Author: John Dodgin

 

We can make so many excuses for ourselves at this point in the new year however here at Wheelbase we’re starting the year as we mean to go on, as we know at some point in the not too distant future it’s undoubtedly going to get warmer, this is what keeps us turning the cranks during these wet, dark and cold winter months.

 

For our latest riding adventure we started at the small village of Askham; you may or may not be familiar with it? Perhaps what is better-known is actually situated very nearby, the 17th century Lowther Castle is a popular destination for visitors to the Lake District and the surrounding North Lakes area. To the west we have another quaint village called Pooley Bridge, sitting at the north of Ullswater; it’s popular for its steam cruisers and its view of the third highest mountain in the Lake District, Helvellyn.

 

Now, upon browsing the popular Komoot App whilst looking for some ride-route inspiration I saw this ride and thought to myself “why is this ride called The Cockpit?..” a small amount of casual research gave me the answer. The stone circle at Askham and Barton Fell stands near to the present junction of the M6 motorway and A66, where important trade routes crossed as early as the Bronze age. The Bronze Age of Britain lasted almost 1500 years and it is difficult to date the stone circle as it has features from both the early and Late Bronze Ages; the stone circle referred to colloquially as ‘The Cockpit’ is more than 28 metres in diameter and consists of 75 stones, more than 20 of which are about 1 metre high.

 

I would describe this ride as steady, there isn’t a great deal of elevation and after starting out riding on a quiet B-Road the route soon turned into a more rudimentary bridleway which climbs gently out of Askham. Once you reach the plateau on top of the Fell there’s some nice flowing, grassy trails before picking up a bit of the rougher single track that leads you over the Fell, underneath Barton Fell for the start of the Ullswater descent.

 

Now with this descent I’m always torn, do we sit back, relax and enjoy the absolutely stunning views over Ullswater to Hallin Fell, Helvellyn and the surrounding fells? Or do we cut loose and enjoy the super-fun descent? Obviously it’s the latter, however we were slowed down in places due to weather erosion along the bridleway and some deep ruts that the fast-flowing becks run through. Those disruptive elements don’t have too much impact overall as this descent down to Howtown is the best part of 5 km long. One to get the arms pumping for sure!

 

Once we finally reached the shores of Ullswater it was a short hack along the road up to the outskirts of Pooley Bridge where we were spoilt for choice in terms of refreshments. We were careful to not over-indulge because of the upcoming climb back up the bridleway which runs up the side of Heughscar Hill taking us back up to where we started.

 

 

 

 

To summarise this ride I do feel like it’s great, no matter what the weather. In retrospect it would appear that we’d done the ride in all four seasons and I would suggest it would be even more fun in the drier months of the year, if there’s such a thing in Cumbria!

 

Written by Andrew Barlow

Photos by Andrew Barlow

 

Have you seen our weekly Fast Bike Friday feature? Missed some of our best bikes? You can now see all of our featured bikes in one place over on Pinterest where you’ll find links to each of our Fast Bike Friday Blogs too!

Click the link below and search our archive…

 

Launched today! Introducing the all-new Cannondale Synapse with SmartSense. Yes, that’s right, the popular Cannondale Synapse has had a dramatic make-over for 2022 and there’s lots to talk about; with a complete re-design of the Synapse’s frame and fork as well as a big injection of tech it stands alone right now in the industry as an endurance road bike with a fully integrated ‘SmartSense’ system reflecting a holistic approach to technology implementation from Cannondale.

Click the link above to see the all-new Synapse 2022 in action…

 

As official Cannondale launch partners we were lucky enough to receive an all-new Cannondale Synapse 2022 bike a few weeks before launch, giving us the opportunity to test the bike in the real world on the demanding roads of the Lake District National Park. Riding at this time of year has its own challenges when it comes to unpredictable weather, poor road surfaces and low light conditions and the new Synapse was more than up to the job, particularly during the short daylight hours, but more on that later.

The all-new Synapse can handle poor road surfaces and low light conditions with ease.

 

Before we get into the details, let’s just list the new Synapse’s headliners…

• SmartSense – Fully integrated tech developed in partnership with Garmin
• All-Road Ability – Strikes a versatile balance between road and gravel
• Enhanced Comfort – Increase to frame compliance with size-specific proportional response construction
• Faster – New subtly aerodynamic frame and fork tube profiles, more speed – less effort

So where to start? Well as the SmartSense system is the big talking point on the all new Cannondale Synapse and features on all but the cheapest model in the Synapse sub-range we’ll mainly focus on that system during this product launch. We received the Synapse 2 RL from Cannondale which sits in the middle of the range and features a Shimano Ultegra mechanical groupset; we’re going to take a more detailed look at the bike and discuss how it rides in our upcoming ‘Fast Bike Friday’ feature, which will be published later this week. For now let’s just share our first impressions on the all-new Synapse…

The stunning paintjob on our Synapse 2 RL does a good job of highlighting all of those new aerodynamic tube profiles.

 

At first glance it’s immediately obvious that the 2022 Cannondale Synapse has had a dramatic make-over; there’s a lot of changes from the previous version and my first thoughts were that some elements of Cannondale’s full-on road racing machine the SuperSix EVO had migrated over to the Synapse. There’s the dropped seatstays we’ve grown familiar with and squarer, flattened-off truncated airfoil tube profiles lifted directly from the SuperSix; squint and it almost looks like a SuperSix EVO with a slightly shorter, sloping top tube and a slightly higher head tube; it’s fair to assume that with this configuration the Synapse has gained more speed and even more compliance than its predecessor.

More comfortable, MORE aero, same low weight. The Synapse 2 RL is a great all-rounder.

 

The Cannondale marketing bods have termed the all-new Synapse the perfect ‘road’ bike with the ‘road’ in inverted commas because this bike actually represents the perfect balance between a road and gravel bike. With a magic mix of speed, comfort and capability the Synapse will ride well on all kinds of roads and a wide range of surfaces including smooth tarmac, more unpredictable un-made back lanes and gravel tracks. This brings us neatly to tyre clearance with the Cannondale Synapse accommodating tyres up to 35mm wide, allowing you to run gravel tyres with a minimal tread; with those 35mm tyres fitted there’s still 6mm of clearance between the tyre and frame/fork. Just like the previous version the engineers have included bolt-on bosses for mudguards so if you want to set up your Synapse for winter riding duties you can still run tyres up to 30mm wide with full mud guards.

The new Synapse is packed full of features that help accommodate a wider variety of riding styles and different terrains.

 

So after our brief summary of the new Synapse frame and fork configuration (remember to check back for our full ride-review of the Synapse 2 RL on Friday!) let’s get into Cannondale’s SmartSystem, a fully integrated system that works as one but is made up of the following constitute parts…

SmartSense

• Front & Rear Lights
• Rear Facing Radar
• Radar Unit LED Display
• Power Pack
• Cannondale Wheel Sensor
• Cannondale App (updated)

As our lives become increasingly influenced by tech in almost everything we do and we rely more and more on our Smartphones, GPS computers, Apps and even electronic gearing on our bikes our dependency on hi-tech gadgets is ever increasing. Up until now the trend has been for each manufacturer to do their own thing with compatibility and integration being an after-thought at best; Cannondale saw an opportunity to make things a little more user friendly while also improving rider experience and teamed up with Garmin to develop SmartSense for a completely integrated system.

Cannondale’s SmartSense is a fully integrated system that’s unique to the Synapse.

 

The headliner of the system is the SmartSense Radar consisting of a Garmin Varia rear facing Radar adapted for SmartSense; this clever setup gives you more confidence on the road by helping you ride in traffic without having to intermittently check over your shoulder. Radar detects vehicles approaching from behind at a distance of 140 metres. Once detected your Radar LED Display on the Synapse’s out-front handlebar mount gives a visual and audible signal alerting you to the oncoming vehicle. This clever LED display indicates the relative position and speed of all contacts and signals warnings for vehicles coming up too fast or too close. The Radar will also activate the rear light (we’ll go into the SmartSense lights in more depth in a moment) increasing the brightness of the light as the vehicle approaches, helping to alert the driver; upfront the SmartSense front light also brightens. It’s worth noting that while the Synapse bike ships with the standard Radar LED display unit the Radar SmartSense system also works with a Garmin, Wahoo or similar GPS head units or your Smartphone installed with the Cannondale App, lighting up in the same way.

The rear-facing Radar detects vehicles approaching from behind at a distance of 140 metres.

 

In use out on the open road I was impressed by how quickly and intuitively you adapt to using this system; the audible signal drew my attention and a quick glance down told me that a car was approaching from behind. It was surprisingly accurate with an instance where three cars coming up behind me at once were all indicated on the display at the same time. On another occasion a car came up behind me and then had to sit on my wheel until we had passed a blind bend, again a quick glance down to the display confirmed what I suspected was going on behind me. It seems like a small thing, but the fact that I didn’t have to glance over my shoulder left me more focused on the road ahead and definitely gave me a little more confidence riding in heavy traffic.

A audible signal on the Radar display draws your attention and a quick glance down tells you that a car is approaching from behind.

 

I quickly fell into the habit of glancing down to the Radar display to help understand what was going on behind me.

 

The SmartSense system on the all-new Synapse includes front and rear lights developed in partnership with leading bike light brand Lezyne; the front ‘Foresite’ light is neatly fitted to the out-front handlebar mount and the ‘Hindsite’ rear light fits neatly under the saddle and comes with various adapters to allow you to set it up with a saddle bag too if required. Both the SmartSense lights and the Radar system are powered by the SmartSense Powerpack developed by Garmin with both lights powering up and turning on automatically when you begin to ride. This is a sophisticated lighting system with some clever features including ambient light sensors to help ensure you have optimal visibility in all light conditions; the rear Hindsite light responds to your bike decelerating and brightens as you slow down to warn vehicles behind you. As I’ve already mentioned when I talked about the Radar system your rear light will also brighten when vehicles approach you from behind at a distance of 140 metres; upfront, as well as the Radar LED display your Foresite front light will also brighten to warn you that a vehicle is coming up behind you. The SmartSense Foresite headlight acts as the junction box which connects the system and is constructed with an aluminium body; you can also customise how your lights behave via the Cannondale App to set up the system to your preferred configuration.

The SmartSense ForeSite headlight with a powerful 350 Lumens lights up the road in front of you really well.

 

As the light fades the Synapse’s SmartSense light system provides enhanced visibility and road safety.

 

The HindSite rear light brightens when cars approach from behind as well as brightening as you decelerate to catch a driver’s attention.

 

The Cannondale SmartSense system gives you more confidence when you’re riding on short winter days.

 

SmartSense ForeSite Headlight

• 350 Lumens

SmartSense HindSite Tailight

• 25 Lumens
• Integrates with SmartSense Radar
• Feature inertial brake alert

Developed in partnership with fantastic light brand Lezyne the integrated Cannondale SmartSense headlight lights your way ahead.

