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

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.

  • 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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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.

© Ben Atkins