Ellen van Dijk will attempt the hour record on this Trek Speed Concept bike

By Stan Portus

Published: Monday, 23 May 2022 at 12:00 am

Ellen van Dijk will attempt to set a new hour record today at the Velodrome Suisse in Grenchen, Switzerland.

The Trek-Segafredo rider and time trial world champion announced she would be attempting to break the record in April. She’s aiming to take the title from Joss Lowden, who set a record of 48.405km in October last year, also at the Velodrome Suisse, on board her Argon Electron 18 Pro.

Van Dijk and Trek-Segafredo have unveiled the Trek Speed Concept bike she will be riding ahead of the event, which starts at 4pm BST (5pm CEST) and will be broadcast on YouTube.

The bike is a version of Trek’s new Speed Concept time trial and triathlon bike, adapted for use on the track. While it might seem more logical to choose a dedicated track bike for the record, van Dijk has proven success with the Speed Concept, having used it to win the 2021 time trial world championship.

Trek also doesn’t have a dedicated track bike in its catalogue, so an adapted bike is a sponsor-correct approach.

Trek has precedent for adapting a time trial frame originally designed for road use instead of using a dedicated track bike for the hour record. When Jens Voigt broke the hour record in 2014, he did it on a modified Trek Speed Concept 9.

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The non-driveside of the bike is painted Cote d’Azure blue, like the no-cycle line in a velodrome.
Trek

Like Voigt’s hour-record bike, van Dijk’s modified Speed Concept bears a strong resemblance to its road equivalent, but features horizontal dropouts, making it suitable for track cycling events.

In a blog post on Trek-Segafredo’s website, Glen Leven, one of the two-man Trek team supporting van Dijk, explains they also removed the Speed Concept’s front thru-axle, saying it is “unnecessary for such a specialized [sic] bike”.

Van Dijk’s bike bears a visual resemblance to Voigt’s too, with wheels featuring a clock-face design.

However, while Voigt used wheels from Trek’s in-house component brand, Bontrager, van Dijk will be using Zipp Sub 9 Track disc wheels, front and rear.

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Trek has adjusted the time trial frameset to be track legal with horizontal dropouts.
Trek

The wheels will be wrapped in 23mm tubular tyres from Pirelli, Trek-Segafredo’s official tyre sponsor.

Elsewhere, van Dijk is using a Bontrager Race Space handlebar with 40mm of spacers under a set of custom carbon fibre armrests and a Bontrager Hilo XXX saddle.

This is the same setup as van Dijk’s time trial bike and puts her in the same riding position as her world championship victory.

Leven says this is beneficial because “we know that she can keep that position for a long time, and that she can be successful in that position”.

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The bike is adorned with reminders of the duration of the event.
Trek

Gear choice is paramount for hour records, and van Dijk has opted to pair a 58-tooth front chainring with a 14-tooth sprocket.

Pictures of van Dijk’s bike show the chainring is fitted to SRAM cranks with a SRAM power meter, though UCI rules dictate that athletes are not allowed to view power (or any other related data) during track events.

A rationale for the gear choice hasn’t been provided. What is certain is that to beat Lowden’s record van Dijk will have to pedal a marginally higher cadence than the Brit, who ran a slightly larger, 64×15 ratio.

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Another reminder of how long Van Dijk will be riding is written on the top tube.
Trek

Along with the clock-face wheels, Van Dijk’s Speed Concept has been given a unique paintjob in honour of the hour-record attempt.

The bike has a ‘Split’ design, according to Trek, with the drive side of the bike painted white and the non-driveside painted Cote d’Azure blue.

The white is said to represent a finish line and the Cote d’Azure blue is the colour used for the no-cycle line on the inside edge of a velodrome.

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The handlebar has ‘hold the line’ printed on it.
Trek

The top tube of the bike has ‘1 hour 00 minutes 00 seconds’ on it, marking the time van Dijk will be riding, and the handlebar has a graphic that pairs a velodrome design with text that reads ‘hold the line’.

Trek-Segafredo says it has paired with Greenhope, “a Swiss-based charity that organises happy and funs events for children with cancer and their families.” Viewers will be able to donate to Greenhope and Trek will match the total donations raised during the hour.

Ellen Van Dijk’s hour record bike specification

  • Frame: Trek Speed Concept (size large)
  • Handlebar: Bontrager Race Space (40mm spacers)
  • Wheels: Zipp Sub 9 Track
  • Saddle: Bontrager Hilo XXX
  • Chainring tooth count: 58
  • Sprocket tooth count: 14
  • Tyres: Pirelli Tubular (23mm)