This is, according to Trek, the fastest bike the US brand has ever tested in the wind tunnel, with a claimed 16-watt saving over the outgoing model at 26 mph / 41.84 kph (in its triathlon guise).
On that note, the Speed Concept is available in two versions: this UCI-legal time trial bike and a tri option with down tube storage and the addition of Trek’s IsoSpeed decoupler at the rear for enhanced comfort.
The UCI says ‘no’ to aero-enhancing storage and road time trials aren’t long enough to significantly benefit IsoSpeed, so neither port across to Pedersen’s Trek-Segafredo team bike.
There are deep tube profiles throughout, however, exploiting what is possible within the UCI’s rulebook, while the heavily-dropped seatstays now feature a stepped design on this third-generation Speed Concept.
Everything is integrated up front, as you’d expect, with the base bar flowing into the head tube, which in turn has a deep, truncated Kammtail design. The fork is suitably skinny, too.
We photographed Pedersen’s bike ahead of the stage one time trial in Copenhagen, where the Dane finished sixth on home roads.
For that short, 13.2km test, Pedersen used a 1x setup, pairing a huge 60-tooth chainring with his SRAM Red eTap AXS 12-speed drivetrain.
The front wheel is a Bontrager Aeolus RSL 75 and the rear a Zipp Super-9 disc, both wrapped in Pirelli P Zero Race tyres.
George Scott is BikeRadar's editor-in-chief. He has been writing about bikes for more than a decade and riding them for much longer. He's a road cyclist at heart and is happiest in the mountains, even if he can't climb them particularly quickly. George has ridden the Etape du Tour, Maratona dles Dolomites and Haute Route sportives, but has also caught the gravel riding bug. George also contributes to the BikeRadar Podcast and YouTube channel, and, as well as being the former editor of RoadCyclingUK.com, has also written about cycling for Rouleur, Cyclist.co.uk and T3.
Simon von Bromley is a senior technical writer for BikeRadar.com. Simon joined BikeRadar in 2020, but has been riding bikes all his life, and racing road and time trial bikes for over a decade. As a person of little physical talent, he has a keen interest in any tech which can help him ride faster and is obsessed with the tiniest details. Simon writes reviews and features on power meters, smart trainers, aerodynamic bikes and kit, and nerdy topics like chain lubricants, tyres and pro bike tech. Simon also makes regular appearances on the BikeRadar Podcast and BikeRadar’s YouTube channel. Before joining BikeRadar, Simon was a freelance writer and photographer, with work published on BikeRadar.com, Cyclingnews.com and in CyclingPlus magazine. You can follow Simon on Twitter or Instagram.
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