Pro bike: Luca Paolini's Canyon Ultimate CF SLX

This article appeared first on BikeRadar

Katusha rider Luca Paolini was caught using his phone during stage 8 of the Tour de France by photographer Graham Watson, who posted an image on his Twitter account. The photo quickly went viral, and Daniel McMahon wrote the story.

BikeRadar had the chance to get a close look at Paolini's bike, and discovered that the Italian is a fan of digital technology, with a full array of Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 shifter buttons on his cockpit. Paolini has no less than six buttons at his fingertips — and that's not counting those on his phone.

Katusha races with Mavic wheels. Here, Paolini has Cosmic CXR 60s with Veloflex tubulars rebadged as Mavic. While Mavic delivers the CXR 60s with the snap-in 'blades' that fill in the space between tubular and wheel for aerodynamics, the team could not use them if they wanted to; UCI rules forbid the blades.

All with all Tour rider, Paolini has several nearly identical bikes at the race. The one we featured here did not have an SRM power meter on at the time, although the handlebars have a mount for the SRM PowerControl head unit. Perhaps due to the absence of the SRM, we weighed this bike at 6.7kg / 14.77lb, 100g under the UCI's minimum weight.

Paolini's front-end set-up is quite striking, as he likes his bars and shifters cocked way back. Perhaps this is because of his massive 10cm of drop from the top of his saddle to the top of his bars.

While the buttons and the cockpit geometry might be hard to spot while watching the Tour de France on TV, Paolini certainly is not; with a thick beard, enormous Assos sunglasses and a Giro Air Attack helmet, Paolini cuts quite the figure.

Click through the gallery for a closer look at his bike. We regret not being able to bring you the full specs on his mobile phone...

Complete bike specifications

Frameset: Canyon Ultimate CF SLX
Stem: Ritchey WCS alloy, 120mm
Handlebars: Ritchey Classic alloy, 42cm
Brakes: Shimano Dura-Ace 9000
Shift/brake levers: Shimano Dura-Ace 9070 Di2
Front derailleur: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 FD-9070
Rear derailleur: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 RD-9070
Cassette: Shimano Dura-Ace CS-9000, 11-25t
Chain: Shimano Dura-Ace CN-9000
Crankset: Shimano Dura-Ace FC-9000, 170mm
Power meter: SRM on another bike; none on this bike
Pedals: Shimano Dura-Ace PD-9000
Wheels: Mavic Cosmix CXR 60
Tyres: Veloflex rebadged as Mavic tubulars
Saddle: Selle Italia Team Edition SLR
Seatpost: Canyon Ultimate
Weight: 6.7kg / 14.77lb

Critical measurements 

Rider's height: 1.74m (5ft 9in)
Rider's weight: 66kg / 146lb
Reach, saddle tip to bar: 54cm
Drop, saddle top to handlebar top: 10cm
Saddle height: 74cm
Stem length: 120mm

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