Eric Marcotte of Team SmartStop Pro Cycling pulled off the biggest win of his career at this year's US elite national road championship, holding off much better-known, and better supported, riders and squads in front of the packed streets of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Naturally, team sponsor Wilier Triestina has rewarded that victory with a custom painted stars-and-stripes Zero.9.
While such a win would be impressive in its own right, it's even more so given that Marcotte isn't a full-time professional bike racer; he's a full-time chiropractor with his own practice in Scottsdale, Arizona. As befits his 'working man' racer status, Marcotte uses Wilier's second-tier all-rounder, the Zero.9, which was specifically introduced as a lower-cost option to the Zero.7 flagship.
Wilier originally introduced the Zero.9 as a lower-cost alternative to the Zero.7 flagship
"Initially as the season started, I was just given the Zero.9 frameset as being more of an all around rider," Marcotte said. "Who knew at the time I'd have the results that the year produced? That said, if I were to have the option, haven ridden and trained on this frameset for a year now, I'd choose it myself. Super responsive, great position and comfort for me on the bike, good positioning over the bottom bracket for cornering, stiffness in the bottom bracket, and sharp front end."
Not surprisingly given his day job, Marcotte says that dialling in his position was critical. While his own profession helps in that respect, his physical location in Scottsdale doesn't exactly hurt either. Cyclologic, a "Cycling Analysis Center" with a speciality in bike fitting, is located a few steps away, as is the wind tunnel at high-end shop Faster.
Marcotte's aggressive position includes quite a bit of drop and a 130mm-long stem
"Setup and positioning is very individualised," said Marcotte. "The most important thing is comfort that is individualised to the person's body, thus creating the greatest power vs efficiency."
Such a focus on the true relationship of a bike to its rider – as a mechanism to channel human power down to the road – is reflected in Marcotte's machine. The workhorse build includes a SRAM Red 22 group, Quarq power meter, Mercury carbon tubular wheels wrapped in Maxxis rubber, TRP R970 brake calipers, and Ritchey aluminium cockpit components. Finishing things off are Gore Ride-On sealed derailleur cables and housing, a Selle San Marco Aspide saddle, Arundel Gecko bar tape and Dave-O bottle cages, and a set of Mavic Zxellium SLR pedals.
Total weight as shown here is 7.33kg (16.16lb).
The American motif is highlighted with the bald eagle head
Oh, and then there's that awesome paint job, resplendent in a patriotic red, white, and blue motif that even includes blue brake lever hoods and a custom laser etched Garmin computer mount from K-Edge. Naturally, Marcotte is "super stoked" about getting such treatment and while he loves the bike, he also has no intentions of subjecting it to unnecessary wear and tear.
"I actually haven't ridden it since I raced Worlds. It's like a collectors item!" he said. "It'll be like my coffee shop ride bike and make a great retirement bike down the road."
Complete bike specifications
- Frame: Wilier Triestina Zero.9, size S
- Fork: Wilier Triestina Zero.9
- Headset: Ritchey Carbon Pro Drop-In, 1 1/8-to-1 1/4in tapered
- Stem: Ritchey WCS 4-Axis, 130mm x -17°
- Handlebar: Ritchey WCS EvoCurve, 42cm (c-c)
- Tape: Arundel Gecko Grip
- Front brake: TRP R970 w/ carbon-specific pads
- Rear brake: TRP R970 w/ carbon-specific pads
- Brake levers: SRAM Red 22 DoubleTap
- Front derailleur: SRAM Red 22
- Rear derailleur: SRAM Red 22
- Shift levers: SRAM Red 22 DoubleTap
- Cassette: SRAM PG-1170, 11-25T
- Chain: KMC X11SL
- Crankset: SRAM Red 22 Quarq power meter, 172.5mm, 53/39T
- Bottom bracket: Wilier Triestina BB386EVO-to-SRAM GXP adapter
- Pedals: Mavic Zxellium SLR
- Front wheel: Mercury Cycling M5 tubular
- Rear wheel: Mercury Cycling M9 tubular
- Front tyre: Maxxis Campione tubular, 25mm
- Rear tyre: Maxxis Campione tubular, 25mm
- Saddle: Selle San Marco Aspide
- Seatpost: Ritchey WCS Alloy 1-bolt
- Bottle cages: Arundel Dave-O (2)
- Other accessories: K-Edge Garmin computer mount, Garmin Edge computer, Gore Ride-On sealed derailleur cable and housing, SRAM chain catcher
Critical measurements
- Rider's height: 1.75m (5ft 7in)
- Rider's weight: 71kg (157lb)
- Saddle height from BB, c-t: 708mm
- Saddle setback: 30mm
- Seat tube length (c-t): 490mm
- Seat tube length (c-c): 435mm
- Tip of saddle nose to centre of bars (next to stem): 523mm
- Saddle-to-bar drop: 93mm
- Head tube length: 121mm
- Top tube length (effective): 528mm
- Weight: 7.33kg (16.16lb)