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TECH NEWS

Sir Bradley Wiggins’ Hour Record Pinarello Bolide on display at Eurobike

A bike built for speed, we take a close look at Sir Brad’s Hour Record bike

The fastest bike at Eurobike 2015? Without doubt it was the Pinarello Bolide that Sir Bradley Wiggins successfully used to smash the Hour Record earlier this summer, which was taking pride of place on the Italian bike company’s stand at Eurobike, allowing us the first chance we’ve had to get up really close to it.

It’s a stunning looking bike. It’s best viewed from the front, where the slimness of the fork blades and head tube are dramatic. A big area of focus in aerodynamic bicycle design is in reducing the frontal surface area, and that has clearly been a top priority with the Pinarello Bolide.

 

The bike is of course based on the regular road-specific Bolide, with the same geometry and similar tube shaping, but the key differences are the revised fork and seat stays. And of course there are no brakes, there's no need for them on the velodrome.

As you can see from the photos, the fork blades and seat stays are positioned very close to the disc wheels.

Even the fork dropouts have been designed to minimise drag.

One component that differs dramatically from the regular Bolide used on the road is the handlebar. To attain the best aerodynamic position and reduce the frontal surface area, the handlebar was made using the additive manufacturing method, using titanium to keep the weight low.

- Bradley Wiggins’ Hour Record: the Pinarello Bolide he rode

The bike is equipped with a carbon fibre crankset with a five-bolt chainring. Wiggins actually used Speedplay pedals, not the Shimano Dura-Ace SPD-SL pedals pictured.

He sat on a Fizik Arione saddle.

The top tube is decorated with some of Wiggo's impressive achievements.

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

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