American Neilson Powless, fresh off his eighth place at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, raced to 23rd at the opening prologue of the Tour de Romandie, 23 seconds behind stage winner Ethan Hayter (Ineos Grenadiers) and behind his EF Education-EasyPost teammates George Steinhauser, Sean Quinn, and Ben Healy.
The most interesting thing on Powless’ still-unreleased Cannondale time trial bike is the padded grip on the aero bars. EF Education is sponsored by Prologo, which makes what is calls CPC padding for its saddles and now its new gloves. Powless has this 3D-printed polymer material on his cowhorns and his aero extensions.
Related: Inside the development of Cannondale’s unreleased time trial bike
Prologo calls its polymer padding CPC for ‘connect, power, control’, and claims the material offers not only good grip but a reduction in road vibration, too.
“We have been developing this custom project in collaboration with Vision and FSA for some time now to improve the performance of EF athletes in the last few years,” said Alberto Mizzon of Prologo’s marketing department. “The technology is the same as we apply to our gloves and saddle: 3D-printed cones. We print sheets and then apply them to the TT extensions.”
“The 3D technology of the CPC has multiple benefits: anti-vibration, grip, cushioning. It is patented by Prologo for the cycling industry,” Mizzon said. “These benefits ensure a very precise aerodynamic position in the time trial, eliminating pressure peaks in the contact zones.”
The CPC bar padding is not for sale at the moment.
Neilson Powless’ still-unreleased Cannondale time trial bike at the Tour de Romandie.
Prologo’s CDC grip is a unique take on bar tape.
Cannondale worked with Vision in the creation of the bar for its time trial bike.
Prologo has long used CDC on its saddles for grip and vibration absorption. The tiny polymer grippers seem much more Lycra-friendly than grip tape, which some time trialists like Tony Martin would occasionally use to stay in place on the tip of the saddle in an all-out aero effort.
EF Education-EasyPost’s spokesman Keir Plaice said the grips are new for the team.
Who needs a full-width pad anyhow?
The Shimano Di2 wires sneak out the bottom of the risers and into the base bar.
Vision’s base bar was built specifically for this Cannondale time trial bike.
The cockpit is height-, angle-, and width-adjustable for riders while keeping the base bar’s stem height flush with the top tube for low drag.
Di2 shifters pop into the ends of the Vision extensions, with a Wahoo mount on the right arm.
Vision’s Metron disc is a disc-brake wheel, but still has a rim-brake track.
Muc-Off announced its L.O.P.S. (lightweight oversized pulley system) in 2020, claiming that it was lighter and stiffer than CeramicSpeed’s OSPW. While you can buy the OSPW for a cool $529, the L.O.P.S. is not yet for sale. Powless has this one on his 11-speed Dura-Ace drivetrain.
EF Education is one of the few Shimano-sponsored teams that doesn’t use Shimano power meters. With the shortage of 12-speed Shimano power-meter cranks, EF Education is in a good place with Power2Max meters on its FSA cranks. Powless has the Speedplay Aero Pedals, thanks to Wahoo’s 2019 purchase of Speedplay.
A year later, the bike is still technically a prototype.
The Vision Metron 81 SL Disc is a deep-profile tubeless wheel. Powless has 25mm Vittoria tires front and back.
Powless probably didn’t need a bottle for the 5.1km prologue on Tuesday.
Cannondale wasn’t shy about building a deep head tube into the new time trial bike, which has previously been called the SuperSlice.