Knit materials are supposed to be the next big thing in cycling footwear. They’re highly tunable, so designers can offer zonal stretch and stiffness exactly where desired, they’re potentially much more breathable than synthetic leathers, and the manufacturing process produces less waste than traditional methods. They can even be made in a wider range of wild designs and colors, too.

Thus far, only two companies have jumped aboard the knit bandwagon for cycling footwear: Giro with the Empire E70 Knit, and Fizik with the Infinito R1 Knit. Giro and Fizik take very different approaches to the concept, though, with very different outcomes as a result. Do the new knit shoes offer any real-world advantages to their traditionally made counterparts? Yes and no.

The thinking behind knit

Knit uppers have been the rage in general-purpose athletic footwear for the past several years, but it’s only been very recently that the technology has made its way into cycling shoes. Given the claimed benefits, though, it’s a wonder it hasn’t happened sooner.

Conventional cycling shoe uppers are traditionally made from some type of synthetic leather, whether it’s cut in a single piece from a larger roll of material, or stitched and/or bonded together from multiple smaller pieces. Oftentimes, the interior of the shoe is line with an additional layer of mesh for added comfort. From there, the patterns are wrapped around a last and placed in a heated mold where the materials take on a foot-like shape. After the upper cools, it’s bonded to the outsole.

The Fizik Infinito R1 Knit is only sold with an all-black finish, and is unquestionably the more understated of the two shoes here. Giro thankfully also offers the Empire E70 Knit in more subtle designs, too.

Knit uppers, on the other hand, are more akin to fancy socks, with individual yarns woven together to form the final pattern. That flat shape requires a trip through a heated mold like with other materials, but knitting the upper is still a more direct method of manufacturing and produces a lot less waste than cutting patterns out of big rolls. Designers can also engineer specific areas of stiffness and flexibility into knit uppers by selectively altering the knit pattern and yarns as desired; areas that need to be more structured can be made with a denser weave, for example, while other areas can be left more open for added comfort and flexibility.

Of course, there’s also the potential for some wild aesthetics in knit uppers by changing the yarn colors and weave patterns (as well as some killer combinations if you choose your socks carefully).

If you’re going to roll with some color, you may as well go all-in. I was admittedly pretty unsure of how these @girocycling Empire E70 Knit shoes looked when they first showed up, but after swapping the black laces for some pink ones, then adding some killer socks from @hbstache, the combo seems just right. #sockdoping

A post shared by James Huang (@angryasian) on Feb 15, 2018 at 12:39pm PST

Not surprisingly, knit materials are also inherently more breathable than traditional synthetics. Whereas cycling footwear companies will often add a number of laser or mechanical perforations (or separate mesh panels) into synthetic leathers to improve airflow and breathability, knit materials are riddled with holes by nature.

Different strokes

Giro and Fizik have both brought knit technology to cycling footwear recently, and both of their new knit shoes are adaptations of existing models — the Empire E70 Knit being a variation of Giro’s classic Empire, and the Infinito R1 Knit bearing a close resemblance to Fizik’s standard Infinito R1. That said, the way each company is using knit technology is quite different.

Giro’s “Xnetic Knit” uppers are made of a blend of nylon and polyester fibers, with the nylon fibers concentrated in areas that need a bit of extra rigidity. The entire upper edge of the shoe uses a denser weave pattern for durability, while other areas, such as on the sides, use a more open knit to enhance airflow. Additional layers of thicker polyurethane film are thermally welded into select areas to give the upper some extra structure, and to prevent unwanted stretching. Out back is a conventional molded plastic heel cup to help stabilize your foot while pedaling. The interior of the heel area is lined with a layer of nylon mesh (along with a bit of padding), but everything from the ankle forward is left in its raw state.

Giro debuts Xnetic Knit uppers on new Empire and Republic shoes

Rather than figure out a way to attach a bunch of complex closure systems, Giro equips the Empire E70 Knit with a simple lace-up design, complete with metal eyelets and a handy elastic strap on the well-padded conventional synthetic leather tongue to keep the laces from flopping about during a ride. To help keep your feet from getting instantly soaked with rain and road spray, the uppers are treated with a durable water-repellent (DWR) coating.

From there, the entire upper is bonded to the same Easton EC70 carbon outsole as what Giro uses on the midrange Trans Boa and Sentrie Techlace models.

Fizik takes more of a hybrid approach for the Infinito R1 Knit. The uppers are fully knit, and like the Empire E70 Knit, Fizik alters the weave density and pattern to selectively provide zones of extra stretch. Also like on the Giros, the Infinito R1 Knit is built with a conventional internal heel cup to provide additional stability.

One of the advantages of knit technology is that the pattern can be altered to provide different performance characteristics. Here, the upper area is denser to provide more support for the laces, while the weave is far more open elsewhere for better breathability. Giro also uses a mix of nylon and polyester fibers to make certain areas stiffer or more flexible.

However, whereas Giro uses additional reinforcing layers rather sparingly on the Empire E70 Knit, Fizik bolsters nearly the entire top half of the Infinito R1 knit, as well as the edge of the toe box and lower half of the heel area. The unaltered knit material is still visible from the outside around the toe box and upper heel area (where the additional give is presumably needed most), but rather than leave any of the knit raw against your socks, Fizik lines the entire inside of the Infinito R1 Knit with mesh.

The Infinito R1 Knit’s upper design is certainly more complex than that of the Empire E70 Knit, but the shoe is also more complex overall. Whereas the Empire E70 Knit is a straightforward lace-up shoe, each Infinito R1 Knit uses two separate Boa IP1-B dial closures. There’s also a separate “Dynamic Arch Support” panel at the arch that is meant to provide more specific tunability in that area without overly affecting the tightness around the toe box; the rearmost Boa dial basically just cinches the shoe around the ankle. According to Fizik, this two-zone system provides a wider adjustment range and more independent tightening around the ankle and forefoot.

Fizik’s use of knit technology is more conservative than Giro’s, with a lot more polyurethane reinforcement added. up top, and only the edges of the knit left mostly unaltered. That said, they look absolutely fantastic.

Down below, and just like Giro, Fizik takes the completed hybrid knit upper and bonds it to a shared outsole. In this case, it’s the same vented carbon fiber plate used on the standard Infinito R1.

The two companies’ differing takes on knit cycling shoes yield obvious differences visually, but also in terms of weight and cost. Actual weight for a pair of Empire E70 Knit shoes (size 43.5) is 517g — about 35g heavier per shoe than the Empire ACC. A pair of similarly fitting size 42 (they run quite big) Infinito R1 Knit shoes comes in at a heftier 562g, for a weight penalty of about 50g relative to the standard Infinito R1.

Retail prices are much more divergent, with the Empire E70 Knit shoes fetching US$200 / AU$300 / £200 / €229 at full retail, while the Infinito R1 Knit is roughly double the cost at a whopping US$450 / AU$500 / £350 / €380 per pair.

On the road

It might seem odd to compare two pairs of cycling shoes that are so different in design, construction, and price. But in fairness, shoes are such personal items that it’s arguably illogical to declare winners and losers for the category in general. But regardless, it’s still interesting to look in more detail at how knit technology has altered the shoes on which each of these are based, as well as whether knit cycling shoes make any sense for you.

The Giro Empire E70 Knit looks a lot like other Empire models in terms of overall shape and design, but in reality, the knit upper yields a surprisingly significant change in both fit and feel. Giro uses the same last for both the standard and knit versions of the Empire, but since the knit material doesn’t “spring back” as much as standard synthetics after the last is removed post-molding, the sides of the toe box end up notably more vertical. The Empire E70 Knit is still relatively narrow as compared to some other cycling footwear brands, but given the slightly boxier shape and the subtle stretch from the neat woven fabric, the knit version feels downright roomy when worn back-to-back with the standard Empire.

Giro uses the same last on the Empire E70 Knit as on other Empires, but since the knit material doesn’t “spring back” as much as the synthetic leathers used on the rest of the range, the toe box ends up with straighter sides and more effective volume.