 

The final piece of the puzzle which brings all of the Synapse’s integration together is the SmartSense Powerpack developed in partnership with Garmin. Let’s get one thing straight, this is no after-thought component that’s been hastily attached to where a bottle cage would normally sit. This powerpack is an intrinsic part of the Synapse’s frame, reflecting Cannondale’s commitment to this design principle, with a specially made cradle sitting neatly in a special recess that’s been molded into the carbon frame during production. The SmartSystem’s rechargeable battery is removed and refitted using a simple and secure lever and means that there is just one single power source for your lights and Radar system which can stay permanently attached to your bike. Here’s some quick facts on the SmartSense PowerPack…

The Cannondale SmartSense powerpack was developed in partnership with Garmin.

 

With the SmartSense powerpack there is just one single power source for your lights, Radar system and GPS unit if you’re running one.

 

SmartSense Powerpack

• 3 hour recharge time
• 150 day battery life in stand-by mode
• 5 hours average battery life
• 2:45 hours battery life in full blast mode
• 20+ hours battery life in lowest battery saver mode

SmartSense Wake-Up Options

There’s actually four different ways to turn on the SmartSense system…

• Press battery button on Powerpack
• Use Cannondale App SmartSense power button on Smartphone
• ‘Proximity Wake’ function – simply walk up to your Synapse with the Cannondale App on
• ‘Auto Wake’ function – just hop on and go; the Cannondale Wheel Sensor detects movement and powers up the system

Cannondale App & SmartSense

Like all good tech available out there the SmartSense system can be customised, controlled and analysed by a corresponding App; the existing Cannondale App has been updated to allow you to do the following…

• View light and Radar status
• Cycle through light modes
• Customise SmartSense and light configurations in Settings menu
• Update firmware directly

You can customise how the SmartSense Radar system behaves to suit you and your riding.

 

You can customise how your SmartSense lights behave via the Cannondale App.

 

Cannondale’s Garmin sensor communicates with your smartphone’s Cannondale App and gives you important riding stats.

 

So that’s the SmartSense system explained; this setup is exclusive to Cannondale, in partnership with Garmin and it’s a pretty impressive, fully-integrated way of equipping your bike with a sophisticated lighting and Radar system that includes a central rechargeable power source. When we first saw the all-new Synapse and listened to Cannondale’s presentation there was one big question from the group and you may well be asking yourself the same question right now. Is the Shimano Di2 electronic gearing also powered by the Garmin Powerpack? It seems like a no-brainer, however at the moment all Shimano Di2 drivetrains are still powered by their own independent seat tube battery; the team at Cannondale explained that Shimano’s system is so efficient when it comes to battery life that the current configuration works fine, however they did also hint that they were in talks with Shimano and that including the Di2 system within the SmartSense system could be a possibility in the future; it would certainly make sense.

The all-new Cannondale Synapse is ‘road reimagined’ according to the American bike brand, so how does it ride out on the punishing back roads of the Lake District National Park? Check in with us again on Friday to read a full review of the Cannondale Synapse 2 RLE in our upcoming Fast Bike Friday Feature…

 

There’s 6 Cannondale Synapse Models to Choose From

At the launch of the all-new Synapse Cannondale revealed six different models, all featuring Shimano groupsets and ranging from the Synapse 4 spec’d with Shimano Tiagra through to the super-hot Synapse 1 RLE spec’d with Shimano’s newest Dura-Ace Di2 electronic 12-speed groupset. The model names include a series of letters which indicate the inclusion of SmartSense tech per bike, as explained below…

R – Garmin Radar Unit & LED Display included

L – Foresite Headlight & Hindsite Taillight included

E – Electronic Gear Shifting

 

Cannondale Synapse 1 RLE, £9,000.00

 

Cannondale Synapse LTD RLE, RRP £6,750.00

 

Cannondale Synapse 2 RLE, RRP £5,800.00

 

Cannondale Synapse 2 RL, RRP £4,00.00

 

Cannondale Synapse 3 L, RRP £3,200.00

 

Cannondale Synapse 4, RRP £2,400.00

 

Stock of all 2022 Cannondale Synapse bikes will be available in store and online in the coming weeks; the all-new Cannondale Synapse 3 L is already in stock (at time of writing).

 

Written by Johnny Dodgin

Photos by James Vincent

 

Have you seen our weekly Fast Bike Friday feature? Missed some of our best bikes? You can now see all of our featured bikes in one place over on Pinterest where you’ll find links to each of our Fast Bike Friday Blogs too!

Click the link below and search our archive…

 

Save up to 40% with special offers on selected road bikes, mountain bikes, e-bikes and accessories available now at Wheelbase while stocks last.

 

Specialized Turbo Creo SL Comp Carbon 2021

 

Focus Izalco Max Disc 8.8 2021

 

Cannondale SuperSix EVO Disc 105 2021

 

Specialized Allez 2021

 

Cervelo R-Series Disc Force eTap AXS 2021

 

 

Cervelo Aspero Apex 1 2021

 

Cannondale Topstone Carbon 5 2021

 

Cube Cross Race C:62 Pro 2021

 

 

Kona Remote 160 DL 2021

 

Cannondale Trail Neo 3 2021

 

Cannondale Trail Neo 4 2021

 

Trek X-Caliber 7 2021

 

Cannondale Trail 7 2021

 

 

Trek Dual Sport 4 2021

 

Trek FX 3 Equipped 2021

 

Specialized Sirrus 2.0 2021

 

Trek Dual Sport 2 Women’s 2021

 

Eightshot X Coady 24 FS

 

Reid E4 eScooter

 

 

 

 

 

Feature Image by James Vincent

 

The Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli Cyclo-Cross Team had barely got the mud out of their hair following last weekend’s National Cyclo-Cross championships down in Crawley before it was time to load up the van once again and head out to the final round of the National Trophy Series, which thankfully for our predominantly north-based team, was hosted on our doorstep at Broughton Hall near Skipton in Yorkshire.

The team rode brilliantly last weekend with some great results including a Silver medal in the Vet 40 category for Lewis Craven. The current Vet 40 World Champion would be in action again at Broughton Hall and back in his World Champs jersey for this final race of the season. Unfortunately our most successful racer of the season Rory McGuire had to miss the National Championships last weekend due to testing positive with COVID shortly before; he would be back racing for Wheelbase at Broughton Hall, but would he have enough time to make a full recovery? Lying in 2nd place overall in both the Senior and Under 23 categories going into this final round, would Rory be able to make a full return to health in time to defend his position or even improve on it in the main race Elite of the weekend on Sunday?..

Photo James Vincent

SATURDAY RACES

Hope Technology were the event hosts for Round 6 of the National Trophy Cyclo-Cross Series and it was left to one of their very best racers Paul Oldham to set the course for a weekend packed full of fast and frenetic racing. Paul was able to call on years of racing experience to devise a course that suited all the race categories but still provided lots of technical challenges throughout as well as demanding climbs to help thin out the pack and make the racing as selective as possible. After a week of rain in the lead up to the races the course was incredibly slick and slippery; happily it’s exactly these sort of racing conditions that suit our very own Vet 40 World Champion Lewis Craven and following a short pre-race recce Lewis was very happy with both the technical course and the rutted, muddy surface.

Alongside Lewis in the Vet 40 race was Wheelbase’s seasoned campaigner Davie Lines who had made the long trip down from Scotland; equally adept racing on or off-road Davie was on form and ready to compete on a course that suited him just as much as teammate Lewis. A very fast start saw some select riders escape the pack and begin to pull away from Lewis; calling on years of racing experience Lewis kept a cool head and started to pull back the race-leaders by stealing time on the technical descents we’re he could really play to his strengths as an incredibly skilled bike handler. This race-tactic paid off quickly with Lewis catching the leaders and quickly building his own lead over the rest of the pack; with almost Jedi-like skills in the mud Lewis was able to continue to extend his lead staying upright where others faltered and fell on the super-slick track. After a consistent season and multiple podium spots at previous rounds of the National Trophy Series, Lewis was able to put his hands up in the air this time round as race winner! It was a great way for Lewis to end his season, looking all the more resplendent in his World Champion’s Rainbow Jersey. Pointing to the Wheelbase logo on his jersey as he crossed the line Lewis was quick to name-check us in post-race interviews, thanking the team for all of their support and hard work behind the scenes over the last few months.

Davie’s trip down south from Scotland proved fruitful as he raced consistently and in relative control on this challenging course, as others around him made small mistakes and lost time. Stretching things out on the long physically-demanding climbs Davie managed to ride into a top 10 place finishing an excellent 7th on the day. Elsewhere our Vet 50 racer Dave Haygarth lined up against another stacked field of racing talent, struggling to hide his glee at both the brilliantly laid-out course and the super-slick conditions which Dave has a long history of excelling in. After another long season of not only racing but acting as a race organiser, event host, cyclo-cross-focused multimedia guru and so much more it was great to see Dave take his highest placing at a National level with a brilliant 4th place in the Vet 50 race. Elsie Haygarth continues to develop her racing skills and experience at a national as well as league level; after taking on a full season of national racing she has made competing consistently against a very packed field of racing talent in the Under 14 Girls category look easy. Showing a mature, steely-eyed-focus on her racing and training bodes well for future seasons with another cool, composed race performance giving Elsie an excellent 13th place at Broughton Hall.

 

Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli Race Results

Veteran Men MV40

1st – Lewis Craven

7th – Davie Lines

Veteran Men MV50

4th – David Haygarth

Under 14 Girls

13th – Elsie Haygarth

 

SATURDAY

(All Saturday photographs by Man Down Media )

Lewis Craven excels in slick conditions like this.

 

Davie Lines made the trip from Scotland to race in Yorkshire.

 

Line choice is everything, Lewis looks ahead for his next move.

 

Part of the course quickly became un-rideable. 

 

World Vet 40 Champ Lewis Craven knows how far he can push the grip of his tyres.

 

Lewis is pretty fast on his feet too when there’s no other option.

 

Davie Lines rode to a brilliant 7th place in the Vet 40 race.

 

Ever the professional, Lewis doesn’t forget his sponsors as he takes the win.

 

World Champion Lewis Craven takes the Vet 40 win for Wheelbase.

 

Lewis looks pretty composed after the race.

 

Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli post-race debrief.

 

Dave Haygarth chose the final national-level race of the year to take his best result.

 

A fine 4th place for Dave Haygarth in the Vet 50 race.

 

Elsie Haygarth rounded out her season-long National Trophy Series campaign with a fine 13th place in the U14 Girls category. 

