Jan 24th, 10.

Roulston's Scott Addict RC at the Santos Tour Down Under

Ben from RoadCycling.co.nz has a look at Roulston's new bike.

The Scott Addict RC is one of the lightest bikes in the peloton with the frame weighing in at 790 grams.

With the addition of carbon dropouts, front derailleur mounts and cable stops, the overall Addict package would still be struggling to meet the UCI lower weight limit of 6.8kg.

Luckily, adding a full water-bottle counts as weight for official weigh-ins.

Roulston has only been riding his new Addict a short while but is already impressed with how it performs.

"The new bike is an awesome bike. We are lucky to have Scott on board," said Roulston.

"I think all the top end bikes are pretty similar, there is a fine, fine line. Some are stiffer, some are aero, some are lighter. I think the Scotts are good bikes, and perfect for what we need it for," he said.

What Roulston needs it for is the busy schedule of races which he and his team HTC Columbia will be competing in during the lead up to the Tour de France, including the much famed cobbles of Paris Roubaix.

A line up of HTC's Scotts ©RoadCycling.co.nz

HTC Columbia have chosen to utilise the new Shimano Dura-ace electronic groupset which will help when the going gets cold, as it often does during the Classic season.

"Last year my hands got so cold I was reaching over with the right hand and pulling the [gear] lever because the left hand wouldn't do it," said Roulston.

"You couldn't get enough leverage on the left hand because it was so cold, so you had to pull with the right hand, and pull the big chain ring lever through," he said.

With the electronic shifting and buttons on the handlebars Roulston shouldn't even have to move his hands off the handlebars to change gears.

"It's unreal. The electronic shifting is the best thing since sliced bread, really it's unbelievable," said Roulston.

"For me and what I do in the sport it's superb. For the classics it will be a real bonus. It doesn't matter how cold your hand is you can still change the gears," he said.

As well as the 7970 electronic groupset from Shimano, Roulston is also using Elite bottle cages, a Fizik Arione CX saddle, Pro stem and bars, Continental tubulars, and an SRM power meter.