BIKE CHATT: KONA TRAINING AND THE NEW X-SMALL V-PRi WITH GRACE THEK
Hunter took a break from her IRONMAN 70.3 training to go for a ride with Quintana Roo Pro, Grace Thek, who finished 5th at IRONMAN Texas and secured her spot in Kona! Thek came to QR Headquarters in Chattanooga afterward to pick up the first fully production-ready X-Small V-PRi triathlon bike.
She and Hunter talk about the challenges smaller athletes have with bike fit, and chat about goals and training as Grace starts her build-up to the World Championship:
Bike Check: Grace Thek's X-Small V-PRi
At only 5'0 (152cm) tall, Thek has struggled with bike fit her entire professional career. She's often competed on frames designed for riders 4-6 inches taller than her, and resorted to modifying them into "frankenbikes" to achieve a suitable fit. When she signed with Quintana Roo, one of our key goals was to give her the best tools to achieve what we believe she's capable of as an athlete.
A bike fit session with Quintana Roo's Lead Engineer, Brad DeVaney.
Quintana Roo has long supported athletes of all heights by offering a wide size range for the V-PR and X-PR. But our flagship race bike, the V-PRi, needed both X-Small and X-Large options to serve athletes at the ends of the bell curve. While these were in development, we signed 5'0 (152cm) Thek, along with 6'3 (190cm) triathlete Colin Szuch, to our Pro Team. With their input and testing, we have refined these new V-PRi sizes into race-ready machines.
Check out that low standover height!
After IRONMAN Texas, which Thek raced on an unpainted small frame, Thek finally swung a leg over the first production-ready X-Small V-PRi. It's painted in one of Quintana Roo's new 2026 colors, Premium Gloss Pro Black, which shines brightly in the sun. For the first time in Thek's career, she's on a bike designed from the ground up to fit her. With her ticket booked to the World Championship in Kona, it will give her the best chance at success on race day.
Besides the new production-ready X-Small frame, her bike setup remains largely unchanged from what she used at IRONMAN Texas. She is running the Fast TT 2.0 Aero Bars mated to the Quintana Roo Intelligent Integration Carbon (IIC) Cockpit with our BTA Bottle System. Instead of traditional bottles, she often runs an X-Lab Torpedo in her BTA system.
Thek's V-PRi runs on a Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupset, but she has swapped out the crankset for a JCOB Short Crankset with 150mm crank arms and standard 53/39t chainrings. Shorter cranks obviously suit Thek, and she has expressed interest in trying even shorter options. Like many of our athletes, she uses the Favero Assioma power meter pedals.
The rear derailleur is upgraded with a CeramicSpeed OSPW RS System, and she's also running the upgraded CeramicSpeed Bottom Bracket and Wheel Kit, which can be added to any V-PRi using our custom bike builder. The wheels are DT Swiss's ARC 1400 Dicut 80 front and ARC 1100 rear Disc, with 28mm Continental GP5000 S TR tires set up tubeless. Thek rides an 11-30t cassette.
The build is finished off with a Selle Italia Watt saddle, often paired with a Slipstream 3D rear bottle mount.
Two things I love about Thek's new X-Small frame: that tiny Q-Box and the ultra-deep aero headtube. With this new size, we had to create an entirely new Q-Box to fit between the seat tube and the rear tire. As for the headtube, it is one of, if not the most important, aero surfaces of the bike frame. We had to reduce the dimensions of the top tube and down tube, but wanted to maintain the surface area of the head tube to keep airflow attached and moving smoothly as long as possible to reduce drag. The result isn't just functional, it looks insanely aggressive and fast!
You can follow Grace Thek as she builds toward her first IRONMAN World Championship on Instagram or by following QR, where we'll be catching up with her throughout the season!