SUNDAY RACES

Sunday’s racing saw more of the same when it came to technical racing conditions. With a cool, damp evening having no effect on the course in terms of potentially drying it out overnight and following the impact of all the racing from the day before if anything the course was even more challenging for the biggest races of the weekend. After a difficult week following a positive COVID test result the weekend before Rory McGuire was back on track and ready to defend his brilliant 2nd place overall in both the Senior Elite and Under 23 Elite race categories. Even without the extra pressure brought on by the COVID positive Rory was heading into the end of the long cyclo-cross season on the back of a lengthy spell racing in Belgium and following numerous high placings in the National Trophy Cyclo-Cross series including a fantastic win at Sunderland shortly before Christmas. Would Rory’s racing fitness and that valuable experience racing in Belgium outweigh his difficult spell of ill-health and the potential of fatigue following such a long spell of racing? Only time would tell…

Alongside Rory the Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli Cyclo-Cross team had a strong team for this final race of the series with Adam Bent lining up after a very impressive 20th place last weekend in his first Senior National Championships. Our evergreen Vet 40 World Champion Lewis Craven made the most of having a National Trophy race on his doorstep and returned to Broughton Hall following his big win from the day before to line up against the Elite Seniors for the final race of the weekend. Giles Drake had risen to the challenge of the National Championships taking a brilliant 13th place in Crawley and with course conditions very similar here his race held a lot of promise too.

As the flag dropped and the racing began it was no surprise to see the newly-crowned National Cyclocross Champion Thomas Mein take a commanding lead; having spent the majority of the season racing on the continent Thomas was on another level showing a great level of skills and fitness. Behind him the Wheelbase Team’s support crew had their focus set firmly on Rory’s progress and his potential to wrap a high overall placing in the series standings; racing in a composed manner despite the difficult conditions Rory was able to consolidate a high placing in the the top ten during the race. The effects of the difficult week in the build-up to the final round of the series were not to be underestimated and Rory showed a great level of maturity to bounce back, remain positive and stay focused on the job in hand, eventually finishing in 7th place to secure a 3rd place overall and a Bronze medal for the Senior Elite series. Thanks to Rory’s young age he was also eligible for the Under 23 Category too and he was able to secure 3rd place in that competition too. Despite that late-season bad luck off the track Rory has been the revelation of the Cyclo-Cross season and holds a great deal of promise for the future; after a short break Rory will be shifting disciplines, moving over to Cross-Country Mountain Bike racing at both a national and international level and Wheelbase look forward to continuing to support him in his endeavours.

Elsewhere in this demanding race Adam Bent continued his good patch of racing form with a brilliant top-ten placing, making short work of the difficult course and excelling on the long, draggy climbs onboard his Cannondale SuperSix EVO CX bike which does a particularly good job of shedding mud and keeping the wheels rolling thanks to that extra tyre clearance engineered into this new-generation Cyclo-cross bike. Unfortunately Giles was on an extremely rare off-day, eventually pulling out of the race due to feeling unwell; meanwhile Lewis Craven, back in action after his win yesterday, was racing strongly in the mud and showing his superior bike-handling skills to take his best result in the senior Elite this season. His brilliant 10th place meant that the Wheelbase team placed 3 riders in the top 10 – a fantastic showing at the end of a long race-season!

 

Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli Race Results

Elite Men

7th – Rory McGuire

9th – Adam Bent

10th – Lewis Craven

DNF – Giles Drake

(National Trophy Elite Overall – Rory McGuire 3rd Senior, Rory McGuire 3rd Under 23)

SUNDAY

(All Sunday Photographs by James Vincent)

After a difficult week Rory knew what he needed to do.

 

Lewis Craven was back in his conventional Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli jersey to compete in the Elite Senior race.

 

Giles Drake was having a very rare off day and eventually ended up with a DNF.

 

This portion of the course was catching out some riders, not Rory though.

 

Adam Bent racing to a top 10 place onboard his Cannondale SuperSix EVO CX bike.

 

The weekend’s difficult conditions kept the pit crews busy.

 

Rory had to go deep to hold on to his overall race series ambitions.

 

Rory McGuire was on the podium to take 3rd overall in the Under 23 category.

 

3rd overall Senior, 3rd overall Under 23. What a fantastic race season for Rory!

 

It’s been a long race season, but it’s been a successful one! Thanks to everyone involved.

 

A HUGE THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR WHEELBASE CABTECH CASTELLI TEAM RIDERS FOR THEIR CONTINOUS HARD WORK, PROFESSIONALISM AND FANTASTIC RESULTS THROUGHOUT THE SEASON. MASSIVE THANKS TO ALL OF OUR TEAM SPONSORS WHO CONTINUE TO HELP US TO RACE WEEK IN, WEEK OUT. SPECIAL HEARTFELT THANKS TO EVERYONE BEHIND THE SCENCES WHO HELPS KEEP THE WHEELS ROLLING DURING SOME OF THE HARSHEST MONTHS OF THE YEAR.

UNITE – FIGHT – BELIEVE!

 

Written by Johnny Dodgin

Saturday Photos by Man Down Media

Sunday Photos by James Vincent

 

Have you seen our weekly Fast Bike Friday feature? Missed some of our best bikes? You can now see all of our featured bikes in one place over on Pinterest where you’ll find links to each of our Fast Bike Friday Blogs too!

Click the link below and search our archive…

May 28th and 29th 2022 sees the return of the challenging #JENNRIDE two day Bike Packing event taking place in the Lake District National Park!

The #Jennride is a 100 mile off road bike packing charity event in memory of Jenn Hill organised by Wheelbase’s own local postie and well-known Lake District mountain biker Rich Munro! Thanks to all of his hard work behind the scenes we can again look forward to two days of bike packing adventures on a route that takes in all that’s good with the Lake District trails – long off-road climbs, picturesque stretches and super-fun downhill sections.

In memory of Jenn Hill the event will again be raising money for St Gemma’s Hospice – St. Gemma’s Hospice provides specialist medical and nursing care for people with life threatening illnesses, predominantly cancer, along with support for their families, in the In-Patient Unit, by the community care nurses, in the Day Hospice, or as an Out-Patient.

This past weekend saw the National Cyclocross Championships take place in Crawley in the South of England, a big trip for the majority of our northern based Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli cyclocross team but a journey that our team undertook full of hope and optimism for a successful weekend of racing across a wide range of age categories. We went into the weekend with big hopes for Rory McGuire who has taken the UK cyclocross season by storm with multiple podium places in the National Trophy Cyclocross Series Elite races, including a brilliant win at the Sunderland round. Returning from a racing stint in the Cyclocross heartland of Belgium Rory brought back with him some fantastic form and racing experience from the most demanding races in the world, however, sadly it was not to be. We got the call from Rory early on Saturday that he had in fact tested positive for COVID and was in isolation; this was a real blow to poor Rory, with really unfortunate timing to fall sick with the virus and was a big blow to the team’s remaining racers and support crew going into the first races of the weekend.

It was due to COVID last year that racing was cancelled and the 2021 National Championships failed to take place. This meant that our very own National Vet 40 racer Lewis Craven had held the title since he took it in the muddy conditions of Shrewsbury way back in January 2020 shortly before we all started to live with the global pandemic. With Lewis’ long reign coming to a close it was time for him to attempt to successfully defend the jersey in similar racing conditions; we all rubbed our hands together when we saw the course and the difficult muddy conditions which we all knew Lewis excels in. In a tight race from beginning to end, Lewis fought a valiant race-long battle with his usual rivals Paul Oldham and Adrian Lansley with Lansley coming out on top this year and Lewis taking a close 2nd place to take the Silver Medal; although disappointed with the outcome of the race Lewis can console himself with the thought that he’s still the Vet 40 World Champion after taking that win just a few weeks ago.

Dave Haygarth was spotted doing multiple rain dances in the run up to his Vet 50 race and Saturday morning certainly delivered, making this technically demanding course even more difficult to master and playing right into Dave’s hands as a racer who warmly welcomes the ‘tractor-pull’ conditions of deep mud and slick conditions. Using a mix of powerful pedalling on the straights, levitating over slippery off-camber sections and putting those long legs to good use over the numerous running sections and steps Dave raced strongly to take an excellent 10th place in his race.

Elsie Haygarth seems to have had the worse of the weather in nearly all of her races this season with rain and mud featuring heavily. Thankfully she has the same taste for mud as Dave and made short work of some of the most difficult parts of the Crawley race course. With a cool, calm attitude to her racing and a natural talent for bike handling even in those demanding conditions Elsie continued her successful season with a consistent race, placing 18th at the end of the race.

Fast-forward to Sunday and the weekend’s main event – the Elite National Cyclocross Championship and an opportunity for our remaining Senior and Under 23 riders to shine. With Rory McGuire sidelined due to COVID all eyes were on our remaining team riders to see who would be able to best handle those difficult racing conditions. In a similar way to Dave Haygarth in the Vet 50 race, Giles Drake was excited to see the difficult, super-slick, muddy racing conditions declaring that he’s been waiting for these sort of racing conditions all season long. With everything coming together at the right time Giles was able to back up his usual consistent run of results at the season-long National Trophy Series with a brilliant 13th place at Crawley Nationals. Remaining calm and focused throughout the race Giles was able to call on bags of racing experience and make small gains in sections of the course where he knew he could excel. Elsewhere in the race Lewis Craven was riding strongly following his Silver Medal result from the day before. Lewis is another rider who is well known for his immense skillset in the mud and put those skills to good use racing to a fine 15th position against riders who in some cases were more than 20 years younger than him!

Speaking of youth our final two Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli team racers really impressed too in this most highly-stacked, difficult Elite race of the year; both Adam Bent and Flynn Gregory have only recently progressed up from the junior ranks and are now showing their natural talent in the more frenetic racing of the senior elites. Adam and Flynn are tremendously focused in their training and have strong engines that are equally matched with Jedi-like bike handling skills and they were both able to take advantage of the day’s difficult conditions to take 20th and 32nd place respectively.

Congratulations to all of our Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli team riders and a MASSIVE thanks to Stu Reid, Tyla Loftus and everyone else involved in the support and logisitcs of the team who all contributed to the success of the team at this year’s National Cyclocross Championships. Next weekend sees the final round of the National Trophy Cyclocross series and we hope to see Rory McGuire back in time to race for 1st place overall in the series!…

 

Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli Race Results

Veteran Men MV40
2nd – Lewis Craven Wheelbase CabTech Castelli

Veteran Men MV50
10th – David Haygarth Wheelbase CabTech Castelli

Under 14 Girls
18th – Elsie Haygarth Wheelbase CabTech Castelli

Senior Elite Race
13th – Giles Drake Wheelbase CabTech Castelli
15th – Lewis Craven Wheelbase CabTech Castelli
20th – Adam Bent Wheelbase CabTech Castelli
32nd – Flynn Gregory Wheelbase CabTech Castelli

 

BIG thanks to Nick and his team from Man Down Media for capturing all of the action over the two days of racing and snapping all of our Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli team riders. Check out our photo extravaganza below!..

In a tight race Lewis just missed out on defending his National Vet 40 Champion’s jersey taking 2nd place and the silver medal.

