Frame: Giant Trinity Disc

Fit Coordinates:
• Pad Stack: 600mm
• Pad Reach (back of pad): 495mm
• Bar Angulation: 20 deg
• Saddle Height: 690mm
• Saddle Offset: +20mm

Aerobars: Bradley has replaced the stock Giant bars with a setup from Fast TT set at a 20 deg upward angle. The bars include a mounting plate that can be drilled to accommodate various bolt sizes and spacing options found on today’s bikes.

Sram Red Groupset: 56 1x front chainring, 10-33 rear cassette, 165 crank arms, Quarq power meter, Wahoo Speedplay Aero pedals.

Hydration/Nutrition: Bradley weighs 135 lbs and will aim to consume 110-120 grams of CHO per hour on the bike using both the Powerbar drink mix and gels. He will use an XLAB Torpedo hydration system on his elevated BTA bottle setup.

I mentioned that the new Trinity has a quasi internal hydration system, but Bradley has opted to use the aero bottle from the old rim brake version of the bike.

Saddle: Bradley uses the Giant saddle where he’ll attach a rear bottle cage before the race.

Wheels & Tires: Cadex Aero 4-Spoke wheels with Continental Grand Prix 5000S TR tires in a 28mm width setup tubeless with Stans. Bradley will run his tires at 75psi on race day.

The post Bikes of Kona 2024: Bradley Weiss’s Giant Trinity Disc first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

Frame: Giant Trinity Disc

Fit Coordinates:
• Pad Stack: 665mm
• Pad Reach (back of pad): 572mm
• Bar Angulation: 15 deg
• Saddle Height: 718mm
• Saddle Offset: 0mm

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A post shared by Gustav Iden (@gustav_iden)

It’s been a hot topic and I’ve received several text messages from people asking for my thoughts on Gustav’s position when he first posted on Instagram.

Gustav is definitely in a “Superman” like position, but my gut tells me he can handle it. In his initial post, you’ll notice that he’s sitting on the back of the saddle, which greatly exaggerates the length of his position. It’s long, but that won’t be his “all-day” position on race day. He will mostly ride on the nose of the saddle, getting his hips over the bottom bracket where he’s most powerful, which will shorten the reach a bit. I do think you’ll see him use that extra-long, back-of-the-saddle position when speed is high and power output is low.

Gustav supports his body up front on a Drag2Zero .66 cockpit, which has been modified and extended well over the front wheel. He’s also using 1.25 Sync arm pads on each side that have been cut asymmetrically for the right and left arms.

Shimano Dura-Ace Groupset: 56/44 front chainring, 11-30 rear cassette, 170 crank arms, CeramicSpeed optimized chain, Shimano power meter and pedals.

Hydration: The new Giant Trinity has a quasi internal hydration system. It uses and aero bottle that is refillable with a straw that runs through the frame that Gustav has neatly attached to the bars.

I think the most interesting detail here is that it appears Gustav plans to ride with two round bottles tucked behind his arms and close to his chest. You’ll see the 3D-printed mounts bolted and glued to the bars just behind his arm cups.

Saddle: Gustav rides the Giant saddle with an XLAB Gorilla cage mounted in the rear.

Wheels & Tires: Cadex Aero 4-Spoke wheels and Continental Grand Prix 5000 TT TR tire in a 25mm width setup tubeless.

The post Bikes of Kona 2024: Gustav Iden’s Giant Trinity Disc first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

FRAME – CADEX Tri

Fit Coordinates:
• Pad Stack: 650mm
• Pad Reach (back of pad): 560mm
• Bar Angulation: ~3 deg
• Saddle Height: 727mm
• Saddle Offset: +40mm

Let’s start with the most interesting part of this bike—the front-end modifications, which have become more common. Athletes are adopting longer positions, achieving similar back angles but using reach instead of drop. To accomplish this, they’re taking matters into their own hands and creating various contraptions to extend their bars, which is exactly what Kristian has done with his Drag2Zero .66 cockpit.

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A post shared by Kristian Blummenfelt (@kristianblu)

Sram Red Groupset: 54/41 front chainring, 10-30 rear cassette, 165 crank arms, Quarq power meter, CeramicSpeed optimized chain and bottom bracket, Shimano pedals.

Hydration/Nutrition: Kristian uses a 3D printed BTA bottle holder by Drag2Zero with an XLab Gorilla cage while also taking full advantage of the Cadex internal fluid storage located inside the frame.

