If the Team Sky Pinarello Dogma 2 Geraint Thomas has been using at the 2013 Tour Down Under looks familiar, it should – it's essentially the same machine he raced last season.
Typically, teams at the Adelaide race who are still using the previous season's sponsors bring last year's machines as a last hurrah before there's sufficient stock of new gear to justify switching over. While Thomas' bike might not be new, it's still nothing to scoff at – and it's the legs that do the talking, anyway, as he proved with his stage 2 win.
Thomas is using a stock 56cm Pinarello Dogma 2, covered in Sky's standard gloss black and blue livery. Even without that color scheme, though, it would be hard to mistake the bike for anything other than a Dogma of some sort, with its trademark swoopy lines and curiously squiggly seat stays and fork.
Pinarello says those bends – and the unusually asymmetrical design used throughout the frame, from head tube to rear dropouts – are essential to the bike's ride quality. We were as skeptical as anyone, but after testing the more recent Dogma 65.1 Think2 model, we're inclined to agree.
Otherwise, Thomas' bike build is expectedly high-end but not exactly remarkable. As with other Shimano-sponsored teams, Sky doesn't yet have enough of the new Dura-Ace Di2 to equip all its riders – and it's definitely an all-or-nothing proposition given the move to 11-speed. So Thomas' bike makes do with the 7970 edition plus his usual SRM power meter.
Thomas prefers an anatomic bend bar that turns slightly up
Shimano has pushed for complete sponsorship agreements more aggressively recently, so the wheels come from Osaka, too, while the cockpit components are from the affiliated PRO catalog.
Wrapping things up are a Fizik Arione CX saddle with braided carbon fiber rails, impressively supple-yet-durable Veloflex tubular tires, Elite bottles and cages, and Shimano Dura-Ace PD-9000 pedals.
Total weight falls at the upper end of the peloton, with the bike tipping the scales at 7.76kg (17.11lb) with the computer head.
Complete bike specification
- Frame: Pinarello Dogma 2, 56cm
- Fork: Pinarello Dogma
- Headset: Pinarello tapered 1 1/8in to 1 1/2in
- Stem: PRO Vibe Carbon, 130mm x -6 degrees
- Handlebar: PRO Vibe 7s Anatomic
- Tape/grips: PRO Smart Silicon
- Front brake: Shimano Dura-Ace BR-7900 w/ Shimano carbon-specific pads
- Rear brake: Shimano Dura-Ace BR-7900 w/ Shimano carbon-specific pads
- Brake levers: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 STI Dual Control ST-7970
- Front derailleur: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 FD-7970
- Rear derailleur: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 RD-7970
- Shift levers: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 STI Dual Control ST-7970
- Cassette: Shimano Dura-Ace CS-7900, 11-25T
- Chain: Shimano Dura-Ace CN-7900
- Crankset: SRM Wireless PowerMeter Shimano Dura-Ace Compatible, 175mm, 53/39T
- Bottom bracket: Shimano Dura-Ace SM-BB7900
- Pedals: Shimano Dura-Ace SPD-SL PD-7900
- Wheelset: Shimano Dura-Ace WH-9000-C50-TU
- Front tire: Veloflex Carbon tubular
- Rear tire: Veloflex Carbon tubular
- Saddle: Fizik Arione CX w/ braided carbon rails
- Seatpost: Pinarello Dogma 2
- Bottle cages: Elite Custom Race (2)
- Computer: SRM PowerControl 7
Critical measurements
- Rider's height: 1.83m (6ft)
- Rider's weight: 70kg (154lb)
- Saddle height, from BB (c-t): 795mm
- Saddle setback: 85mm
- Seat tube length, c-c: 530mm
- Tip of saddle nose to c of bars: 599mm
- Saddle to bar drop (vertical): 126mm
- Head tube length: 165mm
- Top tube length: 565mm
- Total bicycle weight: 7.76kg (17.11lb)