The $33,000 bike Ashton Lambie rode to the world’s first sub-4 minute pursuit
A 64x15 and $10,000 bars: Ashton Lambie's sub-4-minute pursuit bike
Ashton Lambie has cemented a place for himself in the history books as the first person to ride a 4 km pursuit in under four minutes. An achievement of immense magnitude, some might say it is at least the cycling equivalent of Roger Bannister’s sub-four-minute mile in 1954. While Bannister achieved what many considered physiologically impossible at the time and broke down an apparent collective mental barrier for humanity, there was a certain inevitability about someone, sometime soon, breaking the four-minute 4 km pursuit barrier.
That is not to detract from Lambie’s achievement but is rather a collective acknowledgement of the progression in modern sport. The sub-four-minute pursuit became an equation: massive human engine + sports science and physiology understanding + technological advancement = 3:59.930
Lambie has the engine, the biggest part by far of that whole equation. His team has an advanced understanding of physiology and advancements in training, and this bike provided the platform to deliver all that potential onto the boards of the Aguascalientes track. We have these photos of Lambie’s groundbreaking bike, from photographer Kit Karzen, to attempt to encapsulate all that tech advancement into one gallery.
So find yourself a quiet place, sit back, marvel at this “giant leap for mankind” level of advancement, and ponder the fact that for 99.999% of us, all the marginal gains in the world still wouldn’t have been enough to keep us on the same lap as Lambie.
If it looks like a fast bike, and it goes like a fast bike, it’s not a duck! Lambie rode an Argon 18 Electron Pro Tko Pursuit frameset – a cool £7,999 per frame. 
Zipp is a relatively new sponsor for Lambie and livestreamed the record-breaking ride on its Instagram account. Lambie used the Zipp Super 9 discs front and rear. £2,800 x 2, front and rear. 
Lambie rides with the Huub-Wattbike team and has the full catalog, and then some, of Wattshop optimisation products to choose from. One of the most notable upgrades to the bike is these Wattshop Cractus Aero cranks at a cool £1,595 a set. The crank’s aerodynamic profile is said to reduce turbulence and separation around the spider, crankarm, and chainring. Hidden beneath that aero exterior is a 144 BCD (bolt circle diameter), an incredibly narrow 132 mm q-factor, and adjustable crankarm length. 
We are reliably informed Lambie opted for a 64-tooth chainring (paired to a 15-tooth sprocket). The Wattshop Cractus chainrings are said to be infused with a low-friction additive for improved drivetrain efficiency. 
That chain, in case you are wondering, is a KMC X101, no doubt with some form of optimising wax treatment. 
Many of the Huub-Wattbike team opt for Speedplay pedals for lower stack height and the claimed improved aerodynamics, but Lambie sticks with the Look Keo platform. The aero penalty, if any, must be fairly small given the aero look of Look’s blade pedal. Look Keo Blade Carbon Ceramic: £180. 
Lambie was perched on an ISM PN 1.1 saddle. The PN 1.1 is ISM’s softer-padding option, measures 110 mm wide, and features ISM’s signature stubby two-prong/cut-out, nose-less front. ISM PN 1.1: £150. 
A saddle’s role in maintaining an aero position is often overlooked. Too much pressure on the perineal area will eventually force a rider out of position or to overload other areas, leading to quicker onset of fatigue. 
If Lambie wanted a warm up for his arms and shoulders, he could have got it pumping these Vittoria Pista Oro tyres. Again we are reliably informed Lambie had the maximum 15 bar (215 psi) in both tyres for the record-breaking ride. Pista Oro tyres: £174 each. 
Lambie looked warped after the ride, needing assistance to first get off the bike and then lower himself to the ground. Emptying the tank: priceless. 
A little customisation goes a long way. 
You go wide, we’ll stay narrow. Argon 18 has stuck with the “narrow is fast” design philosophy. 
The pièce de résistance? If the Cractus cranks are next level, the Wattshop Anemoi Olympic Edition Pentaxia Cockpit is arguably next galaxy. Even with a claimed massive 36 W saving at 64 km/h versus the far-from-standard Argon 18 Electron Pro cockpit, it’s still hard to fathom an £8,500 track-only handlebar. That is what we are looking at though. The Pentaxia base bar is only compatible with the Argon 18 frame and measures in at 37 cm wide. The aero extensions are an evolution of the Wattshop Anemoi extensions and are designed to within a hair’s width of the UCI regulations, with an aero profile to smooth out the transition from extension to the rider’s arm, an off-centred two-finger grip to maximise the height of the extension within the UCI 10 cm rule, 15° armrest angle, and high-sided armrest walls for added support. 
If no one has yet done so, I hereby name these pinky grips. 
Like an F1 wing for your forearms. 
Ah here, wait a minute! If it’s not slammed it doesn’t count! 
These high-sided armrests provide added support to help the rider maintain that narrow shoulder position, aka turtle-heading. 
A small wrap of emery cloth or similar for some grip at the start. 
The Argon 18 forks have this built-in transponder mount. 
It’s as narrow as it is fast. OK maybe slightly faster. 
Clothing, the current frontier in track performance. Vortez is the British brand providing many top-performing track athletes with clothing specifically designed to perform best at the incredible speeds riders are now hitting. Lambie will have opted for a suit fastest at 60 km/h, that might not be the fastest for the rest of us going much slower than that. Here we have the much-talked-about £600 overshoes from Vorteq. 
No motors here; they checked!
So there we have it, the world’s first 3:59 4 km pursuit bike. All in, for the prices of the components we know of, I totalled £24,372 (US$33,000)! Just imagine if it had brakes and gears!
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