Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

TECH NEWS

Tour de France Bikes 2015: Joaquim Rodriguez's Canyon Aeroad CF SLX

Stage 12 finished on the Plateau de Beille and Purito took his second stage of the Tour aboard his custom painted Canyon Aeroad CF SLX

Joaquim “Purito” Rodriguez today clinched his second stage win in the 2015 Tour de France, adding to his victory on the Mur de Huy of stage 3 with a dominating ride on the Plateau de Beille. Here's the custom painted Canyon Aeroad CF SLX he was riding.

Joaquim Rodriguez has had a few custom painted road bikes during his time, this latest is arguably the smartest we’ve seen though, a stylish red and blue on white paint job. His choice of an aero bike just goes to show that aerodyanmics do play a factor on the climbs, especially at the speeds these guys are racing up them.

Underneath the paint is Canyon’s latest Aeroad, the German company's dedicated aero race bike first introduced last year. Joaquim Rodriguez has favoured the previous Aeroad and made no hesitation switching to the new model. You’d might think someone known for his devastating climbing abilities to favour the lighter Ultimate from Canyon’s range, but clearly he favours the aerodynamic advantage of the aero road bike.

- 12 of the fastest aero road bikes

The best feature of the bike has to be the custom Selle Italia SLR Monolink saddle. The cover is finished with a small cigar graphic, a reference to his “Purito” nickname, as well as highlighting his WorldTour overall victories in 2012 and 2013.

Up front he uses Canyon’s Aerocockpit CF integrated handlebar, sticking with his preference for aerodynamic equipment. The company claims it is good for an aero advantage of 5.5 W at 45 km/h, compared to a conventional bar. It houses all the cables inside the bar, the Di2 junction box is mounted underneath the handlebar as well, and there’s a custom mount for his SRM computer.

A smart detail that is easy to miss are the Di2 optional sprint shifter buttons mounted underneath the centre section of the handlebars. Normally, given their name, they’re mounted inside the drops quite near the hoods, but Rodriguez clearly finds this location preferable for his riding style. A clear benefit of this position is that when he’s climbing on the tops, he can change gear without move his hands over to the hoods.

The bike is kitted out with a full Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupset, and while there’s a mount for an SRM computer on the handlebars, this bike doesn’t have an SRM Power Meter fitted at the cranks. The sticker saying “2” suggests this is one of his spare bikes explains the reason it doesn’t have a power meter installed.

- Review: Canyon Aeroad CF SLX

Rodriguez is 1.69m tall and uses 170mm crank arms.

What's this all about then? Is it a mechanics mod to make preloading the Shimano chainset with an Allen tool easier and quickier, or is it to add extra weight in the bottom bracket to bring Joaquim Rodriguez's XS size Aeroad up to the 6.8kg weight limit?

Mavic Cosmic Carbone wheels are fitted with Mavic 22mm branded tubular tyres, but it sidewall suggests they’re made in Italy and the tread pattern does look like that which you would find on a Vittoria tyre.

More tech from the 2015 Tour de France.

David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes

Add new comment

10 comments

Avatar
Iamnot Wiggins | 9 years ago
0 likes

I like how the junction box sits inside the stem. Very tidy!

Avatar
dastott | 9 years ago
0 likes

Interesting he isn't riding the more climb orientated Ultimate CF SLX as favoured by Quintana.

Avatar
Pointbroken replied to dastott | 9 years ago
0 likes

Yeah I was thinking that too.

But I suppose if they are both at the minimum weight limit then why race the less aerodynamic one?

Avatar
rapid4 replied to dastott | 9 years ago
0 likes
dastott wrote:

Interesting he isn't riding the more climb orientated Ultimate CF SLX as favoured by Quintana.

He'll also spend the rest of the stage saving on power through having an aero frame allowing him to be fresher and stronger for the final climb? (guessing)

Avatar
Jack Osbourne snr replied to rapid4 | 9 years ago
0 likes
rapid4 wrote:
dastott wrote:

Interesting he isn't riding the more climb orientated Ultimate CF SLX as favoured by Quintana.

He'll also spend the rest of the stage saving on power through having an aero frame allowing him to be fresher and stronger for the final climb? (guessing)

I have the next setup breakthrough:

TT frameset, wheels and gruppo - as aero as it gets without being made of bubbly chocolate
Layback seatpost - to allow a better climbing position with arse over rear wheel
Triple chainset - to bring weight up to UCI minimum and look really cool.

Anybody got a TT frameset I could borrow to experiment on?

Avatar
steviemarco | 9 years ago
0 likes

Crank bolt or motor starter?  24

Avatar
Yemble | 9 years ago
0 likes

Makes a change from Canyons usual dreary colours. Stealth black is so 2013.

Avatar
Benjamin Nickolls replied to Yemble | 9 years ago
0 likes

like the Omega Pharma Quickstep team of 2012 you mean?

Avatar
crikey | 9 years ago
0 likes

The article above has been edited.
It was edited after I pointed out the reason for the bolt in the BB; then I edited my reply...

Try to keep up son...

Avatar
crikey | 9 years ago
0 likes

The chainset preload bolt is a way of adding weight to a frame which might otherwise be too light, as you've said:

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/product-news/tour-bike-andy-schleck-%E2%8...

 3

Latest Comments