All of this is great news for riders who want to like the standard Empires, but can’t get their feet to fit into that unusually confining shape (myself included). Riders with any sort of lumps or bunions (myself included) will also find that the Xnetic Knit is more accommodating of slight anatomical anomalies without the need to do any spot-stretching.

Giro’s strategically placed reinforcements for the Xnetic Knit uppers seem to work. Despite the added stretchiness and give in certain key areas, the Empire E70 Knit doesn’t feel any less secure than standard Empires. That said, the stock footbeds provide only marginal arch support (as with all Giro road shoes, to be honest), and at least for me, the medium-width heel cup could also be a bit more snug. That slight bit of heel movement was hardly disagreeable while riding, though, and once I added some aftermarket Solestar insoles, I found the Empire E70 Knit to provide more than enough support for everyday riding — and definitely far more comfort than any other Empire I’ve used in the past.

Giro also uses laminated polyurethane layers to add a bit of branding.

Breathability is one area where the Xnetic Knit upper is absolutely superb. Even in high heat and humidity, you never get the sense that your feet are struggling to stay cool while wearing the Empire E70 Knit. The sole only has the tiniest little opening under the toes, but the uppers are so well vented on their own that you’d be hard pressed to keep your feet from freezing even in moderately cold conditions.

As for that DWR coating, it’s about as effective as you’d expect in this application – which is to say not very well. These knit uppers are about as watertight as cheesecloth, after all, and coating or no coating, the holes are pretty big; your little piggies will be swimming in a steady downpour just as they would in any other shoe. But on the upside, the knit uppers’ more porous nature let them drain and dry out faster than standard synthetic uppers.

It’s quite a different story with the Infinito R1 Knit. Fizik’s less radical use of knit material here makes for a more structured hold than what you get on the Empire E70 Knit, but it’s also less able to shape to your feet since the stretchy areas are so much more limited in terms of coverage. Fizik’s knit feels stiffer and less conforming than what Giro uses, too, and the difference in overall fit and feel between the Infinito R1 Knit and the standard Infinity R1 isn’t nearly as drastic as one might expect.

That fully lined interior may give the Fizik Infinito R1 Knit a more posh feel inside than if the knit were left raw (although that’s debatable), but the additional layer also reduce the material’s ability to conform to your foot shape. It also negatively affects breathability.

Unfortunately, that restrained approach costs the Infinito R1 Knit in other areas. All of that additional reinforcement makes the Infinito R1 Knit a lot less breathable than the Empire E70 Knit, and seemingly even less so than the standard Infinito R1 as well. The open weave pattern on the edges of the Infinito R1 Knit looks like it’d be cool from the outside, but the interior lining presents another barrier to airflow, and the laminated areas elsewhere can feel thick and stifling at times.

Given that the Infinito R1 Knit is based on the standard Infinito R1, it’s no surprise that they fit very similarly. Carrying over are the same aggressively tapered toe box shape, narrow overall width, and highly curved outsole. Got flat and/or wide feet? Don’t even bother with these. Truth be told, the Fiziks don’t actually measure any narrower than the Giros, but since the uppers are a bit stiffer on the Infinito R1 Knit than the Empire E70 Knit, they effectively feel a touch more confining.

Fizik makes a big deal of the “Dynamic Arch Support” panel used on the Infinito R1 Knit. It’s supposed to provide a bit of independent adjustment in this critical area, but given that it’s stitched into the rest of the upper all around the edge of the panel, any difference over a more conventional design isn’t really noticeable.

Heel hold has thankfully improved over the R1 from a couple of years ago, with a more secure hold that’s far less prone to slipping than before. But does that fancy Dynamic Arch Support panel work as advertised? Well, given that it’s fully stitched around its edges and doesn’t truly move independently of the rest of the upper, I’d say no. Fizik’s replaceable heel tread is still as hard as ever, too; on hardwood or stone flooring, you may as well be wearing tap shoes on an ice skating rink with a layer of ball bearings in between.

That all said, the Infinito R1 Knit is arguably the better-looking of the two knit shoes here, at least if you prefer the classic aesthetics of conventional high-performance road shoes. The Empire E70 Knit shoes never let you (or anyone else) forget that you’re wearing something different — and even the wilder color options can look fantastic if you’re careful with sock choice — but the Infinito R1 Knit is more subtle in how it goes about its business.

To knit or not to knit

Between the Empire E70 Knit and Infinito R1 Knit, I’d argue that Giro has made the more convincing case for knit uppers. The Empire E70 Knit is more notably different from the standard Empire models in terms of fit and feel, and makes it clear how the woven construction has something more to offer as compared to conventional synthetics. And while they’re a fair bit heavier than other Empire models, they’re also less expensive, with no appreciable downsides.

The Infinito R1 Knit is undoubtedly a beautiful looking shoe, but it’s harder to justify the upcharge relative to the standard Infinito R1. The knit version isn’t significantly more comfortable, it’s heavier (although, again, so is the Empire E70 Knit relative to the standard Empires), and the heavyhanded construction methods Fizik uses here makes for a shoe that feels hotter, not cooler.

Both the Fizik Infinito R1 Knit and Giro Empire E70 Knit use cutting-edge fabric technologies, but one definitely makes a stronger case for knit uppers than the other.

Knit technology is only just starting to make its way into the cycling footwear world, but if the general athletic shoe market is any indication, it’s bound to make further inroads in the years ahead given the enormous potential of the material. Potential is the key word here, though. It’s one thing to be different in order to make a positive change, but another thing entirely if you’re different just for the sake of being different.

With the Giro Empire E70 Knit, it’s easy to see how knit technology can make cycling shoes better; but unless you’re just drawn to the unique aesthetics of the Infinito R1 Knit, you’re likely better off with the standard Fizik Infinito R1 shoes instead.

www.giro.com
www.fizik.com

Giro has gone all-in with knit technology with the Empire E70 Knit, with only minimal additional laminated polyurethane reinforcements to bolster the nylon-and-polyester uppers.

Rather than complicate the shoe with elaborate closure systems, Giro builds the Empire E70 Knit as a classic lace-up model.

The tool and heel are reinforced to guard against wear.

Polyurethane strips are added inside the shoe to keep certain areas from stretching.

Giro doesn’t include pink laces in this colorway stock (they’re normally black), but these seem more appropriate, no?

A handy elastic lace keeper is built into the padded tongue.

The Giro Empire E70 Knit shoes are supremely breathable.

A single stitch line is visible along the rear edge of the shoe.

Giro mounts the knit upper to its workhorse Easton EC70 carbon plate.

There’s a moderate amount of curvature built into the Giro Empire E70 Knit shoes, but not much arch support inside.

The heel tread is easily replaceable, and the rubber material is pleasantly grippy.

Whereas Giro has introduced knit technology at the midrange, Fizik has incorporated the concept into the Infinito R1 Knit at the very top of the collection.

Fizik uses the same dual-Boa closure system as is found on the standard Infinito R1. The two-way micro-adjustment and pull-to-release functionality make these easier to get on and off, and adjust on the fly, than the lace-up Giros.

Fizik lines the entire interior of the Infinito R1 Knit shoes, which arguably provides a more luxurious feel relative the Giros, and also lends an opportunity to add a bit of color.

There’s an awful lot of detail work on the Fizik Infinito R1 Knit shoes, and it’s easy to see why they’re so much more expensive than the Giro Empire E70 Knit shoes.

The boomerang-shaped cut line supposedly allows the Fizik Infinito R1 Knit shoes to be more accommodating of different forefoot sizes and shapes than usual. That may be, but the toe box is still very aggressively tapered, which just isn’t going to work for everyone.

Riders with flat feet will want to tread carefully with the Fizik Infinito R1 Knit shoes. The carbon outsole is highly curved, and not particularly accommodating if you have anything less than a medium arch shape.

The unidirectional carbon fiber plate on the Fizik Infinito R1 Knit is certainly stout, and also quite thin. Those vents can’t make up for the so-so breathabilty up top, though.

