Mismatched Shimano drivetrain and Dura-Ace pedals pair with $4,000 carbon gravel wheels
Ineos Grenadier Connor Swift came second in the British Gravel Championships on Saturday, on his Pinarello Grevil F.
Partly out of preference, Swift’s build has few dedicated gravel components. But road bike gearing and aero handlebars did not hold him back.
The 15km circuit of the King’s Forest was untechnical, flat and fast – the leading men completed the 76km race at an average speed of 35km/h.
We were on the Suffolk soil to photograph Swift’s bike and ask him about his tech choices. So let’s have a closer look at his Pinarello Grevil F.
Head to our massive British Gravel Championships tech gallery if you want to see more bikes from the King’s Cup Gravel Festival.
Shimano pick and mix
When Swift won The Gralloch, a UCI World Gravel Series race in Scotland, he used a Di2 Ultegra rear derailleur.
His chain dropped off on several occasions, so for his second competitive gravel outing, he switched to the gravel-specific Shimano GRX RD-RX815 rear derailleur. This is still Di2-compatible and its clutch is designed to help chain retention on bumpy ground.
Rear derailleur aside, the only other gravel-designated components are the GRX RX810 brake calipers.
Swift has Dura-Ace 9070 Di2 shifters (circa 2013), an 11-speed 50/34T Ultegra R800 crankset and matching 11-34t cassette.
Given he wasn’t expecting to unclip much, if at all, Swift said he used Dura-Ace SPD-SL road bike pedals in order to maximise power transfer. He measured his watt output with a 4iiii left-side power meter.
$4,000 Princeton CarbonWorks wheels
Swift may have raided his spare parts bin for his Grevil F groupset, but the wheelset choice is more typical of a WorldTour professional.
Princeton CarbonWorks sponsor Ineos Grenadiers and he has the American brand’s Dual 5550 hoops. With a DT Swiss 180EXP hub and a Shimano freehub body, the all-road carbon wheels will set you back $3,950.
Available in rim and disc brake configurations, the Dual 5550’s 22mm internal rim width is compatible with 28mm road bike tyres up to 50mm gravel tyres. The rim’s undulations complement the Grevil F’s wavy tube shapes.
Swift took advantage of the Grevil F’s generous tyre clearance by opting for wider 45c Continental Terra Speed tyres than the 40c size he used at The Gralloch.
Swift said the higher-volume tyre improves comfort without adding excess rolling resistance.
He said his road bike saddle, the 3D-printed Fizik Vento Argo Adaptive, is sufficiently comfortable for off-road racing.
Like most elite King’s Cup competitors, Swift kept spares to a minimum. On a 15km circuit, the riders were never that far from the pits.
He dispensed with a saddle bag and attached spare gas canisters to an Elite Cannibal XC bottle cage.
An aero front-end
The Most one-piece cockpit came from Swift’s training road bike, the Pinarello Dogma F. The stock Pinarello Grevil F comes with a two-piece cockpit, with a rounder and wider alloy Most bar.
Swift stands at 190cm tall, so the 130mm stem isn’t that long for him. The 40cm handlebar width was about average for the top racers in the King’s Forest.
To avoid compromising the bar’s aero performance, Swift tucked his race number flat under the stem.