UCI-Illegal 5.4kg Cannondale SuperSix EVO | Hill Climb Champion's Bike

Andrew Feather’s UCI-illegal 5.4kg race bike for the 2019 National Championships. Hill climb racing is a small niche of the UK time trial scene that involves going up hills as fast as possible. Being the UK, these climbs are usually short and steep, with races ranging from under two minutes to a maximum of around 20 minutes. To perform well, you need to maximise your power to weight ratio.
Normally, UCI rules would infamously dictate a 6.8kg weight limit (originally applied in 2000 and never updated) for bikes, but the CTT governs hill climb racing in the UK, and so the UCI rules don’t apply - in fact, there’s no weight limit at all.
This, combined with the fact that most hill climbs are raced by amateurs and part-time professionals (so there are generally fewer racers with sponsorship commitments), leads to some wonderfully bonkers weight weenie bikes popping up at races.
Recently, we went to see Andrew Feather, the 2018 British Hill Climb Champion, to check out his bike for the upcoming 2019 National Championships, taking place on 27 October 2019.
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[@bikeradar]

What do you think to Andrew's stunning build? Could you push a 44 tooth chainring up 18% climbs? As always, let us know in the comments!

[@robbchastain3036]

Of course, I could push the entire bike up the entire hill, no problem.

[@sebastianriedel8627]

Swap the dura ace cassette for a xg-1190 and the dura ace pedals for Look or time and you are another 100-150g lighter!

[@dwaynerandolph3565]

Well to be honest, I'm built for the flats and rollers, even though I beat a lot of my buds up short but steep climbs. But 18 % and 46 won't suit me at all, 50/36 will do for me !

[@elitedavidhorne8494]

"Could you push a 44 tooth chainring up 18% climbs" Yes I could. With a fifty tooth cog on the back.

[@jeffrey2839]

Maybe I can since i have 52/42 tooth chainring

[@heytreacle]

Andrew Feather- a hill climb legend AND a man with seemingly every single style of fencing in his garden. What’s not to love?

[@danielburris9197]

😂😂😂😂🤘🏾

[@TheBenchPressMan]

10/10

[@Friction446]

Got to get everything else for free when you spend all your spare cash on bikes!

[@joshuaelliff2179]

Hahahaha this completely changes the video. With the stock music in the background, all I can see is a cheesy fencing company's stock reel.

[@earthstick]

When I lived in Bristol the wind would blow a few fence panels down every year. I know why his don't match. But the big question is how do you get so good at hill climbing by riding the B2B cycle path every day and going round chew valley lake?

[@scottyi9299]

Old Cannondale supersix evo is really a beauty. For me this alongside with S-works tarmac are the most iconic road bikes from last decade.

[@davidbianic4350]

My legs started to hurt as I saw the 44 t crank. Beasty.

[@inspiredtotired8369]

Doesn't he have an unfair advantage over everyone else, with a surname of Feather? Yours faithfully. Mr Osmium ;-)

[@leehazlewoodism]

Nominative determinism.

[@andy199121]

Yeah, the surname feather is a few grams lighter than most other surnames. My pals last name is Stone, he’s fucked.

[@dart318swinger]

I dig how calm this guy is. I aspire to have his demeanor.

[@RB-xv4si]

dart318swinger reminds me of how Froome talks during interviews.

[@blizzbee]

I can feel he has a big strong heart by his voice.

[@SmokeytheBeer]

Can we get more of Andrew? BikeRadar presenter perhaps? His understated persona is refreshing.

[@xxiipp]

In another video I think he said he's a solicitor and has a new baby. May not have the time!

[@aircooled.obsession]

Great content guys! love to hear about light weight custom bikes & good luck at the Nationals Andrew!

[@maddieheywood4514]

Andrew Feather is absolutely lovely and super humble and always enjoy watching him completely destroy hills.

[@leventejuhasz2525]

Such a stunning frame - classical road geo perfection. A pleasure to look at!

[@viktorlenart1125]

What a nice guy! All the best Andrew..........and the bike is light as a feather :) couldn't resist

[@louisgreenleaf235]

Gotta respect Andrew very humble guy

[@doit2win]

Joe, don't look at the camera so much as you're talking to Andrew and as he's talking to you...

[@garethhelliwell9736]

To think that only 20 ish years ago we were all using 39 x 23 and thought now't of it. Thank goodness for the progression in technology. I like the way he has gone for lightweight but not sacrificed practically. A very nice bike.

