Paris-Nice 2016 Tech: Gallery of bikes from Giant-Alpecin, Direct Energie, Cannondale & Lampre Merida

Compared to the Cannondale team bikes we saw at the Tour Down Under, these SuperSix EVO Hi-Mods had only minor differences. They’re running the same Mavic Cosmic Carbon tubulars and FSA-heavy cockpit, but we did spot one new item. Click through for a close up of that and bikes from three other teams…

The only glaringly different component was the addition of Berner’s oversized carbon fiber derailleur pulley cage and wheels. It’s available for all the top level rear derailleurs from SRAM, Shimano and Campagnolo and uses 13- and 15-tooth wheels and various levels of bearing upgrades for a claimed reduction of six or more watts.

FSA chains take the place of the usual Shimano, SRAM or Campy models, depending on team sponsors. We spotted at least one other team running KMC’s SL chains.

As Jayson mentioned in his TDU coverage, these 700×22 were the narrowest tires in use at the event. Some teams were even running 28mm wide rubber.

The Direct Energie team rode BH bikes, with the G7 G6 Pro being the weapon of choice.

This one was Sylvain Chavanel’s ride. They’re running fairly shallow Vision carbon tubulars with Hutchinson Pro Tour tires, which are commercially available to all of us.

Giant-Alpecin’s bikes didn’t have anything new to show off, just the usual Shimano Dura-Ace group including pedals and wheels.

This one had the least aero application of course climb notes we’ve seen, but it probably got the job done.

IAM Cycling’s Scott Foil aero road bikes were decked out with house-brand Syncros cockpit parts, DT Swiss wheels and Shimano Dura-Ace.

This one belonged to Jonas Van Genechten, who said this RR1.0 bar/stem combo was new. It’s showing on their website already, so it could have been some lost-in-translation answer, was new to him, or something similar. Either way, the 400g component is mighty good looking, and one-piece handlebar and stem units are generally stiffer than their two-piece counterparts.

Some Lampre-Merida riders chose the aero Reactor road bike, which undoubtedly helped on the wicked fast, sustained descents (the one leading into the finish was more than 10km long and they hit speeds over 70km/h, aka 43.4mph).

Davide Cimolai, from Italy, chose Rotor’s No-Q round chainrings with an otherwise Di2 group.

With some aero bikes being on the stiff side, Merida’s Sflex seatpost builds in a little cushioning via an elastomer insert.