Marcus Christie has been absolutely flying in TTs since buying Bradley Wiggins' TT bike from Team Sky. Here he explains what the bike does - and doesn't do - for his performance (Photo with thanks to Shea Gribbon)
Having set a series of blistering times against the clock of late on a bike previously owned by Bradley Wiggins at Team Sky, Irish rider Marcus Christie has explained how it makes a difference to him.
He’s said it’s a quality, faster bike and has helped him get his enthusiasm back for racing after briefly abandoning the sport.
But he also points to the fact he was a TT record-breaker long before buying the Team Sky bike, saying unless he was in mint condition it would make no difference to his performance.
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The Pinarello Bolide TT bike includes Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 electronic drivetrain and Mavic CXR wheels with Mavic CXR-01 tyres. Christie had his TT bike stolen in June when in Co Kildare for the national championships.
And when Dolan Bikes offered Wiggins old bike for sale on its website – when an asking price of £10,000 – it found a new owner in the Irishman, whose mother spotted it for him.
Since buying it he has ridden a 50 mile TT in 1:35:32, besting his previous time and Irish record of 1:40:11.
And he’s also done several 18-minute 10 mile TTs and broken some course records; one of the rides an 18:34
But he had set plenty of records before he bought the bike once owned by Wiggins and had also represented Ireland against the clock – including at the U23 World Championships – and been part of the Irish track team.
He represented Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Games two years ago and is now mulling over trying to get the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo; a goal that is well within his grasp.
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Getting ready for battle; the bike was used by Wiggins in international races and is being put to very good used on Irish roads by Marcus Christie, right (Photo with thanks to Gordon Parker)
Christie says while the new bike has undoubtedly helped him go faster, it doesn’t push itself.
“When I turn up at races there are people looking to get their picture taken with it just because it belonged to Bradley Wiggins. It has a few admirers okay,” he said.
“You have to laugh it off because I think the bike sometimes gets more credit than I do but people forget I broke a few records before I had it.
“You have to build your ‘engine’ up to a certain point and then a piece of equipment like this can help.
“Had I got on it after I had just returned to cycling and wasn’t fit, it would have been of no benefit.
“When you have the power built up you can put it into the road rather than losing it on the bike," he told The Derry Journal.
"It’s a stiffer more aerodynamic frame than the one I had previously.”
Christie, who rode one season for An Post-Chainreaction two years ago, decided to stop racing during last year but is back competing since the early part of this season, the pull of competitive cycling proving too much.
“After I decided to return to cycling, I sold most of my old equipment - my old time trial bikes and stuff. I saw the Wiggins’ bike advertised in Liverpool and I took it from there. It wasn’t cheap!
“It was advertised as Bradley Wiggins’ bike and cost a lot of money but it represented a good deal because it came with everything you needed and to buy it new would have been much more expensive.”
Christie said no sooner had the season started this year than he regretted walking away, adding my mid March he was ready to return.
“I did a bit of training and tried to get myself into some sort of decent shape. I put in a lot of work and once I realised I was starting to come good, I saw the Wiggins’ bike and thought, ‘I’m going to give cycling a proper go this time’.”
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