Pro bike: Richie Porte's Tour de France Pinarello Bolide

Pro bike: Richie Porte's Tour de France Pinarello Bolide

56t chainring on the Australian national champion's 45cm bike

The fastest Aussie on two wheels: Richie Porte's Pinarello Bolide

Ben Delaney / Immediate Media

Ben Delaney

Published: July 4, 2015 at 2:25 pm
The fastest Aussie on two wheels: Richie Porte's Pinarello Bolide - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
The integrated Bolide bars and stem combined with the hidden brake make for a very clean front end - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Team Sky is using Stages power meters for the second year. We have seen a few two-sided prototypes, but most riders use the left-only meter - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Porte rides a 45cm frame - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
56/44 rings on 167.5mm cranks - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Integrated brakes tuck smoothly into the frame - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
The Bolide's horizontal dropouts feature a fine-tune fore-aft adjustment - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Continental is a common tubular at the Tour de France. While 25mm is a common width for road stages, 22m is still fairly normal for time trials - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Mechanics mark all rider saddles for repeatable reference points when measuring - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
While a Garmin might not be aero, most riders prefer having data. A minimalist K-Edge TT mount holds Porte's on - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Shimano has a few different Di2 configurations for extension shifting. Some have two buttons on each. This set-up is similar to the sprint shifters, with one button on either side controlling shifting in one direction on the rear derailleur - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
The Bolide's Di2 shift buttons function just like Shimano's - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
The perspective from Porte's Pinarello perch - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media

Richie Porte is one strong cog in the Team Sky's 2015 Tour de France machine, and he started this year's race aboard a custom-painted Pinarello Bolide in recognition of his Australian national time trial championship win.

Standing 172cm (5ft 8in), Porte rides a bike with extreme numbers. For instance, the cranks are a a short 167.5mm on his 45cm frame, but the chainrings are a hearty 56/44t combination. His Stages power meter can probably report some impressive numbers, too, but Team Sky isn't sharing those.

We weighed his bike at 8.39kg (18.5lb) — that does not count the rather sizable GPS transponder that riders are required to mount on their bikes this year.

The 2015 Tour started with a 13.8km time trial in Utrecht, Holland, where Porte came 65th ahead of three weeks serving as Chris Froome's super domestique.

Click through the gallery above for a closer look.

The integrated bolide bars and stem combined with the hidden brake make for a very clean front end: the integrated bolide bars and stem combined with the hidden brake make for a very clean front end

Complete bike specifications

  • Frame: Pinarello Bolide, custom paint, 45cm
  • Fork: Pinarello Bolide
  • Stem: Pinarello Bolide integrated
  • Handlebar: Pinarello Bolide integrated
  • Brakes: Pinarello Bolide integrated
  • Brake levers: Pinarello Bolide integrated
  • Shift buttons: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 and Pinarello Bolide integrated
  • Front derailleur: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2
  • Rear derailleur: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2
  • Cassette: Shimano Dura-Ace 9000, 11-28T
  • Chain: Shimano Dura-Ace 9000
  • Crankset: Shimano Dura-Ace 9000, 56/44T, 167.5mm
  • Power meter: Stages Cycling
  • Pedals: Shimano Dura-Ace 9000
  • Front wheel: PRO 35 3-spoke
  • Rear wheel: PRO disc
  • Tubulars: Continental Competition Pro LTD, 22mm
  • Saddle: Fizik Arione
  • Other: K-Edge TT Garmin mount

Critical measurements

  • Rider's height: 172cm (5ft 8in)
  • Rider's weight: 62kg (137lb)
  • Saddle height from BB, c-t: 70cm
  • Tip of saddle to centre of pads: 52.5cm
  • Pad width (c to c): 17cm
  • Saddle-to-pads drop: 10cm

Stay up to date with the latest Tour tech at our Tour de France 2015 homepage and be sure to visit Cyclingnews for complete race coverage.

Ben Delaney

Contributor

Ben Delaney is a journalist with more than two decades of experience writing for and editing some of the biggest publications in cycling. Having studied journalism at the University of New Mexico, Ben has worked for Bicycle Retailer & Industry News, VeloNews and BikeRadar. He has also previously worked as Global Brand Communications Manager for Specialized. Ben covers all things road and gravel, and can be found logging big miles in the Rocky Mountains that nestle alongside his home in Boulder, Colorado. He has covered the most important bike races in the sport, from the Tour de France and Tour of Flanders, to the Unbound gravel race, and specialises in tech content, showcasing what the pros are riding and putting everyday equipment through its paces.
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