RIDLEY HELIUM / SRAM FORCE COMPLETE BIKE - 2012

Now several tours in the rear-view mirror, the story of Dutch pro Johnny Hoogerland and his Ridley Helium in the Tour de France of 2011 still lives on the lore of professional cycling hardmen. It's nothing short of a miracle that Hoogerland's racing career didn't end in that gruesome meeting with the barbed-wire fence at roadside, but also pretty spectacular that neither did his bike -- aboard which he finished the stage, riding back into the polka-dot jersey. This speaks volumes about the Helium, which, despite being the Belgium brand's lightest bike, it is also their most battle-hardened, having endured punishment on the cobbles and hors categorie climbs all across Europe. It is a shining example of carbon fiber's supreme durability and longevity in the hands of intelligent design. This Helium SRAM Force Complete Bike is the pinnacle of carbon fiber lightness while still giving you the durability you demand, and a component group worthy of your trust. If ever there were an anthem for a true podium-capable "workman's build," this would be it.

The Helium uses 30-ton carbon with areas of 40-ton and 50-ton reinforcements (in comparison to the 24-ton carbon used on the Excalibur.) By using higher-grade carbon, Ridley can use less carbon in the production process, netting a lower frame weight. The Helium also utilizes full carbon dropouts and doesn't use any aluminum in the head tube bearing races to reduce weight further. And when you factor in the detail that you need to use a conventional seatpost on an Excalibur, but you don't on a Helium, the real net difference in weight is well over a half-pound . Unlike the Excalibur, the Helium features an integrated seatmast design akin to the super-aero Ridley Noah. We will cut down the carbon fiber seat tube of the frame based on your saddle-to-BB measurement. You'll use a custom Ridley seat clamp that seamlessly mates to the seat tube and offers three different positions to modify your effective seat angle. The use of this integrated seat tube/seatpost maximizes frameset stiffness when you're putting the bike under serious in-the-saddle pressure. The integrated post, combined with the frame's matte carbon fiber finish, gives the Helium an extremely fast, post-industrial tool aesthetic that looks positively deadly.

The Ridley Helium SRAM Force Complete Bike is available in Black/White, and comes in 5 sizes from X-Small to X-Large. Given its compact geometry, we strongly suggest that you focus on the virtual top tube length as you make a determination of the proper size. Please provide us with your BB-Saddle Rail height in the "Comments" section of our order form so we can properly cut down the seat tube for delivery. Please note that the post's maximum cut-off length from the top of the seatpost is 60mm. One final note on sizing: on all sizes the top of the seat tube is 235mm above the center of the top tube, not including seat mounting hardware. The standard Helium seat clamp has 18mm in height adjustment, and comes with a 1mm micro-spacer for small adjustments. Ridley also offers an aftermarket clamp that provides 40mm of height adjustment.

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2012 Ridley Helium / SRAM Force Complete Bike - 2012 Geometry