Tour Down Under pro bike: Biniam Girmay’s Cube Litening Aero C:68X

It’s been a case of ‘so close yet so far’ over the first two stages of the Tour Down Under for Biniam Girmay. The Eritrean star started the race with a runners-up spot before dropping to fourth on stage 2 as he once again came up agonisingly short.

While a win has eluded the Intermaché-Wanty rider so far, there will be plenty of opportunities to top the podium over the remaining stages. Leg power alone won’t be enough to triumph though, and Girmay will be partly relying on his Cube Litening Aero C:68X bike.

We caught a glimpse of the bike and his build ahead of stage 1, and there are some interesting features hidden within.

• Read more: Tour Down Under pro bike: Sam Welsford’s stage 1-winning Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL8

The bike: Cube’s aero machine

While some brands have strayed into superbike territory, Cube is currently sticking to dedicated aero and climbing bikes, with Girmay’s Litening Aero C:68X falling into the former category.

© GCN

The bike has deep tubes and stays

It’s a traditional aero bike that sticks to a tried-and-test formula consisting of deep tube profiles, aggressive geometry and chunky seat and chain stays. This chunky theme also extends to the junction between the head tube and seat tube, plus the stem which is one of the bulkiest we’ve seen. Bigger tubes result in more weight but that doesn’t matter here as the Aero, as the name suggests, is all about being as aerodynamic as possible.

These tube profiles and the overall design, Cube says, were formed using Computer Fluid Dynamics and real-world tunnel testing. The result, according to Cube, is a “30% reduction in drag”. That makes the bike sound fast and, while we can’t verify those numbers, it certainly looks fast, especially when it’s in the hands of Girmay.

© GCN

Noticeably narrow, the head tube's design is inspired by aerodynamics

Chunkier tubes don’t always make a bike more aerodynamic, though, which has spurred a trend for narrower head tubes. Cube has hopped aboard this trend too and the head tube is noticeably thin, especially compared to the rest of the tubes on the bike.

Stand-out tech

When looking at the bike, it’s hard not to be drawn to the aforementioned integrated bar and stem. Clearly sticking to the idea that bigger tubes are better, the latter is as wide as the top tube and almost as deep. It really catches the eye, that is if your attention hasn’t already been arrested by the fluorescent bar tape - the team’s bikes aren’t difficult to pick out in the pro peloton.

© GCN

The bike has one of the largest stems in the pro peloton

This bar tape adorns the handlebars which, as is expected on a WorldTour bike, benefit from full integration with no cables in sight. If we’re being honest, there would be no excuses if the cables weren’t integrated considering the size of the stem.

If you can pull your eyes away from the frontal area of the bike, there’s also a nifty piece of tech to be found on the Newmen SL R.65 wheels in the form of the valves…or lack of. On first inspection, there doesn’t appear to be any but don’t be deceived as they are there, they’re just hidden inside the wheel. The main giveaway is a small flap that covers the hole where the valves hide, except it’s a Schrader valve rather than the usual Presta version. While it’s unique to the WorldTour peloton, the tech has been around for a couple of years now and is inspired, unsurprisingly, by aerodynamics.

© GCN

A small flap covers a hole where the valve is hidden

Shimano, Prologo and Continental

That’s the unique tech out of the way, but the rest of the build follows modern trends, starting with the Shimano Dura-Ace groupset. Take a walk around the WorldTour peloton and you’ll struggle to find many bikes that aren’t adorned with Shimano drivetrains. That’s because the Japanese brand provides groupsets for 14 of the 18 WorldTour teams and Intermarché-Wanty is one of them.

© GCN

Shimano is the groupset brand of choice for most WorldTour teams

Girmay’s specific set-up also conformed to current norms, with his 54/40t chainset by far the most popular option in the pro peloton, as is the 11-34t cassette he paired it with.

© GCN

The team uses Prologo saddles

Sporting a 28mm width, the bike’s Continental Grand Prix 5000 tyres were also on-trend while Girmay’s saddle of choice was the Prologo Dimension Tri.

Bike Specification