Saddle: Wove V8 with an XLAB Gorilla cage attached to the integrated bottle holder where he uses the bottle retention loop to ensure there are no accidental bottle launches. There is also hole that was drilled into the top of the saddle that might be for bolt access or maybe even a drain? Kristian wasn’t on hand for comment.

 Wheels & Tires: Cadex Aero 4-Spoke wheels and Continental Grand Prix 5000 TT TR tire in a 25mm width setup tubeless

The post Bikes of Kona 2024: Kristian Blummenfelt’s Cadex first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

FRAME – CADEX Tri

Fit Coordinates:
• Pad Stack: 650mm
• Pad Reach (back of pad): 530mm
• Bar Angulation: 20 deg
• Saddle Height: 740mm
• Saddle Offset: -28mm

Cockpit: Sam supports himself aboard the Sync Aerobar Three system. He uses proprietary hardware to attach the bars to the basebar in order to give him extra length on the front end which is becoming more and more common to accommodate the new trend in longer reach positions.

Hydration: Sam worked with Jim Manton where he did some aerodynamic field testing where he discovered placing a water bottle right behind his chin and up against his chest (a more managable version of shoving a water bottle down the front of the jersey). Based on the data, Sam had a buddy fire up his 3D printer and create a custom solution where he attaches a trusty Xlab Gorilla XT cage, which he also uses behind his ISM PN 3.0 saddle.

Sam is targeting 110 grams of carbohydrates and 760 mg of sodium per hour from Precision Hydration.

The Sync Aerobar Three front end is very clean where everything is nicely integrated and has it’s place.

Full Shimano Drivetrain: Front chainring 56/48, 11/28 rear cassette, 165 crank arms, Shimano power meter, shifting, and pedals (yellow cleats). CermaicSpeed pulley wheels and bottom bracket.

Wheels & Tires: Sam rolls on the Continental Grand Prix 5000 TT TR tire in a 25mm width, which he said is optimized for the Cadex Aero 4-Spoke wheels.

Sam mentioned that while there are faster tires out there from a rolling resistance perspective, he likes the GP 5000 for it’s balance of aero, rolling resistance, and durability. He will run these tires at 70 psi using Silca’s Ultimate sealant, commenting that most punctures in Kona are from small wires best suited for tubeless.

The post Bikes of Kona 2024: Sam Appleton’s CADEX first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

Frame: Ten years after the release of the original Ventum One, Ventum is back with the all-new Ventum Tempus, expected to launch in early spring 2025. Ventum has opted for a more traditional double-diamond design, which is now UCI-compliant. In addition to the liberal use of 6:1 airfoil sections, the extra-wide fork and seat stays will catch your attention. We’ve seen more of this trend in recent years as manufacturers work to direct airflow around the wheels.

Weight was also a key design input for the Tempus, which is expected to come in at a fighting weight of less than 20 lbs.

Saddle: Jackson is perched upon a BiSaddle Hurricane Pro 3D set at a very unusual -17 deg angle.

Cockpit: Ventum partnered with Profile Design to create the yet-to-be-released, non-proprietary Wing Ultimate front end for the new Tempus. However, Jackson replaced the Profile extensions and cups with a FastTT cockpit. He also applied some homegrown engineering to elevate and brace the front end, ensuring it met his desired fit coordinates.

Jackson uses skateboard tape for a bit of extra grip on the extensions without adding bulk. And, this Garmin Edge 130 Plus takes up minimal space and tucks nicely between the extensions.

Hydration: We are seeing more and more use of 3D printing to create customized solutions in order to store nutrition in the most aerodynamic efficient way. Jackson has cobbled together a system that holds 3 different bottles using the tried-and-true Xlab hydration products.

Drivetrain: SRAM Red with a 56/43 front chainring and a 10-33 rear cassette. Jackson uses a Quarq power meter with 160mm crank arms and clips into Shimano pedals.

Frame: Here, you can see the Tempus’s 6:1 airfoil aspect ratio, along with the extra wide fork and seat stays.

Wheels & Tires: Jackson rolls on a set of Enve SES 6.7 wheels along with the fast and reliable Continental Grand Prix 5000 TT TR in a 28mm width.

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The post Bikes of Kona 2024: Jackson Laundry’s Ventum Tempus first appeared on Slowtwitch News.