Pro bike: Fabio Jakobsen’s Scott Foil RC

We take a closer look at the bike the Dutch sprinter will be getting up to speed on for 2024

19:30, Saturday 23rd March 2024

Alex Hunt

Junior Tech Writer

2024 is the first season for Jakobsen on the new bike

Team dsm-firmenich PostNL
- Nationality Netherlands
- Founded 2013
- Team Principal Iwan Spekenbrink
- UCI Code DFP
- Bike Sponsor Scott
Fabio Jakobsen
- Team Team dsm-firmenich PostNL
- Nationality Netherlands
- Age 27
- UCI Wins 57
- Height 1.81m
Scott
Scott is a bicycle manufacturer based in Givisiez, Switzerland. The company produces a range of bikes across multiple disciplines, from road and gravel to off-road and kids-specific bikes, alongside equipment and clothing, too. Scott also has winter sports, motocross and running product ranges.
Vittoria
Vittoria is an Italian bicycle tyre manufacturer. The company produces over seven million tyres yearly for a wide range of cyclists, from road racers and commuters to BMX riders and mountain bikers.
Shimano
Shimano is a bike component manufacturer based in Osaka, Japan. The company is one of the industry’s most popular manufacturers and it makes up around three-quarters of the bicycle component market by value.

2024 marked a new chapter in Fabio Jakobsen’s career making the move to dsm-firmenich PostNL on a deal that will run until the end of the 2026 season. This move brought with it a change in equipment for the Dutch sprinter after spending the previous six seasons with Soudal Quick-Step and riding Specialized bikes.

As with any move of this nature, the biggest change on the equipment front comes in the shape of the bike. Team dsm-firmenich PostNL is sponsored by Scott with both the Foil RC and the lightweight Addict RC at their disposal. As a thoroughbred sprinter, it makes sense that the aero-optimised Foil RC is the bike of choice for Jakobsen. We took a look at his set-up ahead of the Classic Brugge-De Panne.

Read more: Leading by example: Fabio Jakobsen pleased to come full circle

The latest generation Foil RC draws inspiration from the Plasma TT bike

When the latest generation Foil RC was released at the 2022 Tour de France, Scott made some impressive claims regarding the new bike's performance in comparison to the model it replaced. The headline figures the brand released included the new Foil RC being 21% faster, 9% lighter and 10% more comfortable than its predecessor.

The silhouette of the Foil has evolved with this latest model, the rear triangle in particular looking to pull inspiration from the Plasma TT/triathlon bike. Although cut-away seat tubes have been a hallmark of aero bikes for many a year, the Foil takes it one step further with the entire lower section of the seat tube jutting forwards allowing the rear wheel to sit further forward than it could on a more traditional design.

Sprint-specific gearing

As the team's sprinter for Brugge-De Panne, Jakobsen’s intentions are obvious when looking at his Dura-Ace chainset which has 56/44 tooth chainrings fitted. It wasn’t long ago that chainrings this size were reserved for use solely in time trials but with the advent of wide ratio cassettes, riders are able to increase their chainring size whilst retaining an appropriate climbing gear.

56/44 chainrings are now the signature of a sprinter's bike

As the course for Brugge-De Panne features very little in the way of climbing, the 44-tooth inner ring is present more as a token addition rather than as a necessity. The flat profile of the race also lends itself nicely to the closer ratio 11-30 cassette that is fitted.

Read more: Why bigger is better when it comes to time trial chainrings

Narrow tyres by modern standards

The professional peloton has widely adopted the trend of higher volume tyres with most teams settling on 28mm as the go-to width for road racing. Jakobsen and the dsm-firmenich team are sporting a more modest 26mm version of Vittoria’s Corsa Pro tubeless tyre. Only a few years ago this would have been considered above average with the peloton stabilising around 25mm for a number of seasons.

Read more: What tyre width do pro cyclists use on the cobbles?

Jakobse's bike was fitted with 26mm tyres which are now some of the narrowest in the peloton

Since the advent of tubeless tyres and hookless rims, teams have mostly made the switch to 28mm rubber to make the most of the benefits that wider tyres can present. Although certainly not a disadvantage, the 26mm tyres used by Jakobsen are now some of the narrowest in the WorldTour.