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Pro Bike: Kim Kirchen's Team Columbia Giant TT Prototype

The rear end of the prototype frame hugs the rear disc wheel as closely as the UCI will allow.

  • Kim Kirchen's Giant time trial bike is a prototype model that a select number of Columbia riders are using in this year's Tour de France.
  • The slender top tube intersects with the huge aero section seat tube in a smooth joint.
  • Huge amounts of carbon around the bottom bracket area are there to make the frame's main stress point as stiff as possible.
  • The seat tube closely profiles the rear disc wheel before straightening up towards the saddle.
  • The rear end of the prototype frame hugs the rear disc wheel as closely as the UCI will allow.
  • Straight aero seat stays don't leave a lot of room for wheel clearance.
  • Kirchen's down tube is deep but slender but where does the bottle cage go?
  • The huge head tube area is where things get really unusual on Giant's latest TT prototype.
  • Giant has built its own stem and time trial bar system…
  • … that features a huge wedge-shaped front section that completely shields the head tube.
  • Kirchen's handlebar setup looks pretty standard otherwise and features a pair of PRO extensions…
  • … but from the front the stem's wedge shape almost hides the rest of the bike from view!
  • Cables pass through the front wedge and through the fork, under the front brake and then into the underside of the down tube.
  • Besides the entirely bespoke bar and stem system the Giant's fork looks relatively standard.
  • The rear brake is hidden behind the seat tube, where you'd normally find it on most bikes.
  • Team Columbia is sponsored by Shimano and Kirchen's time trial bike uses a 7800 series Dura-Ace drivetrain.
  • Kirchen's Dura-Ace chainset was fitted with standard 53- and 39-tooth chainrings when we looked at it, but surely had bigger ones the fast course of stage 4.
  • The Dura-Ace rear derailleur is bolted to a replaceable aluminium hanger below the rear facing dropouts.
  • An 11-21T cassette is all Kirchen needed for most time trial courses.
  • As is almost obligatory in the peloton Kirchen's time trial saddle's nose has been chopped off to meet UCI regulations regarding its position in relation to the bottom bracket.
  • 22mm-wide Schwalbe Ultremo tubulars are a totally slick option for fast rolling.
  • Kirchen is the champion of Luxembourg and if this were not a prototype one wonders how much bigger that flag would have been.
  • The innovative front end design does seem to limit bar positioning flexibility somewhat though. Columbia teammate Tomas Lövkvist requires a lot of spacers to get his extension position correct.

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The rear end of the prototype frame hugs the rear disc wheel as closely as the UCI will allow.

© Ben Atkins