EF Education-EasyPost pro bike: Archie Ryan’s Cannondale SuperSix EVO LAB71
One of the most eye-catching bikes in the pro peloton, Archie Ryan’s Cannondale was also packed with interesting tech, including Momo Design handlebars
Tom Hallam-Gravells
Online Production Editor
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Archie Ryan's Cannondale SuperSix EVO LAB71
When scouring the WorldTour peloton for bikes, it’s hard not to be drawn to EF Education-EasyPost’s offering. The team are renowned for their brave kit and bike designs and they’ve remained true to that form in 2024 with what is the most striking bike in the pro peloton.
Even by the team’s attention-grabbing standards, Archie Ryan’s Cannondale SuperSix EVO LAB71 stood out to us at the Tour Down Under, not because of its design, but due to its small size. The Irishman is a new edition to the team for 2024, having swapped Jumbo-Visma's Cervélo bikes for Cannondale.
Luckily, the team kindly let us take a closer look so that we could learn more about the bike and its set-up. Here’s what we discovered.
- Read more: Jonathan Vaughters: We want EF Education-EasyPost to be one of the best teams in the world
Small bike, large head tube
The bike in question is Cannondale’s climbing bike, although it has wandered firmly into the all-round superbike territory. That essentially means that it has packed both lightweight and aerodynamic features into one package, making it a master of virtually all tarmac terrains. So, while the team’s riders can also use Cannondale’s dedicated aero offering, the SystemSix, many now choose to use the SuperSix for the majority of races.
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The bike had a deep-looking head tube
One of the main giveaways to the bike’s increasingly aero leanings is the head tube. Like on many modern bikes, it’s deep and narrow for aerodynamic gains, but the overall silhouette is exaggerated on Archie Ryan’s bike due to its size, which we estimate is a 44cm frame. Given the smaller proportions of the bike, the head tube takes on a much deeper-looking profile compared to larger sizes. In general, the bike’s smaller size stands out compared to the majority of bikes which tend to be much larger.
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Cannondale took a holistic approach to the design
Beyond the aerodynamic head tube, Cannondale says that it has made the bike faster than its previous iteration in other ways too, including through the holistic approach to its design.
“The frame, fork, bars, wheelsets, and seatpost are engineered as an entire system, achieving aerodynamic efficiency that blows away a piecemeal approach,” the American brand explains on its website. “It’s elevated design driven by elevated performance. Details you’ll notice. Speed you’ll feel.”
While you may be able to feel the speed, you’ll probably also notice the hit to your bank account should the bike ever fall into your ownership, with the LAB71 version of the bike currently retailing on Cannondale’s website for $15,000 (US) - that’s one you may struggle to justify to a sceptical spouse.
Cannondale and Momo collaboration
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Ryan's bike had the SystemBar
Unlike the majority of the team who use a Vision and FSA combo, Archie Ryan’s bike had a Cannondale SystemBar one-piece bar and stem. An integrated set-up is nothing new in the WorldTour peloton but Ryan’s looked especially sleek.
The bars were designed in collaboration with motorsport experts Momo Design and the result, according to Cannondale, is “the most evolved cockpit a road bike has ever seen”. While we can’t confirm its performance credentials, it definitely looks good.
FSA and Shimano
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A Shimano Dura-Ace groupset was paired with a FSA Powerbox crankset
14 of the 18 WorldTour teams use Shimano’s Dura-Ace groupset and EF Education are one of those, except they do things a little differently with an FSA Powerbox crankset. These have in-built power meters and Ryan had a 54/40t set-up, as is now common.
It was joined by a common 11-34t cassette.
- Read more: 2024 Men's WorldTour bikes: A guide to the bikes, groupsets, and tech of the top-tier teams
Vision completes build
EF Education are also partnered with Vision which provides many of the components on the bike, including the Vision Metron 60 SL wheels. There are shallower options in Vision’s line-up but we encountered Ryan’s bike ahead of stage 1 of the Tour Down Under which didn’t feature too much climbing and ended in a sprint. In this scenario the aero advantage of the deeper wheels probably out-weighed the lighter weight of the shallower option.
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Vision Metron 60 SL wheels
They were joined by the popular Vittoria Corsa Pro tyres in a 28mm width. If you’ve gone to so much effort designing your bike, you might as well go all-out, so it was pleasing to see many of the team's riders using pink Muc-Off tubeless valves that match the overall colour scheme. On Ryan's bike it was only the valve screws that were pink.
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EF Education's valves are on-brand
A Prologo Scratch M5 saddle completed the build.
Bike Specification
Bike
year
2024
model
SuperSix EVO LAB71
Manufacturer
Cannondale