 

Dave Haygarth was spotted doing a rain dance shortly before his race, the filthier the course, the happier Dave is.

 

With a mix of draggy pedalling sections and portions of the course that were faster on foot Haygarth was able to capitalise on the conditions. 

 

A short set of steps favoured the ‘suit-casing’ carrying method rather than full-on shouldering – text book stuff from Dave Haygarth.

 

Resplendent in our fresh new Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli team kit Elsie Haygarth raced strongly in the U14 Girls category.

 

100% focused on her race Elsie remained composed throughout the attritional U14 Girls race.

 

The Elite National Cyclocross Championship race was the last competition of the weekend and saw our own Adam Bent take off with a fast start.

 

Giles Drake has had his usual consistent season racing in the National Trophy Series, but chose the National Champs to really shine.

 

Following his brilliant silver medal in the Vet 40 race Lewis Craven was back in action in the Elite race on the Sunday.

 

Flynn Gregory has really impressed this season, with his move up into the senior ranks almost looking easy.

 

Adam Bent’s strength and confidence racing in the mud shone through in the frenetic Elite race.

 

Giles Drake onboard his Cannondale SuperSix EVO CX wasn’t phased by that thick mud thanks to massive amounts of tyre clearance.

 

Giles admitted after the race that he’d been waiting all season for race conditions like this.

 

When race conditions are this difficult it’s important to remain calm and controlled; despite a few offs Adam was able to stay focused.

 

Lewis’ rainbow paintjob on his helmet reminds us that he’s the current World Vet 40 Champion.

 

A super-technical course full of tight turns, steep descents and off-camber stretches played to the strengths of our skillful Wheelbase Cyclocross team racers.

 

Flynn plunges down a steep descent while keeping control on one of the most demanding race courses of the season.

 

Giles brought his A-game to the Cyclocross National Championships finishing in a brilliant 13th place on the day.

 

Giles rode the awesome Cannondale SuperSix EVO CX to 13th place at the Cyclocross National Championships read our full review of the bike HERE.

 

Written by Johnny Dodgin

Photos by Man Down Media

 

Have you seen our weekly Fast Bike Friday feature? Missed some of our best bikes? You can now see all of our featured bikes in one place over on Pinterest where you’ll find links to each of our Fast Bike Friday Blogs too!

Click the link below and search our archive…

 

 

 

 

For our very first Fast Bike Friday feature of 2022 we’re taking a look at an aero road bike that sits at the very pinnacle of what’s currently available to race on the road. This premium Cannondale SystemSix Hi-Mod Dura-Ace Di2 road bike boasts the sort of frame technology and aerodynamic properties that can be found at the highest levels of international professional road racing, along with an equipment specification that cannot be bettered. Featuring the very latest tech from Shimano this race-ready machine features the all-new Dura-Ace 12-speed semi-wireless electronic groupset and is finished off with Cannondale’s own propriety carbon aero components.

When a bike looks fast stood still you know the Cannondale designers are onto something.

 

Before we get into the details and break down all that’s good with the Systemsix Hi-Mod it’s worth us highlighting just how much we love this super-fast Cannondale here at Wheelbase. It’s a model that has been around for a few seasons already and which was way ahead of the curve at its launch in July 2018. Claimed to be the World’s fastest UCI-legal road bike at the time of launch the SystemSix has since proved itself within the highest level of professional road racing with countless wins and podium places. As long term sponsors of our Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli racing team Cannondale have very kindly supplied us with the SystemSix aero road bike to race on over the last few seasons. For some of our long-serving team racers the change from the more traditional Supersix which they previously raced on, to this aero machine was like comparing night and day; as race speeds continue to increase and aero-efficiency plays an ever more important role in the outcome of most races the SystemSix has proved to be exactly the race tool that our successful team needed.

We believed in the SystemSix so much that we choose it as the race bike for our Wheelbase Castelli Cabtech racing team.

 

The SystemSix is a true race weapon; it’s almost invisible from the front thanks to that aerodynamic profiling. 

 

The headline with the SystemSix is most definitely ‘it’s fast’, but it’s not just straight line fast, there’s far more going on here; thanks to an in-depth design and manufacturing process that involved countless hours of deep scientific research and testing Cannondale can rightfully claim that the SystemSix Hi-Mod is faster in almost ALL riding and racing scenarios. This is one aero road bike that has plenty of ‘real world’ stats to back up Cannondale’s claims, so let’s break it down..

Fast Uphill

You’d typically expect an aero road bike like this to be slower on the climbs, however Cannondale state that the SystemSix is faster than a lightweight climbing bike on gradients of 6% or lower, pointing out that most Tour De France climbs average out at around 7-8%. I can remember riding with one of the Wheelbase Team riders in training shortly after they made the move over to the SystemSix from the older Supersix and they mentioned that it felt like they could hold their speed more effectively on longer, more gradual climbs.

Every surface, angle and bend has been carefully designed following extensive wind-tunnel and CFD testing.

 

Fast on Rolling Terrain

As average speeds in road races have increased, the need to remain aerodynamically efficient has increased too; scientifically, of all the forces you need to overcome to make speed aerodynamic drag has been proven to be the most significant. So cutting out unwanted drag in ALL racing scenarios will translate into more speed with less effort. On rolling terrain, over longer distances these small aero-improvements quickly multiply into a tangible advantage.

Faster Downhill

Cannondale rolled pretty deep on their research during the development of the SystemSix and can legitimately claim that this race bike is also faster on the downhills. Here’s an impressive stat – on a decent with a 5% gradient a conventional non-aero road bike would need to have an extra 300 watts of power input to keep up with a rider on a SystemSix; that means you’re spinning and recovering while they’re pedalling hard just to keep up!

The dropped seatstays enter the seat tube horizontally to further enhance the SystemSix’s aero efficiency.

 

Faster in the Sprint

Fancy your chances in the sprint? Maybe you’re always there or there abouts at the finish of your local weekly crit? Let’s face it, nine times out of ten the break gets caught and it comes down to a bunch sprint; according to the technical bods at Cannondale in a 200 metre sprint if you and your nearest rival were both putting out 1,000 watts and you were on a SystemSix you would be four bike lengths ahead at the finish line and there’d be no need to be checking the photo finish.

The carbon fiber aerodynamic seatpost blends seamlessly into the frame with a seat clamp neatly stowed away internally.

 

Faster on the flats

More science and more stats from Cannondale – as I’ve mentioned already, average speeds of road races at almost every level continue to increase as the bikes get even better and racers get more proficient at training, nutrition and racing to power; even at amateur level, speeds have gone up significantly. At 30mph the SystemSix reportedly saves you over 50 watts, that’s not an insignificant amount when you consider that an average Cat 1 amateur racer’s Functional Threshold Power is approximately 350 watts so you’ll definitely feel fresher deeper into your race when the race-winning action usually happens.

Airflow has been analysed on every surface of the SystemSix frame and fork, resulting in some unique configurations.

 

Everyday Free Speed

We’re not all avid road racers, sometimes we’re just out riding at a more civilised speed on the weekly club run or taking on an all-day epic. Cannondale assure us that the SystemSix requires around 10% less power input to maintain speed, this means you’ll be ready to sprint for the town signs when all your mates are flagging.

A stunning silver & red paintjob along with simple graphics give the SystemSix Hi-Mod a stripped-back, stylish look.

 

‘Integration’ is a term that’s been used a lot recently by the bike trade, particularly when it comes to full-on aerodynamic road bikes. When Cannondale originally developed this bike they quickly realised that to be as aero-efficient as possible it had to be designed as one complete integrated system – hence the name ‘SystemSix’. Cannondale’s system consisted of a holistically designed six-point system with the frame, fork, seatpost, handlebar, stem and wheels all being engineered to work as one complete unit which significantly cheats the wind.

A fully-integrated cockpit means that the junction between the stem, headset and frame is almost seamless.

 

With the aim of minimising drag and being as aero-efficient as possible both the frame and fork heavily feature truncated airfoil profiles which have been developed to hold and maintain airflow across their surface, not just head-on but at angles of yaw too. While we’re talking about the frame and fork it’s worth pointing out this particular model of SystemSix is constructed from Cannondale’s lightest grade of carbon fibre ‘Hi-Mod’. Cannondale’s Hi-Mod carbon is not only lighter than their standard carbon, it’s stiffer too meaning that the SystemSix Hi-Mod Dura Ace Di2 is more responsive to pedaling input; when you jump out of the saddle and put in an attack the bike will jump ahead, while those aero properties we’ve already highlighted will take over as you settle in to the breakaway to help you hold your speed.

The SystemSix Hi-Mod’s headtube is profiled to cut through the air efficiently; the junction between the frame and fork is super-smooth.

 

Continuing their sophisticated approach to total integration and the creation of one complete aerodynamic system the designers and engineers at Cannondale developed their own handlebar, stem and headset configuration. The brief was clear – create a cockpit that efficiently cheats the wind but not at the expense of comfort or adjustability; while some other bike brands have gone down the route of producing a one-piece carbon bar and stem which can’t be adjusted to refine a rider’s personal fit, Cannondale have ensured that the HollowGram KNØT SystemBar and Stem can be adjusted independently despite their seamless appearance. The profile of the aero bar is as comfortable as it is ‘aero’ with an aerofoil profile that also feels good in your hands. User-friendly adjustability continues with the interchangeable stem which is available in a variety of lengths and rises; elsewhere the Knot seatpost features a truncated airfoil profile, reducing drag and even negating the effects of the high-speed airflow that’s accelerated between the rider’s legs.

Cannondale’s propriety HollowGram KNOT carbon SystemBar and HollowGram KNOT alloy stem keep the front of the SystemSix really aerodynamic.

 

Cannondale have managed to make the junction between the stem and handlebar really smooth while keeping plenty of adjustability.

 

The newest iteration of the Shimano Dura Ace Di2 groupset launched to the public in the Autumn of 2021 and there were two significant headlines – first off the Japanese brand had made the leap to a 12-speed drivetrain, catching up with their component-manufacturing equivalents SRAM and Campagnolo. Secondly their all-new electronic groupset had gone wireless, well, semi-wireless to be exact, with Shimano taking a ‘best of both worlds’ approach which sees all the benefits of having totally wireless shifter units on the handle bars so that the need to route wires from the bar through the stem and into the frame are eliminated, while keeping a wired portion which links the front and rear derailleur with an internal battery which powers them both. Shimano aren’t a brand to be rushed into developing sub-standard technology, taking the time to consider the best design solutions to achieve the greatest level of efficiency and usability; Shimano say that this new configuration guarantees longer run times thanks to a more efficient central source of power, compared say, to totally wireless front and rear derailleurs which require their own battery power source located on the mechs themselves (as seen on the SRAM system).

I recently put together an in-depth feature on Shimano’s 12-speed Dura Ace Di2 groupset, highlighting all of the key features of this super-hi-tech electronic semi-wireless groupset. You can check it out here.

