The two framesets are painted by Fat Creations Custom Paint, which is based in Sussex in the south of England. Featuring the same prominent blue and gold design on the standard Aqua Blue Sport bikes, Warbasse's bikes have the stars and stripes of the US national flag on the inside of the fork legs and around the bottom bracket and chain stays.
The 3T logo on the head tube is also given a red and white star finish.
Aqua Blue Sport are a Pro Continental Irish based team who debuted in the 2017 season with two WorldTour stage wins at the Tour de Suisse and Vuelta a Espana. Larry Warbasse, who won the stage at Tour de Suisse, went on to win the US national road race later in June and will wear the stars and stripes jersey until the same time next season.
In September, the team announced they would race the 2018 season on the unique 3T Strada aero bikes, which are exclusively available with disc brakes and a 1x drivetrain.
The decision to race on the bikes has drawn an array of critique as to whether the bikes will inhibit performances at the top level of the sport. While the 1x drivetrain has a similar gear range to a traditional drivetrain with a front derailleur, it is yet to be seen whether the larger gear jumps on the cassette could present issues for the Pro Continental team in a race scenario.
Also in September, the UCI announced that the disc brake trial would continue into a fourth season. During the 2016 season, following a crash at Paris-Roubaix, the trial was halted due to safety concerns.
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Should another incident occur or decision from the UCI be made that again disrupts the trial, Aqua Blue Sport would have to source alternative rim brake machines to race on from a different frame manufacturer.
