The dawn of a new season always indicates that it’s time for the winter hack to go into hibernation, whilst giving way to the birth of a new race machine. If the truth be told I don’t need any encouragement when it comes to building a new bike up. The hours spent bringing it all together part by part is a form of therapy and by the end of the first ride it normally results in a huge smile and tired legs. Perhaps the best feeling in the world?

In a bid to go undetected on the radar, the stealth SuperSix Hi-Mod frame is fitted with Campag Record groupo and Cannondale Hollowgram SL chainset, the perfect combination to ensure all power transfer goes towards forward momentum. I haven’t run deep section wheels for a while now and must confess that I reckon I’ve been missing out. If you get a chance to test a pair of Mavic Cosmic Carbone SL’s then I’m sure you’ll come to the same conclusion pretty quickly. These bad boys roll like nothing I’ve ridden before and are perfectly balanced (which has been a problem I’ve faced with other deep section wheels in the past). In short, one hell of a fast wheelset and coupled up with a Powertap 2.4sl rear hub, wirelessly in sync with my Garmin 705 I really have absolutely no excuses for not crucifying myself on every ride (and never getting lost in the process!)

Finishing kit comes courtesy of USE, Fi’zi:k and Carbon-Ti to give an overall package that is only just race legal in terms of weight limit set by the UCI. When are those guys going to get with it and realise that 6.8kg really isn’t that light for bicycle technology in this day and age?