David Arroyo’s Fuji SL for the Vuelta

Light is beautiful for team Caja Rural-Seguros

August 25, 2015 at 1:30 pm

The Vuelta a España is heating up, with tired Tour de France contenders attempting to put the hurt on one another once again, and smaller teams vying for attention from the cameras. Pro Continental outfit Caja Rural-Seguros RGA is one of five wildcard entries to the race, and their leader on the road is one David Arroyo.

35 year old Arroyo is a veteran of many Grand Tours, with career highlights including a spell in pink during the 2010 Giro d’Italia which led to a second place finish overall, and a stage win in the 2008 Vuelta. Caja Rural likely lacks the firepower to support a podium bid this year, but there’s plenty of scope for targeting individual stages, and the team has already been visible in breakaways.

Arroyo is one of four members of Caja Rural racing on the newly launched Fuji SL. The build is a fairly straightforward one with nothing too outlandish, but there’s quite a mixture of components on show, with only the shifters, derailleurs and cassette coming from the Shimano Dura-Ace groupset. Fuji has clearly put some effort into the aesthetics, with custom colour-matching of the cable outers and chain, and we think you’ll agree that the results look rather good.

The most interesting thing about this build is the weight. According to Caja Rural’s mechanics, the bike is just 6.65kg as pictured, too light to be race legal. (Bikes must weigh 6.8kg or more under UCI regulations.) When we shot the bike, they were discussing the best approach to adding weight – it’s a funny old world.

Complete bike specifications

Frame: Fuji SL C15 carbon, 52cm
Stem: Oval 713 alloy 110mm, -17 degree
Handlebar: Oval 710 carbon, 41cm c-c
Front brake: TRP 979 EQ, Reynolds blue pads
Rear brake: TRP 979 EQ, Reynolds blue pads
Shift levers: Shimano Dura-Ace 11-speed
Front derailleur: Shimano Dura-Ace 11-speed w/Rotor chain catcher
Rear derailleur: Shimano Dura-Ace 11-speed
Cassette: Shimano Dura-Ace 11-28
Chain: custom green KMC X11 DLC
Crankset: Rotor 3D+ with INpower power meter, 53/38 NoQ chainrings
Bottom bracket: Rotor PF30
Pedals: Xpedo Thrust NXS
Wheelset: Oval 932 carbon tubular
Tyres: Vittoria Corsa CX 23mm tubular
Saddle: Prologo Scratch Pro TR
Seatpost: Oval 950 carbon 27.2mm
Bottle cages: Elite Custom Race
Other accessories: Standard Garmin mount, race number bracket
Critical measurements
Rider’s height: 1.70m (5ft 7in)
Rider’s weight: 60kg
Saddle height from BB, c-t: 72cm
Seat tube length: 48cm
Top tube length: 53cm
Saddle-to-bar drop: 13cm (approx)
Total bike weight: 6.65kg (before addition of weights)

Matthew Allen

Senior Writer

Matthew is an experienced mechanic and an expert on bike tech who appreciates practical, beautifully-engineered things. Originally a roadie, he likes bikes and kit of every stripe, and he's tested a huge variety of it over the years for BikeRadar, Cycling Plus and others. For a long time Matthew's heart belonged to the Scott Addict, but he's currently enjoying Trek's lovely aluminium Emonda ALR and having a torrid affair with a Giant Trance e-MTB. At 174cm tall and 53kg, he looks like he should be better at cycling than he actually is, and he's ok with that.