Rebecca Richardson's 5kg S-Works Aethos hill-climb bike

Nationals contender’s Featherweight race rig

- Simon Smythe

This is the heavily modified, superlight bike Rebecca Richardson (Brother UK) has been riding in this season’s hill-climbs as she builds up to the National Championship event at Winnats Pass on 31 October.

Placing third in the Monsal Hill-Climb on 3 October when CW photographer Andy Jones shot her bike, Richardson went on to win the Mam Nick event on 11 October, setting a new course record and a seven-minute power PB.

The bike is based on a 56cm Specialized S-Works Aethos frame which is stripped of all non-essential fixtures and fittings.

The groupset is very loosely based on Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 but Richardson runs a 1x set-up with the chainset replaced by an Infocrank power meter.

The Zed String wheels weigh a claimed 756g for the pair. Zed is a small British brand and the spokes are made from ultra-high molecular weight polythene, which the company says has the highest strength-to-weight ratio of any material.