Pro bikes of the 2020 WorldTour: part three
What’s that, you want more pro bikes? OK, here are the 2020 team bikes belonging to Trek-Segafredo, Cofidis, NTT (formerly Dimension Data), UAE, and Bahrain-McLaren. And hiding within are some teasers of the special bikes belonging to Mads Pedersen (world champion) and Elia Viviani (European champion).
Out of these five teams, only UAE are riding rim brakes. Trek-Segafredo and NTT made the move to discs last season, while Cofidis and Bahrain-Mclaren have also gone with spinning rotors for 2020.
There wasn’t a single Campagnolo bike covered in either part one or part two of our pro-bike round-ups, but that’s corrected with two bikes here. The teams on Campagnolo for 2020 are Cofidis, UAE and Lotto-Soudal (which will be in our fourth and final article of the series). SRAM has two teams, while all others are seen running Shimano shifting and brakes – that’s quite the dominance.
– Pro bikes of the 2020 WorldTour: part one
– Pro bikes of the 2020 WorldTour: part two
Cofidis Solutions Credits
Having stepped up from Pro Continental to WorldTour for 2020, the French outfit brings with it a bike name that hasn’t been ridden by a WorldTour-level team since 1994 – De Rosa.
Elia Viviani’s European champion-themed bike.
These De Rosas are all-new for 2020. The Italian bike company has overhauled its aero SK Pininfarina for the new year, tweaking the aerodynamics by flattening the toptube and shielding the rear wheel. The brake hoses and gearing wires are now entirely internal, and the frame had some weight shaved from it too, with a size-medium quoted at 950 grams. It’s a bike made for the sprinters, and its the pick for the likes of Elia Viviani.
Most others in the team are riding the new Merak, a model name that won the Plouay world championship in 2000 and is returning as a wholly new bike for 2020. The Merak is De Rosa’s equivalent of all-rounder lightweight and aero bikes like the Scott Addict RC, Wilier 0 SLR and Cannondale SystemSix Evo. Like those bikes, the disc-equipped Merak hides the cables through a one-piece handlebar and stem. The Merak is claimed to save approximately 150g compared to the SK Pininfarina.
For both the SK Pininfarina and Merak, the internal cable routing is achieved through FSA’s new ACR cable routing system. This system was designed as an OEM offering for small- to medium-sized bike companies in order to achieve what only the largest bike companies had managed to do with proprietary components.
These team bikes are covered in ultra-premium Campagnolo Super Record EPS Disc 12-speed groupsets. Interestingly it’s Campagnolo’s sibling wheel company, Fulcrum, that provides hoops to the team. In the past Fulcrum wheels have been kept for use on otherwise Shimano-equipped bikes, but perhaps this is Campagnolo’s way to ensure Fulcrum remains seen at the top level.
Bikes pictured: Elia Viviani’s De Rosa SK Pininfarina and Mathias Le Turnier’s Merak.
Trek-Segafredo
While a certain Road World Champion has a newly painted bike, the rest of the team are racing the Tour Down Under on what are predominately carry-over rides.
The team is riding a mix of the aero Madone and the lightweight Emonda – both in special Team Issue editions which feature team paint, moulded-in race number plate holders and “H1” race geometry (effectively lower head tube heights).
Like last season, the whole team are set up with SRAM’s Red AXS eTap 12-speed shifting and hydraulic disc brakes. At least for the Tour Down Under, riders are using 10-28T cassettes with large (and team issue) 54/41T chainrings. Expect riders to swap to 10-33T cassettes for more mountainous races.
Bigger chainrings for Trek-Segafredo, but not for the usual reasons
The team has joined Mitchelton-Scott in using Pirelli tubular tyres (25 mm), which are glued to a range of Bontrager Aeolus wheels.
Speaking of Bontrager, a number of the riders on the Emonda, including Richie Porte, are using a new and unmarked one-piece handlebar and stem. Rumours are that this new aero handlebar is a part of the next generation Emonda. Porte’s bike features the new Bontrager Aeolus stub-nose saddle.
Bikes pictured: Mads Pedersen’s Project One Madone and Richie Porte’s Team Issue Emonda.
NTT
The BMC bikes of NTT (previously Dimension Data) have received just a cosmetic tweak since they moved to discs last season.
While NTT do use BMC’s dedicated aero racer, the Timemachine, it’s the well-rounded Teammachine SLR01 that’s commonly the pick of its riders. The Teammachine is a bike that BMC themselves admit isn’t the lightest, stiffest or most aero amongst its competition, but it’s a bike that balances such elements, while adding comfort, into a performance package.
Part of the aerodynamic equation comes from BMC’s ISC stem which retains the cables guides to run them down the sides of the fork steerer tube. This system is fully compatible with just about any handlebar, and many NTT riders choose the Enve SES Aero bar as a result.
Enve continues as the wheel supplier, and where the team once used Chris King hubs, they’re now on Enve’s own.
NTT may ride with Shimano Dura-Ace R9170 groupsets, but as evidenced by the Rotor powermeter cranks and KMC chains, they are not sponsored by the Japanese company. And like so many of the teams using Shimano, the rear derailleurs are mounted with a direct-mount hanger.
Bike pictured: Young South African rider Stefan de Bod’s BMC Teammachine SLR01 Disc.
UAE Team Emirates
The Colnago-sponsored UAE Team Emirates has a new bike since I last photographed them this time a year ago. This new bike, the V3Rs is the pick of most team riders, and only a small handful are seen riding the Italian bike company’s aero Concept or lugged carbon C64.
The V3Rs is Colnago’s version of the modern do-it-all racer, merging low weight and aerodynamic design. Compared to the previous V2R, the new model is said to be lighter, stiffer, more comfortable and better at tricking the wind.
Colnago’s top-tier bikes are available in the choice of both disc and (direct-mount) rim brakes, with UAE still electing for the lighter option.
UAE hasn’t seen any changes to its technical sponsors for the new year. Campagnolo still supplies its Super Record EPS 12-speed groupsets and tubular Bora wheels. Deda supplies the cockpits, Prologo handles the perches, and Vittoria looks afer the rubber. As with last year, the only component that’s not from an Italian brand is the Look pedals.
Bike pictured: Belarusian rider Aleksandr Riabushenko’s Colnago V3Rs.
Bahrain-McLaren
It’s a new title sponsor, new colours and a change of powermeter for the Bahrain-McLaren team in 2020. While no longer a title sponsor, Merida remains the bike sponsor and provides the team with its Reacto aero bike and the lightweight Scultura.
These frames are treated to a wholly new paint scheme, one that merges orange, red, black and baby blue into something that surprisingly works wonderfully well.
Like so many others, the team has committed to disc brakes for 2020. Merida’s disc brake bikes feature unique cooling fins at the rear caliper, although no such feature is found on the front fork where much of the braking power comes from.
The team had been using the fancy SRM Origin Road carbon powermeter cranks over the past few seasons, but 2020 sees the team on Shimano Dura-Ace powermeters. The Shimano cranks match the rest of the drivetrain and disc brakes, while the wheels come from Vision.
Most team bikes are using Vision’s one-piece Metron 5D handlebar and stem, however, a few choose more traditional handlebar and stem combos from FSA’s catalogue.
All team bikes at the Tour Down Under are setup with Continental Competition Pro Ltd 25 mm tubulars.
Bike pictured: An unmarked Merida Scultura Disc (rider unknown).
Stay posted for the fourth and final part in this series, coming soon!
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