Seriously, Fizik, you can do better here. The heel tread is replaceable – as should be the case with every high-end road cycling shoe – but it’s so hard that you’re unlikely to need to source replacements any time soon. That’s a good thing, but the fact that these are wickedly slippery on hard surfaces most definitely is not.

Fizik still places its cleat holes curiously far forward.

The post Knit Knockout: Giro Empire E70 Knit vs. Fizik Infinito R1 Knit road shoe review appeared first on CyclingTips.

Mainstream bicycle companies aren’t always known for producing dramatically avant garde paint and graphics. These bikes are sold to the masses, after all, and in the interest of financial solvency, the aesthetics need to be catered to the middle of bell curve.

Few bicycle brands are bigger than Trek, and few companies have to satisfy as many divergent tastes as a result. But within the walls of its Waterloo, Wisconsin headquarters, there reside a number of talented designers eager to be let loose from their aesthetic restraints. These folks are obviously capable of pushing the envelope much, much further than they’re usually allowed to do.

So given the freedom, what would they design for themselves?

Well, as it turns out, those freedoms do come about on occasion, and the results are as visually striking as you’d expect. Here are a few I encountered during a recent visit to Trek HQ, and rest assured that these aren’t just showpieces; they actually get ridden regularly.

Jamie Banks-George’s Trek Crockett

Product graphic designer Jamie Banks-George has a background in printmaking and letterpress, neither of which would obviously transfer well to bicycle frames and components. But yet he figured out a way to literally do exactly that on a Trek Crockett aluminum cyclocross bike that he meant to race last year — that is, until he broke his collarbone the day before the season opener.

“I wanted to try and use a technique that I’d done before in printmaking where I’m taking a Xerox transfer and applying that so I can create custom graphics instead of just different masked paint schemes,” he explained. “We tested it out and it ended up working, so I did a few transfers with some alcohol markers that worked pretty well. I gathered up a bunch of personal items that I’ve collected — scraps, pieces of inspiration, design elements — and just combined them in an interesting way on the frame.”

Banks-George used a very different process for the graphics on the Bontrager carbon rims, however.

Bontrager currently uses a laser machining process to burn off the outer layer of resin on the sidewalls of rim-brake models for more consistent stopping performance. But during the development of that technology, it quickly became evident that the company could use the laser to etch graphics into the rims as well.

“We were doing the Laser Control Track, and we obviously had the capability of doing additional graphics, so we created a little artwork tab,” Banks-George said. “As we were developing, we started testing to see what we could do with graphics so we ended up having the full graphics laser etched on this rim, but part of the process of getting there was finding out what can we really do. I just created a file with some different test patterns, and this was a bunch of different layers we could put on top to see what could happen and what was possible with the machine.”

The end result presents a stark contrast with some of the ultra-expensive bespoke bikes we’ve previously showcased on Bikes of the Bunch. But it’s no less interesting, and there’s a lot to be said for a unique bike that’s reasonably priced and also gets regular use (and abuse).

“I actually use a pair of 650b wheels with 2.0” tires for this bike that I use to ride the trails with my kids [Editor’s note: they don’t officially fit]. I had to dish the rim over about 6mm, but it works well enough and gives a different look to it.”

This aluminum Trek Crockett cyclocross bike isn’t particularly special from a functional standpoint, being a workhorse mid-range machine from one of the largest mainstream bike brands in the world. But the truly unique (and highly personal) finish makes it priceless to its owner.

Each little graphic and symbol on Jamie Banks-George’s Trek Crockett holds some kind of significance to him. He spent a lot of time playing with Hot Wheels cars when he was a kid, while Highway 21 was the main drag where he grew up in Iowa.

Designers often craft personal logos, but this is actually the logo for Johnson’s Backyard Garden, who runs a network of community-supported agriculture (CSA) farms in Texas. Banks-George says he’s always liked the design, and playfully lifted it for his Crockett project.

This is clearly Calvin from the well-known Calvin and Hobbes cartoons, but what’s the story with the hat, you might wonder? “I used to draw a lot of cartoons when I was growing up,” said Banks-George, “and this was a hat I used to wear in college that was a custom art piece I did in college — just a doodle.”

Unlike the frame and fork graphics, which were transferred from pieces of printed paper, the graphics on the carbon rims are laser etched.

The bee was a logo that Banks-George created for his wife.

Banks-George also used the frame as a canvas to pay homage to a couple of his favorite bands. Featured here is Jeff the Brotherhood, a two-man rock band from Nashville, Tennesee.

Another one of Banks-George’s favorite bands is Canadian rock quartet Sloan.

Banks-George wants to include his family somehow on the frame, which he’s creatively down with this simple “789” graphic. “My wife’s birthday is the 27th, my daughter’s is the 28th, and my son’s is the 29th, so I put that on here.”

Banks-George used a Xerox transfer process to get the complex graphics on to the frame.

Since the usual UCI sticker wouldn’t do here, Banks-George recreated it via Xerox transfer.

This Trek Crockett is a true one-off, but it doesn’t live its life hanging on a wall. Banks-George didn’t get the chance to race it last year, but the capped bottle cage mounts provides a good indication of what this bike will look like come autumn.

The arrow is reminiscent of a sign Banks-George saw during a family road trip.

“I have a pretty good friend who got me into cycling that was badly injured in an accident, so I’m honoring him with this badge. He’s really good at guitar — loves AC/DC — so I put that together.”

The frame is clearcoated, so hopefully these graphics stay intact after being blasted with mud and a pressure washer.

The bike itself may not be especially fancy, but every bit of artwork on it has a story behind it.

Jason Bass’s Vans-inspired Trek Speed Concept townie

Bontrager footwear designer and developer Jason Bass moved to Wisconsin to work for Trek several years ago, but he’s never let go of his California lifestyle, or that characteristic laid-back attitude. He had also spent several years working at a triathlon-focused company, and so when the opportunity to do a one-off project bike presented itself, it was obvious to him where he was going to go with it.

“I had been [in California] for about fifteen years,” Bass said, “and I’ve been a footwear designer for about twenty years. The project came up to do one-off art bikes, and the first thing that came to mind was paying homage to California and to the authentic Vans checkerboard. I had also worked for a triathlon company for around four years, and I had started building these front ends for them while I was out in California, so it’s something I really wanted to do here.”

Trek originally designed the Speed Concept as an all-out affront to aerodynamic drag, but Bass was more drawn to its go-fast looks, and the fact that he was using that platform as the basis for a casual daily-driver townie offered up some appealing irony as well.

Instead of the usual integrated aero cockpit sits a set of comfy sweptback cruiser handlebars and an upright stem, there’s a front basket to hold the essentials, and a wide (and heavy) Brooks leather saddle mounted atop the aero-profile carbon fiber seatpost. The checkerboard pattern on the frame is obvious enough, but more subtle are the gum rubber tires and ODI lock-on grips that match the sole of Bass’s favorite Vans slip-on shoes, and the way he repurposed some red Vans shoelaces as decorative covers for the brake housing.

Out back, the drag-reducing storage box remains as-is — and empty, at least for now.

“My plan is to turn it into a rear light. I think it’d be pretty wild to have a light inside. There have been many opinions on what should be in there, many of which are not entirely legal.”

Bontrager footwear designer and developer Jason Bass has always had a thing for California and Vans shoes, so it made sense to combine the two for his bespoke Trek Speed Concept townie.

Even though it’d be almost impossible to put a price tag on this one-off creation, Bass really does use this as his everyday townie.

Shoelaces are repurposed as decorative covers for the brake housing.

Conveniently, ODI already had a partnership in place with Vans for these waffle-pattern grips.

The SRAM Apex drivetrain was selected more for its all-black finish than anything else.

What’s inside, you ask? Well, nothing for now. Or so Bass says, anyway.

Sourcing the all-gum rubber tires was surprisingly challenging, said Bass.

“Day by day” is written on this side of the frame, and “Easy does it” on the other.

This isn’t a vinyl decal; every square was masked and sprayed.

