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Blink and you'll miss it… is this the quickest bike change ever?

No time for hanging around in the worlds with this super quick bike swap

Sometimes in bike racing it's necessary to change bike, whether it's for a mechanical reason or other. In the junior world road race last weekend Quentin Jauregui required a bike change. And he did so in the blink of an eye.

Changing a bike during a race sounds easy enough.However with the peloton hurtling along at 50kph+, stopping, getting off and onto the new bike and back up to speed is going to see you ejected out the back of the group faster than you can say sacré bleu!

Employing a 'cross-style change of bikes allowed the young lad to change bikes literally in the blink of an eye. It's astonishingly quick – we've watched it a dozen times already and can't get our heads around how he managed to run that fast on cleats. And not land on his arse. This isn't one to try at home kids.

Quentin eventually finished 46th.

This isn't the first time we've seen an electric bike change caught on camera. Fabian Cancellara elected to swap bikes during the Tour of Flanders in 2010, and the video went viral on the internet. He went on to win the race.

David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes

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15 comments

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Argy | 11 years ago
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That was AWESOME!!  4  16

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Petethepump | 11 years ago
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Great swap.

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Municipal Waste | 11 years ago
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 21

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Raleigh | 11 years ago
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I saw the video footage of this.

One guy had a puncture and ran up the hill with his bike shouldered and lost nearly no time.

BEAST.

Shoul've run the whole way.

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jugster | 11 years ago
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Erm that's rather efficient, eh what?!  26

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OldRidgeback | 11 years ago
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How did he do that?

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Gkam84 | 11 years ago
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He changed from a Look to a what??  39

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notfastenough | 11 years ago
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Blimey - first time I watched it the mechanics had turned back to the camera before I realised it was all done and dusted!

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Simon_MacMichael | 11 years ago
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Certainly quicker than another change I saw in yesterday's race... mechanic stuck the front wheel in the wrong way round, had to take it back out and reinsert, left the QR pointing nicely forward.

Of course, even that is going to be lightning fast compared to a "neutral" service wheel change when you're a foreigner challenging for the overall in the Vuelta and your biggest rival for the win is a local... just ask Cadel  3

ps Cancellara, 2010, "electric bike change"...  39

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Tony Farrelly replied to Simon_MacMichael | 11 years ago
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Simon_MacMichael wrote:

ps Cancellara, 2010, "electric bike change"...  39

Maybe that's where the rumours started…?  3

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David Arthur @d... replied to Simon_MacMichael | 11 years ago
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Simon_MacMichael wrote:

Cadel  3

ps Cancellara, 2010, "electric bike change"...  39

Ha, I wondered if anyone would pick up on that

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dave atkinson | 11 years ago
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or fairly standard cyclocross footwear, or fairly standard cyclocross conditions underfoot...

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dave atkinson | 11 years ago
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not fairly standard cyclocross speeds though

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handlebarcam | 11 years ago
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Fairly standard cyclocross bike change. He is the French junior cyclocross champion.

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