The SystemSix boasts Shimano’s top-of-the-range 12-speed Dura-Ace Di2 electronic grouptest.

 

The 12-speed RD-R9250 rear derailleur is the brains of the Dura-Ace Di2 12-groupset.

 

The latest iteration of Shimano’s Di2 electronic gear system boasts a much more compact front derailleur.

 

Dura-Ace Di2 R2900 features 12-speed wireless shifters.

 

Shimano’s Dura-Ace BR-R9270 hydraulic brake calipers are more compact than their predecessors. 

 

The Dura-Ace Di2 R2900 wireless shifter and hydraulic brake lever now features a slightly taller profile for a more secure hold on the hoods.

 

This latest Dura-Ace Di2 groupset features compact RT-MT900 disc rotors that have migrated over from Shimano’s mountain bike groupsets.

 

Going back to Cannondale’s completely ‘integrated system’ design approach to the SystemSix Hi-Mod the 64 KNØT SL carbon wheels that feature on the bike have been developed to be an intrinsic part of the complete aero-efficient race bike. The HollowGram 64 KNØT SL wheels were reportedly the first component of the SystemSix project to be developed and magically blend the speed benefits of a low-drag profile with the lightweight, fast-rolling properties required to gain a jump on the competition and the ability to hold your speed over longer distances. These disc-brake-specific wheels boast an extra wide rim to help give the tyre a wider footprint for more comfort and control. Taking aero-efficiency to the extremes Cannondale have even measured the airflow over the join between the tyre and the rim with this wider rim configuration also helping to make your tyre and wheel combination be more aerodynamic.

The SystemSix Hi-Mod Dura-Ace Di2 aero road bike is spec’d with some super-fast HollowGram 64 SL KNØT SL carbon wheels.

 

Another small but welcome addition to the SystemSix Hi-Mod aero road bike is Cannondale’s own wheel sensor fitted to the front HollowGram 64 KNØT SL wheel. Developed in partnership with Garmin this integrated sensor delivers accurate speed, route and distance information to Cannondale’s own Smartphone App and also allows you to register your bike and track exactly when your bike next needs to be serviced.

Cannondale include their own wheel sensor on the SystemSix Hi-Mod Dura-Ace Di2 road bike, ready to pair up with their own Smartphone App.

 

Super-light with deep 64mm carbon rims, the Knot SL wheelset is both aerodynamic and spritely on the climbs.

 

Cannondale have included a short-nosed Fizik Tempo Argo R3 saddle which will suit the sort of riding position you’ll find yourself in mid-race.

 

The Cannondale SystemSix Hi-Mod is a race-ready machine which is super-aero with tons of scientific data to back up those claims. Cannondale have engineered a super-aero road bike that will help you race more efficiently and more effectively so that you feel fresher and less fatigued longer into a race, leaving you in a position to either make the race-winning move or at least follow the attacks and hold your own in the breakaway. The SystemSix climbs surprisingly well, sprints brilliantly thanks to that extra-stiff Hi-Mod carbon chassis and holds your speed when you’ve got your head down and are time-trialing your way to the finish line. As I’ve highlighted in this feature, Cannondale’s fully integrated ‘system’ approach to the design and manufacture of the SystemSix, including all of the main components, even the wheels means that this aero bike is super-fast. Factor in Shimano’s 12-speed Dura-Ace Di2 electronic groupset and you’ve got a premium ‘race-ready’ road bike that you’ll struggle to out-spec.

The Cannondale SystemSix Hi-Mod Dura-Ace Di2 is a premium road racing bike at the very top of the aero-road-bike tree; there are NO compromises to this bike’s specification.

 

Geometry:

 

Cannondale SystemSix Hi-Mod Dura-Ace Di2 £11,500.00

Full Specification:

• Frame: SystemSix Hi-MOD Carbon, integrated cable routing w/ Switchplate, SAVE, PF30a, flat mount disc, 12×142 Speed Release thru-axle
• Fork: Hi-MOD Carbon, 1-1/8″ – 1-1/4″ steerer, 12x100mm Speed Release thru-axle, flat mount disc, 55mm offset (47-51cm) 45mm offset (54-62cm)
• Headset: Integrated, 1-1/8″ – 1-1/4
• Bottom Bracket: FSA PF30A to 24mm Reducer
• Chain: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2
• Crank: Shimano Dura-Ace R9200, 52/36T
• Front Derailleur: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 R9250
• Rear Cassette: Shimano Dura-Ace R9200, 11-30, 12-speed
• Rear Derailleur: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 R9250, 12-speed
• Shifters: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 R9270, wireless, 2×12-speed
• Brake Levers: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 R9270 hydraulic disc
• Brakes: Shimano Dura-Ace R9270, 160/140mm MT900 rotors
• Front Hub: HollowGram KNØT, sealed bearing 12x100mm centerlock
• Rear Hub: HollowGram KNØT, 12x142mm centerlock w/ DT Swiss 240 internals
• Rims: HollowGram 64 SL KNØT, Carbon, 20h front, 24h rear, 64mm deep, 21mm IW, tubeless ready
• Spokes: DT Swiss Aerolite, straight-pull
• Wheel Sensor: Cannondale Wheel Sensor
• Tyres: Vittoria Rubino Pro Speed, 700 x 25c
• Bar Tape: Cannondale 3.5mm
• Handlebar: HollowGram KNØT SystemBar, Carbon, 8 deg. pitch adjust
• Saddle: Fizik Tempo Argo R3, 150mm width, K:ium rails
• Seatpost: HollowGram 60 KNØT Carbon, 330mm
• Stem: HollowGram KNØT, Alloy w/ cable cover, -17°

 

Written by Johnny Dodgin

Photos by James Vincent

 

Want to see more fast bikes? You can now see all of our featured bikes in one place over on Pinterest where you’ll find links to each of our Fast Bike Friday Blogs too!

Click the link below and search our archive…

One of our youngest riders and newest additions to the Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli team has taken this year’s Cyclo-cross season by storm! The 19-year old from Perth, Scotland has posted some incredible results so far this season and is looking to capitalise on this momentum going into the final, most important races of the season. Currently sitting second in the UK under-23 National Trophy Series McGuire has also turned his attention to the Belgian ‘Cross racing scene in the past few months to gain further experience and to weigh himself up against some of the biggest names in the sport. We sat down with him (socially distanced of course) in order to ask him a few questions about his season so far, and his future plans for the rest of the season…

Rory battles through misfortune at the Crawley round of the National Trophy to remain highly placed overall. Photo: Man Down Media

 

Hi Rory, thanks for joining us! How are you and how is the season felt so far?

I’m good thanks! It has been a pretty hectic season so far but I’ve really enjoyed it. I’m excited to see how the next few races in Belgium will pan out.

 

The Belgian races you participate in are some of the most famous on the Cyclo-cross calendar, does this feel like it adds a lot of pressure to your race?

All races have pressure to them. Although some races have more pressure than others, the nerves are always similar and you have to deal with that just like the time before. I find as I gain experience I am more calm before the races. Having big-name riders around you also adds to the occasion but at the end of the day they are focusing on their races just as much as I am on mine.

 

Rory takes the win after a tight sprint at the Sunderland round of the National Trophy. Photo: Richard Howes

 

Speaking of big races and names, at the UCI World Cup in Namur this year you managed a very respectable 17th. How did it feel competing there and are you happy with your result?

Yes the World Cup race was incredibly challenging. You have to give absolutely everything from start to finish even more so than every other race! These are obviously the races you target at the start of the year however the approach is the same in the end. I felt like I rode this race really well however a flat tyre and a dropped chain hurt my chances of a better finishing position but these things happen and I’ll go again next year!

 

Rory wears the green National Trophy Cyclocross U23 Leader’s jersey going into the final round. Photo: Man Down Media

 

How do you find the transition between the British and Belgian racing scenes?

Both have their good points! In the UK I find myself at the front more often than in the mid pack so the Belgian races are an eye opener and great experience for that. The UK scene is always growing and the talent pool is widening incredibly quickly while the racing is still incredibly hard. The Belgian races however have huge crowds and the party atmosphere is difficult to describe without seeing it for yourself. Before the races it can add to the nerves, however when you are in the race you feed off it and you find that extra push to put on the show for the crowds.

 

Rory showed early season promise when he led from the gun at our local round of the National Trophy at Westmorland Showground in Cumbria. Photo: James Vincent

 

Rory’s recent results from his European race campaign:

• Namur, Belgium, Under 23 World Cup: 17th
• Dendermonde, Belgium, Under 23 World Cup: 25th
• Zolder, Belgium, Telenet Superprestige, Elite: 39th
• Louenhout, Belgium, Azencross, Under 23: 24th
• Baal, Belgium, GP Sven Nys, Under 23: 12th
• Hulst, Belgium, Elite World Cup: 38th

 

Everyone here at Wheelbase wishes Rory all the best for the final, most important races of the Cyclocross season. This coming weekend (8th/9th January) sees Rory competing in the National Cyclocross Championships which is being held in Crawley, a venue that Rory has already raced at this season. The following weekend (15th/16th January) marks the final round of the National Trophy Cyclocross series with the racing taking place at Broughton Hall in North Yorkshire; Rory is currently sitting in second place in the under-23 category as well as sitting second overall in the senior category. Rory’s final position for this gruelling winter-long series will all come down to his result at Broughton Hall, good luck Rory!

 

Written by Charles Crooke

Photos by James Vincent, Man Down Media and Richard Howes

 

Have you seen our weekly Fast Bike Friday feature? Missed some of our best bikes? You can now see all of our featured bikes in one place over on Pinterest where you’ll find links to each of our Fast Bike Friday Blogs too!

Click the link below and search our archive…

As the year comes to a close we thought it would be a good time to take a look back at some of the best ‘Fast Bike Friday’ features of 2021. Every week we publish an in-depth feature on a chosen ‘Fast Bike’ from Wheelbase HQ in the Lake District and accompany it with a large set of crackin’ photos taken by our very talented photographer James Vincent. We’ve seen some amazing bikes over the year, from super-fast aero road bikes to long-travel Enduro mountain bikes, capable gravel bikes and the latest hi-tech electric bikes. To see 2021 out in style we’ve compiled our favourite 45 Fast Bikes for you with handy links to each full ‘Fast Bike Friday’ feature, have a scroll through to find out more about some of the hottest bikes at Wheelbase this year. We’re already looking forward to 2022 when we’ve got even bigger plans for the feature. Happy New Year!

Johnny Dodgin & James Vincent

 

 

For our first Fast Bike Friday of 2021 we took a look at something VERY special! A unique custom build from our road bike department – a Cannondale Systemsix aero road bike complete with a Fat Creations custom paint job! We love the feel of this bike which is super-aero, reducing drag and helping you to ride faster for longer. As we all know, small differences in performance can be hard to measure but when your road bike is this aerodynamically efficient you don’t just benefit from enhanced straight-line speed but also gain an advantage in tight sprints, technical descents and even on long climbs.

