Shamrock and roll: Rory Townsend's custom Rose Shave FFX

Rory Townsend's Rose Shave FFX — (Image credit: Aaron Borrill)

Following a solid two seasons at Doug Ryder’s Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team, Irish National Road Champion Rory Townsend signed another two-year deal, this time with the new kids on the block, the French-licensed, Dutch-owned Unibet Rose Rockets. Having recently earned a wild card to the 2026 Giro d’Italia, the disruptive ProTeam and its bikes proved popular with fans at Opening Weekend in Belgium, with none other than Rory Townsend’s Rose Shave FFX causing a rubber-necking frenzy in the team paddocks ahead of Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne.

While Townsend crashed out of the 195km Spring Classic with a fractured tibia in an over-the-bars incident, we managed to catch up with him and his new race rig ahead of the start. For 2026 and 2027, the Unibet Rose Rockets will ride Rose Shave FFX aero bikes constructed from Torayca M40X carbon, claimed to combine stiffness with low system weight. Having recently returned to the UK after a six-year absence due to Brexit, Rose Bikes will hope to improve visibility across the board - most notably on the sport’s biggest stage and Grand Tours.

Unlike his teammates, who rode team-themed colourways underscored by dark navy, cyan and magenta machines, Townsend’s bike was outfitted in an equally bold design fit for a National Champion. While his bike retains much of the team bike's design language, it’s been flavoured with the greens and oranges of Ireland’s flag, set upon an all-white canvas with a marbled undertone. There are some shamrock glyphs stamped on the handlebars and fork, and a green barber-poled design on the fork and seatpost. It’s very well executed.

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As a SRAM-sponsored team, Townsend’s Shave FFX is built around a Red XPLR AXS 1x13-speed groupset with a 54T aero chainring and 165mm cranks that drive a 10-46T cassette – this was a popular gearing choice employed by teams throughout Opening Weekend. Matching the yellow Rose wordmark logo on the downtube are a pair of 60mm Vision Metron RS wheels shod with Vittoria Corsa Pro 30mm tubeless road bike performance tyres. The cockpit is a one-piece affair, measuring 380mm centre-to-centre, and paired with a 130mm stem.

The balance of the build comprises Tacx Ciro bottle cages, Time XPro pedals, and the Selle Italia SLR Boost Pro Team Kit Carbonio Superflow saddle, and a Wolf Tooth chain guide to ensure retention over the cobbled sectors of Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne.

Put on our scale of truth, Townsend’s Rose Shave FFX weighed 7.5kg in size M/L in Classic trim, where ‘comfort’ favours all-out performance.

Specs

Frameset: Rose Shave FFX, Carbon
Fork: Rose Shave FFX, Carbon
Cockpit: Rose Shave integrated handlebars
Seatpost: Rose Shave Carbon
Groupset: SRAM Red XPLR AXS 54T, 10-46T
Wheelset: Vision Metron RS 60mm
Tyres: Vittoria Corsa Pro 30mm
Saddle: Selle Italia SLR Boost Pro Team Kit Carbonio Superflow

Aaron is Cycling Weekly's tech writer. As the former editor of off.roadcc, tech editor of Cyclingnews and Bike Perfect, digital editor of Bicycling magazine and associate editor of TopCar, he's travelled the world writing about bikes and anything with wheels for the past 20 years. As a racer, he's completed stage races such as the Cape Epic, Berg and Bush, W2W, and Gravel Burn. On the road, he’s completed the Haute Route Alps, represented South Africa at the UCI Gran Fondo World Championships Road Race and Time Trial and is an accomplished eSports racer, too - having captained South Africa at the 2022, 2023 and 2024 UCI Cycling eSports World Championships.

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