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It’s a rare event for a professional team to earn joint national champions across its men’s and women’s outfits, but that’s exactly the case for the newly bolstered Australian-owned Jayco AlUla and Liv AlUla Jayco outfits. Here, Ruby Roseman-Gannon and Luke Plapp earned the green and gold stripes for the 2024 road season ahead.
Those wins were earned last Sunday and quickly kicked off a desperate shuffle to have celebratory equipment ready for the newly crowned Aussie champs to use at the Tour Down Under – less than a week later. By the next morning, the team of Giant Bikes Australia were calling in favours to prioritise space in the booth with painter Steve Munyard of Sun Graphics in the Dandenong Ranges.
As Munyard explained to Escape Collective, the call came through on Monday to see what could be done, but the stress was greatly increased when he learned he’d be painting Roseman-Gannon’s one and only spare bike, and therefore, the 48-hour turn-around was a strict deadline.
Such a tight deadline meant a simpler approach to the design without the usual personalised flourishes – you won’t find any airbrushed boxing kangaroos or the like under the clear coat here. The limited timing also meant one less coat of clear coat to Munyard’s usual, and less final polishing to get that mirror-like sparkle.
The result was Munyard working until midnight over two nights. “[There was] a lot of anxiety involved, as in hurry up paint, dry!” As soon as the pair of frames were done, they were picked up by Liv-sponsored racer Peta Mullens and driven across the border to Adelaide, 780 km (485 M) away. Fast forward another 24 hours and they were rolling bikes, being photographed here, and due to be ridden for the first time the following morning, which in the case of Roseman-Gannon’s Liv, would be the start of the women’s Tour Down Under.
Beneath the green and gold paint you’ll find these two bikes are otherwise standard team-issue equipment. The men’s squad are currently on the all-around aero Giant Propel Advanced SL, while the women’s squad are on the equivalent Liv EnviLiv Advanced SL. Take a scroll through the photos below for a closer look.
Same same, but different. Let’s take a closer look. The women’s-specific Liv EnviLiv Advanced SL is a very similar bike in purpose and design to the Giant Propel Advanced SL. The key differences are seen with unique geometry and a sliding seatpost in the Liv (the flagship Giant uses an integrated seatpost). Ruby Roseman-Gannon’s new 2024 Liv AlUla Jayco team bike. The Liv EnviLiv Advanced SL is the company’s flagship all-around race bike with a focus toward the aero. Wer’e yet to weigh this one, but you can expect it to hover around the UCI’s 6.8 kg weight limit. In case the green and gold paint wasn’t enough to know who’s bike it was. The bikes offer traditional Aussie team colours. It’s a gold fade going to a pearl white paint, with green logos applied over the top. With the right catch of the light you can see a little sparkle to the paint, too. Liv and Giant’s aero bikes retain a two-piece cockpit that allows for easier customisation in fit. The brake hoses are routed through the company’s own bar, but then run under (not through) the stem in a designated channel. An aggressive position for the new Australian champion. The Liv EnviLiv features a wishbone-type seat stay arrangement. Liv is the only women’s-specific brand in the WorldTour. The EnviLiv Advanced was released separately a little later than the new Propel Advanced. Roseman-Gannon pushes a 54/40T chainring arrangement. The team uses Shimano’s R9200P power meter cranks. Liv AlUla Jayco is an official Shimano sponsored team, but unlike other Shimano-sponsored teams, the Australia outfit doesn’t use Shimano wheels. Here, Roseman-Gannon is using Cadex 50 Ultra Disc Tubeless wheels shod with Vittoria Corsa Pro tubeless tyres in a 28 mm size. A close look reveals a BB86 press-fit bottom bracket with a spline interface. This isn’t a Shimano-supplied bottom bracket, but rather one that likely features a thread-together design and likely turns with ceramic bearings. Long stem, narrow bars. It’s now a common combination at this level of the sport. The team bikes feature full Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupsets. The new 2024 team bike for Australian national champion Luke Plapp. Plapp is the national champion for both timetrial and road. The Melbourne-local rider holds an aero position on the road bike with the hoods set slightly lower and turned subtly inward. That’s then matched with Giant’s narrowest Contact SLR Aero handlebar, just 36 cm wide. Plapp’s bike was setup with the same wheels and 28 mm tubeless tyres as Roseman-Gannon’s. Just slapped on. You can expect some fast finishes at the Tour Down Under with 56/44T chainrings appearing on a number of bikes. Giant has a long-standing relationship with machined components company Fouriers. Plapp uses Cadex’s relatively new AMP short-nose saddle. This sits ontop of the Propel Advanced SL’s integrated seat post (ISP). A defining feature of all Cadex wheels are the replaceable carbon bladed spokes. The Cadex 50 Ultra Disc Tubeless carry a claimed weight of 1,349 grams. The team use Giant’s own provided bottle cages (provided with the Propel and EnviLiv).
