Tom Pidock’s off-season move to the Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team certainly raised a few eyebrows. By ending his contact with Ineos early and opting to join a second-tier outfit, the 25-year-old loses the guarantee of a ride at WorldTour races such as the Tour de France, with Q36.5 dependent on wildcard entries from organisers.
Pidock, however, seems far less concerned than his doubters. “From my heart, from the first meeting, I decided I was coming here,” he said. “My head was debating for a long time, but the thing about here is the belief in me, that shared vision of success and freedom and being able to race my bike.
And what a bike it is.
(Image credit: @macphtos/Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team)
Pidcock will spend at least a portion of this year aboard the new Scott Addict RC Ultimate (the French Pro Continental team will also be riding the Scott Foil RC). It launched as the lightest performance road bike around, weighing as little as 5.9kg in some guises. While Pidcock’s bike needs to meet the UCI weight limit, in the XS frame size it’s still a true featherweight, hitting the nail on the head at 6.8kg.
Round tube profiles fit the Addict RC Ultimate's status as a featherweight climbing bike.
(Image credit: @macphtos/Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team)
The frame and forks have a claimed weight of under 900 grams, with carbon tube walls as thin as 0.6mm in places. The bike’s climbing credentials are aided further by the use of SRAM Red AXS , the lightest electronic groupset on the market. Pidcock opts for 54/41 chainrings matched to a 10-33t cassette, while his crank arms measure 165mm.
A SRAM Red AXS drivechain helps to keep the bike's overall weight low.
(Image credit: @macphtos/Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team)
Q36.5’s deal with Scott extends to its components brands Syncros, and here Pidcock is using both the IC-R100-SL carbon cockpit and the SP-R100-SL seatpost, opting for a 100mm stem and narrow 360mm bars. While the team will also be given the choice of a Syncros saddle, Pidcock, for the meantime, is sticking with his favoured Prologo Scratch model, a rollover from his time as a Grenadier.
Pidcock's Syncros cockpit measures just 36cm wide.
(Image credit: @macphtos/Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team)
The wheels are Zipp’s 454 NSW model, fitted with Vittoria Corsa Pro TLR tyres, in a 28mm width. Pidcock does have the option to go wider, with the Addict RC Ultimate frameset having clearance for up to 34mm.
Zipp 454 NSW wheels are recognizable thanks to their sawtooth rim profile.
(Image credit: @macphtos/Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team)
All told it’s a bike that Pidcock, who was on a training camp in Calpe when these photos were taken, appears to like very much.
“From the first ride, the Addict RC impressed me,” he said. “It’s light and nimble and gives me confidence on the descents. That’s what you need in a bike, that it gives you confidence. I really can’t wait to take it out there at the first races.”
For Pidcock, his first excursions on the new bike will be at the AIUIa tour in Australia before he heads to Belgium for some one-day races ahead of the defense of his Strade Bianche crown.
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Luke Friend has worked as a writer, editor and copywriter for twenty five years. Across books, magazines and websites, he's covered a broad range of topics for a range of clients including Major League Baseball, the National Trust and the NHS. He has an MA in Professional Writing from Falmouth University and is a qualified bicycle mechanic. He has been a cycling enthusiast from an early age, partly due to watching the Tour de France on TV. He's a keen follower of bike racing to this day as well as a regular road and gravel rider.
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