{"id":228661,"date":"2025-10-27T18:52:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T18:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/228661\/"},"modified":"2025-10-27T18:52:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T18:52:11","slug":"this-sub-5kg-cannondale-capo-is-an-ode-to-minimalism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/228661\/","title":{"rendered":"This sub-5kg Cannondale Capo is an ode to minimalism"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This Cannondale Capo may have started life as an alloy commuter, but it now weighs less than 5kg and was raced by Arion Oates at the National Hill Climb Championships yesterday.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The bike is actually owned by BikeRadar contributor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bikeradar.com\/author\/rob-borek\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Rob Borek<\/a>, but he was ill for this year\u2019s competition, and so he lent it to Oates.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This year, the nationals took place in Matlock, Derbyshire, on the demanding slopes of Bank Road. The 834m course has an average gradient of 14 per cent, taking in more than 100m of elevation before the finish line.<\/p>\n<p>Arion Oates, riding for PDQ Cycle Coaching, finished the day in 40th place in the men\u2019s open category and took 29th in the senior category with a time of 2 minutes 43.5 seconds.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2400\" height=\"1600\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Rob-Borek-Arion-Oates-PDQ-Cycle-Coaching-Cannondale-Capo-1.jpg\" alt=\"Cannondale Capo hill climb bike with FTM Clavicular SE crankset\" class=\"wp-image-946513\"\/>This setup has been proven by Rob in the past. Jack Luke \/ Our Media<\/p>\n<p>Oates used the same 39x19t gear ratio Rob used when he rode the bike for the 2016 National Hill Climb Championships, which also took place on Bank Road.<\/p>\n<p>In a previous life, this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bikeradar.com\/reviews\/bikes\/road-bikes\/cannondale-capo-review-2\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Cannondale Capo<\/a> was a commuter bike at a time when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bikeradar.com\/advice\/buyers-guides\/buyers-guide-to-fixies-and-singlespeed-bikes\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">single-speeds and fixies<\/a> were a more common sight than <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bikeradar.com\/advice\/buyers-guides\/best-electric-bikes\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">ebikes<\/a> in many cities.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2400\" height=\"1600\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Rob-Borek-Arion-Oates-PDQ-Cycle-Coaching-Cannondale-Capo-4.jpg\" alt=\"Cannondale Capo hill climb bike with carbon THM Fibula brakes\" class=\"wp-image-946516\"\/>THM make impressively light components that are the envy of many hill climbers. Jack Luke \/ Our Media<\/p>\n<p>In order to save weight, Rob built the bike with a host of premium carbon components. It has a carbon fibre THM Fibular brake caliper and a carbon THM Clavicular SE crankset, alongside a barebones carbon fibre saddle. Rob has also built the bike with an ENVE carbon fork.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2400\" height=\"1600\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Rob-Borek-Arion-Oates-PDQ-Cycle-Coaching-Cannondale-Capo-8.jpg\" alt=\"Cannondale Capo hill climb bike with bullhorn bars\" class=\"wp-image-946520\"\/>Bullhorn bars are a popular choice for hillclimbers, and note the minimal bar tape. Jack Luke \/ Our Media<\/p>\n<p>The bike has a lightweight bullhorn handlebar setup with a time trial brake lever and cotton bar tape. <\/p>\n<p>The result is a fixie that weighs just 4.8kg, which is more than a kilogram lighter than the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bikeradar.com\/features\/pro-bike\/simon-warren-hill-climb-bike\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Monoc track bike<\/a> Simon Warren raced at the nationals.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Although hill climb efforts boil down to how much power you can put out, Oates didn\u2019t use a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bikeradar.com\/advice\/buyers-guides\/best-power-meters\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">power meter<\/a> or bike computer for his effort.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bikeradar.com\/advice\/buyers-guides\/best-bike-lights-for-road-cycling\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Bike lights<\/a> are now compulsory for hill climb races, so Borek has fitted the bike with miniature front and rear lights, consisting of single LEDs zip-tied to the bars and seatpost.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2400\" height=\"1600\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Rob-Borek-Arion-Oates-PDQ-Cycle-Coaching-Cannondale-Capo-3.jpg\" alt=\"Cannondale Capo hill climb bike with mini light\" class=\"wp-image-946515\"\/>These lights are just about as minimal as you can go. Jack Luke \/ Our Media<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2400\" height=\"1600\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Rob-Borek-Arion-Oates-PDQ-Cycle-Coaching-Cannondale-Capo-5.jpg\" alt=\"Cannondale Capo hill climb bike with carbon saddle\" class=\"wp-image-946517\"\/>With no padding, you wouldn&#8217;t want to ride this much further than the 834m course. Jack Luke \/ Our Media<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2400\" height=\"1600\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Rob-Borek-Arion-Oates-PDQ-Cycle-Coaching-Cannondale-Capo-6.jpg\" alt=\"Cannondale Capo hill climb bike with Bristol South sticker\" class=\"wp-image-946518\"\/>This bike is a common sight in the south west hill climb scene. Jack Luke \/ Our Media<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2400\" height=\"1600\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Rob-Borek-Arion-Oates-PDQ-Cycle-Coaching-Cannondale-Capo-7.jpg\" alt=\"Cannondale Capo hill climb bike with no stem cap\" class=\"wp-image-946519\"\/>Even the stem cap has been ditched to save weight. Jack Luke \/ Our Media<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2400\" height=\"1600\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Rob-Borek-Arion-Oates-PDQ-Cycle-Coaching-Cannondale-Capo-2.jpg\" alt=\"Cannondale Capo hill climb bike with 19t rear cog\" class=\"wp-image-946514\"\/>Single-speeds are a popular choice for hill climb racers due to their low weights. Jack Luke \/ Our Media<br \/>\nMore from the National Hill Climb Championships<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This Cannondale Capo may have started life as an alloy commuter, but it now weighs less than 5kg&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":228662,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-228661","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228661"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228661\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}