When Michael Rogers wrapped up last week’s Amgen Tour of California, he did it on Scott USA’s stalwart road racer, the Addict.
Since its introduction as a 2007 model, the Addict has proven itself in competition, first under Saunier-Duval Prodir and now in its second season under the HTC-Columbia outfit.
Rogers’ large sized frame is said to weigh under 1kg with its integrated seatmast. The frame and fork have carbon dropouts, while Scott also mould the bottom bracket shell – which accepts Shimano’s BB86 press-fit resin cups – front derailleur mount and cable stops out of carbon.
Scott build the frames from their HMX-Net carbon fibre. HMX is their proprietary blend of carbon, while NET, or Naked External Tubeset, refers to the frame’s lack of a cosmetic carbon layer.
Possibly more important than the material is the IMP moulding process, where the front triangle is moulded as a single piece, allowing Scott to use 11 percent less material than they would with the tube-to-tube moulding method used for their CR1.
The front of Rogers' Addict has a small hole drilled so Di2 wiring can be internally routed
Rogers’ bike features exotic supplements to Shimano’s Dura-Ace Di2 electronic groupset. The main substitutions are the SRM Professional power meter with 7900 compatible spider, an additional bar top mounted electronic push-button shifter for the rear derailleur, and prototype blue brake pads from Shimano – a compound which first showed up at last year’s Tour de France. Prototype carbon-bodied Dura-Ace pedals finish off the Shimano drivetrain.
SRM manufacture a spider for their new crankset that perfectly matches the Dura-Ace 7900 two-piece outer chainring
The bike’s cockpit is fairly straight forward, starting with the round PRO Vibe carbon handlebar and carbon wrapped stem. Saddle is a custom team Antares with braided carbon rails from Fizik.
The wheels Rogers selected for the final stage of the race were Highroad-branded HED Stinger 9s – 90mm tubulars. The key to this wheelset, however, is the use of a 25mm Continental Competition tyre at the rear.
The large rear tyre is the key to preventing snakebite flats and keeping the rider comfortable
HTC-Columbia mechanic Joerg Wohlleben said that because the rim is wide, the team were suffering snakebite punctures. Now all they use at the rear is 25mm tyres, and flatting is no longer an issue.
Wohlleben also said that, because the frame is so stiff, many of the riders prefer the added comfort and improved handling offered by the larger tyre, which also has a stickier tread compound than the 23mm model. He said other teams are considering making the switch to larger tyres for racing, including Rabobank and RadioShack.