In cycling, everything is done for perfect aerodynamics. Earlier this month, that quest for the most aerodynamic bike reached a new high when Stefan Küng was riding a 27,400 euro bike accompanied by a water bottle worth 22.000 euro.
Swiss time trial specialist Küng received the new bike from his bike sponsor Wilier to ride the opening stage of the Tour of Switzerland with it. That new bike, the “Supersonica SLR,” is said to be as much as 16 percent more aerodynamic than Wilier’s previous time trial bike: the Turbine SLR.
Most striking is the amount of money invested in the most aerodynamic possible bottle and bottle cage: no less than 22,000 euros was pumped into its development. The amount was so huge because a first design was rejected by the UCI and the further development into an approved model ended up being quite expensive.
Küng was not immediately successful with the bike. In the opening stage – now two weeks ago – he finished eighth, losing ten seconds to winner Yves Lampaert. A few days ago, however, he became Swiss Time Trial Champion on his new bike.
