In 2009, Yukiya Arashiro was joined with team mate Fumiyuki Beppu and together they became the first Japanese riders to complete the Tour De France. Arashiro, the two time elite-men’s Japanese National Road Champion, now rides along Thomas Voeckler for Europcar, the only team in the WorldTour on Colnago bikes.
Just like we saw with Voeckler’s bike at the 2013 Tour De France, Arashiro’s bike is strongly Italian – surprising given the team is French. The tyres, pedals, bottle cages and computer are the only items not from Italy, and all are European brands.
Arashiro’s Colnago C59 Italia is eye-catching, with a custom paint job for his recent 2013 National Championship win. The prominent characters on Arashiro’s bike mean the words Nippon or Nihon – which is simply Japan in Japanese.
As we previously found, the Italian made C59 Italia is a truly brilliant bike, with a unique aesthetic to match. A lugged construction allows for a staggering 22 stock size options and additional custom options, something that would be far too cost prohibitive with a mould constructed frame.
Not often seen in the pro peloton, Arashiro uses a one-piece Deda Alanera handlebar/stem. With a claimed weight of 409g and plenty of waste in the event of a crash, there’s little reason to use this setup beyond cool aesthetics.
A full Campagnolo Super Record EPS groupset and Bora Ultra 35 wheels complete the Italian branded theme. Like we saw with Andre Greipel’s Ridley Noah Fast, Arashiro’s bike is fitted with the new internal EPS battery, with the charging port visible at the base of downtube.
Hutchison Pro Tour tyres and Look Keo Blade 2 pedals add some national based product for the French team. The Pro Tour tyres are extremely well respected in the peloton, but prohibitive to purchase as the going price was US$500 a par last we checked.
Complete bike specifications
- Frame: Colnago C59 Italia, 52cm
- Fork: Colnago C59 carbon tapered
- Headset: Colnago intergrated tapered
- Stem: Deda Alanera Combo, 110mm
- Handlebar: Deda Alanera Combo, 42cm
- Tape: Colnago Cork
- Front brake: Campagnolo Super Record
- Rear brake: Campagnolo Super Record
- Brake levers: Campagnolo Super Record EPS
- Front derailleur: Campagnolo Super Record EPS
- Rear derailleur: Campagnolo Super Record EPS
- Shift levers: Campagnolo Super Record EPS
- Cassette: Campagnolo Super Record 11-27T
- Chain: Campagnolo Super Record
- Crankset: Campagnolo Super Record, 172.5mm, 53/39T
- Bottom bracket: Campagnolo threaded
- Battery: Internal Campagnolo race battery, in downtube
- Pedals: Look Keo Blade 2
- Wheelset: Campagnolo Bora Ultra 35
- Front tire: Hutchison Pro Tour tubular 24mm
- Rear tire: Hutchison Pro Tour tubular 24mm
- Saddle: Selle Italia SLR Team Edition
- Seatpost: Colnago carbon
- Bottle cages: Tacx Uma carbon (2)
- Computer: Sigma ROX 6.0
Critical measurements
- Rider's height: 1.70m (5ft 7in)
- Rider's weight: 65kg (143lb)
- Saddle height from BB, c-t: 696mm
- Saddle setback: 31mm
- Seat tube length (c-t): 520mm
- Seat tube length (c-c): 500mm
- Tip of saddle to center of bar: 520mm
- Saddle-to-bar drop: 95mm
- Head tube length: 125mm
- Top tube length (effective): 530mm
- Total bicycle weight: 6.95kg (15.29lb)