Cannondale has the Italian professional cycling team Liquigas under contract, featuring stars Franco Pellizotti and Andrea Noe. It also has past Hawaiian Ironman winner Faris Al Sultan.
So who'd have thought that C'dale's biggest professional triathlon success for the 08 season would be Mirinda Carfrae? Nevertheless she is. We profiled Mirinda this past February (link at bottom of article). Carfrae's most notable accomplishment was her 70.3 World Championship win at the most recent Clearwater event. Since then she won the Geelong 70.3 race in Australia, followed by a win over an impressive field at Iron Girl Las Vegas. She won the St. Croix half-IM title, and repeated her win at Newfoundland 70.3.
She's got a new Slice for her upcoming title defense at Clearwater this November. Below is the bike, how it's outfitted, how she fits aboard it, and our analysis.
Mirinda rides a 51cm version of the Slice. This might seem a tad big, except she rides it steep (saddle nose 1cm in front of the bb). This artificially shortens the bike, making this the right length bike for her. But is the frame too tall? No, because she's able to meet her preferred armrest drop of 12cm, saddle top to armrest top. But, that's just barely, judging by the stem mashed down all the way on the steer columm.
The bike is built with a substially Dura Ace gruppo. Her cranks are 167.5mm, and this shorter length is a good choice considering the faster cadence she'll pedal with this steep seat angle; and because that 12cm drop is aggressive -- a longer crank would compress her hip angle at top dead center.
Mirinda's bike has 53x39 chainrings, and she rides an 11-23 cassette. On a hillier course, a 39x23 small gear might not be small enough. But, this is her Clearwater bike. She rides a Fizik Arione Tri 2 saddle, along with Sampson Stratics S3 pedals.
Mirinda expects to ride Clearwater with a slightly different wheel config than is pictured here. She'll more likely ride a Zipp Sub 9 disc on the rear and a Zipp 404 up front. She'll ride Continental Competition tires.
Mirinda's aero bars are Profile Design's Carbon X 1.5 mounted on a minus-17° 10cm stem. Profile has made it easier for athletes to ride its bars with a lower armrest profile. This is a wonderful bar, allowing Mirinda to use Profile's ergonomically superior Cobra S-bend extensions on a low-profile configuration. A Profile Design Razor bottle is mounted in between the Cobra extensions. Profile has a newer "AquaCell" drink system that may replace the Razor before the Clearwater race.
The Slice is a wonderful bike for the Clearwater course. Its 62mm of trail make it a dream ride for courses on which aero position riding is favored.
Mirinda Carfrae fit specs:
A: 690mm
B: +10mm
C: 725mm
D: 330mm
E: 120mm
F: 420mm
G: 210mm
Cannondale Slice frame specs:
Head angle: 71.5°
Fork offset: 45mm
Trail: 62mm
Head tube length: 90mm
Chain Stay: 400mm
BB drop: 72mm
Front Center: 565mm
Top tube: 505mm @ 75° seat angle
