EVO + EF = SUPER
Photography by: Jered & Ashley Gruber
The new SuperSix EVO Gen 5 – developed with EF Pro Cycling.
From the Workshop to the WorldTour
Some pro cyclists ride whatever bike they're given by their team. Some are super-lucky, however. They get the opportunity to truly help develop their rides. To play their part to help make it behave and react the way that they want. So that it can perform to the exacting standards they need and expect of a World Tour road bike.
The riders at EF Pro Cycling have been on a special journey with Cannondale that has been over two plus years in the making and shaping. Their mission? To help guide and inform how the new generation SuperSix EVO road bike climbs, sprints and races in all manner of conditions.
We took a peek behind the scenes with the team as they got a chance to see how the program is going and experience the results of their continuous feedback and input.
EVO x EF
Of course, Cannondale has always paid close attention to rider feedback when developing performance bikes for every kind of rider. But with the next gen SuperSix EVO, our design and engineering team has taken collaboration to a whole new level.
“Developing a bike like EVO is all about racing performance... So having a strong partnership with a racing team like EF is really important to us...” says Cannondale engineer and aero specialist, Dr. Nathan Barry.
Naturally, the SuperSix is also a very important bike for the riders of EF Pro Cycling. It is more than just carbon fiber; it’s their office. The location they spend hour after hour, pretty much every day of the week. It's a central part of their successes on the road, so it makes sense that they want it to work for them and operate at the highest level possible.
So, for this new generation – and evolution – of the SuperSix road bike, a constant dialogue and collaboration between the engineers and riders took place. Making the riders themselves an integral part of the EVO’s DNA.
TESTING + PERFECTING
Everything from weight, aerodynamics, ride feel and real-world performance on the new generation SuperSix EVO is there thanks to a constant back and forth between the riders and engineers. It’s been tested and perfected across iteration after iteration, both in the lab and wind tunnel, as well as the everyday climbs and roads where the riders ply their 9 to 5 day jobs.
By combining cold, hard data, with hands-on experience, and something as personal and individual as rider sensation, we have shaped a bike that’s incrementally better in every area when compared to the previous generation SuperSix EVO.
- Dr. Nathan Barry | Senior Design Engineer
FOR THE BEST AND THE REST
Of course, partnering with an elite cycling team isn’t just about fancy paintjobs and shiny ad campaigns. It’s so much more than insta-posts and TV-time visibility on the Champs-Élysées. Because the very same mindset that pushes these pro riders to go faster and perform better and better, is the same thing that pushes Cannondale to design faster, more responsive road bikes that equip the riders with the very best tools for the job.
Meanwhile, for the rest of us who aren’t lining up on the WorldTour this season, we get to enjoy the incredible, meticulous, obsessive benefits of all this R&D. Thanks to the painstaking torture-testing that the pros have put these new bikes through, the rest of us get access to a bike that has been shaped and developed by the best riders on the planet.
- Neilson Powless | EF Pro Rider
READY TO BE FASTER EVERYWHERE
Only when the engineers and riders are all 100% happy that this is the very best that the new generation EVO can be, is it ready for competition and to be ridden in anger. And if this takes time, so be it.
But the team at Cannondale are now sure that it’s been worth the wait. And the new season will be the ultimate proving ground of all.
Check out the EF Pro Cycling team putting the new SuperSix EVO through its paces below. And learn what all the other bikes in the peloton are going to be looking at the back of this coming season!
- Kasper Asgreen | EF Pro Rider