[@earthstick]

Progression of technology? Did 44t chain rings and 28t sprockets not exist 10 years ago?

[@tombarton7043]

Guys this video was absolutely BANG ON! Thank you for the brilliant videos! Hopefully will see you at Haytor. Would love you guys to do a video on the race too to be honest :)

[@fast_daz]

Good luck Andrew! Local lad on local climb. (I used to to the Michelmores rides with you - glad to see the training bike has moved on from a mountain bike!)

[@byrondixon4648]

One of the best videos from BikeRadar Ive seen. I'm encouraged again to pull out my credit card to reduce the weight of my 6.6kg Focus.... What next, seat post I think.

[@ridesofjapan]

Approved🔖

[@byrondixon4648]

Do you think you could get your gravel bike down to 5.4 with a set of light wheels and tyres? LOL

[@ridesofjapan]

Byron Dixon hold my valve stem! 😉

[@1777DK]

I got Hunt wheel and bloody love'em!

[@And-rc9yy]

Weighed my road bike shoes today, they weigh 750g, so heavier than the SuperSix frame.

[@ARGMTNT]

Light as a feather 😉✌🏻

[@carlosroy7984]

Love the seatpost! I own a caad12 and want to change my dropp off seatpost for one straight.

[@jonathanwilliams6126]

His surname is 'Feather' how very fitting for a hill climber and that beast of a bike

[@zxtenn]

Nice to see some MCFK parts on there, i had a 2016 Focus Raven max SL hardtail and I put on a pair of MCFK bars, I was surprised how stiff and durable they were, great German quality

[@mikexhotmail]

awesome!

[@RB-xv4si]

The ceramic bearings aren’t going to give you any less resistance than steel. They are just lighter. Resistance is saved by using non contact seals and thin grease. If you are going with ceramic, go with full ceramic, not hybrid. The super hard ceramic balls will wear tracks into the softer steel races very quickly.

[@clintnieves]

I've just read about this yesterday. Didn't think you'll make a video on this

[@graemegallagher4481]

Is Joe turning into a little teapot?

[@1DVSB]

Love the build.......44 tooth is just lovely. It reminds me of a Cannondale build I did in the 80’s....Why did I ever trade it?

[@carlosroy7984]

440watts 62-63kg 12’ is really powerful!!!

[@kaspermolich1972]

Could be super interesting to make a video about Andrews commute bike!!

[@19redmiata94]

I run a 44t chainring on my gravel bike and an 11-42 casstte. Its also my "road bike." The 44t allows me to keep up on all but the fastest descents. It is an odd size chainring though.

[@theylivewesee1674]

I wonder what will happen with UK hill climb scene when all brands go full disc frames

[@steveheal8267]

What time does the nationals start on Sunday? I only live a couple hours from dartmoor so wouldn't mind go down to watch.

[@guynoir3116]

This is a great frame for stiffness and light , you should try the older Team 613 with 30mm b.b. , you may be surprised .

[@jarnozondag694]

The amount of training he does is nuts like it's 10 hours that's not much but he does so good

[@power2max463]

Rotor ALDHU stands for Alpe d'Huez... So it is pronounced like Al(pe) d Hu(ez). ;)

[@alen-commentnazi8774]

ALPE D ZWIFT

[@tomaszmocior5536]

I am wondering what width of handlebars Andrew is using? The best answer for me would be the relation between shoulder width and the handlebars for the optimum hill-climbing performance. Many thanks for your support.

[@18dbofgain]

I would really like to see something done on his diet on the lead up and during and immediately after the season ends.

[@mrnobody9821]

Cranks might spin when there’s no load but that means absolutely nothing, What matters is what happens under load.

[@EliaBettaglio]

Very true, ceramic bearings are mostly high price product hype. Steel bearings last longer and perform equally.

[@Frankthegravelrider]

Hambini teaching the world

[@philadams9254]

Yeah, but every psychological benefit counts at the national.

[@RB-xv4si]

Elia Bettaglio ceramic bearings can last longer than steel, as long as they are full ceramic and not hybrid.

[@Frankthegravelrider]

Russell Brown watch the ‘Hambini ceramic bearing’ video. It’s very good from an engineering point of view

[@Sousaa]

2020 Cannondale SuperSix has rim brake option. When you say that's only available in disc brakes do you refer to the 2020 hi-mod version?

