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Paris-Roubaix is where the weird stuff has traditionally come out, but the rest of the Classics usually throw up at least a few special bikes. This year was no exception, with De Ronde treating us to a few that we will cover in a series of bike galleries over the coming day or two.
To kick this off, what better place to start than with the World Champion, Lotte Kopecky’s S-Works Tarmac SL8? We’ve also got a look at a not-so-prototype new aero bike from Dare, as seen under Alexander Kristoff.
Lotte Kopecky came into Flanders as a favourite for the win, which would have made it three in a row and a first for her in the rainbow jersey. Unfortunately for her, fifth was the best she could manage on the day, but she did have the consolation prize of this World Champion rainbow band-themed Tarmac SL8. A huge crowd had gathered around the SD Worx bus prior to the start, but thankfully the SD Worx crew were kind enough to let me inside the barrier for a second to snap some shots of Kopecky’s rainbow bike. White, silver, rainbow bands, black components, and tan wall tyres: Kopecky’s bike has struck the perfect balance of special but not tacky, making a fitting addition to the roll-call of not always so carefully-balanced World Champion-themed bikes. There isn’t really any mistaking who owns this bike or why it’s painted as such, but just in case …From a distance the frame looks white, but a closer look reveals some hints of silver.The rainbow touches extend to the forks. That pink blob on the fork-leg is a timing chip held in place with a pink latex tube … one has to think a black butyl tube might have matched better. The rainbow touches extend to the custom-painted Time pedals. Interestingly, the team puts Kopecky’s name sticker on the cranks, presumably not to interrupt the paint job on the frame but potentially also to aid mechanics in seeing names on bikes on the roof of the team car. Kopecky was defending champion, and as such raced with number 1. She also uses an inline seatpost, but unlike many positions we highlighted in the Tour of Flanders random tech galleries, she does not adopt the extremely forward saddle position such a post facilitates. That’s not to say her position is wrong – it’s highly effective for her, so my guess is it is pretty spot on. The black and chrome SRAM levers on white bar tape matches the rest of the bike pretty nicely. 165 mm cranks for Kopecky. Roval wheels for SD Worx. The team raced on 28 mm Turbo Cotton Hell of the North clinchers with latex inner tubes. Unsurprisingly, Kopecky also races with the Roval Rapide aero bar stem. I checked for sizes, but unfortunately couldn’t get close enough to see a measurement printed on the bars (or perhaps such markings simply didn’t exist). Somewhat surprisingly, though, Kopecky is running a Syncros saddle rather than one from the Specialized range. Unlike many riders on SRAM at De Ronde, Kopecky stuck with a 160 mm front rotor. She also stuck with the existing 10:33 SRAM Red cassette rather than opting for a few extra teeth with the 10:36 on either the existing Force cassette or with what appears to be a new SRAM Red cassette.
Alexander Kristoff’s prototype Dare
Alexander Kristoff has a new aero bike from Uno-X team bike sponsor, Dare – a Taiwanese brand founded in 2012, with a presence in the peloton since 2020 with Uno-X. Kristoff has raced the new bike for at least a few weeks, and it certainly ticks a lot of aero boxes.Aero profiled forks, down tube, head tube, seat tube, deep aero rims, aero chainring, dropped stays, and a black inner tube camouflaging the timing chip on black carbon forks: Kristoff means business right now.Those forks seem exceptionally thin and deeply profiled.Some of the profiling on this bike is a sight to behold, and needs to be seen from a few angles to really appreciate.Take that head tube, for example – exceptionally deep, narrow-ish at the front and truncated at the rear. It’s huge and more akin to something from a TT bike, which is probably why it looks so fast. The seat tube is similarly deep, narrow, and truncated, while those dropped stays attach neatly to the seat tube with an almost normal to the flow aero-profiled intersection. Note also that Dare has adopted the behind the seat post clamp screw placement many brands are turning to.Another view of that head tube. Kristoff isn’t racing with the bars intended for use with this bike, explaining why the integration with the top tube isn’t as clean as it could be. That section behind and below the stem looks anything but aero – closer to an air brake. The down tube is – you guessed it – as chunky and aero-profiled as the rest of the bike. Some of the curves and profiing on the head tube are more visible from this angle. Again, the fork legs are pretty deep throughout, but Dare has also retained the depth in the crown area as seen from the front here. Some brands have taken to reducing the depth of the crown to open up some aero gains and perhaps shed a few grams. Forward and forward, Kristoff gets the saddle pretty slammed on what appears to be a seat post with ample adjustment. Shame about the single bolt seat clamp, the worst of all clamps. These stickers highlight the ridiculousness the UCI has reduced the use of prototypes to. This frame is a prototype as approved by the UCI, but the UCI rules only permit the use of prototypes that are in “the final stages of development” – or in other words, frames well beyond the prototype phase and due for release within 12 months as mandated by the UCI. It is also, though, already a UCI-approved frameset, or in other words, a consumer-ready production model. The UCI prototype rules have effectively prohibited the use of prototypes for actual testing, reducing the use of so-called “prototypes” to effectively a marketing opportunity for brands and manufacturers. One last look at that new bike.