Two great tastes that taste great together.

The custom shifter mount was made by Trek senior design engineer Mark Andrews.

Mark Andrews’ pint-sized Trek Equinox TTX

Trek senior design engineer Mark Andrews once made an annual trip to Kona for the Ironman world championships. One of the long-standing traditions of the event is the “Parade of Nations,” where the triathletes, sponsors, and other participants gather to show their national pride.

Andrews not only decided to bring his family along one year for the work trip, but also created a one-off Trek Equinox TTX triathlon bike for his then five-year-old daughter to ride in the parade.

From a distance, the bike almost looks like any other Equinox TTX that was produced at the time, only it was built around kid-sized 20″ wheels instead of the 700c ones usually used. The aluminum tubes were mitered and welded as usual, but the tubes themselves were obviously cut much, much shorter to fit. The wheels themselves were built in collaboration with the late Steve Hed.

Andrews has a reputation within the halls of Trek of being a master fabricator, and there’s ample evidence of his handiwork here. The Bontrager cranks are cut short, for example, but have proper pedal threads added. And up front, there’s a custom stub added to the faceplate of the Bontrager stem to mount the Mavic Mektronic computer.

Wait, Mavic what?

Mavic’s groundbreaking (albeit flawed) Mektronic electronic transmission was already long-discontinued by the time Andrews set about this project, but as it turns out, he not only has a reputation for being a skilled fabricator, but also being a bit of a packrat. And for this project, he dug into his personal archives for a cherished piece of cycling componentry history.

In fairness, the Mektronic actually made sense for this application since his daughter’s small hands were better able to push buttons to shift instead of moving levers around. How much shifting she actually did is debatable, of course, and Andrews even admits that she obviously didn’t spend much (if any) time in a tuck racing down the road on this thing.

Sadly, the bike now exists solely as a bit of history at this point, but what a neat piece of history it is.

This is just an old Trek Equinox TTX triathlon bike, no? Try again; it’s built around 20″ wheels.

The extensions are cut down to provide a proportional look.

This bike makes no sense at all – which is why it’s so cool.

The wheels were a collaborative project with the late Steve Hed.

The Bontrager crankarms were cut down to a more appropriate length for a five-year-old.

Yep, Mavic Mektronic.

Given how slow the bike would have been moving during the Kona Parade of Nations in which it was ridden, it’s unlikely these Bontrager Speed Limit XXX carbon fiber rim-brake calipers would have seen much use.

The beauty of welded aluminum frames is that the tubes can be cut and mitered as needed to produce the desired size.

Tiny Tioga BMX pedals for tiny feet.

A short carbon fiber stub was added to the stem faceplate to mount the Mavic Mektronic computer head.

The post Bikes of the Bunch: Art bikes from inside the Trek Bicycle Corporation appeared first on CyclingTips.

Welcome to a new series on CyclingTips. Here, we take the commonly asked question, “What product is best?”, and answer it based on the expertise of both our own team as well as a few trusted contributors. Consider these buyers guides for products we’d buy ourselves, backed by long-term experience.

To kick things off, we’re looking at bike travel cases. It’s a topic that CyclingTips founder Wade Wallace has written about in the past, and recently found himself discussing again, this time with a former pro cyclist. This rider had never had to worry about what case to buy as it was always supplied by the team. But times change and now this cyclist was met with a market full of options.

There’s no single bike case that will be perfect for everyone. However, there are a number of top picks that are sure to satisfy your particular wants and needs.

Aspects of travel cases to consider

Hardcase, soft case, or cardboard box?

Bike travel cases are typically put into two clear groupings: soft cases or hard cases.

As the name suggests, soft cases are made of various flexible fabric and/or semi-rigid exteriors with specific padding and shaping to hold bikes. They’re lighter than hard-sided cases, as well as more compact and easier to pack, making them the easy choice for most pro riders. Most soft cases can also be flattened when not in use, which can make all the difference when traveling, and the simpler nature means they’re often cheaper, too.

However, soft bags require more care in packing to ensure your bike reaches its destination safely, and likewise, there’s no guarantee that a careless baggage handler won’t load things on top of it.

In the past, traditional soft cases were little more than padded bags sized for a bike, but modern versions now often use a hybrid arrangement featuring a rigid base (sometimes with a built-in mounting system) and a soft-sided upper section. Examples of this include the EVOC Pro, Biknd Jetpack, Thule RoundTrip Traveler, Dakine, and Scicon AeroComfort. Some also use internal framing to reinforce the upper portion of the bag, while others use the wheels themselves to provide some necessary structure. These hybrid-style bags have quickly found favour recently, as they’re nearly as light and packable as true soft cases, but with extra protection and convenience features.

If protection is an absolute priority, hard cases are traditionally thought to reign supreme. These are built with molded plastic exteriors, and often with plenty of internal reinforcement, so your bike is not only protected from impact, but also from having weight put on top of it. Hard cases almost always feature built-in wheels for easier transport, too, but that’s also largely due to the fact that they’re substantially heavier and more cumbersome to move than soft cases. And because they aren’t collapsible, you’ll need a larger vehicle to shuttle them around, where many soft cases can simply be tossed into the back of a smaller hatchback.

Those hard sides may be good for protection, but it’s important to keep in mind that they’re also kind of slippery. According to one baggage handler, hard-sided cases can slide off of baggage conveyor belts and get damaged, whereas soft cases are more likely to stay put. The more strictly defined interior dimensions of hard cases make them trickier to pack, too – and not just by you, but also by airport security and customs agents who probably won’t take as much time to put everything back just so. Despite the ample protection afforded by hard cases, the downsides are often too numerous for riders to justify.

Lastly, there’s the simple cardboard box (or plastic variants, which I’ll cover later). This remains a great option for those who are trying to save money and don’t mind porting such a bulky item, and are willing to take the time to pack it properly for a safe journey. Bike-specific cardboard boxes can usually only be reused a handful of times, but given the cost – often free – it’s a small price to pay.

Wheeled or carry

Even today’s weight-conscious hybrid cases can weigh 6-8kg, and with the bike (and whatever else you stuff inside) easily doubling that figure yet again, it doesn’t take long before you’re pushing the limits of airline weight policies. The vast majority of bike cases feature wheels for easy transport, but a few opt for a simpler and lighter self-carry style. Consider what else you’re traveling with and whether you can do without wheels, but for most, they’re a must-have.

Regardless of whether the case has wheels or not, carry handles are a good thing, and the more of them there are, the better. Even the lighter cases can be awkward to move about, and it’s always nice to have convenient places to grab. At a minimum, look for handles on both sides, the top, and the front.

Mechanical aptitude and bike design

How mechanically savvy are you? Do you stress about putting your rear wheel back in, or are you comfortable with installing a fork?

What about your bike? Can it easily be taken apart, or does it feature an integrated cockpit that took the mechanic half a day to trim the steerer tube? Likewise, is your seatpost integrated? What about internal cable routing or hydraulic lines?

Some cases only require that you remove the wheels, while others force you to literally split the entire bike in two.

If you can easily remove your bars and strap them to the side of your bike, then your case options are wide open. But even if your handlebar has to stay in place, there are still bags that can accommodate you, such as the Scicon AeroComfort. Either way, most cases require you to remove the seatpost, so if your frame has an integrated version, then you’ll almost certainly be forced to use a soft bag (and probably one of the bigger ones at that).

You’ll also want to consider axle compatibility for cases where the bike is rigidly mounted to the base. And on a similar note, consider all the bikes in your stable and the riding you like to do. Most soft cases will easily handle a wide variety of bikes, but it’s not guaranteed.

Budget

Decent transport vessels for your bike vary wildly in price. Cardboard boxes are typically free, basic bike bags start as low as US$150, and premium models can command over US$1,000. So what makes the most sense? Most of our suggestions hover around the US$400 mark. Imitation or no-name versions can obviously be had for less, but our experience has shown that proven durability across multiple trips is often why the more expensive cases cost what they do, and why cheaper cases don’t always provide the best value over the long term.

