Tom Pidcock finished seventh in the Men’s Elite Road Race at the UCI Road World Championships on Sunday, with some extra help from Australian brand Partington.
Pidcock’s Pinarello-Q36.5 cycling team officially uses Zipp wheels, but the British rider employed Partington's R-Series road bike wheels on his Pinarello Dogma F during the race in Montreal.
According to Peter Nicholson, a principal at Double Digital Communications, Partington’s marketing agency, Pidcock chose the R-Series wheels “for their balance of power transfer, low weight, and aerodynamics”.
“Put simply, he chose the way they perform as he sought every advantage for one of his biggest targets of the season,” Nicholson says.
Two versions of the wheels
Nicholson says Pidcock used two versions of the R-Series wheels during the race, both with 50mm-deep rims.
Pidcock started on the R-Series Performance wheels, but after being involved in a crash with 80km to go, he switched to a bike fitted with the R-Series Performance Ti wheels.
The Performance Ti wheels have several upgrades over the Performance wheels. They use titanium hardware and a titanium ratchet system, and also feature ceramic bearings.
Pidcock typically uses Zipp’s 454 NSW wheels, but the R-Series wheels offer one immediate advantage on paper. Zipp says the 454 NSW wheelset weighs a claimed 1,428g, whereas Partington says the R-Series Performance wheels weigh 1,200g.
Partington’s wheels also use carbon spokes, compared to Zipp’s steel spokes. As well as saving weight, this could have offered Pidcock a stiffer and more responsive ride. The hubs on Partington’s R Series wheels have 68 points of engagement.
With an internal rim width of 23mm, the Partington wheels are designed to be used with a 30mm tyre, and Pidcock opted for the Pro Corsa tyres from his team sponsor Vittoria in this width at the Worlds.
Hand-built as a complete system
Nicholson also stresses that the Partington R-Series wheels are “hand-built as a complete system”.
“From the Perform hub, to the Flexon continuous carbon fiber spokes, to the Multi-Material Composite AERON Carbon Fiber Rim with PMI foam core, each wheelset delivers a complete performance advantage – something that is simply not achievable using ‘off the shelf’ components,” Nicholson says.
For most of the season, riders will disguise any kit that isn’t sponsor-correct with tape or permanent marker (think back to the Castelli Gabba’s origins). But for the World Championships, they are allowed to use other equipment because they are representing their country rather than their team.
However, Nicholson says Pidcock was in touch with Partington through Pinarello-Q36.5.
“Partington and Tom have multiple mutual contacts via some of his existing sponsors including Pinarello, Q36.5, and Amacx,” he says.
