For Dan Bigham's tilt at the UCI Hour Record on Friday, he was aboard an unreleased version of the Pinarello Bolide time trial bike, a prototype that has taken the recently-released road version and adapted it to accept a fixed gear for the track. However, more than just a change in drop outs at the rear, the bike was fitted with a smorgasbord of aero trickery, including the hyper-narrow non-driveside chainstay and what appear to be ridges across the entire front faces of the seatpost and seat tube.
The Briton took to the boards in the Tissot velodrome in Grenchen, Switzerland, with a significantly different spec list compared to his previous attempt. His new role of Performance Engineer within the Ineos team meant access to a host of sponsored equipment, which included the new bike, brand new Princeton Carbonworks wheels and a custom-fit BioRacer Katana speed suit.
Bigham owns a time trial componentry company, Wattshop, but instead of using his own brand's cockpit, he opted for the version produced by Most, Pinarello's component subsidiary. This custom-moulded, 3D-printed product is priced somewhere between €17,000 and €20,000.
Given it is designed in conjunction with the Bolide, it's almost certainly more aerodynamic than anything Wattshop would produce once it's fitted to Pinarello's TT bike.
However, Wattshop did get to make an appearance at the cranks, courtesy of the Cratus Aero crank and 64T chainring, which he'd paired with a 14T Cratus sprocket at the rear. The two were connected by a low-friction Izumi Kai chain, which was designed specifically for the Tokyo Olympics, and lubrication came courtesy of Muc-Off's Ludicrous AF treatment.
His Bioracer speed suit was white and pink in colour, a reference to his 'Pig' nickname. This was matched by his helmet; the Kask Mistral. Notably, the strange air spoilers that featured on Ineos Grenadiers' Kask helmets at the Tour de France were nowhere to be seen.
On the Briton's feet were a pair of Nimbl Expect shoes, which are custom moulded specifically for track cyclists, weigh under 200 grams, have a completely smooth front face and come at a cost of €2,299.00. He'd then covered these with a pair of Bioracer Epic aero overshoes. Completing the spec list is a set of Continental GP5000 TT tyres, rather than the more commonly favoured Vittoria Pista track tubulars.
Bigham went on to beat Victor Campanaerts' record of 55.089km by 459 metres, to complete a total distance of 55.548km.
However, it's widely understood that Bigham's attempt is just a warm-up for bigger things to come from the Ineos team. Their Italian multiple time trial world champion, Filippo Ganna, has already confirmed his interest in taking on the hour record, although the initial date has been postponed.
Bigham has been working closely with Ganna towards that goal, and will undoubtedly have been using his own preparation to inform and affect Ganna's attempt.
