Last year Ben O’Connor lit up the People’s Choice Criterium ahead of the start of the actual Tour Down Under, going off the front early, only to be reeled back in a few laps short of a victory.
- Elia Viviani and Quick-Step Floors to ride PRO Vibe bar and stem
- New year, new gear — pros don the latest kit at the first WorldTour race of the season
The young Aussie is back in Dimension Data colours for 2018, and has swapped his aero Cervelo S5 for the ultra-light R5 frame.
Dimension Data is still sporting full ENVE components, but with Sour Apple anodized green Chris King hubs, the team’s SES wheels are likely to be the envy of the peloton. O’Connor has opted for the SES 4.5 hoops, which are finished with 25mm Conti Competition Pro LTD tubulars.
As with last year, the South African-registered team is riding on Rotor chainrings and cranks, with O’Connor choosing the brand’s 2INpower dual-sided meter and 53/38T Q-Rings.
O’Connor's ENVE bars measure 400mm and are wrapped in Joystick Analogue bar tape — changing over from Lizard Skins — and are attached to a 120mm +/- 6-degree stem, which is slammed straight onto the headset bearing with the cap removed.
Also new for 2018 are Astute Saddles, with O’Connor opting for a soon-to-be-released Astute Moon SR saddle in the brand's Carbino trim with carbon rails.
Astute tells BikeRadar it initially only planned to release this saddle in the VT version (with cutout) however, after popular demand decided to also make the SR (no cutout) version.
To finish off these fully blinged-out bikes, Dimension Data is riding gold KMC chains.
Complete bike specifications
- Frame: Cervelo R5, Size 58
- Fork: Cervelo All-Carbon, Tapered R5 Fork
- Stem: ENVE Road Stem, 120mm +/- 6-degrees
- Handlebar: ENVE Road Handlebar, 400mm
- Tape: Joystick Analogue tape
- Front brake: Shimano Dura-Ace R9100
- Rear brake: Shimano Dura-Ace R9100
- Brake/shift levers: Shimano Dura-Ace R9150 Di2
- Cassette: Shimano Dura-Ace R9100 11-28T
- Chain: KMC X11SL
- Crankset: Rotor 2INpower 175mm, Q-Rings 53/38T
- Wheelset: ENVE SES 4.5, Sour Apple Chris King hubs
- Tyres: Continental Competition Pro LTD tubulars, 25mm
- Saddle: Astute Moon SR
- Seatpost: Cervelo Carbon SP19
- Bottle cages: Elite Custom Race Plus
Critical measurements
- Rider’s weight: 66kg
- Rider’s height: 1.88m
- Saddle height, from BB (c-t): 810mm
- Seat tube length: 540mm
- Tip of saddle nose to centre of handlebars: 605mm
- Head tube length: 178mm
- Top tube length: 581mm
- Total bike weight: 6.98kg
Click or swipe through the gallery above for a detailed look at Ben O’Connors Cervelo Race bike.