Skil Shimano Koga Full Pro Team bike

Having had a couple of turbulent years, as the team puts it, with Liberty Seguros and Astana, Koen de Kort has moved to Skil Shimano for this season.

Winner of Espoirs version of Paris–Roubaix in 2004 de Kort is a name that few will have heard of yet as part of the Shimano backed Skil’s squad he gets all of the latest trinkets from the Japanese manufacturer. The team showed us his new Koga bike decked out ready for the mountain stages.

The Full Pro Team machine isn’t a new frame to the range but the whole team has had new frames delivered complete with new graphics ready for the Tour. All importantly Shimano has delivered a number of Di2 groupsets to compliment the bikes along with the latest C24 shallow section carbon tubular wheels.

Easily mistaken for the WH7850 carbon wheel the C24 features a slightly deeper and more aero profile. The hub is standard Dura-Ace but for additional machining on the non drive side, rather extreme in nature but proving the early prototype nature Shimano has reduced the spoke count to six and machined away all additional material.

The spokes themselves are still straight pull and look as though they come from Sapim, alternate ones have been painted white to ensure the wheels standout.

 Koga find themselves back in the Tour de France with the Skil Shimano team.

 The Koga's had the new Dura Ace C24 carbon climbing wheel. It only has six spokes on the non drive side.

The hub is a standard Dura Ace hub machined out to save weight and house just six spokes. The white spokes are the same as the black.

The new Dura Ace carbon pedal. We couldn't get them off the bike to weigh them, but reckon they save around 20-30 grams per pedal.

Michelin don't make tubs, so where did these ones come from? We think these might be Vittorias re-labelled.

RELATED LINKS

Garmin Slipstream: Dan Martin's Felt F1