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Fuji teases all-new, ultralight SL road bike for Vuelta

Written by Tyler Benedict
15 Comments
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2016 Fuji SL lightweight race road bike teaser

In what’s becoming a bit of a tradition for Fuji, they’ve just shared this teaser image of an all-new SL road bike. It’s scheduled for launch at the Vuelta on August 20th, followed by a full showing at Eurobike, and we’ll have a complete run down then.

In the meantime, they’re hyping the development as “a quest to create one of the lightest bikes in the world.” That’s a tall order considering recent featherweight contenders from Trek, Merida and Canyon, among others. Check the other teaser images below for a little speculation…

2016-fuji-SL-road-bike-teaser2

2016-fuji-SL-road-bike-teaser3

This one was included on the launch event invite…

2016-fuji-SL-road-bike-teaser4

…which gives away a few details if we play with the levels. Click to see full size and you’ll find what appear to be eeBrakes, Lightweight full carbon wheels, a SRAM Red mechanical group and Ritchey cockpit (or at least their carbon Link seatpost and compatible saddle). Spot anything else?
Tyler Benedict
11,282 articles

Tyler Benedict is the Founder of Bikerumor.com, where he’s been writing about the latest bikes, components, and cycling technology for almost two decades. Prior to that, Tyler launched and built multiple sports nutrition brands and consumer goods companies, mostly as an excuse to travel and ride in new places.

Based in North Carolina, Tyler also loves the Vanlife & family adventure travel and is always on the lookout for the next shiny new part and off-grid adventure.

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chief keef
chief keef
9 years ago

slam that stem

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Allan
Allan
9 years ago

This weight war thing is humorous to me. It’s kind of like the megapixel war in digital cameras., IE-pointless. Frame weight is important, but it should be pretty far down the list of consideration when purchasing a bike, and trying to get faster…especially when we’re talking a couple hundred grams between most flagship frames.

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boom
boom
9 years ago

@Allan: says someone who clearly hasn’t ridden a light bike that rides great. It’s an advantage for sure, and one that (for me, riding in mountains) I value as much or even more than aero

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Colin
Colin
9 years ago

Most people can tell the difference between a heavy bike and a light bike, but do a blind test and I doubt most people would feel the “aero” on a bike, other than the ridiculous ride that most aero bikes have.

My know that my 10 pound bike saves me 10-15 seconds over my favorite climb.

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WannaBeSTi
WannaBeSTi
9 years ago

As an owner of an Altamira, I’m excited to see what they’ve done. I doubt it’ll be a super light bike to some, but the thing to watch for is how much (or how light) bike you get for the money. My 2015 Altamira 2.1 with Di2 was at a better price than some companies’ mechanical models.

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Allan
Allan
9 years ago

boom, I’m not saying weight isn’t important. What I am saying is these companies trying to out-weight weenie each other is funny to me. That’s why I said weight is just ONE factor. I’m sure I could find a cheap Chinese made frame that is within a few hundred grams of an Emonda, but who cares if it feels dead and lifeless (and could kill you if it breaks)? Light and stiff that feels great to the rider is what you should want, not *THE* lightest frame out there.

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Cashman
Cashman
9 years ago

Low weight is so last season, aero is in now and next year disc bikes and the following………….
Just keep spending, just keep spending….

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timmy
timmy
9 years ago

Cheif keef caught Fuji lackin.

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Ventruck
Ventruck
9 years ago

“a quest to create *one of* the lightest bikes in the world.”

“eeBrakes, Lightweight full carbon wheels, a SRAM Red mechanical group and Ritchey cockpit (or at least their carbon Link seatpost and compatible saddle)”

The way that adds up is going to be unimpressive for deliberately using WW parts (at least wheels). I believe Ridley went about this for a limited edition Noah, and it’s silly. Would they still be lighter than an Emonda or RCA with the same build?

Value for such parts included might be the only upside to this. I’d be curious what the final price is if it really is an offered package.

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Ronin
Ronin
9 years ago

Well less is more ($$ that is)…usually much much more.

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Dominicadl
Dominicadl
9 years ago

10lbs bikes are like the guy driving Lamborghini in stop and go traffic. If it makes that much difference to you then great. I think it’s more about the “look at me factor”

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Nick
Nick
9 years ago

@cashman their aero bike is one of the best in the business

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Colin
Colin
9 years ago

I think Aero is the “look at me factor”, you can’t see weight. I use my 10 pound bike to ride around and shuttle parts at races we go to, and never get a second glance. I was standing next to someone on our team with the same bike as me, but in a full DA9000 build, and 2 people came up to us to talk about his C50 wheels, no one looked at the 10 pound bike.

Deep wheels and half taped handlebars get you all the looks, attention to detail and intense focus on weight gets you ignored.

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BEN
BEN
9 years ago

@Collin I work in the industry. We are talking 10lb-bike versus 10.25lb bike here. Not 10lb vs 14lb. The frame weight war has pretty much reached its limit. We have done a “dollars per gram saved” chart among various configurations. Guess what, the number on frame weight at the very top end is more like $3000 for 100 grams, or $30/gram (more in the case of the RCA); in other components, we have achieved $0.5~$1/gram. BTW, aero does work, even though you don’t feel it. It’s like receiving a pile of $500 in cash as a rebate from your super market vs your payroll bank account receiving $15K in year end bonus from your employer. The former will be more shocking, but the latter is 30 times more money. Would you pick the former?

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Anders
Anders
9 years ago

The wheels are Reynolds RZR 46. Not lightweight.

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