Tom Boonen has won Paris-Roubaix four times. He's not the main favorite this year, but can never be ruled out(Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)
Boonen is hoping this K-Edge will next year hold the number one(Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)
The upstart power-meter company 4iiii has its dual-sided meters on the Etixx bikes(Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)
Like many pros, Boonen runs alloy handlebars. Crashes are often a reality of pro racing, and metal bars are less likely to break than carbon(Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)
Specialiazed tubulars in the standard Paris-Roubaix width(Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)
The Romin has been Boonen's perch of choice for some time(Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)
Boonen and a few teammates have their tape wrapped nearly to the stem. Also shown here is K-Edge's new pivoting-clamp Garmin mount(Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)
While some of his teammates like Niki Terpsta and Iljo Keisse use sprint shifters up by the stem, Boonen puts his in the 'traditional' spot(Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)
Some top riders like Fabian Cancellara and Peter Sagan have opted for mechanical Dura-Ace over Di2. (Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)
With virtually all of the 258km course being flat, the gears run big for Paris-Roubaix(Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)
Slam that stem (with ceramic bearings)(Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)
With four victories of the brutal Paris-Roubaix classic already in the books, Tom Boonen would make history with a fifth win this year. While not the favoirite — most eyes are on Peter Sagan or Fabian Cancellara — Boonen can never be ruled out for competition on the cobblestones.
This year he is again racing a Specialized S-Works Roubaix SL4, a machine he piloted to victory in 2012.
Sagan and Cancellara have shied away from the electronic shifting of Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 for the cobbles. It's hard to shift any bike with hands and bars rattling across the stones, and mechanical proponents say cable-actuated systems often better feel and more intentional shifting than buttons. Boonen, for his part, isn't bothered. He is running Di2 with sprint shifters on the inside of the drops.
The cobblestones don't seem to rattle Boonen much. He was out doing recon with his team on Friday, riding without gloves across the cobbles.
While most of Specialized Roubaix bikes this year come with disc brakes, Boonen and his team are sticking with traditional rim brakes. Only Lampre-Merida has gone all in on discs for its racers, testing the waters first and the Tour of Flanders and now at Paris-Roubaix.
The rest of Boonen's bike is largely a Specialized affair, from the carbon Roval wheels to the 28mm tubulars to the Romin saddle.
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FSA provides the bar and stem — both alloy, not carbon — and upstart company 4iiii has a dual-sided power meter on Boonen's bike.
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