This Thursday Joss Lowden will attempt to break the official Hour Record at Velodrome Suisse in Switzerland.
We take a look at the gear Lowden will be using to help her complete a minimum of 192 laps (48.008km) of the track in order to beat the record currently held by Vittoria Bussi.
A track speed weapon and custom kit
The Drops-Le Col rider will be wearing a custom made Le Col × McLaren Project Aero Skinsuit and sporting the award-winning POC Tempor helmet.
Lowden will be riding an Argon 18 Electron Pro track machine, the same model Ashton Lambie rode when he broke the four-minute individual pursuit barrier in August this year.
The bike will be equipped with a massive 64×15 gearing, Wahoo Speedplay Aero pedals and a Wattshop Cratus carbon fibre aero crankset with an Izumi KAI chain.
Check out the full Le Col × Maclaren: Project Aero range
Lowden’s wheels are track-specific full-carbon FFWD Disc-T SL tubular discs with a lenticular aero profile. These are said to have an ‘aerospace inner foam structure’ and weigh a claimed 2,040g for the set – unremarkably by road standards, but fairly impressive for full discs.
They will be fitted with Vittoria Pista Speed G2.0 23mm tyres, viewed by many as the fastest track tyre currently available. The tyres arefully slick and incorporate graphene in their tread compound for low rolling resistance.
The bike will also be equipped with Wattshop’s Anemoi Pentaxia Olympic cockpit complete with the Anemoi aero extension system, a setup that costs a stunning £8,500 alone.
Watch Lowden attempt to break the record live on Eurosport GCN+ or here on YouTube at 1600 BST:
For more information on Lowden’s attempt visit lecol.cc.
Images: Tom Griffiths