Cannondale SystemSix – Fat Creations Custom Paint Job

 

Fast Bike Friday took a look at the Merida Big Trail 400 hardcore hardtail in January. Tough trail-focused hardtails with longer-travel suspension forks upfront are very much a staple within UK mountain biking with this simple setup being really popular amongst riders looking for a bike that can handle rowdy, technical trails and aggressive riding. To meet this demand Merida developed a bike with very modern ‘trail bike’ geometry. With a slack Enduro inspired 65.5° head angle the Big Trail 400 features a 140mm travel suspension fork to handle steep, tight, technical trails.

Merida Big Trail 400

 

Next our Fast Bike Friday feature focused on the popular Topstone Carbon gravel bike, with this particular model being the Women’s Topstone Carbon 4. This bike has become one of the more established gravel bike options available to consumers and has quickly gained popularity thanks to its unique looks and cleverly engineered performance qualities, with their ‘Kingpin’ configuration on the rear of the carbon frame being at the heart of this capable gravel bike.

Cannondale Women’s Topstone Carbon 4

 

Within the extensive range of BMC road bikes the Roadmachine is billed as BMC’s ‘One Bike Collection’, a true all-rounder that’s built for epic all-day rides with a frame developed specifically to offer more compliance and comfort, helping to reduce body fatigue and keep you feeling fresher for longer. That said, it’s worth getting one thing straight – this is not your typical ‘comfort road bike’ with a ridiculously high head tube or with gimmicky suspension elastomers; the Roadmachine is still very-much performance-focused.

BMC Roadmachine 01 Three

 

Fast Bike Friday took a look at the URS 01 THREE from premium Swiss brand BMC. On its arrival to our Lake District store we couldn’t wait to unbox and build the URS, with a lot of fans amongst our shop staff. The URS 01 THREE instantly caught our eye, thanks to its hot colour, BMC’s iconic angular tube profiling and the relaxed-angle fork all hinting at this gravel bike’s progressive geometry and potential for fun, technical off-road riding.

BMC URS 01 Three

 

The Merida eOne-Sixty 8000 E-MTB is designed for aggressive trail riding with 160mm of travel up front and 150mm at the rear. As well as being packed full of the latest tech with some very welcome extras there are two key elements to this E-MTB that stand out from the get-go; firstly the eOne Sixty 8000 features Shimano’s brilliant Steps EP8 motor and 630Wh battery, secondly Merida have created this bike around the ‘Mullet Principle’, what’s a Mullet bike? Read the feature to learn more.

Merida E-One Sixty 8000

 

In February we looked at the fantastically versatile, super-fun to ride Trek Fuel EX 8 XT full-suspension trail bike. This capable bike is a great option for riders looking for one mountain bike that does everything well; the Fuel EX 8 is only one option within the wide range of Fuel EX models available and is made from Alpha Platinum Aluminium rather than OCLV Mountain Carbon which you’ll find further up the range, this means that the Fuel EX 8 is more affordable while still including many of the key benefits you’ll find on the more expensive Carbon options.

Trek Fuel EX 8 XT

 

When we focused in on the Kona Rove DL gravel bike our first impressions were that this was one uber-cool, quirky gravel bike with a retro feel; but beyond the styling was there a bike that rode well and which meets the demands of modern gravel riding? Well, yes! This was a case of ‘steel is most certainly real’.

Kona Rove DL

 

Most of our Fast Bike Friday features tend to focus on high-end super-bikes including Road, Gravel, Mountain and E-MTBs which we can’t help being seduced by but sometimes may come at the expense of looking at more obtainable all-rounders that offer great value for the money. The Cannondale Trail Neo 4 was a great option for those considering buying their first E-Bike and were looking for a versatile bike that can be used for the daily commute during the week, before heading off further afield at the weekend.

Cannondale Trail Neo 4

 

Next we looked at the Mondraker Dusk R 29 E-MTB, an all-alloy full-suspension trail bike that included 150mm of rear travel featuring Mondraker’s brilliant Zero Suspension system matched up with a very capable 160mm Fox 36 Float Evol fork up front. The Dusk R 29 quickly proved itself to be one of the most popular E-MTBs on our showroom floor with this model selling through as soon as we had stock.

Mondraker Dusk R 29

 

Fast Bike Friday showcased an absolutely stunning aero road bike which was truly deserving of its ‘dream bike’ title; complete with a custom Trek Project One paintjob which made the bike look super-fast even when it was standing still. New for 2021 the Madone SLR 7 got a serious upgrade over its predecessor; while it kept all of its race-winning aerodynamics and great ride quality it got significantly lighter thanks to the frame being constructed from Trek’s new top-level 800-Series OCLV carbon composite.

Trek Madone SLR 7 Project One eTap AXS

 

In March we donned our goggles and strapped on our backpacks to take a look at Kona’s full-on Enduro World Series worthy bike – the long travel Kona Process X Enduro mountain bike. We discovered just how versatile this bike was when it came to adjustability, with loads of scope to custom-tune the bike to suit your own riding style and help master the most demanding Enduro stages out there. This bike was a tinkerer’s dream!

Kona Process X

 

Fast Bike Friday looked at the brilliantly versatile Cannondale Women’s Synapse Carbon 105 road bike; this awesome all-rounder offered race-level performance, all-day comfort and all-road capability, meaning unsurfaced tracks were not going to stop you continuing your adventures.

Cannondale Women’s Synapse Carbon 105

 

In April we focused on this absolute beauty! The Trek Procaliber 9.5 was a super-fast cross-country hardtail mountain bike that featured a stunning flame-coloured paintjob and was captured by our highly-skilled photographer James Vincent. All credit to him, he did a wonderful job of capturing the Procaliber 9.5 for us.

Trek Procaliber 9.5

 

Every now and then a mountain bike lands at Wheelbase and when it’s out of the box and built, nearly all staff (roadies included) stop what they’re doing to take a better look; when we wheeled the awesome new Nukeproof through the shop to prepare it for its photoshoot the Giga got just such a reaction! Our Fast Bike Friday feature took a detailed look at the all-new Giga 290 Elite which Nukeproof billed as a ‘Super Enduro’ bike.

Nukeproof Giga 290 Elite

 

Next up we featured a very special limited edition Stereo Hybrid 140 HPC 10th Anniversary 625 e-MTB from bike brand Cube who had teamed up with their German colleagues at Bosch to celebrate the ten year anniversary of Bosch e-bike motors. As we casted our eyes over James Vincent’s stunning photos we were struck by this Cube’s amazing paintjob described on their website as ‘Carbon n’ Oilslick’.

Cube Stereo Hybrid 140 HPC 10th Anniversary 625

 

In May our Fast Bike Friday feature focused on not one but two Fast Bikes at the same time! The Cervelo R5 Disc was an amazingly superlight carbon road bike that was well-recognised for being one of the best handling bikes available, providing responsive steering without being skittish; the R5 came in a number of different specification options so we looked at the brilliantly spec’d Force eTap AXS and Ultegra Di2 models together.

Cervelo R5 Disc

 

Fast Bike Friday featured the Kona Remote 160 DL e-MTB, an e-MTB firmly which was focused on having fun on the trails. A healthy amount of suspension travel and progressive trail-focused geometry meant the Remote was built to be stable at speed to give a confidence-inspiring ride when it was pointed downhill. But what about getting back to the top of your favourite trail? No dramas, the Remote featured Shimano’s compact, powerful EP8 motor!

Kona Remote 160 DL

 

The super-stylish Genesis Fugio 20 was featured in May and showcased a gravel bike with a split-personality. Part utilitarian gravel adventure bike and part playful singletrack shredder the Fugio 20 was not only capable of ferrying camping gear over endless tracks and trails in remote locations but was also ready for fun-filled, playful trail riding.

Genesis Fugio 20

 

Our first Fast Bike Friday feature of June looked at a real gravel speed-machine – the Cervelo Aspero Apex 1. It was very clear from the get-go that this was not a bike that had been built to fit the utilitarian, bike-packing mould; this gravel bike was unapologetically built for speed and performance over mixed terrain and riding surfaces. As Cervelo themselves had put it very succinctly in their own marketing spiel, the Aspero is meant to ‘HAUL ASS, NOT CARGO’.

Cervelo Aspero Apex 1

 

Next we cast our eyes over the rowdy, aggressive Nukeproof Reactor 290 Factory carbon trail bike. A bike that was built to be super-fun when the trails point downward but was also efficient when it came to pedaling back up to the top. Packed full of clever design details and proven engineering principles the 29” wheeled full-suspension MTB proved to be a true all-rounder which was ready to enhance your riding and make trail riding even more fun.

Nukeproof Reactor 290 Factory

 

The Cannondale SuperSix EVO Hi-Mod Disc Ultegra was super-light, stiff, aerodynamic and just happened to feature the same stunning paintjob found on the SuperSix EVO Hi-Mod bikes that were being piloted by the EF-Education Nippo pro-cycling team in 2021. Cannondale produced an ultralight Hi-Mod BallisTec carbon frameset that also happened to have low-drag properties thanks to its highly truncated airfoil tube shapes which offered the same light weight and equal or better stiffness than the traditional round tubes found on their previous-generation SuperSix but significantly reduced drag by up to 30%.

Cannondale SuperSix Evo Hi-Mod Disc Ultegra

 

Later on in June we highlighted how international Cross Country Mountain Bike races were gaining a lot of attention for the first time in around 25 years, with the mountain bike media sitting up, taking notice and giving more air time and column inches to this discipline of mountain biking. With race courses becoming more technical than ever and with demanding sections in each race helping to influence the results riders have really upped their game, spending a fair chunk of their training time focused on technical riding and skills improvement.

What did this have to do with our featured bike the Cannondale Scalpel Carbon SE 2? Well, alongside the evolution of the cross country race courses, the skill of the riders and the brilliant race coverage it’s fair to say that in recent times the bikes have really moved on, being able to handle the extra technical demands thanks to an increase in suspension travel, changes to frame geometry, the use of dropper seat posts and wider tyres – the Scalpel Carbon SE 2 was a great example of just such a bike.

Cannondale Scalpel Carbon SE 2

 

Next we featured the Teammachine SLR01 One LTD – a stunning all-round road bike from Swiss brand BMC which was a lightweight & spritely climber that also happened to be brilliantly aerodynamic with a beautifully shaped frame-profile featuring a fully integrated cockpit which included an aero handlebar & stem with internal cable routing. Sitting very near the top of the Teammachine SLR range the SLR01 One LTD was packed full of cutting-edge technology; while the aerodynamic fully-integrated frame and fork stood out for all its innovation and aesthetic qualities.

