Taking advantage of the breaks between the Northern races, we went to the villa near Bruges where the Valcar-Travel&ServiceWe wanted to study the yellow Cannondales a little better, which in a group many girls look with a subtle hint of envy.
The data released by the American company is exciting. They talk about 30 watts. Here's how much power you save thanks to the shape of the tubes and the integrated design of the new SuperSix EVO compared to the previous version, calculated at a speed of 48,3 kilometers per hour.
Our guide for this technical journey is Ilaria “Iaia” Sanguineti, born in Sanremo in Liguria in 1994, who has been racing for Valcar since 2018 and is a sprinter by profession. Often leading the sprints against girls like Elisa Balsam e Chiara Consonni, who up here just last Monday won the Ronde de Mouscron.
Tested with Bettiol
We had already tested the SuperSix EVO on bici.PRO, in the configuration that Cannondale has reserved for the Ef-Nippo professionals. We had found the change in the section of the tubes, no longer round as the wind tunnel confirmed that the round shape is not the most aerodynamic.
It's just their truncated profile improves aerodynamic efficiency: a result that girls appreciate on flat surfaces but also if there is a lot of wind.
«It's a middle ground – explains Sanguineti – between the SystemSix (which Valcar currently keeps as a spare, ed.) which was very aerodynamic and the lighter ones used by climbers. The SuperSix is good everywhere, even in sprints».
Immediate response
What leaves the girls and all those who have been able to try this bike breathless is the response to acceleration. Uphill, sprinting, on the flat.
“You feel it as if it’s part of you,” says Ilaria, during the meeting in the house on the outskirts of Bruges, “and a lot depends on the shape of the rear triangle, which is so compact.”
A key point of the frame is in fact the rear triangle, which is inserted into the seat tube very low down and has 40,8 centimeter chainstays. A choice that goes against the trend since the use of disc brakes and the forces they exert on the frame, he led everyone else to lengthen this part of the bike.
Tubeless on its debut
Valcar's bike is equipped with Shimano Ultegra Di2, a Prologo saddle, Vision wheels and Veloflex tires.
«In the Northern races – explains Sanguineti – we raced with 40-inch rims, but we also have taller ones available. Starting from De Panne, however, we used 28 mm tubeless tyres for the first time. and I liked them so much that I asked to have them in the next race too."
Rideability. Lightness. Compactness. These are the three main qualities of the Valcar bike. That's all from Bruges for now. Now the girls of “Capo” Arzeni are expected from the second part of the North, from Brabant Arrow, All 'Amstel Gold Race next Sunday.
