We bumped into Tom Southam at the Rutland-Melton last weekend and took the opportunity to take a close look at the latest Condor Leggero the Rapha-Condor team riders have been racing this year.

RCUK tested the Leggero, Condor’s race bike, last year, but clearly much has changed for 2009. The Leggero is based around a Dedacciai ULW (ultra light weight) carbon fibre frame that is made using uni-directional and two-directional high modulus carbon. The tubeset is much more oversized than last year, with a visibly larger downtube and a new tapered head tube which helps beef up the front end. The rear triangle is exclusive to Condor and features straighter and fatter tubes than last year’s curvy stays, and the seat tube is now aero shaped.

Tom’s bike was built with a full Shimano Dura-Ace 7900 groupset and 1380 wheels wrapped in Continental Ultra Gatorskin 25mm tyres. We asked Tom if he made any changes to the bike for the race, but he said that the roads weren’t rough enough to warrant any significant changes, other than the fitment of wider tyres. Punctures played their part in the outcome of the race, Tom was instrumental in the early break but two punctures changed his fortunes (his bike is pictured with a service wheel in the back).

More at www.condorcycles.com and www.raphacondor.cc