BMC Teammachine SLR 01 One LTD

 

In early July our Fast Bike Friday feature headed back onto the gravel! Initially, walking around the Wheelbase shop floor the Cube Nuroad C:62 SL gravel bike didn’t necessarily catch the eye; there were no garish colours or quirky frame features designed to isolate you from rough terrain like you might see from other brands. But once we stopped and took a minute to cast our eyes over the Nuroad C:62 SL we soon realised that this was a really premium gravel bike with a great carbon chassis, a fantastic SRAM eTap AXS wireless groupset and super-light carbon wheelset. Then there was the paint job; what we thought was just a matte black finish actually included some stunning iridescent glitter details on closer inspection.

Cube Nuroad C:62 SL

 

Fast Bike Friday featured a stunning Trek Project One road bike – the Emonda SLR 9 eTap in the team colours of the Trek Segafredo professional cycling team. This lust-worthy ultralight road bike included SRAM’s flagship electronic wireless groupset, featherweight Bontrager Aeolus RSL 37 carbon wheels and some great finishing kit including Bontrager Aelous RSL carbon integrated aero handle bar and stem.

Trek Project One Emonda SLR 9 eTap AXS

 

Next we looked at a modern classic – the Yeti ARC C2 carbon hardtail mountain bike. Why a classic? Well, the ARC has a very rich history dating back to the early 1990’s when it first appeared at mountain bike races in the States and was piloted to countless victories under such mountain bike racing luminaries as John Tomac, Juliana Furtado and Missy Giove. The all-new ARC C2 was no purist cross country machine though; while it subtly acknowledged its rich racing heritage this new offering from Yeti was a more progressive trail-focused 29er hardtail with a capable 130mm travel fork and long, stable geometry with a fairly relaxed 67 degree head angle.

Yeti Arc C2

 

At the end of July ‘Fast Bike Friday’ looked at a truly versatile bike-packing, adventure and gravel bike from quirky Canadian bike brand Kona – the Kona Libre was a drop-bar-bike that came pretty close to fitting the ‘one bike does all’ job description.

Kona Libre

 

Our first feature of August focused on something a little different – the Reaction C:62 Rookie was a full-on, race-ready carbon fibre cross country mountain bike that just happened to have been shrunk down to child-friendly proportions. OK so the Reaction C:62 Rookie was a little niche but it was clear the bike would enhance your child’s riding and enjoyment of mountain biking; with such a light carbon frame, capable suspension fork and a simple, reliable, precise-shifting SRAM groupset.

Cube Reaction C:62 Rookie

 

Shortly after its launch Fast Bike Friday took a detailed look at the all-new Pinarello Dogma F, the successor to their previous top of the range model the Dogma F12. Launched just before the 2021 Tour De France the Dogma F had already scored an amazing Gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics piloted by Richard Carapaz of Ecuador following shortly after his third place podium spot at Le Tour. At first glance we thought that the new Dogma F didn’t look a whole lot different to its predecessor, but once we drilled a little deeper we soon discovered that there were some significant refinements on the F12.

Pinarello Dogma F SRAM Red eTap AXS

 

Next our Fast Bike Friday feature looked at the simply stunning, glittery, iridescent Cervelo Aspero-5 Force eTap AXS gravel bike, a premium gravel race bike packed full of cutting-edge technology and performance-focused features. Before we got into the details we encouraged our readers to take a minute to appreciate that attention-grabbing paintjob with its magical colour-changing properties; but there’s more to the Aspero than just good looks, as we highlighted, Cervelo’s gravel bike has been around for a couple of seasons now and during that time has quickly gained a reputation as a gravel bike with its sights set firmly on speed, efficiency and performance.

Cervelo Aspero-5 Force eTap AXS

 

How best to describe the Cervelo S5 Disc Ultegra Di2 aero road bike which we featured at the end of August? One of our work colleagues probably put it best – ‘Tron called, he wants his bike back’. It was a fair comment; this stunning bike looked like something from a science fiction film, with the Cervelo S5 standing out from the crowd thanks to its unique looks which were a result of some very thorough design development and testing in the wind tunnel and in real world conditions.

Cervelo S5 Disc Ultegra Di2

 

At the start of September ‘Fast Bike Friday’ checked out a bike that was launched in early summer and quickly garnered a lot of attention thanks to its stunning looks and its unique suspension configuration; the Cannondale Jekyll 1 2022 was a long-travel mountain bike aimed at super-fast Enduro racers and trail riders who love to push the boundaries and conquer steep, tight, technical singletrack and wide-open super-fast tracks peppered with high-speed berms and huge gap jumps.

Cannondale Jekyll 1

 

Our Fast Bike Friday feature focused on the Cube Stereo 150 C:68 TM next; a capable hardcore 29er full suspension bike aimed squarely at aggressive trail riding and Enduro racing. It’s fair to say that Cube like a long model name, squeezing in all of the bike’s vital stats into a title to indicate what the bike is all about. So what exactly did we have here? Well, Stereo is their full suspension trail bike platform, 150 denotes the amount of the rear travel you get  – 150mm (with 160mm upfront), C:68 is Cube’s high-grade carbon fibre frame material and TM indicates that this bike has been tuned to be a no-holds-barred trail bike thanks to its high-performance suspension, brakes and durable wheels as well as a modified trail-focused cockpit, dropper seatpost and efficient 1x transmission.

Cube Stereo 150 C:68 TM

 

In mid-September we celebrated the arrival of Scott bikes at Wheelbase by taking a detailed look at the super-stylish, innovative Scott Spark RC Team Issue AXS full-suspension cross-country mountain bike with its unique internal rear shock and progressive geometry; a bike that had already garnered a considerable amount of attention from the cycling industry press and wider mountain bike community thanks to that original suspension configuration. Scott UK had a whole fleet of the all-new 2022 Spark RC Team Issue AXS bikes available for staff training with their retailers and upcoming demo events with the public around the UK. Josh, Scott’s Northern Area Sales Manager (and super-fit racer) joined us at Wheelbase Lake District on a beautiful, sunny evening to run through the technical aspects of the Spark RC Team Issue AXS bike and to ride with us on some of our best local trails so that we could all get a real feel for this new bike. Needless to say I was particularly excited to ride this full-suspension cross-country mountain bike after all of the recent industry chat around it.

Scott Spark RC Team Issue AXS

 

Our next Fast Bike Friday feature focused firmly on speed and aerodynamic efficiency with the Pinarello Prince Disc Ultegra road bike in the spotlight. Available in several different guises that particular model featured Shimano’s brilliantly functional Ultegra 11-Speed mechanical groupset, powerful flat-mount hydraulic disc brakes and a pair superlight Mavic Ksyrium Elite UST wheels.

Pinarello Prince Disc Ultegra

 

The first Fast Bike Friday feature of October looked at the Atlas 6.7, a versatile mile-munching gravel bike from German brand Focus which, thanks to some clever geometry tweaks and intelligent equipment specification, is equally at home flying through tight singletrack at speed as it is taking on endless miles of gravel, fully laden with bike-packing equipment.

Focus Atlas 6.7

 

We looked at the stunning Cannondale SuperSix EVO Hi-Mod Disc Red eTap AXS road bike  next; in a quirky and rather fetching metallic glitter Lavender colour set off with retro-cool tanwall tyres and featuring SRAM’s cutting edge Red eTap AXS wireless electronic 12-speed groupset this road bike garnered a lot of attention on the showroom floor. Don’t get it twisted though, this road bike was not all style and no substance; with a rich racing heritage the SuperSix EVO Hi-Mod is packed full of innovation and technology which has been proven at the highest levels of competition.

Cannondale SuperSix EVO Hi-Mod Disc Red eTap AXS

 

Next up Fast Bike Friday went into full-on gravity mode with the Cube Two15 Race downhill mountain bike. Despite the rapid growth of Enduro racing and the ongoing development of versatile Enduro and Trail bikes which prove popular with the masses there’s still a demand for race-ready downhill bikes that can take on a season’s campaign on the most demanding race tracks out there. For a privateer downhiller, racing on a tight budget then a bike like the Two15 Race is the ideal racing companion; spec’d with everything you’d expect from an out-of-the-box race-ready machine.

Cube Two15 Race

 

This Ibis Ripmo AF comes to us as a build kit, giving one of our lucky workshop technicians the opportunity to custom build this capable trail bike. Fast Bike Friday were on hand to not only shoot and write about this Californian full-susser but film the build process too. Watch the video and read the feature to get a better understanding of what the Ibis Ripmo AF trail bike is all about.

Ibis Ripmo AF

 

At the end of October we were back on the gravel with the stunning Grevil Ekar from premium Italian brand Pinarello; Fast Bike Friday advised you to leave your bike-packing luggage and camping mug at home because this gravel bike was built to be super-fast and fun, being more focused on aerodynamics and speedy agility thanks to its aero-angles and large volume 650B wheel and tyre configuration.

Pinarello Grevil Ekar

 

Our next Fast Bike Friday feature looked at a super-hot, cutting-edge gravel bike from premium Swiss bike brand BMC. The URS One Apex 1 was described as equal parts ‘fast and fun’ with a superlight carbon frame boasting BMC’s unique and cleverly engineered Micro Travel Technology for enhanced comfort, combined with some sophisticated angular tube-profiling which increases stiffness and pedaling efficiency.

BMC URS One Apex 1

 

Fast Bike Friday cast their eyes over the truly drool-worthy Cannondale SuperSix EVO CX cyclocross bike next, with its stunning ‘Purple Haze’ paintjob and no-nonsense cyclocross-specific components. As ridden by our very own Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli cyclocross team at races all over the UK including the National Trophy Cyclocross series, the all-new SuperSix EVO CX launched in August this year and marked a significant change in Cannondale’s cyclocross line-up, with the older Supercross being succeeded by this more versatile ‘cross bike.

Cannondale SuperSix EVO CX

 

Fast Bike Friday looked at something a little different, which initially needed a little explaining; the BMC Roadmachine X One was part-road-bike (the clue’s in the title after-all) and part-gravel-bike. During the unboxing and bike-build process it got our workshop technicians talking; is this a versatile road bike with some off-road capability? Or a super-fast gravel bike which doesn’t hold you back when you hit the smoother roads?

BMC Roadmachine X One

 

In December we took a detailed look at a super-light cross-country racing machine from Trek. The Procaliber 9.8 is a fast carbon fibre hardtail MTB and is very much the lightest and fastest mountain bike in Trek’s large range of cross-country-focused race bikes. The Procaliber has been an established model in Trek’s MTB model range for a number of years but it has seen some significant changes for this new-gen Procaliber.

Trek Procaliber 9.8

 

Written by Johnny Dodgin

Photos by James Vincent

 

Keep up to date with our Fast Bike Friday collection, showcasing the very hottest bikes at Wheelbase. Updated every week, you can see all of our featured bikes in one place over on Pinterest where you’ll find links to each of our Fast Bike Friday Blogs too!

