Description

Obliterating the competition is the goal of the Cipollini Nuke Time Trial frameset. It is built for maximum speed only. Cipollini is motivated by competition and only the driven should climb aboard. What they’ll find is a tool that takes off like a rocket, with little that the wind can find to stop.

The UCI-legal design is raced by Axeon cycling on the road and Team Peperoncino in triathlons. The fabrication owes thanks to Cipollini’s Bond frame. Both the Bond and the Nuke are monocoque frames built in four pieces. There’s a main triangle, a right chainstay, a left chainstay, and a yoked seatstay. This allows each piece to be molded precisely for its own needs without regard for the rest. It has benefits for the Nuke in that the chainstays are molded around the integrated brake needs, and, as such, do not necessitate any kind of aero shroud to be installed to keep them sleek. The stays and the main triangle are held together by the bottom bracket shell, which is an oversized BB386, which easily works with every modern crank standard save BB30. The BB30 design was stiff for its day, but the narrowness, which used to be seen as an aero benefit is not supplanted by the greater lateral stiffness of an 86mm wide shell and the improved aero shaping that goes around the oversized shell.

The front end of a bike is a place where big aero gains can be lost or made. The Nuke utilizes a bayonet-style fork, which smoothly parts the air before it hits the frame. The deep crown is both aero and a great place to hide integrated brakes. And the integrated stem, which can be adjusted from 100 to 110mm and raised 10mm, is also part of the aero package. The clamp fits a 31.8mm handlebar.

As femur length, comfort, and aerodynamics are all inextricably linked; Cipollini has designed a 300mm long aero seat post that keeps great aerodynamics while also affording plenty of adjustability. The three-position clamp allows for a virtual seat angle as slack as 73-degrees and as steep as 78-degrees. The post’s binder bolt sits in the frame, just in front of the post.

To shave every last gram of drag, the cables run through the frame. There is a cable port behind the stem. If you’re running electronic shifting, the wire will go under the stem and through the frame. If you’re running electronic, the cables will enter the frame behind the stem. The battery, regardless of brand, can be stored internally.

Cipollini believes that narrow wheels are better for aerodynamics. As such, the maximum rim width is 21mm.

The Cipollini Nuke Time Trial Frameset allows you to go thermonuclear. Boom. The mushroom cloud will be seen from miles away.