As INEOS Grenadiers riders take to the course for the time trial event at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, they will have an updated Bolide F TT that shares many of the same updates as the Bolide F HR that the Italian Track Team will be using. Will we see a gold Pinarello frame in future time trial events?
Michał Kwiatkowski (Poland), Magnus Sheffield (USA), Josh Tarling (Great Britain), Tobias Foss (Norway), and Filippo Ganna (Italy) will each be riding the new frame in a special colorway that fades from Pinarello’s Luxter Red Gold to Luxter Blue. Each rider’s nationalities will be represented on the seat tube as well.
“There is no greater stage than the Olympics to launch a new bike and we are immensely proud of the new Bolide F TT,” said Pinarello President Fausto Pinarello. “It is a bike that continues to push the boundaries of athletic performance and will ensure our riders have the very best chance of success in Paris.”
In a race that can come down to the smallest fraction of a second, the new Bolide F TT features a number of updates shared with the Bolide F HR. Pinarello uses AirStream technology, which created the shape of the front of the seat tube and seat post called AeroNodes. Developed with a collaboration with the University of Adelaide and NablaFlow, the forward facing structures are inspired from the tubercles on the flippers of humpback whales. This shaping helps to reduce the complex vortexes generated by a rider’s pedal stroke, which in turn, improves airflow along the frame.
Frontal areas at the bottom bracket and on the fork at the front wheel mount have been slimmed to reduce frontal area, and lengthened to smooth the air around the frame, taking advantage of the updated aspect ratios since the UCI removed the 3:1 rule. The chainstays and bottom bracket area has also been reinforced, with clearance updated to 32mm. The fork and seat stays buck the trend of wider is better, and keeps them as narrow as possible. This was tested in over 2,000 Computational Fluid Design tests, and Pinarello believes it will be faster across a range if yaw angles, while also saving weight. The downtube also sees updates to include integration of the aero water bottle and cage.
At the bars, extensive CFD testing helped optimize the position to reduce drag for the rider and bike combination. Working with NablaFlow using their AeroCloud software, they were able to create what they believe is the most efficient design, which includes a sculpted low base bar and extensions from MOST. The custom fit extensions cradle the arms in an upward angled position.
All together, the new Bolide F TT is claimed to reduce drag (CdA) by 2.28% over the previous Bolide F TT, which is pretty interesting considering the geometry and dimensions of the bike stay the same as the previous model. Four standard sizes will be available, and are UCI approved.
No word on pricing or availability of the new Bolide F TT, but as you can guess, it will be astronomically expensive.
Heckling Editor, Image Taker, Crash Test Dummy, and Beard Master at Bikeworldnews.com
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