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Bike Talk - Steven Kruijswijk about his Bianchi Oltre XR2

Pro Bike: Steven Kruijswijk's Bianchi Oltre XR2 race bike for the Giro d'Italia

Video: Giro d’Italia race leader Steven Kruijswijk talks through his Bianchi Oltre XR2
by David Arthur @davearthur
Tue, May 24, 2016 12:40
4

Yesterday we featured the specially lightened race bike used by Steven Kruijswijk of the Lotto NL Jumbo team, who is currently leading the Giro d’Italia and wearing the iconic Maglia Rosa jersey. 

Today he swaps back from the Specialissima that he rode during the stage 15 mountain time trial and will start today’s stage aboard his regular Bianchi Oltre XR2. It’s the Italian company’s flagship race bike and has been in use for a couple of years now.  Yes, we know this video is a bit of an advert, but it's still interesting.

Review: Bianchi Oltre XR2

Stage 16 features a lot of climbing, and while there are no extreme measures to save weight on the bike like we saw on Sunday, it does look like Steven will be riding a slightly modified setup. The main change is the shallower section Dura-Ace C24 front wheel, which saves a bit of weight over the regular C50 he’s using at the back.

Other than some pink bar tape, the bike looks fairly regular, with a Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupset and Pioneer power meter. Steven has the optional Di2 shifter buttons on the centre of the handlebars, saving him having to change hand position to change gear. He also uses a carbon fibre handlebar, an FSA Plasma one-piece handlebar and stem.

The frame isn’t the lightest, with the company claiming an 895g weight when it first launched, which is some way off the 700-750g of some of the lightest frames in the peloton - that's why he swapped to the newer Specialissima on Sunday, which weighs a claimed 780g. 

Bianchi weaves some carbon magic to add stiffness to the frame, using something called X-Tex technology to add extra carbon stripes to the head tube and bottom bracket. While stiffness was clearly high up the design list, there are a few aerodynamic details, such as the shaped seat tube and seat post and a head tube that has been dramatically pinched in at the middle, to reduce the frontal surface area. 

- Pro bikes: The pursuit of lightness – Steven Kruijswijk’s Bianchi goes on a diet 

Will the bike help Steve retain the pink jersey today?

Bianchi Oltre XR2
Steven Kruijswijk
Bianchi
pro bike
Giro d’Italia
David Arthur @davearthur

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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4 comments

Avatar
tritecommentbot | 8 years ago
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Would love to see an update on this frame. More aero/integration and countervail and still keep it just under the 1kg mark if possible.

What's faster on the flat, XR2 or the Specialissma? XR2 isn't really an all out aero bike so..

Avatar
I am a human replied to tritecommentbot | 8 years ago
1 like
unconstituted wrote:

Would love to see an update on this frame. More aero/integration and countervail and still keep it just under the 1kg mark if possible.

What's faster on the flat, XR2 or the Specialissma? XR2 isn't really an all out aero bike so..

I think it's only inevitable.  With the Infinito as the endurance bike and the Specialissima as the climbing bike it makes sense to have a more purely aero bike to keep up with the current trends.  The Aquila TT bike has Countervail as well as that new XC mountain bike they brought out this week, so I reckon you're on the money.

Avatar
Prosper0 replied to tritecommentbot | 8 years ago
0 likes
unconstituted wrote:

Would love to see an update on this frame. More aero/integration and countervail and still keep it just under the 1kg mark if possible.

What's faster on the flat, XR2 or the Specialissma? XR2 isn't really an all out aero bike so..

 

Obviously the Oltre would be faster on the flat, it's their aero racing bike, the specialissma is their lightweight climbing bike. 

Avatar
tritecommentbot replied to Prosper0 | 8 years ago
0 likes
Prosper0 wrote:
unconstituted wrote:

Would love to see an update on this frame. More aero/integration and countervail and still keep it just under the 1kg mark if possible.

What's faster on the flat, XR2 or the Specialissma? XR2 isn't really an all out aero bike so..

 

Obviously the Oltre would be faster on the flat, it's their aero racing bike, the specialissma is their lightweight climbing bike. 

 

You must have access to some data that the rest of us don't if it's obvious to you. Care to share? Love to see the XR2's wind tunnel and real world testing  v the Specialissma.

 

Or are you suggesting that a bike with any aero features at all instantly makes it a faster bike than any lightweight climbing bike?

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