As the saying goes, sometimes you just get what you pay for, and given that you’re likely bringing your bike along for a cycling trip, it’s wise to make the investment to make sure your prized possession arrives intact.

However, that doesn’t mean you always need to spend top dollar. More expensive cases do typically offer improved durability, greater bike protection, and easier transportability, but sometimes they only offer additional features you may not really use. Consider your needs (and skill level), and concentrate on the features that matter. Those willing to dismantle a bike plenty will find case options for less, while those paranoid about safe travels should spend more.

One other budget consideration is the actual travel cost. Many airlines charge for sporting goods or bikes, while others charge simply on weight. Unless you’re a premium flyer with an additional baggage allowance, a lighter case will almost always be cheaper to travel with than a heavier one. Likewise, some cases sneak past the bike fee by looking like a regular suitcase (such as the Orucase), so if you’re planning to travel lots, one of the stealthier options may be a better choice for you.

What’s your plan on the other side of your trip?

Soft cases can be packed down for easy storage (and transport when you’re out riding your bike). For example, we’ve stuffed soft cases beneath hotel beds when space is tight. Hard cases don’t afford this luxury.

What are you going to do with the case once you’ve arrived at your destination? If it’s a hard case, do you have a minivan to transport it and a friendly hotel to store it? Do you even have the space at home to store it when it isn’t being used?

Storage certainly isn’t one of the more exciting things to consider when discussing travel cases, but it can nevertheless be a deciding factor. Hard cases are the most inconvenient in this respect by far, but today’s hybrid cases sometimes don’t collapse that much, either. Think hard about where your case will be when there isn’t a bike inside, whether it’s at home or a hotel room.

How the cases work

Every case requires a slightly different approach to packing but there are some common themes. Most bike travel cases require you to remove the pedals, wheels and seatpost. A full-sized bike box will require nearly as much, but will usually allow you to keep your rear wheel in place.

Many cases require you to remove the handlebars or stem. Many seasoned travelers will also remove their rear derailleurs and disc-brake rotors, too. Either way, additional padding is always a good idea, and regardless of how the manufacturers intend for their cases to be packed, it’s always a good idea to strap everything together so that nothing can move around inside the case en route to your destination. Also, cover any sharp components and if the case doesn’t do it already, reinforce the dropouts with a plastic spacer or similar.

Our favourite cases and bags

As already stated, there’s no single perfect bike case, but there are a number of great options that are suited to different needs. We’ve broken our favourites down into five categories: easiest to pack, most versatile, most compact, cheapest choice, and the most secure.

Easiest to pack: Scicon AeroComfort Road TSA 3.0

Most road bikes only need the wheels taken off to fit inside the Scicon AeroComfort. The older AeroComfort TSA 2.0 is pictured, and you can read the review for that model here.

CyclingTips customer experience manager Andy van Bergen likely travels with his bike more than any other person on staff, and has certainly tested the care of baggage handlers over the years – most recently on an epic journey to Mount Everest to sample the newly paved road to base camp. As someone who has just a basic mechanical aptitude, Andy picks the Scicon AeroComfort simply because it’s “super fast to pack”. Andy isn’t alone with this selection, and it’s pretty funny to stand at oversized baggage prior to a large cycling event and witness the seemingly endless parade of these specific cases.

Featuring a rigid base and an internal frame that locks in both front and rear dropouts, this hybrid soft bag really shines in its ability to keep your handlebars exactly in place. Likewise, all but the biggest of bikes will fit in with the seatpost in place (great for frames with integrated post designs), and given the case’s generous width, many users don’t even bother removing their pedals. Just simply remove the wheels, bolt the bike into the internal frame, and you’re away. Without question, the AeroComfort is the best option for riders with limited mechanical skills, or those who simply can’t be bothered.

However, the AeroComfort is not without its issues. Leaving the handlebars on means the case is surprisingly wide, to the point that our Australian tech editor Matt Wikstrom gave his up since it was hard to fit inside his small family car.

The Aerocomfort is certainly the easiest case to pack, but it can leave the bike somewhat vulnerable. The older TSA 2.0 version is pictured here.

The soft sides are only lightly padded, and also unsupported, so there’s fairly limited protection. In the event of a severe impact, it’s likely your shifters or carbon handlebars will be the first to be damaged. Four casters make it easier to wheel the AeroComfort around, but as a result, baggage handlers are also known to tip these cases on their sides or flip them upside down to keep them from rolling away. And speaking of casters, the ones on this case don’t exactly have the best reputation for longevity, so many owners (Andy included) have sought out more durable alternatives.

Finally, Scicon makes three specific versions of this case to fit road, triathlon, or mountain bikes. The new 3.0 version will work with thru-axles, but it’s not a case for those that travel with a variety of bikes.

Most versatile: EVOC Pro (or similar)

Giving those Scicon cases some strong competition are the more rectangular-shaped soft case options. Many of these work with a wide range of bikes and, with the handlebars removed, offer a more reliable amount of protection.

Pictured is the Thule RoundTrip Traveller (right) next to a Ritchey Break-Away case.

Two favourites are the EVOC Pro and Thule RoundTrip Traveler. Both use a rigid base to which the bike is firmly mounted, and have plenty of internal straps and pockets to secure handlebars and other components. Wheels are given their own external pockets on either side of the case, which not only keeps them from rubbing against the bike, but adds such rigidity to the sides of the case as well.

EVOC also adds removable tubular plastic rods on the sides for even more structure, while the slightly simpler Thule relies solely on the bike’s wheels and is a little lighter as a result. Both can easily carry a wide range of bike types inside, too, from wispy road bikes to full-blown enduro and downhill rigs.

Both cases are relatively thin and can be folded down when not in use. However, the generous length means there’s no pretending there isn’t a bike inside, and you will need a car with fold-down rear seats to fit it inside.

One of the lightest cases on the market, the Pika PackWorks sits somewhere between a traditional bike bag and a soft case like the EVOC Pro.

If you like what these cases do, but want something noticeably lighter and a little more compact, then check out the USA-made Pika PackWorks EEP case. When not traveling with his dedicated Baum titanium travel bike (which is built with S&S couplers on the frame), this is CyclingTips founder Wade Wallace’s case of choice. It’s impressively light at about 5kg, and the construction quality is top notch. However, keep in mind that there are no wheels on this bag, and the compact size means you may have to size up if you want multiple-bike versatility.

Perhaps proving just how good the Pika PackWorks design is, is how widely it has been copied. One such copy comes from SwiftCarbon, which adds wheels for extra convenience and carries a lower price given the overseas manufacturing, but with lower subsequent build quality as a result.

If you’ve got a bike with an integrated seatpost (and the Scicon AeroComfort doesn’t appeal to you), then our suggestion is the Pika PackWorks EEP ISP case. It’s made with the same super high quality as the standard version, but is specifically designed with additional height.

Most compact travel: Orucase Airport Ninja

The OruCase Airport Ninja travel case satisfies many airlines’ regulation for standard-sized luggage but nevertheless fits a full-sized bike inside.

Most bike travel cases are large enough and shaped in such a way that they’re instantly recognisable as holding a bicycle inside, which often results in a hefty fee for many airlines. Even if there aren’t any additional charges, the oversized format relegates you to dedicated queues at the airport, and possibly a maxi-taxi when you land to take you where you need to go. But for those that want cheaper and simpler travel (at the cost of disassembly time), there are solutions.

The Orucase Airport Ninja is likely to fool an airline into thinking you don’t have a bike. But despite the compact size, it still fits many regular road bikes inside while also coming very close to satisfying airline guidelines for non-oversized baggage. It doesn’t have wheels, but backpack straps are built right in, and thanks to its impressively low weight, it’s actually quite comfortable to wear (although you’ll look like a ninja turtle).

The Airport Ninja is also very well designed and impeccably constructed (they’re stitched in small batches in the US), and sufficiently convenient that both CyclingTips US tech editor James Huang and senior editor Caley Fretz use them regularly for both work and play. And given the exorbitant fees American carriers often charge for bikes, it takes as little as a single round-trip for the Orucase to pay for itself.

