Check Out Peter Sagan's Tricked-Out Tour de France Bike
The world champion's Specialized S-Works Venge ViAS has some flashy custom touches
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1
World Championship Paint
Reigning road world champion Peter Sagan’s Specialized S-Works Venge ViAS is adorned with a wild paint scheme. The black base is enhanced by a chameleon metal-flake, which changes color based on the angle its viewed from. A random pattern of world-champion colors is laid over the base, with elements of the Slovakian flag worked into the design as well. Sagan’s wheels also recieve world-champ colors, with a customized saddle topping off the bike.
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2
Handlebar Setup
The ViAS version utilizes Specialized’s special negative-17-degree stem (which, on a bike with with a 73-degree head angle, is flat and tested fastest in the Specialized wind tunnel) and Aerofly handlebar. Sagan uses a 42cm-wide flat bar—there’s also a riser version. Note the integrated mount for the SRM head unit.
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3
Wheels
Like almost all pros in the peloton, Sagan rides tubulars. A tubular wheel is lighter than a comparable clincher, and the glued-on tires are safer, because they generally don't roll off if the rider gets a flat.
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10
Shimano Di2 Remotes
Sagan’s bike is equipped with Shimano’s Di2 sprint remotes. One remote is positioned on the left drop, the other on the right drop, and only require a small hand movement to actuate—certainly much less than reaching for the main shifter buttons—so that the rider can maintain a full grip on the bar. The remotes only control the rear derailleur, with the left moving the derailleur inboard, and the right outboard (though this may be reversed).
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11
Power Meter
Like many pros (perhaps most), Sagan rides with a power meter. Specifically, an SRM, the company credited with popularizing the category, and considered the benchmark by which all others are compared. This mount, which integrates with the Specialized ViAS stem, is specifically made for SRM’s head unit.
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12
Cable Routing Options
This hole in the fork is not used with the ViAS bar and stem, which hide all control cables and wires inside the frame. However, with a standard bar and stem, and externally routed cables, housing, and wires, this hole is used for routing the front brake cable and housing.
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14
Chain Catcher
The K-Edge Pro braze-on chain catcher with SRM magnet ($60) not only provides extra protection against dropped chains (which are virtually non-existent with properly set up Shimano Di2 drivetrains), it also features an integrated cadence magnet (not shown) for crank-based power meters. This made-in-the-USA item is popular with many teams because it provides a very secure (and often more easily mounted) magnet for carbon bikes with oversized bottom brackets and chainstays where space is often at a premium.
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15
New ViAS Parts
Members of the Specialized engineering team arrived at the Tour de France with improved versions of the ViAS’s brake arms. Though the arm forgings are the same, the rest of the brake’s parts—particularly the pivots—have been rethought and improved. The results are improved tolerances, which Specialized representatives say offer improved performance, feel, and consistency, particularly over the long term. When and if these improved parts will be publicly available is still to be determined.
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