Ineos Grenadiers using special fleet of superlight frames repainted by Formula 1 company at the Vuelta a España

While walking the pits at the start of stage 2 of the Vuelta a España my eye was caught at the Ineos Grenadiers team bus, not by a different paint job per se, but by the lack of paint entirely on the rear end of Carlos Rodriguez’ Pinarello Dogma F. The sterilising Portuguese sun revealed swaths of raw carbon, not only on the frame but on the seatpost too. Speaking exclusively to Cyclingnews, the team’s Performance Director, Scott Drawer, revealed Rodriguez’ bike is one of a small fleet of superlight race bikes created in partnership with Silverstone Paint Technology (SPT), a primarily Formula 1 focussed outfit specialising in minimalist coatings. 

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Drawer revealed that while the team bikes are certainly light – consumer spec models can easily be built to hit the UCI weight limit – the team has access to a fleet of frames that have been stripped of their factory paint by SBT, before being repainted in-house to add as little mass as possible. In this case, the raw carbon has been given a minimal clear lacquer, and even the paint itself is visibly thinner.