It easily fits in the boot of a car, too, and is an excellent replacement option for dedicated travel bikes that use either S&S couplers or the Ritchey Break-Away design.

A case this small has one very obvious disadvantage…

Though not an issue for either James or Caley, both of whom have worked as bike mechanics, using such a compact case requires extensive bike disassembly, including removing the fork. In most cases, though, it’s a similar amount of labour to a dedicated travel bike. And additionally, the lack of casters isn’t for everyone, and so you’ll want to be sure your other baggage is easily scooted.

Those dedicated travel bikes shouldn’t be discounted, either. Ultra-compact cases like the Airport Ninja work well for some, but taller riders in particular won’t be able to fit their everyday bikes inside, with or without the fork. Bikes with frames that split in two, however, can fit into a non-oversized case while still accommodating the vertically gifted.

There are two popular options here. S&S couplers can either be added into some round-tubed metal bikes, or built into a custom frame. Ritchey’s Break-Away design is the other major choice, and the company’s off-the-peg frames are generally much less expensive.

Whichever way you go, those bikes fit inside a case that’s barely larger than a wheel box. Such a small package certainly makes traveling with a bike a breeze, but the disassembly and assembly is more detailed than any other suggestion here.

The cheapest choice: A cardboard box

The humble cardboard bike box. Pictured is a Canyon bike box, which features well-designed packing materials and a specific packing method. Every other box packing method feels second-class in comparison.

When you consider its weight, ability to pack flat, and the cost of replacement (often free), it’s tough to beat the humble cardboard bike box. In fact, many mountain bike professionals choose to travel with cardboard boxes as they are (occasionally) more carefully treated and the absolute low weight and increased size allows for plenty of space to shove spare wheels, tools, parts, and race clothing in whatever gaps exist.

If you plan ahead, many bike stores will happily let you take one out of their rubbish for free. And if you ask nicely, they’ll probably give you some packaging materials, too.

Other than the fact you never want to leave your bike box in the rain, another nuisance is the truly awkward carrying shape. It’s certainly not something you want to transport from one terminal to another. I’ve seen some clever hacks to get around this, such as using toy trains strapped to the bottom. Likewise, ratchet strapping can be used as more durable handles.

For those seeking all of the good stuff — a cardboard box that can withstand the rain and more than one use — there’s the Enviro Bike Box (or similar options, such as this corrugated plastic one from BikeFlights), both of which are effectively a plastic version of standard cardboard bike boxes. The blocky nature remains extremely awkward to carry, and the exterior dimension may prove larger than ideal during your travels, but they’re cheaper than the fancier alternatives, still reusable, and can break down flat for storage.

Most protected: Biknd Helium V4

The Biknd Helium uses inflatable bladders to offer plenty of protection without major weight gain. The original Helium is pictured here.

If protection is at the very top of your priority list for a bicycle travel case, but you’re not willing to go with a hard-sided model, then the Biknd Helium V4 gets our top pick. It’s the next best thing to a hard case in terms of protection, but with far fewer of the negatives mentioned earlier.

This semi-soft case uses an inflatable bladder system that really locks the bike in place and surrounds your bike with a cushion of air. The original Biknd Helium is the choice of our Australian tech editor, Matt Wikstrom, and the newer version refines the protection while dropping 2kg in precious weight. At just over 9kg, it’s a tad heavier than the EVOC or Thule options above, but also more cosseting, and there’s also enough room inside for two wheelsets – a great option for traveling cyclocross racers. It isn’t as accommodating of mountain bikes, but if drop bars are your thing, and you’ve got the money to spare, the Biknd Helium is hard to beat.

In case pumping your case up isn’t your style or if you want to carry a mountain bike, then the Savage Bike Bag from DoucheBags is worth a look. Nobody on the team owns one, but a few of us have played with them and see the attraction. It’s very similar to the EVOC Pro case, but with added protection from a collapsible aluminium “roll cage”. It still lacks side protection but is otherwise a well-reinforced case. With the hilarious name aside, the obvious disadvantage is its 11kg+ weight.

What have you used and found to be great? What was terrible? We’d love for you to share your experiences in the comments below.

The post CT Recommends: Best bike travel cases and bags appeared first on CyclingTips.

The UCI has ruled that, from July 1 2018, the use of disc brakes in road racing (and BMX) is authorised. This announcement comes after nearly three years spent trialling the use of disc brakes in professional racing, a period which included a number of stumbling blocks.

Disc brake trials began in late 2015, and continued into 2016. Things derailed suddenly at the 2016 Paris-Roubaix, where Movistar rider Fran Ventoso claimed to have been cut by a disc rotor in a crash, a widely published event that led to the disc brake trial coming to an abrupt halt. Following much speculation of an earlier return, the UCI reinstated the trial of discs for the 2017 season, albeit with the requirement that rotors would feature smooth and chamfered edges.

The latest announcement came in a press release from the UCI, alongside the ban of tramadol.

“Following nearly three years of tests, and in agreement with various stakeholders – teams, riders, mechanics, fans, commissaires, and the bicycle industry via the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (WFGSGI) – the decision has been taken to authorise disc brakes for road and BMX Racing, as of 1st July this year. Point 1.3.025 of the UCI Regulations will be amended to this effect, to allow the use of disc brakes during training and competitions for road and BMX Racing, as is already the case for cyclo-cross, mountain bike, trials and mass participation events.”

It’s worth noting that while the use of disc brakes in professional racing (and all other forms of amateur road racing) is now authorised, the use of the technology is not mandated. And as a result, the professional peloton will continue to feature a mix of disc and rim brakes for the foreseeable future.

The timing of this announcement coincides with the 2018 Tour de France, where it’s expected a number of brands will reveal new 2019 disc-equipped road bikes. With (unconfirmed) rumours circling that a few large teams will exclusively commit to the use of disc brakes in 2019, the UCI’s announcement should come with little surprise.

The post Trial over: UCI authorises disc brake usage in road racing appeared first on CyclingTips.

Bicycle helmet manufacturers are currently restricted from being able to claim exactly how safe their helmets actually are; they’re only allowed to state that they “meet or exceed” government-mandated minimum safety requirements. However, a new independent test developed by Virginia Tech university and the US-based Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) aims to change all of that, in hopes that safety-minded consumers will finally be able to make purchasing decisions based on measured protection levels, not just ancillary features such as weight, ventilation, aerodynamics, and aesthetics. IIHS already conducts its own testing for automobiles, and is considered to the best gold standard for crash safety in the United States.

Virginia Tech says its test protocol is more rigorous than what is typically used for federal certifications, and is based on its background testing protective helmets for other contact sports, such as football, hockey, and soccer. Those certifications are currently based only on reducing the risk of skull fracture, not soft-tissue damage such as concussions and other traumatic brain injuries. Virginia Tech also claims that its testing uses more realistic scenarios, including non-perpendicular impact angles and impacts concentrated more at the sides and lower rims of the helmets.

Taking all of that into account, Virginia Tech then applied star ratings based on the measured impact forces. The first 30 helmets to be included in the test comprised a range of prices and styles, but only four earned the top five-star rating: the Bontrager Ballista MIPS, the Louis Garneau Raid MIPS, the Bell Stratus MIPS, and the Specialized Chamonix MIPS. Two only managed a two-star rating, while the rest fell into the three-star or four-star categories.

Virginia Tech and IIHS says this is only the initial batch of testing, and more helmet models will be tested — and rated — soon.

Helmet ratings

Five-star (Best Available):
Bell Stratus MIPS
Bontrager Ballista MIPS
Louis Garneau Raid MIPS
Specialized Chamonix MIPS

Four-star (Very Good):
Bell Draft MIPS
Bontrager Quantum MIPS
Giro Foray MIPS
Giro Savant
Giro Synthe
Giro Sutton MIPS
Louis Garneau Le Tour II
POC Octal
Scott ARX Plus MIPS
Smith Overtake
Specialized Evade II
Specialized Prevail II

Three-star (Good):
Bell Division
Bell Reflex
Bern Brentwood
Electra Helmet
Bontrager Solstice
Giro Revel
Kali City
Nutcase Street
Schwinn Flash
Schwinn Thrasher
Specialized Centro
Triple 8 Dual Certified MIPS

Two-star (Adequate):
Lazer Genesis
Bern Watts

The post New independent test ranks bicycle helmet safety appeared first on CyclingTips.

