Ollie Bridgewood’s Taiwan KOM Challenge bike: UCI illegal TRIGON AR01

GCN’s Ollie Bridgewood isn’t afraid of a climbing challenge. This year alone, he completed the Tour des Stations, a 1,012km epic with nearly 26,000m of climbing,

Not satisfied with that achievement, he decided to quickly bounce onto his next goal in the form of the Taiwan KOM Challenge. It’s an event GCN’s Si Richardson previously conquered back in 2017.

For his attempt, Ollie needed a bike suitable for the challenge, so he turned to the TRIGON AR01 with some carefully picked components from Elitewheels and Rotor. Here’s a closer look at his full bike for the challenge.

• Read more: Can Ollie complete the Taiwan KOM Challenge?

Tried and test: TRIGON AR01 frame

If it isn’t broken, don’t try to fix it. That’s a philosophy that works well in life and it’s one Ollie used for the Taiwan KOM Challenge by selecting the TRIGON AR01, a bike he’d already used for the Tour des Stations. The bike performed admirably on that day, so it was the natural choice once again for his latest climbing epic.

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Ollie previously teamed up with the TRIGON AR01 at the Tour des Stations

There are no differences between the bikes he used for those events, except for the colourways, having swapped bronze for teal. While the new colour won’t aid performance, it does make the aero dimples on the bike a little more easy to spot.

Positioned on the head tube, fork, seat tube and seatstays, these dimples are one of the bike’s key features and have aerodynamic benefits, tripping the airflow from laminar to turbulent. This keeps the airflow attached to the bike for longer, providing an aerodynamic benefit. Doing this would usually add weight because dimples don’t come weight-free, but TRIGON says that it has a top-secret way of doing it without the weight penalty.

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The frame features aero dimples which change the airflow over the bike

For added aero gains, the bike also has aero fairings that can be attached over the brake callipers. Ollie previously used these at the Tour des Stations but they come with a slight weight penalty, so he opted against them this time around.

Unlike many modern bikes, the AR01 is set up for either 160mm or 180mm disc brake rotors, instead of 140mm or 160mm.

Up front the bike has an integrated cockpit, which is nothing new at this point, but the climbing shifters hidden on the handlebars are more unique. Ollie has become a big fan and found that he used them a lot, which isn’t surprising at climbing events where your hands tend to be positioned on the bars more often than the hoods or drops.

• Read more: Tour des Stations Ultimate 1000: Ollie Bridgewood's first ultra-endurance race

Rotor 2INpower SL - lightest dual-sided power meter

Pacing is key for any large climbing challenge. While it’s possible to do this based on heart rate, it’s much easier with a power meter. Luckily for Ollie, Rotor stepped in to provide its 2INpower SL, which it says is “the lightest dual power meter for road cycling on the market”.

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The Rotor 2INpower SL is seriously lightweight

It tips the scales at a claimed 729g for a full crankset, undercutting most non-power meter cranksets. Beyond the weight, the 2INpower SL boasts a battery which is practical for multiple reasons. The first is the 250-hour battery life. The other is the easy-to-access charging port, making it convenient to top up the battery whenever needed.

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The power meter crankset features a magnetic charging port

For the KOM Challenge, Ollie opted for a semi-compact 52/36t set-up, combined with an 11-34t Shimano Dura-Ace cassette. Ollie was reassured by Si that the 36/34 smallest gear would be ample for the event.

Sticking to the lightweight theme, Ollie paired the power meter with Wahoo’s Speedplay pedals. These weren’t the standard version, but the ultra lightweight titanium-axled Nano version.

• Read more: New Rotor 2INpower SL is the ‘lightest dual-sided power meter ever’

1260g wheelset

Wheel selection is key for any event and Elitewheels stepped in to provide Ollie with his wheelset for the day. Not too surprisingly, he chose the shallowest rim in its Drive range with a 40mm depth. As a pair, the wheels are only 1260g - that’s incredibly lightweight, which is very handy for a KOM challenge.

A big contributor towards this low weight is the carbon spokes. As an added bonus, they also increase the lateral stiffness of the wheel and the benefits of this can be felt on a climb when riding out of the saddle.

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The Elitewheels Drive wheelset only weighs 1260g

Like many modern wheels, the Drive wheelset is tubeless ready and arrives with the rim tape and valves already installed. That makes set-up much easier which, in the case of Ollie, was with Pirelli P Zero tyres in a 26mm width. They’re a little narrower than the 28mm width that has become popular in cycling, but those saved millimetres reduce weight - and Ollie was going to need all of the weight-saving help he could get on the epic climb!

• Read more: Tour des Stations Ultimate 1000 bike check: Ollie’s TRIGON AR

Lightweight everything

Virtually all of the components and accessories on the bike were chosen for their lightweight credentials, even the Topeak carbon bottle cages.

There were more Topeak accessories in the form of a saddle bag, which served the important role of holding spares in case of a puncture.

The Selle Italia SLR Boost saddle was even chosen for its light weight, although it still packs in plenty of comfort. It’s Ollie’s favourite ever saddle, although the version he used had the padding removed so that it was bare carbon - every little helps!

Bike Specification