We take a look into the bike Cofidis will be racing this year, seen here at the Tour Down Under
(Image credit: Future)
The World Tour race season is now underway at the Santos Tour Down Under. A new year means new equipment and often new bikes to take a look at, you can stay on top of all the changes for 2023 in our World Tour bikes and tech guide.
Cofidis were one of two World Tour teams who changed frame as well as equipment manufacturers for this year. The team's new Look bike was spotted in the wild recently for the first time after their switch from Italian manufacturer De Rosa.
We managed to snap Cofidis' sprinter Bryan Cocquard's new Look 795RS race bike before the racing kicked off. Read on for a closer look at the makeup of the new Look bike.
Wide fork legs and a one-piece bar and stem at the front end of Cocquards bike (Image credit: Future)
Official details regarding the new Cofidis team bike are scarce. The new 795RS has a clearly different frame design to the currently listed 795 Blade RS which has been around for a little while now.
This new machine features dropped seat stays, a horizontal top tube, a large bottom bracket junction, a very short headtube (In Cocquard's size anyway), and wider more aerodynamic fork legs. What looks like a new Look one-piece handlebar and stem are also present.
Elsewhere the team also switched from Campagnolo equipment to Shimano and is now running Shimano Dura-Ace 12speed R9200 di2 groupsets. French company Corima provides the wheels, which in this case are carbon fibre tubular versions, whilst Michelin tyres complete a French wheel package. Selle Italia provides the saddle whilst bottle cages are the Elite Leggero carbon fibre models.
The Look branded SRM carbon fibre origin chainset is used by the team to capture power numbers (Image credit: Future)
Cofidis have chosen not to run Shimano's own Dura Ace 9200-P power meter chain set, instead plumping for the SRM-Origin carbon fibre power meter chainset. The chain set axle itself is available in 24 and 30-mm versions, which aids frame and bottom bracket compatibility. This decision must presumably be influenced by the power meters themselves, as Dura-Ace chainrings are still mounted to the chainset spider.
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A Look logo on the crank arms ties in the chainset with the rest of the bike and keeps things on brand. The chainset at first glance looks like the Zed model which Look produces in-house.
Corima WS carbon fibre tubular wheels with paired spokes and Dura-Ace equipment. Note the electrical tape over the valve to stop it from rattling (Image credit: Future)
The tubular Corima wheels feature internal spoke nipples, which for the average user presents a problem if the wheel needs truing or a spoke needs replacing. Stiff carbon wheels tend to stay true but if a wheel needs truing it means the tubular tyre needs to be removed and re-glued. Pro mechanics will be very familiar with removing and re-fitting tubular tyres.
Cocquards bike is currently fitted with an 11-30t cassette, although the Dura-Ace rear mech can accommodate up to a 34t sprocket for hillier races.
A name sticker on the wide seat stays ensures no one grabs the wrong bike (Image credit: Future)
As is the norm for pro bikes, mechanics have fitted a name sticker to aid bike identification to the drive-side seat stay. The dropped seat stays on the bike look wider and more angular, pointing to a definite focus on aerodynamics. The seatstays on the 795 Blade RS aren't dropped and this is one of the biggest visual changes to the new 795RS. This means Look joins pretty much every other World Tour frame manufacturer in adopting dropped stays.
Michelin Power cup tubulars in a 25mm size that look like they have had some use already (Image credit: Future)
Cofidis, at least in these shots, appear to be running tubular tyres. In this case Michelin Power Competition models in a 25mm size. The age of the tubular isn't quite over yet as many teams switch to tubeless setups.
These tyres don't look brand new to us. Perhaps the team is yet to receive brand-new tyres for the race season and is on slightly older wheels and tyres for these early season openers. Cofidis mechanics will have had a lot of work to do this winter, with new frames, wheels and groupsets to receive and build up. Shipping equipment across the globe to Australia is a costly process and perhaps the team didn't have all of its new equipment ready to send.
The new bottom bracket junction has been made a lot more chunky for power transfer and aerodynamic reasons (Image credit: Future)
The non-drive side shot of the bike above provides a nice look at the burly bottom bracket shell and junction area. The area is pretty huge to no doubt aid power transfer and increase stiffness. This is something sprinter Cocquard should appreciate when he's about to launch a sprint.
You can also spot in this shot some sort of code or item number for the chainset spider written on in white marker pen. It also highlights the clearance between the sculpted seat tube and rear wheel which doesn't look super close, it's probably safe to say the frame can accommodate tyres that are larger than 25mm.
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Tom joined the Cyclingnews team in late 2022 as tech writer. Tom has over 10 years experience as a qualified mechanic with 5 or so of those being spent running an independent workshop. Tom has ridden and raced bikes from an early age up to a national level on the road and track and has ridden and competed in most disciplines, even the odd bit of bike polo. Tom is as happy tinkering away in the garage as he is out on the road bike exploring the Worcestershire lanes.
