At the start of 2015, Belgian Jolien D’Hoore cited her Colnago V1-r as one of the things she was most excited about in her first season with Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling, and given the stellar year she’s had it seems her enthusiasm for her new bike was well placed.
Her biggest results include first overall and the green jersey at the BeNe Ladies Tour, victories at one-day races Omloop van het Hageland, Ronde van Drenthe, the Flanders Diamond Tour, and the Open de Suède Vårgårda, and stage wins at the Holland Ladies Tour and the Women’s Tour, as well as a successful defence of her Belgian National Road Race title.
Considered one of the best sprinters and most exciting young riders in the women’s pro peloton, the Belgian Bullet will ride for Wiggle Honda again in 2016.
We got a close look at her bike at this year’sLa Course by Tour de France where she came second – although having crashed during the race it’s not the bike she actually finished it on…
Featherweight frame
A joint venture with that other iconic Italian brand Ferrari, the V1-r is the lightest frame Colnago has ever made, with D’Hoore’s size 48 weighing a meagre 835g.
All carbon monocoque, the main tubes, as well as the fork blades, have a subtle truncated Kamm tail-style profile, said to offer less wind-resistance than round tubes while providing a good balance of weight and stiffness.
Another first for Colnago is the use of direct-mount brake calipers, with the rear brake following the growing aero-bike trend of being tucked beneath the seatstays to further assist aerodynamic performance.
Italian job
The Italian influence doesn’t stop at the frame, with Campagnolo components – including the lightest groupset on the market, the 11-speed Super Record EPS – a Deda stem and handlebars, and a Fizik Arione CX Carbon saddle also featuring.
At the bottom bracket the V1-r has the same unique ThreadFit82.5 shell first revealed on the Colnago C60. It’s a wide BB shell that allows for the V1-r’s generous down tube, seat tube and seatstay proportions.
Rounding things off at the top of the right front fork, and leaving you in no doubt as to the owner of the bike, is a Belgian Bullet decal.
The Belgium Bullet decal leaves you in no doubt as to the owner of this bike
[“source-cyclingnews”]