[@carlossantana8861]

The main question for me is, how much £ or € we have to spend to have some less 6kg bike like this?

[@michaelmechex]

To all the people saying "just take those brakes off" have you ever ridden a bike with no brakes? I have, and broke my hand doing so. The fact that they ignore uci rules doesn't mean they're trying to kill themselves. Doesn't matter they're going uphill, they have to stop at the finish line somehow.

[@andyheilmann1656]

Plus hill climbs require 2 brakes. Best you can do is ride a fixed gear and one brake on the front

[@Justin-zv4cm]

Why not swap out the left brake lever for a non-shifting option? Wouldn't that save a couple grams as well?

[@ralfrufus6573]

UCI-illegal for the win! :-)

[@rafiannoor6648]

hi, do you have a references on the shape of "down tube" ? I mean in the SupersixEvo down tube frame there is round shape and some of it not circle shape, especially on SuperSIX Evo Himod model...

[@markhenderson8080]

I rock a 44t front ring but a 11-46 cassette 🤘🤘🤘

[@byrondixon4648]

But the hill climb man rocks a 11-28 at the back!

[@budojon]

wow superbike !!!

[@JohnKleman1]

Wish I lived somewhere that I could do hillclimbs, biggest climb anywhere around me is like 10ft elevation gain haha

[@gauloisrefractaireenexilvo4366]

How light would it be without paint?

[@robinrai4973]

I think my frame is that heavy

[@AndrewFrink]

I'm sure mine is. My bike is almost 2.5 times his.

[@trroland1248]

Beautiful bike! Purist.

[@ebigarella]

This weight is before you apply 2 kg of epoxy to get rid of the bb30 bottom bracket creaking

[@Aheitchoo]

Do you really need a saddle?

[@crypto_que]

How does training left vs right leg help? Like what are you supposed to do? Discover one of your legs pushes harder & then purposely compensate by trying harder in the other leg?

[@melcanuck5951]

40 mile commute.... how long does it take?

[@philadams9254]

Wait, so no specific efforts in training then? Just base miles the whole time?

[@finnnation]

I’ve been trying to find one of these frames for ages.

[@devin4560]

I'm not familiar with the hill climb discipline, but if it's all uphill, are brakes needed? Taking those off would save weight or at least take one off.

[@OxxidCZ]

Why not remove the front brake and use disc - compatible rim?

[@ptitjoueurtranquille]

KOM in luz ardiden indeed! I'm 50min behind you x)

[@solidfoxy]

How did he get a non-AXS etap to work as 1x?

[@luc4662]

I don’t understand why there are brakes.

[@dc8890]

Nice looking bike, I don't like all the sloping top tubes you get these days, I think horizontal ones look better, and this one is near horizontal.

[@timothytopor4362]

2020 super six evo comes in rim as well 👍🏻

[@byrondixon4648]

But there a bit areo - meaning a bit heaver. That could not be tolerated.

[@JeffBeefjaw]

Is this the king of weight weenies? Dam fine bike! I concur with sram over shimano every day, nice single big ring and rim brakes. Dam so long as that seat is comfy for you ride it. Nice ride, all the best for your trials

[@scobrackc]

you'd need to be close to 4kg to be the lightest in the world, which used to be a 4.16kg 7-speed bike, not sure what it is currently. Look up the fairwheel disc brake project bike, think that came in at 4.6kg

[@byrondixon4648]

No - he would not be the king of weight weenies. A friend has built up a 4.95kg bike. He seems more of a realistic weight weenie.

[@MSimky]

How does it compare to specialized aethos frame?

[@franciss2529]

Would people recommend a stiffer but heavier or lighter but flexier bike for light riders? I'm 60kg (a serious hill climber) and whilst I've considered racing my steel fixed gear (as its stiffness is insane) I'm contemplating getting a light carbon climbing bike.

[@JustJooZt]

Any half decent carbon frame is both gonna be stiffer and lighter

[@clydea.hutchisoniv5742]

carbon is gonna be stiffer than steel

[@johnm91326]

You won't notice the difference in stiffness.

[@michaelcrawford5638]

Why not remove the rear brake for hill climbs? Surely a larger weight saving than removing the bar tape!

