Is this Ridley’s answer to the Specialized Tarmac SL7 and Trek Émonda?
Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Dstny) will ride this prototype Ridley at the 2023 Tour de France.
The bike appears to sit somewhere between the Helium climbing bike and the Noah aero bike, the Australian sprinter’s usual choice.
Assuming it is marketed as an aero-optimised, do-it-all race bike, this new model fills a Specialized Tarmac SL7-shaped hole in Ridley’s lineup.
An aero-ish frameset
!["Caleb]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/21/2023/06/Prototype-Ridley20230629SvBA6300BR2703-6d0ebcb.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413" "\"Caleb")
The prototype bike is slightly less aggressive than the Noah aero bike, with a Kammtail-profiled down tube, an aero seat tube and sculpted seatstays.
It’s notable that the seatstays meet the seat tube just below the seat cluster, rejecting the near-ubiquitous aero- and comfort-improving trend for dropped seatstays.
However, it’s worth noting that we only saw Ewan’s bike – a size XS – and larger frames may drop the seatstays. The rest of the Lotto-Dstny team appear to be on the Noah Fast aero bike.
!["Caleb]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/21/2023/06/Prototype-Ridley20230629SvBA6300BR2716-711fdf0.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413" "\"Caleb")
The bike uses an aero-profiled seatpost, although this is not as thin as that seen on the Noah Fast.
This is held in place via an integrated seat clamp hidden beneath a rubber bung.
A fast (and slightly unusual) build
!["Caleb]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/21/2023/06/Prototype-Ridley20230629SvBA6300BR2708-f4ff5b1.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413" "\"Caleb")
The prototype Ridley appears to use the same one-piece integrated Deda cockpit as seen on the Noah Fast and Kanzo Fast gravel bike.
Although Ewan is running a small stack of spacers (an unusual sight on a sprinter’s bike), he more than makes up for this with a 140mm-long stem and a narrow 36cm handlebar.
!["Caleb]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/21/2023/06/Prototype-Ridley20230629SvBA6300BR2723-90d3fed.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413" "\"Caleb")
Interestingly, Ewan is running pedal extenders to slightly increase his Q-factor.
A narrower Q-factor is usually desirable as it reduces the frontal area of a rider and, for some riders, can have performance benefits.
We suspect increasing the Q-factor could be to prevent heel strike issues on such a small frame, but that’s purely speculative. It may just be a tweak to accommodate Ewan’s preferred fit.
!["Caleb]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/21/2023/06/Prototype-Ridley20230629SvBA6300BR2711-4afe53e.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413" "\"Caleb")
The bike rolls on a 26mm-wide Vittoria Corsa Pro tyre on the front and a Corsa Pro 28mm tyre on the rear.
These are set up tubeless and mounted to a pair of DT Swiss wheels ARC 1100 wheels.
We reckon you could easily squeeze a 32mm tyre, if not a 34mm, into the bike’s frame, following the trend for generous clearances on the latest race bikes.
!["Caleb]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/21/2023/06/Prototype-Ridley20230629SvBA6300BR2714-63c6718.jpg?quality=90&resize=160%2C208 "\"Caleb")
!["Caleb]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/21/2023/06/Prototype-Ridley20230629SvBA6300BR2726-4bd4944.jpg?quality=90&resize=160%2C208 "\"Caleb")
!["Caleb]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/21/2023/06/Prototype-Ridley20230629SvBA6300BR2706-19c814d.jpg?quality=90&resize=160%2C208 "\"Caleb")
Elsewhere, Ewan’s bike is built around a standard team-issue Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 R9200 groupset.
The bike as pictured is set up with an 11-30t cassette. While that would have once been considered mountain gearing, it is pretty small in 2023.
It’s possible Ewan simply prefers the feel of the tighter jumps offered by a tighter cassette but we equally wouldn’t be surprised to see him swapping it for something with a bit more range for the more mountainous stages of the Tour.
!["Caleb]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/21/2023/06/Prototype-Ridley20230629SvBA6300BR2728-596b035.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413" "\"Caleb")
This unreleased prototype bike weighs 7.5kg in the pictured build. The Noah Fast that Ewan rode at last year’s race weighed 7.8kg in a similar build.
That’s all we know for now but we’ll be keeping an eye on Ewan through the Tour – and share any information on the new bike as we get it.