Up close and personal with Anouska Koster's brand-new bike
(Image credit: Chris Auld)
The 2025 race season is about to kick off, and Cyclingnews is on the ground at the Tour Down Under. The race provides a great chance to scope out all of the new pro race bikes in one place and see how everything looks up close for the first time.
Ridley launched its brand new aero race bike today, the Noah Fast 3.0, and you can read all about the new bike in our Ridley Noah 2025 launch story. The TL:DR though is that the brand claims it's the fastest bike it has ever produced. As expected, both Uno-X Mobility men's and women's teams will race on it this year, with the women beginning their campaign here in Australia.
The team bikes are fitted with a slightly mixed drivetrain setup, Shimano Dura-Ace is specced but is broken up with an aftermarket CeramicSpeed OSPW at the rear and an FSA power meter instead of a Dura-Ace chainset, which suggests the team probably purchases its groupsets rather than getting them supplied for free by the Japanese brand.
Wheels are DT Swiss ARC 1100 models fitted with Vittoria Corsa Pro tyres. This particular bike belongs to Anouska Koster and she is currently running a Deda standard stem and Zero 100 handlebar, which seems seriously at odds with the bike's hyper-aero credentials. We aren't sure whether this simply provides a better fit for her, or whether she is still getting to grips with the new bike before she fits the fully integrated Ridley Nimbus aero bar that comes stock with the bike.
The Ridley Noah Fast 3.0 can be run with the bike's custom Nimbus integrated handlebar or a more traditional stem / bar setup, perhaps this rider is still finding the right setup or can't find the right one with the Nimbus aero bar (Image credit: Chris Auld)
This look is slightly at odds with the super aero front end of the Noah frame, note the flared transition from fork into the lower head tube (Image credit: Chris Auld)
In 2025, this setup is outdated, but comfort and fit are important (Image credit: Chris Auld)
The Noah Fast stem sits below the top of the bike's top tube (Image credit: Chris Auld)
With the standard, round bottles shown here, you really get a sense of how large the bike's bottom bracket is (Image credit: Chris Auld)
It's a Shimano Dura-Ace spec but with an FSA Powerbox K- Force chainset, which utilises a Power2Max power meter spider (Image credit: Chris Auld)
The Noah Fast 3.0 has a removable front derailleur mount to facilitate a clean 1x chainset arrangement. Spot the white chain wax between the links here too. (Image credit: Chris Auld)
The team are using the CeramicSpeed derailleur pulley with filled-in 'Alpha Disc' jockey wheels (Image credit: Chris Auld)
DT Swiss hubs should deal with all sorts of abuse, note the fork thru axle drive-side drilling isn't blind (filled in) like some new bikes (the Canyon Aeroad CFR or Pinarello Dogma F for example.) (Image credit: Chris Auld)
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Tom joined the Cyclingnews team in late 2022 as a tech writer. Despite having a degree in English Literature he has spent his entire working life in the cycling industry in one form or another. He has over 10 years of experience as a qualified mechanic, with the last five years before joining Cyclingnews being spent running an independent workshop. This means he is just as happy tinkering away in the garage as he is out on the road bike, and he isn’t afraid to pull a bike apart or get hands-on with it when testing to really see what it’s made of.
He has ridden and raced bikes from an early age up to a national level on the road and track, and has ridden and competed in most disciplines. He has a keen eye for pro-team tech and enjoys spotting new or interesting components in the wild. During his time at Cyclingnews, Tom has already interviewed some of the sport's biggest names including Mathieu van der Poel, Tadej Pogačar and Alberto Contador. He's also covered various launches from brands such as Pinarello, Ridley, Specialized and more, tackled the Roubaix Challenge sportive aboard his own rim-brake Cannondale SuperSix Evo, tested over 20 aero helmets in the wind tunnel, and has created helpful in-depth buying advice relating to countless categories from torque wrenches to winter clothing.