[@anelkaisgood2]

7:26 '44 coupled with the 28 rear sprocket, a good gear ratio for the hill climbs' . . Yep.... 🤨

[@charliedrummond5356]

Shanen Ma he prefers the steeper gradients... 😂

[@MrRosuv]

no one skips to the end of the video to find out the weight of the bike, it's in the Title.

[@sbsb4995]

I am so glad there are still clever people who chose rims brakes. Disc brake is marketing gimmick.

[@zoso73]

Disc brakes on road bikes are such a scam. I suppose if you're not a good rider, they're great.

[@Hong1626]

no bar tapes on the drops?

[@bikeradar]

That's right, bar tape is heavy!

[@dctruckguy]

What size is the frame?

[@krnone8057]

44/28 for climbing? How strong and light is he? :)

[@AndrewFrink]

62kg and can do 440W for 12+ minutes, which is right around 7W/kilo (crazy high).

[@kakenn20]

Disc?

[@janvirtanen9110]

Does the BB creak? :D

[@robthebobbhg]

pricepoint???

[@greengonzonz]

44..... Even 46 😲😲😲

[@Nonixification]

that tyre tho... says 200 psi max :O

[@Friction446]

Take the paint off, it looks heavy.

[@layton3503]

And he should shave his head, those hairs look heavy too!

[@mrtnknrr]

Yes definitely sand down the paint on the carbon frame :D

[@mrtnknrr]

Maybe he should paint it white as it's a lighter color

[@jernejenadic6776]

​@@mrtnknrr As far as I know white is usually the heaviest color!

[@jamesambrocio]

@@layton3503 don't forget the pubes

[@1973honza]

A lot of Schram stuff there.

[@cyclingpeeps]

Not sure if anybody else asked, how much for a bike with that spec?

[@byrondixon4648]

There was old stock FOCUS with a lighter frame came in at just under 6kg for $5000 AUD on PUSHYS an Australian online retailer. Id guess his could be under 10K

[@maxfish2301]

Frame 100g heavier than the 2011 version 🤔

[@user-kf5jq8cu4s]

Good

[@victorpires6791]

my bike has one of those basics 42/34/22 in the front, and this man using a 44 to climb, gods im weak

[@justinlam8203]

WOW...

[@jawg2392]

But will it crack and fail ?

[@esdopedoen517]

Your rear brake is operated from left shifter? That's unusual !

[@FletchB01]

Completely normal in the UK, and other Commonwealth countries...

[@dh7314]

Normal in UK

[@YouNeedToHearThis]

That's less than 12 pounds. Crazy!

[@RB-xv4si]

With your power/weight ratio, I’m surprised Brailsford hasn’t recruited you to be a super domestique on Ineos. Why aren’t you trying your hand at professional racing?

[@vivoslibertos]

Obviously you don't need to slam that stem to win though could be lighter without those spacers :)

[@wolfgangvanwersch1228]

SRAM eTap derailleurs even work perfect with CAMPAGNOLO drivetrain...

[@lopon12]

Needs to have a word with hambini about them bearings. Ceramic are not better

[@404nobrakes]

lopon12 ceramic is better if you are willing to replace them frequently or are not putting in too many miles. He also might be sponsored. EDIT: As an owner of a hambini BB, I think it would be faster to take a hambini PF30A shell, and put ceramic bearings in there due to the better alignment and stiffness. If he’s using nylon/plastic cups as is standard for PF30A, he is seriously missing out, especially for out-of-saddle efforts.

[@lopon12]

Saurabh Kulkarni probably sponsored.

[@mikicastan]

Hambini is so boring!

[@dannyfag1]

Do you need brakes if just climbing....

[@kppptemanggung8079]

every climbing is descending

[@clydea.hutchisoniv5742]

paint is just extra weight

[@st3ange21]

Better to have a paintjob than a boring generic black bike

[@polochbabaaient2223]

@@st3ange21 black paint is extra weight

[@st3ange21]

@@polochbabaaient2223 That's not what I meant. If you strip down your carbon bike from the paint what do you have? SPOILER Black bike

[@ti0chema]

Right... primer+paint+decals, almost 1lb.

[@solitaryrefinement6787]

Andrew "Light-As-A" Feather

[@joshuaforester]

Why so many cogs in the back? Does he ever use the small ring in hill climbs?

[@galenkehler]

Its 1x, no small ring

[@jimmy87587]

My wife also appreciates a good, stiff crankset. Maybe that's why she left me.

[@skoshunt]

why not take off the front brake