Elisa Balsamo has already been on the rostrum eight instances in 2024, racking up wins in Spain, Italy, and Belgium thus far this 12 months. However whereas the Lidl-Trek rider has entry to Trek’s full complement of race bikes, all of her victories this 12 months have been taken aboard her Trek Madone SLR.
In fact, with the current rumors of a brand new SRAM groupset circulating over the previous couple of months, we had been significantly intrigued by her non-standard levers on her staff bike after we acquired our palms on it earlier than the beginning of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. However mechanics defined to us that these weren’t new or unreleased elements, however as an alternative customized levers utilized by Balsamo and a number of other different riders.
(Picture credit score: Future (Andy Jones))
The shifters in query, characteristic a a lot smaller diameter design than the present SRAM Crimson levers and look remarkably much like the present era SRAM Apex AXS brake levers, however with some essential variations.
A staff mechanic at Lidl-Trek ladies’s staff advised Biking Weekly that the Apex AXS-shaped levers characteristic a stripped-down design with a lighter-weight carbon fiber brake lever blade. Reportedly, the rationale behind this was rider consolation. SRAM Crimson AXS levers have lengthy been recognized for his or her bigger hood design, which has been comparatively polarizing. Balsamo’s levers then provide another, a hybrid taking the most effective shifter design of SRAM’s present smaller lever hoods, and mixing it with the lightest weight elements accessible.
(Picture credit score: Future (Andy Jones))
The remainder of Balsamo’s groupset is a way more commonplace affair, although some fascinating gearing selections had been made for the Classics season. Balsamo rides a bigger 52/39 chainset up entrance.
(Picture credit score: Future (Andy Jones))
As soon as upon a time, this might be a ‘semi-compact’ chainset, however with Sram’s smaller 10t sprocket on the rear, this setup permits for the equal of working a 56t chainring with an 11-speed rear sprocket.
The cassette in query has a wider vary 10-32, which permits Balsamo to have a big gear vary for the tremendous steep Belgian bergs with out sacrificing top-end velocity.
(Picture credit score: Future (Andy Jones))
One other element on the Lidl-Trek bikes that has been inflicting fairly the stir is the unreleased Pirelli tires marked as ‘prototype’. Thus far, the prototype tires have already been ridden to victory by Balsamo at the Traditional Brugge-De Panne, however Pirelli has launched no additional particulars about them. The tires are fitted aboard a Bontrager Aeolus RSL 51 TLR disc wheelset, arrange tubeless.
(Picture credit score: Future (Andy Jones))
In addition to WorldTour-only and prototype package, the Lidl-Trek staff mechanics have made a few smaller modifications to the previous world champion’s bike for the Classics, most notably a bottle cage hack.
(Picture credit score: Future (Andy Jones))
Small rubber O rings have been added to every aspect of Balsamo’s bottle cages, a transfer which the staff hopes will cut back the possibilities of loosing bottles over the brutal bumps in races like Roubaix and Flanders.
