem. The £375 SES Aero Road bar justifies its cost not through light weight, but through aero gains and heavily researched ergonomics. A narrow, aerofoil-shaped top flows into flared drops, moving the rider naturally into a more aerodynamic position but retaining the option for aggressive handling in the drops. 

Brand manager Ash Matthews explains that Enve had broader aims than just weight with its £230 carbon stem: ‘Our objective was to create a responsive connection between the bike’s front end and the handlebar, using a combination of titanium and unidirectional carbon fibre.’

In stark contrast to the ultra-modern spec so far, the bar tape from Cinelli is decidedly retro. The £68.99 Imperial Leather bar tape is made of cowhide, has natural shock absorbing properties and, much like a fine wine, improves with age. Production and raw material costs keep the price close to five times that of standard bar tape.

Pedals: Speedplay Nanogram Zero Titanium, £599

While pedals are traditionally not part of a bicycle specification, Speedplay’s £599 Nanogram Zero Titanium pedals were a must. Speedplay took its existing Zero pedals and re-engineered them for weight reduction and performance optimisation. When explaining the cost, Rob Jarman from i-Ride, Speedplay’s UK distributor, says, ‘It’s simply a case of materials. It was about creating a pedal with no compromises. The pedal bodies are made of carbon-reinforced thermoplastic, and alloy and titanium replace steel in the spindles and cleats.’ 

The final tally: £17,204.86

The total for the entire build comes to £17,204.86. That puts it at a shade over £6,000 more than the most expensive stock (ie, not custom) bikes we’ve featured in the magazine. To date the highest pricetag for a stock bike is shared by the Trek Émonda SLR10 and the De Rosa Protos, both retailing at £11,000. The MEB bike weighed 5.69kg. Impressive, but not the lightest out there.

What we can’t tell you is the performance credentials of our expensive bike (everything needs to be returned in pristine condition), so
if there are any Lottery winners out there who are tempted to recreate Cyclist’s MEB, we’d love to hear about how it rides.

Carrying on from yesterday’s tech round up, we’ve moved on to bigger things: Bikes and wheels. Same idea – we’re bringing you the things we found genuinely interesting or ground breaking. So without further ado:

Lightweight

There were a few interesting products at Eurobike from Lightweight this year. One of our favourites was the ‘Gold Edition’ Urgestalt frame with matching Obermeyer wheels. There are 24 Gold Editions available, each hand inlaid with 24k gold and they cost? You guessed it - €24,000. Lightweight claims it has already sold quite a few to collectors.

Also exciting from Lightweight was its new Meilenstein Pro front wheel. The spokes and rim bed are reinforced to resist damage in a crash and also to prevent any sharp splinters flying off in the event of a smash. Lightweight was coy about which, if any, team might be using its wheels next year although it was quick to point out that BMC’s Rohan Dennis has been using its disc wheel with great success.

Contact: Lightweight.info

Merida

The showpiece on the Merida stand was the hyper light Merida Scultura LTD. The frame already weighs a miniscule 680g, which combined with a Sram Red groupset, Tune wheels and AX Lightness finishing kit gave a full build weight of just 4.55kg.

Strangely enough Lampre-Merida riders don’t actually get to use the LTD frame as it would be just too heavy – they use the team version instead that still weighs a rather impressive 750g.

Also exciting was its new cyclocross range, which is headed up in the UK with the full carbon Cyclocross 6000. It’s fitted with the Shimano Ultegra hydraulic disc brakes and it’s as on trend as can be with bolt through axles front and rear. Pictures simply don’t do the colours justice.

Contact: Merida Bikes

Ridley

The Ridley Fenix SL was first seen back in April being ridden by various Lotto-Soudal riders in the Spring Classics. The Fenix SL is something of an amalgam of the Noah, the Fenix and the Helium.

Visually it appears like a mix of all three models and Ridley described it as being a core bike in their range. It sees the Fenix SL as a master of all trades with a lean towards endurance thanks to the ability to accept 30mm tyres.

Contact: Ridley Bikes

Rolo

Rolo were particularly excited to show us some wheels and what these wheels mean for disc brake frame development. Shimano recently updated its frame manufacturers hand book with the full specifications for the FlatMount system, and Shimano has said that for a proper chainline on a disc brake road bike, using a 135mm hub, the chainstays should be no less than 415mm, which is quite long.

Rolo intends to use discs on its next generation of frames, but doesn’t want to compromise on handling so it has been experimenting with BiTurbo wheels from Bike Ahead Composites. These wheels are a full carbon monocoque, tubeless ready and weigh approximately 1100g for the pair. Most importantly due to their construction they allow Rolo to use short chainstays while still maintaining the appropriate chainline, althought Rolo did admit it has the disadvantage of locking customers into one pair of wheels.

We’ve just reviewed a Rolo frame in Issue 40 of the magazine that’s available at various outlets on 16^th of September.

Contact: Bike Ahead Composites

Check back tomorrow for clothing, shoes and accessories.