Pro bike: Jack Rootkin-Gray’s Cannondale SuperSix Evo Lab71

The young Brit will be riding his first WorldTour season aboard one of the most eye-catching bikes in the peloton

03:04, Thursday 7th March 2024

Alex Hunt

Junior Tech Writer

One of the most vibrant bikes in the WorldTour peloton

EF Education-EasyPost
- Nationality United States of America
- Founded 2003
- Team Principal Jonathan Vaughters
- UCI Code EFE
- Bike Sponsor Cannondale
Jack Rootkin-Gray
- Team EF Education-EasyPost
- Nationality United Kingdom
- Age 21
- UCI Wins 2
UAE Tour
- Dates 19 Feb - 25 Feb
- Race Length 976 kms
- Race Category Elite Men
Cannondale
Cannondale is a bicycle manufacturer based in Connecticut, USA. From road, gravel, electric and mountain bikes to equipment, clothing and components, the company produces a host of products for almost every type of cyclist.
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.
Wahoo
Wahoo is a fitness technology company based in Atlanta, USA. Wahoo produces a range of cycling technology products, from cycling computers and smart watches to indoor trainers, pedals and other accessories.
Vision
Vision is a cycling component company owned by Taiwanese cycling manufacturer Full Speed Ahead (FSA). Vision produces a range of high-end cycling and triathlon products with a strong focus on aerodynamic gains.
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.

Jack Rootkin-Gray made his debut in the WorldTour this year with EF Education-EasyPost after stepping up from the UCI Continental circuit where he had been racing for the previous two seasons.

With a new team comes new sponsors and equipment, and Rootkin-Gray’s bike of choice is Cannondale’s lightweight all-rounder the SuperSix Evo Lab71. EF Education-Easy Post have the choice between the SuperSix or the more aggressively aero-optimised SystemSix. With the UAE Tour serving as his third appearance in a WorldTour race, Rootkin-Gray has had an early start to his season that kicked off in Australia with the Tour Down Under and Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race.

We got hold of his Cannondale during the UAE Tour and took a closer look at his set-up.

Read more: 2024 Men's WorldTour bikes: A guide to the bikes, groupsets, and tech of the top-tier teams

An all-rounder lightweight bike

In a world where there are already too many bike classifications to keep up with, the SuperSix Evo Lab71 seems to struggle to fit into any of the main categories. It isn’t specifically aerodynamic enough to be considered a pure aero bike and, although it has lightweight DNA, it has too much aero optimisation to be considered purely a lightweight bike. This opens up a new category of all-rounder lightweight aero bike.

Read more: Which WorldTour pro bike is the lightest and which is the heaviest?

The SuperSix Evo Lab71 shows a more pragmatic approach to creating a fast lightweight bike. Rather than looking at just how they can shed extra grams from the frame, the engineers behind the bike also set about making it efficient through the air, finalising on a balance point where the weight and profile of the bike still make for an efficient bike when the road heads skywards.

The SuperSix Evo Lab71 sits somewhere between a lightweight and all-rounder bike

On a steady 7% gradient climb like that of Jabel Hafeet, which riders tackled on the final stage of the UAE Tour, riders are still climbing at around 25kph - the KOM for the whole climb is held by Remco Evenepoel who averaged 24kph for the full 9.2km climb. At these speeds, aero is still very much a factor that matters, which is why the SuperSix sports aero profile tubing and a very narrow head tube, all with the aim of reducing drag.

Vision Metron aero handlebar

Rootkin-Gray had a Vision Metron bar and stem fitted to the front end of his bike. Firstly, it is unusual these days to see riders in the WorldTour using separate bars and stems rather than the ultra sleek one-piece units. Secondly, this is an equipment choice specific to him with the team typically running the MOMO integrated cockpit.

The Vision Metron bars, although sponsor appropriate, were a deviation from the MOMO bars used by most of the team

It is unclear as to why this choice has been made but it could simply be that he prefers the ergonomics of the Metron bars. As Vision is a sponsor of the team, this choice is not out of the question.

Big gears for fast racing

Although only 67kg and better suited to punchy climbs, Rootkin-Gray opted to fit a sizeable 56-tooth outer chainring with a 40-tooth inner ring. This was matched with Shimano’s 11-34t cassette. Although the racing is fast on the flat stages in the UAE Tour, the use of a 56-tooth chainring was most likely to allow for an optimal chain line in the most commonly used gears during the race.

Rootkin-Gray matched a 56/40-tooth crankset to an 11-34t cassette

Although the team are sponsored by Shimano, FSA - the parent company to Vision - took care of things at the front. An FSA K-Force Team Powerbox crankset was mounted to the chainrings, recording Rootkin-Gray's power data throughout the race. Finishing off the cranks were a set of Wahoo Speedplay Aero pedals.

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

Vision Metron 60SL wheels

Rounding off the bike was a set of Vision’s latest hoops. The Metron 60SL wheelset is designed around the use of wider tyres, with Rootkin-Gray running 28mm Vittoria Corsa Pros on the rims.

The Vision Metron 60SL wheelset is ideal for wider tyres

The rim profile of the Metron 60SL is bang up to date with a 21mm internal rim width and a 32mm external profile. This not only allows for the use of wider tyres with no penalty, but also increases the wheelset's stability in high side-load conditions such as the crosswinds that can rip through the desert.