A new Ridley time trial bike has been spotted today at the Critérium du Dauphiné. The 31km stage four time trial started from Cours and finished in Belmont-de-la-Loire. At least two Lotto-Dstny riders were riding the new bike with Victor Campenaerts and Thomas De Gendt spotted on the new machines.
We covered a range of Dauphine Tech in our mega gallery this week, including three other prototype road machines (one of which is a new Ridley road bike), but this TT model stayed under wraps until today's stage.
Are Ridley replacing the Dean?
Ridley's current time trial Bike, the Dean, has been around for quite a long time now, and the design hasn't changed massively since at least 2013 when an updated Dean FAST version was launched.
The Dean features rim brakes, one integrated into the front fork and one tucked under the rear chainstays, and a Forza integrated cockpit. Lotto-Dstny riders were riding rim brake-equipped Dean models as recently as the Tour de Romandie prologue time trial back in April. The very same stage where Rui Costa suffered a disastrous mechanical.
The new or prototype bikes could be updated Dean models which seems likely, or perhaps a brand new Ridey TT bike. Given brands tend to have only one TT/Tri model in their lineups we suspect it'll take on the Dean moniker.
De Gendt and Campanearts were riding the new frames, but De Gendt's bike had a white Ridley logo on the down tube, this was absent on Campanaert's model. Campanaerts, a notably detail-focused rider when it comes to bike setup also had different Deda TT extensions.
Elsewhere the bikes are now disc brake-equipped, and look to feature an integrated handlebar stem which is built around the bike's head tube. There's a sloping top tube now compared to the old bike's horizontal top tube as well as a deeper head tube profile. The front wheel look to have moved slightly further away from the down tube with a larger gap here.
At the rear of the bike, the seat stays seem to have dropped further and the aero seatpost is clearly a different shape. It's clear this is a full overhaul and not just an update.
Componentry-wise, the bikes featured Dura-Ace 12-speed di2 groupsets, though De Gendt used the older Dura-Ace 9100 chainset with 4iiii Rotor chainrings and both riders had gold KMC chains installed. DT Swiss Wheels and Vittoria Tyres completed the package.
