Bottecchia Bikes are the ride for Androni-Sidermec, and they look sweet. Not so much that there was anything really trick about them, but Euro brands are always intriguing if only for the fact that there are so many nice bikes and brands we simply don’t see in the U.S. Bottecchia had two models for the standard race days, a lightweight climber and an endurance road bike.
The T1 Endurance is the shapelier of the two, using thicker tube sections, a curvy fork and indented downtube behind the front wheel, plus low set seatstays to improve compliance. While the name implies long distance comfort, the looks suggest there’s quite a bit of aerodynamic consideration given to the design, too.
The Bottecchia Emme4 Superlight also gets low slung seatstays, but these look flatter to further aid bump absorption. Sleek cable routing into the down tube is always a nice touch.
Builds included Vittoria tubular tires on Fulcrum Speed wheels, Shimano Dura-Ace drivetrains with Look pedals and Deda Elementi cockpits.
Their bikes had some of the more prolific sponsor logo placement, but honestly we think they pulled it off well. And that red was gorgeous in person, not really showing nearly as vibrantly in all of these photos.
TEAM BMC
BMC Racing Team is another of the handful with the bike manufacturer as the title sponsor.
Here, too, the TeamMachine SLR01 and TimeMachine01 bikes and their bits are pretty much all stock.
Shimano Dura-Ace groups were present in high numbers, here using their direct-mount rear derailleurs.
Shimano also handles the wheels, with Dura-Ace on the road bikes and PRO on the TT bikes.
Would you want to turn a 56/44 on a tiny cassette? Stage One’s course had enough ups and downs that staying in the big ring could easily strain anyone’s cadence.
K-Edge mounts also had good attendance.
The TeamMachine’s unique seatpost clamp structure made for alternate mounting positions of the Quarq tracking device.
Bianchi Lotto-Jumbo
Lotto-Jumbo’s Bianchi team bikes were another that used mostly stock bits, but unless you’re regularly trolling every bike shop around (and those shops happen to stock every high end bit around), hitting the pits is a great way to see not just what’s at the top of each brand’s hierarchy, but also how they get set up for professional racing.
The Oltre is Bianchi’s top level general purpose race bike. They have more aero ones, and lighter climbing ones, but when you need something to do everything well, this is it. It uses their Countervail blend of viscoelastic resins and carbon fibers to reduce vibration. And there’s a disc brake model, too.
More Shimano Dura-Ace, including pedals and wheels.
The Aquila CV TT/Triathlon bikes use dramatically different shaping to handle different frame sizes…
There’s just something about the bolt front end of the Aquila that’s very satisfying in a battering ram sort of way.
Pioneer power meters, FSA Vision bars, Fizik saddles…
…and Vittoria tubulars rounded out the parts list.
More photos from the pits during pre-race setup days.
Click to enlarge and you’ll see what they’ve got inside their coolers. Check out the team homepage here.
You can see every team’s bikes from the 2018 Giro here!
