Riccardo Riccò is turning out to be one of the revelations of the 2008 Tour de France with a storming victory in Stage 9’s tough stage to Bagnères de Bigorre over the first big mountains of the Pyrenees. He scored that win on a Scott Addict that demands the question: how are Saunier-Duval’s mechanic’s keeping this bike over the UCI weight limit?
Riccardo Riccò’s weapon of choice for his assault on stage 9 of the Tour de France’s ascent of the Aspin was his usual Scott Addict Limited, only in this case Scott provided the 25-year-old with a bold custom finish just in time for the Tour.
Menacing-looking cobras adorn the head tube, fork, integrated seat mast and seat tube in honor of Riccò’s nickname and team sponsor fi’zi:k even got in the game with a custom Arione saddle.
Otherwise, his bike was functionally equivalent to those of his teammates although that’s no bad thing here as the Addict has proven itself as one of the highest-performing race bikes we’ve encountered.
Actual weight on an uncut medium-sized Addict R1 frame is just 880g (1.94lb) with an uncut seatmast yet in spite of that paltry figure, it’s among the stiffest-feeling race bikes we’ve encountered.
Moreover, it even manages to offer a surprisingly refined ride quality that belies its beefy tubing dimensions (at least on smaller bumps, that is).
Contributing further to the lightweight theme is a nearly complete SRAM Red group, which continues to rack up victories despite being a relative new arrival in the pro equipment ranks, and Mavic’s superb Cosmic Carbone Ultimate wheels.
Cockpit components are supplied by Ritchey in the form of a WCS 4-Axis aluminum stem, WCS Classic aluminum bar and ‘stubby’ seatpost head while Time’s RXS Carbon Ti is Riccò’s pedal of choice.
At a claimed weight of under 2kg for a complete Red group and sub-1.2kg for a pair of Cosmic Carbone Ultimates, we’re honestly not entirely sure how the Saunier Duval-Scott mechanics get Riccò’s bike up to the UCI-mandated 6.8kg limit (AFLD is upholding UCI rules for this year’s non UCI-sanctioned Tour).
After all, none of the peripheral components could be considered to be of even moderately average weight and Topeak’s carbon fiber Shuttle cages aren’t exactly helping matters in that regard.
In fact, our own Addict R1 test bike was well under that figure at just 6.39kg for a large-sized frame (Riccò rides a small). Granted, that bike was weighed without pedals but Riccò’s Time units are feather-light, too, and his wheels are far lighter than the R-SYS clinchers that came stock on our rig. ="http:>
We may never figure out what sort of mass alchemy Riccò’s team mechanics have cooked up here but it’s of little consequence; almost no amount of weight savings could account for Riccò’s stunning performance today which is just fine with us.
Specification
- Frame: Scott Addict, size Small
- Fork: Scott Addict
- Headset: Ritchey WCS integrated
- Stem: Ritchey WCS 4Axis, 120mm x -17°
- Handlebars: Ritchey WCS Classic, 42cm (c-c)
- Tape/grips: fi'zi:k bar:tape
- Front brake: SRAM Red with Mavic carbon-specific pads by SwissStop
- Rear brake: SRAM Red with Mavic carbon-specific pads by SwissStop
- Brake levers: SRAM Red DoubleTap
- Front derailleur: SRAM Red
- Rear derailleur: SRAM Red
- Shift levers: SRAM Red DoubleTap
- Cassette: Shimano Dura-Ace CS-7800, 11-25T
- Chain: Shimano Dura-Ace CN-7801
- Crankset: SRAM Red, 172.5mm, 53/39T
- Bottom bracket: SRAM Red GXP
- Pedals: Time RXS Carbon Ti
- Wheels: Mavic Cosmic Carbone Ultimate
- Front tire: Hutchinson tubular
- Rear tire: Hutchinson tubular
- Saddle: fi'zi:k Arione custom
- Seat post: integrated with Ritchey 'Stubby' top
- Bottle cages: Topeak Shuttle Cage CB
- Computer: Polar CS400
- Other accessories: Scott chain watcher
Critical measurements
- Rider's height: 1.73m (5' 8")
- Rider's weight: 59kg (130lb)
- Seat tube length, c-c: 460mm
- Seat tube length, c-t: 480mm
- Saddle height, from BB (c-t): 710mm
- Tip of saddle nose to C of bars (next to stem): 560mm
- C of front wheel to top of bars (next to stem): 523mm
- Top tube length: 535mm (horizontal)
- Total bicycle weight: 6.8kg 15.0lb)