Alec Segaert debuts new Ridley Dean Fast at U23 men's time trial World Championships

Belgian national time trial championships silver medallist to ride new bike in Stirling

This competition is now closed

By Jack Luke

Published: August 8, 2023 at 12:08 pm

Alec Segaert will ride the new Ridley Dean Fast at the under-23 men’s individual time trial World Championships in Stirling, Scotland.

The mostly flat 36.2km course takes riders west of Stirling before looping back into the centre of the city, where they will climb to the foot of the castle.

20-year-old Segaert is the favourite for the event despite losing his passport and “favourite shoes” en route to Scotland, according to Het Nieuwsblad.

Segaert’s time trial bike rolls on an 80mm-deep DT Swiss ARC 1100 Dicut DB front wheel and matching ARC 1100 disc wheel out back. These have been customised with fun Belgian national team graphics.

The wheels are fitted with a pair of 25mm-wide Vittoria Corsa Speed Graphene 2.0 tyres set up tubeless.

28mm tyres have become something of the de facto standard on road and time trial bikes, so it’s slightly unusual to see Segaert opt for narrower rubber, especially because Scotland is hardly famed for having glass-smooth roads.

However, DT Swiss says both wheels are optimised around tyres in the 25 to 28mm range. The 20mm internal width of the wheels is also slightly narrow by contemporary standards, so it’s possible Segaert’s testing has shown 25s to be faster.

The rear wheel is hugged by a deep cut-out in the seat tube. The dropped seatstays also run fairly close to the rear wheel, eschewing the trend for wider-stance bikes.

Segaert’s drivetrain consists of Dura-Ace R9250 Di2 derailleurs and a previous-generation R9000 4iiii power meter-equipped crankset.

He’s paired the crankset with round Rotor NoQ chainrings. 4iiii sponsors Segaert, so the logos on the rings have been hastily taped over to avoid any blushes.

We’re pretty sure Segaert’s running a 60t outer ring, but were unable to get a close look at the inner ring.

A K-Edge chain catcher is fitted to the front of the removable derailleur mount.

According to Ridley, running the bike in a 1x setup markedly improves the aero performance of the new bike.

Segaert obviously feels a 2x setup aero penalty is worth the wider range, perhaps for the small climb up to Stirling Castle at the end of the route.

The new Ridley Dean Fast is built around a SRAM Universal Derailleur Hanger. The UDH standard has been widely adopted on modern mountain bikes, but this is one of the few road-going bikes to make the jump to the new standard.

Up front, Segaert uses the Ridley Dean Fast’s stock base bar, which integrates tidily into the top tube of the bike. A generous layer of grip-on tape behind the Shimano levers should keep things under control.

This is partnered with Deda Jet One extensions, which sit atop two relatively tall stacks of aero spacers.

The Belgian’s Selle Italia Watt Kit Carbonio Superflow saddle is slammed almost all the way forward on the adjustable aero-profiled seatpost. A neat 3D-printed cap sits at the base of the post and covers the bike’s integrated seat clamp.

Deputy editor

Jack Luke is the deputy editor at BikeRadar and has been fettling with bikes for his whole life. Always in search of the hippest new niche in cycling, Jack is a self-confessed gravel dork, fixie-botherer, tandem-evangelist and hill climb try hard. Jack thinks nothing of bikepacking after work to sleep in a ditch or taking on a daft challenge for the BikeRadar YouTube channel. He is also a regular contributor to the BikeRadar podcast. With a near encyclopaedic knowledge of cycling tech, ranging from the most esoteric retro niche to the most cutting-edge modern kit, Jack takes pride in his ability to seek out stories that would otherwise go unreported. He is also particularly fond of tan-wall tyres, dynamo lights, cup and cone bearings, and skids. Jack has been writing about and testing bikes for more than six years now, has a background working in bike shops for years before that, and is regularly found riding a mix of weird and wonderful machines. Jack can also often be seen zooming about with his partner aboard their beloved tandem.

Subscribe to Cycling Plus magazine and get a Lezyne Super Pro GPS (worth £135!) as your welcome gift! Plus, save 16% off the subscription price.

Subscribe to MBUK and get a Scott Supra Plus Helmet as your welcome reward! Plus, save 35% off the shop price!