Jürgen Roelandts' Ridley Noah SL - Matthew Allen / Immediate Media
The Campagnolo EPS brain sits under a 130mm Deda Zero 100 stem - Matthew Allen / Immediate Media
Deda's Zero 100 Shallow Drop bars offer a near-classic bend - Matthew Allen / Immediate Media
Ridley's signature F-Split fork design is all about the aero - Matthew Allen / Immediate Media
Fairly smooth roads means Continental Pro Ltd 25mm tubulars - Matthew Allen / Immediate Media
Only the best hubs for the pros - Matthew Allen / Immediate Media
For an aero bike, tyre clearance is respectable - Matthew Allen / Immediate Media
Tacx's new Deva bottle cages look very nice - Matthew Allen / Immediate Media
We're still getting used to the looks of Campagnolo's four-arm cranks - Matthew Allen / Immediate Media
Unlike the Noah FAST, the SL has a conventional aero seatpost - Matthew Allen / Immediate Media
Roelandts favours the Selle San Marco Concor saddle - Matthew Allen / Immediate Media
As pro as it gets - note the mark on the post to record the correct saddle height - Matthew Allen / Immediate Media
Lotto Soudal's team slogan is plastered up the seatstay - Matthew Allen / Immediate Media
Despite the hills, that's an 11-25t cassette. Witness also the Noah SL's neat internal cabling - Matthew Allen / Immediate Media
Are you slow? Perhaps you need ceramic bearings in your jockey wheels - Matthew Allen / Immediate Media
Roelandts uses KéO Blade 2 Cr pedals, in the stiffest 20Nm spring tension version for maximum security - Matthew Allen / Immediate Media
Like many riders, his pedals are modified with bar tape to improve cleat fit and silence creaks - Matthew Allen / Immediate Media
The red device is a K-Edge chain catcher that incorporates an SRM crank magnet. The port on the seat tube is for charging the EPS battery - Matthew Allen / Immediate Media
The magnet on the end of the chain catcher, plus Campagnolo's PF30 adapter cups - Matthew Allen / Immediate Media
The SRM head unit mounting bracket is there, but without the power meter there's no point in using it - Matthew Allen / Immediate Media
This SRM sensor looks lonely with no head unit to talk to - Matthew Allen / Immediate Media
The Amstel Gold Race is the first of the three Ardennes classics, and its 251km course is an endless series of climbs – 34 in total. 29-year-old Jürgen Roelandts of Team Lotto Soudal wasn’t a contender for the win, but as a strong classics rider he had an important role to play working for his teammates. It was his efforts at the beginning of the final ascent of the Cauberg that set Tony Gallopin up for an eventual sixth place, while Roelandts himself finished 66th, 1:32 down on winner Michal Kwiatkowski. After the race, we gave Roelandts' still-dirty bike the once over outside the team's hotel in Maastricht.
As pro as it gets - note the mark on the post to record the correct saddle height: as pro as it gets - note the mark on the post to record the correct saddle height - Matthew Allen / Immediate Media
Despite the lumpy course, Roelandts rode the race (his first Amstel Gold, as it happens) on a Noah SL, the revised version of Ridley’s flagship aero bike launched at last year’s Eurobike. With no cobbles to contend with and a good weather forecast, this was a fairly standard build with a Campagnolo Super Record EPS electronic groupset, 50mm deep Bora Ultra wheels and 25mm Continental Pro Ltd tubulars. There were no concessions on the gearing either, with a standard double up front and an 11-25t cassette.
We're still getting used to the looks of campagnolo's four-arm cranks: we're still getting used to the looks of campagnolo's four-arm cranks - Matthew Allen / Immediate Media
As pro as it gets - note the mark on the post to record the correct saddle height: as pro as it gets - note the mark on the post to record the correct saddle height - Matthew Allen / Immediate Media
Despite the lumpy course, Roelandts rode the race (his first Amstel Gold, as it happens) on a Noah SL, the revised version of Ridley’s flagship aero bike launched at last year’s Eurobike. With no cobbles to contend with and a good weather forecast, this was a fairly standard build with a Campagnolo Super Record EPS electronic groupset, 50mm deep Bora Ultra wheels and 25mm Continental Pro Ltd tubulars. There were no concessions on the gearing either, with a standard double up front and an 11-25t cassette.We're still getting used to the looks of campagnolo's four-arm cranks: we're still getting used to the looks of campagnolo's four-arm cranks - Matthew Allen / Immediate Media
It was notable that while Roelandts' bike carried the cadence sensor, crank magnet and mounting bracket for an SRM power meter, the unit itself was not actually fitted. Asked about this, a team mechanic was quite blunt: the Noah SL frame isn’t light enough to hit the UCI minimum weight of 6.8kg with the team’s standard equipment, and on a testing parcours the extra weight of a power meter simply wasn’t worth having. BikeRadar wasn’t able to weigh this particular bike, but we were told it comes in at more than 7kg.
Check out the gallery above for more details.
Complete bike specifications
Frameset: Ridley Noah SL (Large)
Stem: Deda Zero 100 130mm
Handlebar: Deda Zero 100 Shallow Drop 42cm (39.5cm c-c)
Front brake: Campagnolo Super Record
Rear brake: Campagnolo Super Record
Front derailleur: Campagnolo Super Record EPS
Rear derailleur: Campagnolo Super Record EPS
Shift levers: Campagnolo Super Record EPS
Cassette: Campagnolo Super Record 11-25t
Chain: Campagnolo Record 11
Crankset: Campagnolo Super Record Ultra-Torque 53/39 w/PF30 adapter cups
Pedals: Look Keo Blade 2 Cr 20
Front wheel: Campagnolo Bora Ultra 50mm
Rear wheel: Campagnolo Bora Ultra 50mm
Front tubular: Continental Pro Ltd 25mm
Rear tubular: Continental Pro Ltd 25mm
Saddle: Selle San Marco Concor
Seatpost: Ridley Noah SL aero post
Bottle cages: Tacx Deva (x2)
Accesories: K-Edge SRM Pro Road chain catcher w/crank magnet, SRM speed sensor, SRM head unit bracket
Matthew Loveridge (formerly Allen) is BikeRadar's former senior writer, 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 type, including gravel bikes and mountain bikes, and he's tested a huge variety of all three over the years for BikeRadar, Cycling Plus, Cyclist.co.uk and others. Alongside his writing, he runs a cycling-friendly holiday cottage in the Forest of Dean. He looks like he should be better at cycling than he actually is, and he's ok with that.
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