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16 New Articles

June 28, 2018

ADVENTURE

JRA with the Angry Asian: On finding two-wheeled inspiration

June 28, 2018

NEWS

A missing mountain at the women’s Road Worlds

June 28, 2018

NEWS

Landa’s final Tour prep; Porte will have veteran support squad: Daily News Digest

June 28, 2018

PRODUCT REVIEWS

Chapter2 Rere frameset review

June 28, 2018

RACING

USA CRITS team profile: The comeback story behind Support Clean Sport-Guttenplan Coaching

June 28, 2018

June 27, 2018

SPONSORED

How bar tape is made: A very Italian factory tour

June 27, 2018

NEWS

How difficult is WorldTour racing?; Orbea revamps its XC bike: Daily News Digest

June 27, 2018

June 26, 2018

TECH

New independent test ranks bicycle helmet safety

June 26, 2018

FROM THE CYCLINGTIPS EMPORIUM

Kirschner Brasil on the Emporium

June 26, 2018

INTERVIEWS

Don’t stop believing: Ben Dyball in career-best form after nearly quitting

June 26, 2018

NEWS

How often does Quick-Step win?; Fortuneo-Samsic needs a new bike sponsor: Daily News Digest

June 26, 2018

PHOTO GALLERIES

Photo gallery: 2018 US time trial, criterium, and road championships

June 26, 2018

June 25, 2018

TECH

Trial over: UCI authorises disc brake usage in road racing

June 25, 2018

TECH

CT Recommends: Best bike travel cases and bags

June 25, 2018

RACE REPORTS

Brown solos, Rivera sprints: New US road champions crowned in Knoxville

June 25, 2018

NEWS

National championships round-up: Daily News Digest

June 25, 2018

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By David Everett

Milan, for many, conjures up the mental image of a bustling, chic metropolis of style and history — a city of well-kept buildings and equally well-kept locals, dressed up to the nines. That mental image probably doesn’t extend to include small industrial estates packed with Fiat Scudo vans parked all over the place. But this was precisely the Milan I discovered on a recent flying visit to the factory of Bike Ribbon — a brand you will have almost certainly used, even if you didn’t realise it.

For those that have taken up cycling in the past 10-15 years, the name ‘Bike Ribbon’ may well be unfamiliar to you. But for those that came into cycling in the ’80s and ’90s it’s a brand that should have some resonance. The company’s plastic packaging, with its swirly and brightly coloured logo, was a common sight in many bike shops. Bike Ribbon’s bar tape came in a multitude of colours and styles, and the finishing tape was always an Italian tricolour.

Though the name has slowly drifted off bike shops shelves, Bike Ribbon products certainly haven’t. In fact, it’s reasonably safe to say that you will have wrapped your hands around a Bike Ribbon-manufactured tape at some point. The company continues to quietly and successfully produce a plethora of different tapes for an enormous number of brands, from famous Italian frame manufacturers to componentry titans.

Feeding the tape into the bevel cutting machine.

Freshly bevelled tape out the other side.

The stencils that emboss the tape. These are Bike Ribbon branded, but the Italian firm produces for hundreds of other brands.

Applying the graphics.

The Stella Azzurra magnesium stem was built on site back in the early 2000s.

The main room of the factory isn't large, but it has all the necessary equipment.

Mum still turns up to work, even at the age of 83.

Inside the adhesive applying machine.

Boxes ready to be packed.

Just a few of the many thousands of bar-end plugs used in a day.

Packing the tape for sale

Part of the new tape that Bike Ribbon is developing.

The post How bar tape is made: A very Italian factory tour appeared first on CyclingTips.

Rere is a Maori word that means “to flow”, and for Michael Pryde, it was the perfect name for his new aero road chassis. It is the second frameset for his growing brand, Chapter2, which was founded on a devotion for creating fast bikes for racers and performance-oriented riders. Pryde set out to minimise the aerodynamic drag of every exposed surface of the Rere, and even created a sleek carbon cockpit that complements the performance of the new frameset.

In this review, Australian tech editor Matt Wikstrom throws a leg over the Rere to find out if the new chassis is really as fast as it looks (and it is).

It has been twelve months since Chapter2 first opened its doors for business. Chapter2 is the brainchild of Michael Pryde, who, after spending several years creating bikes for NeilPryde, left his father’s company in 2015 to start the next chapter (pun intended) in his career.

We had a look at the story behind Chapter2 when we reviewed its first offering, the Tere frameset, last year. Compared to NeilPryde, it’s a smaller and more personal endeavour for Michael, so it’s not surprising to see that his branding is infused with (and informed by) his Maori heritage. He draws on the language to name his products, and cultural design elements are used to convey the company’s mantra, “the road less travelled.”

Another aspect of Michael’s history that is reflected in Chapter2 is his passion for racing. He grew up riding BMX before racing off-road, then came road cycling, and a stint as a semi-professional. That alone is enough to account for Michael’s pre-occupation with aerodynamics, but I expect his family’s involvement with watersports encouraged his devotion to this field of science.

Chapter2’s first frameset, the Tere, sported a few aerodynamic touches and while it was designed “to eke out every aero advantage for a classic-looking frame”, Michael never considered it an aero road bike. His vision for that kind of bike was far more ambitious, which is where the new chassis, the Rere, comes in.

Aerodynamics, the UCI way

Road cyclists have long appreciated the importance of aerodynamics, but over the last couple of decades, the rise of carbon composites has ushered in a new era of zeal for cheating the wind. Once manufacturers started working with these materials, they quickly discovered that aerodynamic framesets and components could be sculpted with relative ease, and without any weight penalties, either.

This, in turn, has lead to all sorts of innovations, which attracted the scrutiny of the UCI and prompted a growing number of regulations that impose strict limits on what kind of designs are race-legal. This is nothing new for the governing body, which stepped in to outlaw fairings in 1914 and recumbents in 1934. Both designs dramatically improved the aerodynamics of a road cyclist, yet neither satisfied the spirit of the sport, which has always been contested on the grounds of athletic prowess rather than technical breakthroughs.

The UCI’s earliest regulations formally defined a race-legal road bike in terms of bottom bracket height, saddle position (relative to the bottom bracket), and the distance between the bottom bracket and the front wheel. In recent years, that definition has grown increasingly more complex with strict guidelines for the overall dimensions of each member of the frameset along with other edicts such as the “3:1” rule that limits the length of aerodynamic foils.

The Rere is race-legal, and it says so on the seat tube. Creating an aero race bike is not just about cheating the wind; it’s also about abiding by the UCI’s strict regulations.

For designers like Michael Pryde, these regulations limit the size of the palette that they have to work with when creating an aerodynamic road bike. It also makes for a finite number of design solutions, which explains why aero road bikes share many of the same features. Nevertheless, Pryde enjoyed the challenge and he is proud of the Rere, which he believes pushes the limits of UCI regulations.

Like so many aero road bikes, the Rere depends upon airfoil profiles and Kamm tails. The down tube is the most obvious example, and it has a remarkably slender cross-section that is maintained throughout the rest of the front triangle. Yes, there is a noticeable bulge at the bottom bracket, but the overall effect is that the Rere looks like a very sharp wedge that has been honed for splitting the air before it.

The UCI is very clear about the use of fairings on a road bike, however it is still possible to achieve some “integration” of components with the frame. In the case of the Rere, part of the down tube and the seat tube has been carved away to accommodate the front and rear wheels, respectively. Similarly, much of the fork crown nestles into the down tube, the seatpost clamp is hidden in the top tube, and the direct-mount rim brake callipers form a pretty clean line with the fork legs and seat stays.

