Tom Pidcock rides the lightest bike in the classics: "We don’t follow, we innovate"

The rider with the lightest bike at the Flemish Opening Weekend? That was Tom Pidcock. The Brit didn’t gain any advantage from it, as he finished outside the top positions due to hypothermia. But for his team Pinarello Q36.5, making that bike as light as possible is a goal in itself, says Head of Technical Performance Kurt Bogaerts.

It was Cyclingweekly that weighed all the bikes last weekend and crowned Pidcock’s Pinarello Dogma F the winner as the lightest bike. The Brit’s bike weighed just 7.18 kilograms, including pedals. The specs of Pidcock’s bike? A 1x SRAM Red AXS groupset with a single 54T chainring and a 10-36 cassette, complemented by a Wolf Tooth chainkeeper.

Pidcock opted for fairly short 165-millimeter cranks. The wheels were the Zipp 303 SW model with gold decals. Mounted were 30 mm Vittoria Corsa Pro tires, designed to provide enough cushioning on the Flemish cobbles. Although the Pinarello allows for up to 32 mm clearance, it was limited to a slightly narrower tire width.

Finally, Pidcock and Pinarello-Q36.5 rolled out a Most Talon UltraFast handlebar 360 mm wide with a 120 mm stem; the rest of the cockpit was trimmed for aerodynamics.

Secret
The Head of Technical Performance is taken aback when confronted with that analysis. “Oh, I can’t confirm that. I also can’t say exactly where we make the difference. We don’t want to make the competition any smarter than they already are. The only thing I can say is that making the bike lighter is definitely a topic we are working on. We’re probably not the only ones.”

“You always try to make your bike as light and aerodynamic as possible,” Bogaerts reveals a little. “I think we have quite a few collaborative partners who like to engage in that story. I’m thinking of Vittoria, Pinarello, Zipp, and SRAM. These are ‘premium partners’ within cycling who are very involved and collaborative. Our partners provide a lot of input, and that is very important to me.”

Not just following
Not just in terms of performance, emphasizes Bogaerts. “It’s important that we are one of the leaders and not just follow what other teams do. It’s a topic where you try to be ahead and test innovations. That also works positively for the team’s image, attraction, and rider confidence. Having partners who want to engage in this makes me super happy,” concludes Bogaerts.

For Strade Bianche, Bogaerts may once again have some surprises in store regarding equipment. “That’s the main reason why we scout on both Tuesday and Wednesday,” he explains. “We leave nothing to chance.”