Tom Pidcock goes fast on pretty much any bike.
In the past twelve months, he won Olympic gold on a mountain bike, he won a world championship on a cyclocross bike, and finished sixth or better on a road bike at worlds, Amstel Gold, Fléche Wallonne, Strade Bianche, Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, and more. He’s just 22 years old.
At the Volta ao Algarve, Pidcock was just getting back in the rhythm of road racing after a season of cyclocross. In the time trial, he finished 76th, halfway down the results sheet. There, he was riding this Pinarello Bolide TT with Shimano’s older Dura-Ace Di2 group, 9150. So far this year, we’ve seen a number of WorldTour pros still on the 11-speed 9150, or still using the power meter 9150 cranks. The new 9250 Di2 group is 12-speed, and delivery of the group in general and the power meter in particular have been a bit challenged, perhaps due to global supply issues.
Related:
Review: Shimano Dura-Ace R9200 refines an already excellent Di2 group
Shimano Dura-Ace R9200 and Ultegra R8100 photos, weights, and prices
Alexey Lutsenko won Clásica Jaén Paraíso Interior, Spain’s ‘Strade Bianche’, on the new 9250 group with a 9150 power-meter crank. Pidcock’s Ineos teammate Elia Viviani has been racing on a full 9250 group with a 9250 power meter on his Pinarello Dogma F.
At least one of Pidcock’s brand new Crossista F ’cross bikes that he had at worlds used a 9150 group.
I emailed and called Shimano about the 9250 group and 9250 power meter delivery but did not receive a response.
Supply issues aren’t just limited to groups — Pidcock was on an AeroCoach disc instead of a Princeton CarbonWorks, as Princeton CEO Harrison Macris says that’s what the team uses “when they don’t have enough wheels based on racing schedule.”
Check out Pidcock’s bike below.
Pidcock in full flight at Algarve.
The Bolide TT is a rim-brake bike.
Horizontal dropouts allow for adjustment of how close the rear wheel sits to the down tube.
9150 groups — and 9150 power-meter cranks in particular — still abound in the WorldTour.
Not much fore/aft adjustment on this post.
Like so many other aspects of professional time trial bikes, grip tape here is used for speed, not comfort.
Wired shifting has made internal routing a little easier than cabled shifting on integrated TT bikes.
Pinarello tucks the Di2 charging port just above the bottle cage.
The caliper fairing has a bit of a Batman vibe to it, don’t you think?
While very few pros have fully custom cockpits made, Pidcock’s is stock – the width, height, and angle adjustment are set mechanically.
Just like spacers under a stem, cockpit height is adjusted by stacking various shims underneath. One big difference of course are the angled pieces for the forearms
Shimano has a few different aero-extension shifter options. For 11-speed, there are Di2 options with two buttons per extension, and these ones with a single button per extension. The former acts like road shifters, operating both derailleurs. The latter operates like sprint shifters: each side moves the rear derailleur in one direction.
Tom Pidcock’s Pinarello Bolide TT with a Princeton CarbonWorks front wheel and AeroCoach AEOX disc rear wheel.