Click the link below and search our archive…

 

It’s Fast Bike Friday! This week we’re casting an eye over a super-slippery aero road bike that’s already proved itself in winning moves at races including the prestigious Giro d’Italia. The aero-efficient Cube Litening C:68X SL was piloted to victory on Stage 3 of this year’s Giro by Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert rider Taco van der Hoorn after he took an extremely close win, holding off the bunch sprint behind him to take the win after an audacious all-day breakaway. So if we wanted proof that this top-of-the-range carbon aero road bike from Cube can hold its speed over long distances and is able to cut through the air efficiently then we’ve already got it; now let’s take a closer look at what makes this bike so fast…

The super-slippery Litening C:68X SL has been designed to be as aerodynamic as possible.

 

In the pursuit of pure and sustained speed the engineering team at Cube wrote themselves a very simple brief – make the Litening’s frame, fork, seatpost, integrated bar and stem as slippery as possible through the air. To do this Cube spent endless hours number crunching and using CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) backed up by extensive wind tunnel testing each and every component-part of this road bike’s chassis. This painstaking process paid off with the Cube engineers reporting a 30% improvement in drag reduction compared to the Litening’s predecessor. As our Giro d’Italia stage winner has already proved, in a world of marginal gains that’s enough to make the Litening C:68X SL a genuine breakaway machine.

The iridescent finish on the Litening C:68X SL is something to behold.

 

The iridescent finish on the Litening C:68X SL is something to behold; as you move around the bike the colour appears to move over the bike. With a slightly translucent finish you’re able to see the carbon fibre weave throughout the frame and can’t help noticing the beauty and sophistication of how the frame has been crafted. C:68X is Cube’s premium carbon fibre which magically blends strength and low weight in one brilliant material. C:68X sees a dramatic reduction in the amount of resin used in production, bringing down the level to just 32%. The texture of the resin was improved too, adding nanoparticles to help make it stronger and then the Cube engineers cleverly specified a range of different fibre choices and orientations allowing them to add controlled amounts of stiffness or compliance to separate areas of the frame and fork as required.

Cube used up to six different fibre types in the carbon layup process to help save weight while increasing aerodynamic efficiency, with fibres on each section of the frame being utilised according to load – more materials for weight bearing portions, less materials for portions that don’t carry so much load. The end result of this sophisticated manufacturing process is a frame with more rigidity and compliance exactly where it’s needed for a more comfortable but safer frame.

The Litening is built from Cube’s premium C:68X carbon fibre material.

 

Every tube profile and junction between each portion of the frame has been carefully shaped to cut through the air efficiently. 

 

The Litening C:68X SL features a fully integrated cockpit with hydraulic brake hoses being routed internally through the frame and fork.

 

CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) and wind tunnel testing have informed every surface of the Litening.

 

The Litening’s forks are equally aero and are seamlessly integrated into the frame’s headtube.

 

As is the trend now in contemporary road bike design the Cube Litening C:68X SL is fully integrated; this basically means that the bike’s frame, fork, handlebar, stem and seatpost have all been designed and constructed to work as one complete unit. This design approach creates a truly aerodynamic chassis that cuts through the air more efficiently than a traditional road bike fitted with separate components. Cube don’t just stop at forward-facing wind-tunnel testing, they’ve developed the Litening to be efficient in crosswinds too making sure the Litening performs in the real world.

The Cube Litening C:68X SL includes a neat carbon fibre Integrated bar and stem which comes proportionally sized to each frame size.

 

No detail has been overlooked with even the integrated headset featuring an aero top cap; areas of the head tube and fork crown have also been slimmed down significantly to cut through the air more effectively. Overall the Litening C:68X SL’s frameset could be described as brilliantly contemporary, boasting all of the features you want to see on a modern aero road bike; with full componentry integration, internal cable routing for Shimano electronic gears (not required in this instance with the SRAM wireless configuration), a removeable front derailleur mount if you prefer to run a single chainring upfront, multiple bottle mounts and significantly there’s clearance for road tyres up to 28mm wide to fit the current trend of running wider tyres.

Even the integrated stem’s top cap is sensitively shaped to be more aero efficient.

 

The flattened-out profile of the integrated handlebar cuts through the air, helping you to hold your speed.

 

Cube have spec’d this premium aero road bike with SRAM’s fantastically efficient Red eTap AXS wireless 12-speed groupset. The clean, uncluttered looking Cube Litening C:68X SL has been designed to cut through the air, saving you a significant amount of watts over longer distances, so what better groupset to fit than one with a completely wireless setup; this clutter-free configuration enhances the Litening’s aero-efficiency even more! Those neat gear shifters contain simple button batteries which power a unique shifting signal to both the front and rear derailleur. Moving down to the drivetrain you’ll find that both the front and rear derailleurs feature small rechargeable batteries which clip onto the mechs securely and last for up to 60 hours of use before needing a recharge.

Cube’s top of the range Litening C:68X SL features SRAM’s premium Red eTap AXS wireless groupset.

 

If you’ve never ridden a road bike with an electronic drivetrain before it’s worth pointing out just how different it feels; instead of using the force from your fingers to select each and every gear the simple press of a button does all the work for you, with a wireless signal initiating the shift and the derailleur’s small motor doing all the work for you. This might sound fairly insignificant but the difference should not be underestimated; this system benefits smaller hands and comes into its own when you’re riding in cold weather in gloved hands too. With a fully powered, wireless gear shift each change is light and positive. That precise gear shift is really confidence inspiring – with its digital consistency encouraging you to change gear more often than you perhaps would with a conventional cable-activated groupset, leading to a more sophisticated use of the gears available, keeping you feeling fresher for longer during epic all-day rides.

Operation of the SRAM Red eTap AXS wireless groupset couldn’t be more easy, simply press the right lever to shift down the block and the left lever to move up the block. Press both right and left levers together and the front mech will shift, either from the big ring to the small ring or the small ring to the big ring depending on where your chain is currently sitting. If you want to change how your bike shifts you can customise the settings via the SRAM App to enable you to shift up the block with the right lever and down the block with the left lever.

An instantaneous wireless signal from the shifter activates the front and rear derailleurs as required.

 

SRAM’s unique Red D1 chain features a flat-top profile that adds strength to the thin 12-speed chain.

 

With 12 cogs squeezed into the rear cassette there’s a really good spread of gears with minimal jumps between ratios.

 

Every component in the SRAM Red groupset is ultra-light and performs flawlessly.

 

When it comes to braking on the SuperSix EVO Hi-Mod you can rely on powerful SRAM Centreline XR hydraulic disc brakes which are easy to modulate for confidence-inspiring control even in unpredictable, wet weather and on poor road surfaces. With flat mounts on the Litening C:68X SL frame and fork the brake calipers look neat and uncluttered; specially profiled 160mm disc rotors help to prevent the brakes from overheating under continuous braking while thru-axles keep everything secure and in place further adding to the stiffness and positive handling of the bike.

Neat flat mount SRAM Red hydraulic brake caliper provide plenty of easy-to-modulate braking power.

 

Small but powerful; there’s no aero compromises caused by this neat brake calipers.

 

A super-fast aero road bike like the Litening deserves a pair of race-ready wheels to really help it perform. Adding to the Litening’s already impressive aerodynamic efficiency the Mavic SLR 45 Disc wheelset with its deep carbon rims helps you slice through the air with minimal drag; when roads point skyward their overall light weight means you won’t be held back on the climbs with these super-light wheels ready to accelerate immediately when you get off the saddle and put the power down.

The Cube Litening C:668X SL comes spec’d with a fast-rolling Mavic wheelset.

 

The SLR 45 Disc’s rim is tubeless-ready using Mavic’s own UST system; a clever interface between the spokes, spoke nipples and carbon rim means that the spokes attach to the rim without any need to drill the upper rim bed so that no rim tape is required saving 30g in overall weight. This makes setting up your wheels tubeless much easier too with the newly shaped rim bed making it easier to mount and remove tubeless road tyres. What are the benefits of running a tubeless setup on a road bike? Well, there’s no tube so less weight, there’s less overall friction and more air volume from the 28mm wide Schwalbe Pro One tyres means a smoother, more comfortable ride.

45mm deep carbon Mavic Cosmic SLR 45 wheels shod with 28mm Schwalbe Pro One tyres help to keep things aero.

 

Cube have hit the mark yet again with the Litening C:68X SL. Race-proven at the highest level of competition already, with every aerodynamic aspect that the designers and engineers have worked on being successfully showcased in some of the most demanding road races in the world. With a fully-integrated aerodynamic chassis and all of the contemporary elements we’ve all quickly come to expect from a modern road bike, namely hydraulic disc brakes, no exposed cables, a cutting-edge electronic groupset, lightweight aero carbon wheels and super-comfortable 28mm tyres the Litening is both a capable racing machine and a real-world mile-muncher that you’ll be able to pedal all-day-long.

The Cube C:68X SL is a premium aero road bike with no compromises when it comes to component specification.

 

Cube Litening C:68X SL 2022 RRP £8,099.00

Full specification:

• Frame: C:68X Monocoque Advanced Twin Mold Technology, Aero Headtube, Full Internal Cable Routing, Flat Mount Disc
• Fork: Litening C:68X Aero, Integrated Cable Routing, Flat Mount Disc
• Headset: ACROS, Top Integrated 1 1/8″, Bottom Integrated 1 1/4″
• Shifters: Sram Red eTap AXS 12-Speed
• Rear Derailleur: Sram Red eTap AXS 12-Speed
• Front Derailleur: Sram Red eTap AXS
• Cassette : Sram Red XG-1290, 10-33T 12-Speed
• Chainset: Sram Red Carbon, 48x35T
• Chain: Sram Red D1
• Brakes: Sram Centreline XR (160F / 160R Rotors)
• Wheels: Mavic Cosmic SLR 45 Carbon
• Tyres: Schwalbe Pro One, Tubeless Easy, 28mm
• Integrated Bar / Stem: ICR Aero Cockpit System, Integrated Cable Routing, Aero Spacer System, Garmin/Wahoo Mount Interface

– Integrated Bar / Stem per bike size – 50cm, 52cm : 400mm wide handlebar / 90mm stem

– Integrated Bar / Stem per bike size – 54cm, 56cm: 420mm wide handlebar / 100mm stem

– Integrated Bar / Stem per bike size – 58cm: 440mm wide handlebar / 110mm stem

– Integrated Bar / Stem per bike size – 60cm: 440mm wide handlebar /120mm stem

• Bar Tape: Bartape RD
• Seat Post: Litening C:68X Aero, Comfort Flex
• Saddle: Natural Fit Nuance SLT Road Carbon

 

Written by Johnny Dodgin

Photos by James Vincent

 

Want to see more fast bikes? You can now see all of our featured bikes in one place over on Pinterest where you’ll find links to each of our Fast Bike Friday Blogs too!

Click the link below and search our archive…