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Features
Road

Ridley's aerodynamic advantage

By France, Ben Atkins in Brest published 8 July 2008

Cadel Evans reinforced his status as an overall favourite in this year's Tour with an emphatic...

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Image 1 of 47

The down tube is very wide(Image credit: Ben Atkins)

The Dean's head tube has a beak(Image credit: Ben Atkins)

Chain stays hug the rear wheel(Image credit: Ben Atkins)

The seatpost and other forward areas(Image credit: Ben Atkins)

The aero-special Oval rear brake(Image credit: Ben Atkins)

… but the chainrings have been(Image credit: Ben Atkins)

Straight handlebar extensions(Image credit: Ben Atkins)

Cadel Evans' Ridley Dean has been developed using oil flow mapping and integrates Oval Concepts's unique JetStream technology in the fork blades and seat stays.(Image credit: Ben Atkins/Cyclingnews.com)

The Dean's seat tube closely hugs the rear wheel before heading up towards the saddle.(Image credit: Ben Atkins/Cyclingnews.com)

The bottom bracket area of the Dean is built up for stiffness and to cut through the air.(Image credit: Ben Atkins/Cyclingnews.com)

The top tube joins the seat tube in a huge, aerodynamic joint.(Image credit: Ben Atkins/Cyclingnews.com)

The Dean's head tube has a beak that covers the top of the extended fork crown to keep the lines clean.(Image credit: Ben Atkins/Cyclingnews.com)

The down tube is very wide from the side view…(Image credit: Ben Atkins/Cyclingnews.com)

but very narrow where it hits the wind and is as aerodynamic as UCI regulations allow.(Image credit: Ben Atkins/Cyclingnews.com)

The Dean's seat stays feature Ridley's R-Flow technology that it claims makes the wheels spin even faster.(Image credit: Ben Atkins/Cyclingnews.com)

Chain stays hug the rear wheel as closely as possible.(Image credit: Ben Atkins/Cyclingnews.com)

Where the rear wheel passes through the seat stays there's not much clearance for tyres wider than this one!(Image credit: Ben Atkins/Cyclingnews.com)

The Dean's incredible looking fork looks aerodynamic enough already…(Image credit: Ben Atkins/Cyclingnews.com)

… but Ridley claims those slotted airfoils create a vacuum around the spokes and reduces drag and turbulence around the wheel.(Image credit: Ben Atkins/Cyclingnews.com)

The seatpost and other forward areas have an area of rough surface texture designed to create a boundary layer of air to help it flow more smoothly over the frame.(Image credit: Ben Atkins/Cyclingnews.com)

The Dean shares the same kind of seat clamp as the other integrated seatpost frames in the Ridley range.(Image credit: Ben Atkins/Cyclingnews.com)

The fat nose of Cadel's San Marco saddle keeps things as comfortable as possible when he gets in his low position.(Image credit: Ben Atkins/Cyclingnews.com)

The gear and rear brake cables diasppear into the top of the top tube and reappear at the rear where they're needed.(Image credit: Ben Atkins/Cyclingnews.com)

The aero-special Oval rear brake is hidden out of the wind behind the fork.(Image credit: Ben Atkins/Cyclingnews.com)

The rear brake sits where its shape will do the least damage to the airflow: under the bottom bracket.(Image credit: Ben Atkins/Cyclingnews.com)

Silence-Lotto uses an entirely Camapgnolo drivetrain on all of its bikes.(Image credit: Ben Atkins/Cyclingnews.com)

Cadel uses a standard Campagnolo Ultra Torque chainset…(Image credit: Ben Atkins/Cyclingnews.com)

… but the chainrings have been upped to 54/42T instead of the 53/39T of his road machine.(Image credit: Ben Atkins/Cyclingnews.com)

An 11-21T cassette is on hand for Cadel but only nine sprockets fit on the Ghibli disc.(Image credit: Ben Atkins/Cyclingnews.com)

A Campagnolo Record derailleur is fitted to a riveted-on bracket on the side of the aero seat tube.(Image credit: Ben Atkins/Cyclingnews.com)

Evans' time trial bar setup allows him to get as low as possible and keeps his arms level.(Image credit: Ben Atkins/Cyclingnews.com)

Straight handlebar extensions are clamped into Oval's A901 Laminar bars with aerodynamic clamps.(Image credit: Ben Atkins/Cyclingnews.com)

To get his arms as close together as possible, Evans cuts the inside edges of his elbow rests.(Image credit: Ben Atkins/Cyclingnews.com)

As a Campagnolo sponsored team Silence-Lotto uses Record bar-end levers on its time trial bikes.(Image credit: Ben Atkins/Cyclingnews.com)

The styling of the bar-end shifters looks much the same as it has for years.(Image credit: Ben Atkins/Cyclingnews.com)

Oval's A710 Adjustable stem allows Evans to get an even lower position on an already-aggressively positioned frame.(Image credit: Ben Atkins/Cyclingnews.com)

The RBT front of the stem is partially hidden from view by the front of the Laminar bars.(Image credit: Ben Atkins/Cyclingnews.com)

Oval A900 Carbon Upgrade brake levers have as small a frontal area as possible.(Image credit: Ben Atkins/Cyclingnews.com)

Campagnolo's Ghibli disc wheel has a classic look.(Image credit: Ben Atkins/Cyclingnews.com)

The deep section of Campagnolo's Bora Ultra is the fastest non-disc wheel in the Italian company's range.(Image credit: Ben Atkins/Cyclingnews.com)

Wrapped around the wheels are a set of Vredestein Fortezza Pro tubulars.(Image credit: Ben Atkins/Cyclingnews.com)

As on his road bike Cadel Evans uses KeO Carbon Ti pedals by Look.(Image credit: Ben Atkins/Cyclingnews.com)

A single Tacx Tao bottle cage was bolted on when we caught up with Evans' bike but he ran without during Tuesday's relatively short time trial.(Image credit: Ben Atkins/Cyclingnews.com)

Will this name be added to the Tour de France roll of honour this year?(Image credit: Ben Atkins/Cyclingnews.com)

To keep things strong and stiff Ridley has used high modulus 40- and 50-ton carbon fibre in the Dean.(Image credit: Ben Atkins/Cyclingnews.com)

Ridley bikes may be made in Asia but they are designed in the cycling heartland of Belgium.(Image credit: Ben Atkins/Cyclingnews.com)

Cadel checks the position of the newly assembled Dean with a Silence-Lotto mechanic.(Image credit: Ben Atkins/Cyclingnews.com)

Pro bikes, July 9, 2008

Cadel Evans' Silence-Lotto Ridley Dean

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