New frame is so light that custom weights were made for the team
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Vincenzo Nibali's new Cannondale SuperSix Evo weighs just 6.86kg as pictured.(Image credit: Matt Pacocha)
Nibali's bike sported an LTE front derailleur, which, interestingly, featured a titanium cage when generally pros seem to gravitate toward the custom steel caged models.(Image credit: Matt Pacocha)
The rear brake cable exits the back of the top tube; the housing must be precisely cut to keep the brake centered.(Image credit: Matt Pacocha)
SRAM's Black Red rear derailleur.(Image credit: Matt Pacocha)
GORE's Professional Sealed cable system.(Image credit: Matt Pacocha)
An old SuperSix carbon bearing cover has been modified to fit the new model's narrower head tube.(Image credit: Matt Pacocha)
Nibali's custom Insieme si può saddle, which represents a charitable organization that fights hunger, poverty and underdevelopment in Africa.(Image credit: Matt Pacocha)
Nibali's custom Antares sports braided carbon rails.(Image credit: Matt Pacocha)
Elite's fiberglass Custom Race Glossy bottle cages.(Image credit: Matt Pacocha)
Big logos grace SRAM's new Black Red group.(Image credit: Matt Pacocha)
Mavic's CCU is the team's go-to wheel, the 'Ultimate' all round race wheel in Mavic's range.(Image credit: Matt Pacocha)
His saddle is perched atop an accompanying K-Force Light seat post.(Image credit: Matt Pacocha)
Cannondale's custom seat tube weight; the threaded rod is removed after insertion.(Image credit: Matt Pacocha)
The lower notch in the plastic gives way to a threaded hole that fixes the weight using the top bottle cage bolt.(Image credit: Matt Pacocha)
Nibali's name tag.(Image credit: Matt Pacocha)
Nibali's bike needs additional mass to 'make weight' even when equipped with a SRM power meter.(Image credit: Matt Pacocha)
Speedplay's Zero in Liquigas team colors.(Image credit: Matt Pacocha)
SRAM's new Black Red rear derailleur benefits from GORE's Professional Sealed cable and housing kit; also notice the flat 'Speed Save' chainstay design.(Image credit: Matt Pacocha)
Nibali's 120mm FSA OS99 CSI stem is relatively short compared to some in the peloton.(Image credit: Matt Pacocha)
Nibali rides FSA's K-Force Light carbon handlebar.(Image credit: Matt Pacocha)
A close up of the near 3/4lb weight that is added to the team's SuperSix Evos so that they make the UCI's weight limit.(Image credit: Matt Pacocha)
The bike is so light that it comes with its own weights to keep it above the UCI weight limit of 6.8kg. The frame alone weighs a claimed (and verified) 695g, and even when equipped with an SRM power meter and the Evo model’s most elaborate and heaviest paint scheme, the bike is nearly half a kilo under the limit. That means a special set of weights have to be inserted within the frame's seat tube to make it 'legal'.
Cannondale are famous for their "too light for the UCI" frames; a trait that goes back to the 2003 Tour de France and the manufacturer’s first foray into carbon fiber with the Six13 model, which Gilberto Simoni rode with weights glued on the top tube behind the stem. That bike was introduced with an advertising campaign called: ‘Legalize my Cannondale,’ but at the time only Simoni’s 50cm size was out of compliance.
We're close to 10 years on since Cannondale first broke the UCI’s weight barrier and it shows. For one, as we've mentioned, Nibali rides a 56cm frame and it’s too light even with the additional weight of a power meter, conventional SRAM Red components and a saddle that can be realistically ridden for the whole three weeks of a Grand Tour.
Aside from this, the frame offers plenty of stiffness to a pro who is known as one of the best descenders in the modern day peloton; not one you would expect to sacrifice weight over ride quality.
Nibali, known for his descending prowess, claims he has yet to find the bike's limit. Photo: Matt Pacocha
Cannondale’s SuperSix Evo is said to pass some of the industry’s most stringent testing. The manufacturer claims to have finished the bike last year, but withheld it from both the team and retail markets, because it wasn't able to pass a single internal lab-executed pedaling fatigue test, which is devised to simulate 10 years of usage in less than a week.
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To Liquigas-Cannondale, the bike’s ultra-light weight is likely seen as more of an issue than it is a benefit due to the 6.8kg weight limit imposed by the UCI; for the team had to devise a system to make the bikes legal to race. To achieve this, Cannondale created a set of weights - with different masses - so that just the right amount can be added to underweight bikes, keeping in mind that frame sizes and wheel choices create subsequent weight differences. In essence, mechanics ‘tune’ the amount of weight they add depending on the rider or wheel choice.
The lower notch in the plastic gives way to a threaded hole that fixes the weight within the seat tube using the top bottle cage bolt. Photo: Matt Pacocha
The weights are steel slugs, which are plastic coated and inserted to the seat tube using a threaded rode where they are then fixed using extra long water bottle cage bolts. The system keeps the added weight low, just over the bottom bracket, and when considering that upwards of three-quarters of a pound needs to be added - again depending on wheel choice - the advantage to the downhill handling of Nibali’s Evo is assumed to be bettered.
On the eve of the start of this year’s Giro d’ Italia, Nibali offered his impressions of the new bike, in Italian through Rory Mason, Cannondale’s sports marketing director. He finds the bike to be very smooth. He also said that it leaves him fresher at the end of races than the old SuperSix and he has yet to find its limit on downhills. When asked how he would know when he finds the limit, he responded, that a broken collarbone signified the limit of the old bike.
Aside from the new frame, Nibali’s bike is decidedly standard, save for his custom fi’zi:k Antares saddle emblazoned with the logo of the charity Insieme si può and the words: Insieme si puo costruire un mondo migliore (Together we can build a better world). The custom saddle is mounted to a carbon K-Force Light seatpost.
Nibali's custom Insieme si può Antares saddle, which represents a charitable organization that fights hunger, poverty and underdevelopment in Africa. Photo: Matt Pacocha
His cockpit is made of a reasonable length (120mm) FSA OS99 stem and 42cm K-Force light carbon handlebars, which is significant since many pros still prefer alloy handlebars.
Nibali's K-Force Light carbon handlebar. Photo: Matt Pacocha
SRAM used the Giro to push its new Black Red group (with a LTE - Limited Tour Edition - front derailleur); Nibali along with the majority of SRAM sponsored teams were on the new finish. The Liquigas team does make one substitution to the drivetrain in the form of Cannondale’s Hollowgram 2 SRM crankset.
Nibali's bike sports a LTE front derailleur, which, interestingly, features a titanium cage when generally pros seem to gravitate toward the custom steel caged models; the derailleur's precision is supplemented with an additional chain watcher. Photo: Matt Pacocha
Wheels are supplied by Mavic; while the Cosmic Carbone Ultimate model is the general ‘go to’ for the team, the Cosmic Carbone 80 as well as the Exalith rimmed CC SLR and R-SYS wheels are all also in their quiver.