Pryde made extensive use of a wind tunnel at Auckland University during the development of the Rere. It’s an expensive and time-consuming process, but it generally achieves superior results over computer modelling alone. Benchmarking is an important part of this process, too, and while Michael wasn’t prepared to share all of the results from these tests, he can prove that the Rere is significantly more aerodynamic than the Tere, as shown in the chart below:

The Rere bests the Tere (Chapter2’s first road frameset) at all yaw angles. Data and chart supplied by Chapter2.

With an average reduction in drag of ~100g, the Rere promises a power saving of at least 10W at 40km/hr, which is in the same realm as many other aero road bikes. That’s not enough to overhaul the capabilities of any rider, but it can certainly give them an edge, which can be helped a little more with Chapter2’s optional integrated bar/stem, dubbed the Mana.

The sleek composite cockpit complements the aerodynamics of the Rere. Like other aero cockpits, the Mana pairs a foil-shaped handlebar top with a horizontal stem angle and seamless integration with the frame. Chapter2 makes no specific claims for the Mana, and there is no pre-requisite to use the Mana with the Rere; a standard threadless stem and bars can be fitted to the Rere, if desired.

The Rere features a lot of familiar aerodynamic touches such as a fork crown that integrates with the down tube of the frame.

Pick a colour and define your own build

Chapter2 only sells framesets, not complete bikes, which should appeal to racers looking to upgrade their current chassis or those that like to handpick the parts for every new build. Shoppers can buy direct from Chapter2 via an online shop or they can get in touch with one of the brand’s distributors or dealers, which are located in a number of countries around the world.

At this stage, there is a choice of two colours for the Rere — matte black with gloss black highlights, or matte pearl white — but in time, additional limited and special edition paint schemes will be added to Chapter2’s catalogue, just like those developed for the Tere.

As for sizing, there is a choice of five frame sizes, as shown in the table below:

Overall, the geometry of the Rere is very similar to the Tere, although the stack is 5-6mm lower, and the reach up to 2mm greater, at every frame size. The 68mm bottom bracket drop is the same for all frame sizes, as is the 405mm chainstay length, while the fork rake depends upon the size of the frame. XS and S frame sizes are paired with a fork with 53mm of rake while sizes M-XL are supplied with a fork with 43mm of rake. The resulting trail is very consistent for all but the smallest frame size.

The similarities between the Rere and Tere extends to many of the specifications for the frame, too. Thus, they both have a BB86 bottom bracket shell, tapered head tube (1.125inch upper bearing, 1.5inch lower bearing), and internal cable routing with interchangeable fittings to suit mechanical and powered derailleurs. In addition, both framesets are available with a choice of rim or disc brakes (however the disc version of the Rere won’t be available until August of this year).

The similarities end with the seatpost and rim brake mounts. Rather than a round post, the Rere makes use of a proprietary elliptical seatpost with 15mm of offset. This post is reversible, so it can be flipped to bring the saddle much closer to the bottom bracket, which should appeal to TT/triathlon riders.

The Rere is supplied with a reversible seatpost. In the conventional position, there’s 15mm of offset. Turn it around, and the post will bring the saddle much closer to the bottom bracket.

In recent years, direct-mount rim brakes have become de rigueur for aero road bikes, so it’s not surprising to see that the Rere also opts for these callipers. Aside from a sleeker fit, direct mount callipers provide extra clearance so the Rere can accommodate tyres up to 28mm-wide, and won’t interfere with the wide rim profiles that have come to define the majority of aerodynamic wheelsets on the market today.

The size M Rere frame provided for this review weighed 1,158g; the uncut fork, 372g; seatpost, 194g; and the Mana bar/stem (120mm), 373g. In absolute terms, those are all pretty modest numbers, but understandable given that aerodynamic profiles generally add weight to a bike. Once assembled with a SRAM Red eTap groupset, Quarq DZero power meter, Fabric Scoop Pro Shallow saddle, and Knight Composites 50 Clincher TLA wheelset fitted with Schwalbe Pro One tubeless tyres, the bike weighed 7.19kg (15.85lb) without pedals or bottle cages, which is a pretty good result.

The value of the Rere frameset is also pretty good, which includes the frame, fork, headset, reversible seatpost, and a five-year warranty for AU$3,630/US$2,699/£2,227/€2,513. Buyers that want to add the Mana cockpit can expect to pay AUD$725/US$539/£454/€512 with a choice of five stem length/bar width combinations (80mm/400mm, 90mm/400mm, 100mm/420mm, 110mm/420mm, 120mm/440mm). Both prices are fair — even attractive — for products in this category, and should appeal to shoppers looking to update an aging race chassis.

Speed on tap

I grew up with a fascination for high-speed vehicles and sleek aircraft, but it had nothing to do with their raw power; it was their sleek beauty that excited my imagination. Science-fiction films like Tron captivated me, and I sought out books and magazines with images of fantastic machines to satisfy my eye. And from the moment I lifted the Rere out of its box, I found myself looking at it in the same way.

I wasn’t the only person to marvel at the bike while I had it for review. One onlooker called it an envelope while another admitted wryly that he couldn’t stop looking at its rear end. Michael’s quest for aerodynamic performance may have driven the design of the frame, but it also happens to look very cool and very, very fast.

I will dissect the performance of the Rere in a moment, but in short, the bike lives up to its looks. It is smooth, fast, and responsive; it’s also a thrill to ride.

Chapter2’s Mana cockpit slots in with the sleek front end of the Rere while SRAM’s eTap groupset keeps the number of cables to a minimum.

One of the first things that I wonder about for any aero road bike is how stiff it will be. Racers tend to prize a stiff chassis so I can understand the temptation for any designer to dial up the stiffness in order to maximise this appeal. In this case, however, the Rere defies expectations by delivering a forgiving ride quality.

This was something that I was quick to notice and it defined the Rere for the entirety of the review period. With that said, I wouldn’t call it a plush frameset that can soak up all road shock and vibrations, but it was quite removed from a typical race bike. I was able to venture onto unpaved tracks without any teeth-chattering moments, and I could spend a few hours on the bike without having to contend with any unnecessary discomfort.

The bike was quick to accelerate and firm under load when I was out of the saddle. It wasn’t exceptional in this regard, but on the spectrum of possibilities, it was close to the sharp end where all great race bikes reside. This is the spot where carbon composites come into their own thanks to that impressive stiffness-to-weight ratio, and Chapter2 has done a great job with capitalising on the potential of this material.

Rere is a Maori word that means “to flow”. Some Maori designs also grace the frame, honouring Michael Pryde’s heritage.

What that means for the rider is an agile and sprightly bike that always seems to be full of energy. It’s the kind of bike that always motivates me to ride harder and I end up behaving like a hoon, accelerating hard while threading my way through obstacles or finding the tightest line to hold onto without scrubbing my speed.

The steering of the Rere was perfect for this kind of riding, quick and responsive without unsettling the bike. The bike was always willing to turn in and I could hold a tight line without the threat of understeer. At the same time, the Rere was stable at high speeds and very well mannered.

That didn’t change in crosswinds, either. Yes, the 50mm Knight wheels could suffer in windy conditions with sudden deflections of the front wheel, but it wasn’t anything unusual for a 50mm-deep wheelset. By contrast, the Rere frameset did not catch much wind on its own, so it was an easy bike to ride regardless of the weather conditions.

As for the speed of the bike, I was consistently impressed with how well the bike seemed to flow once I was travelling over 30km/h. This is, of course, a highly subjective impression, but it was no less tangible. Not only did it seem easier to maintain high speeds on the Rere, but the bike also seemed to take longer to lose its speed on descents. As a result, I always felt like I was flying on the Rere.

While this kind of anecdotal evidence is not going to rival results from a wind tunnel, it was a very satisfying sensation, and if I’d spent the money on the bike, then I’d have no regrets. Be that as it may, I did conduct one short test that validated my impressions: I performed a 10km tempo effort on the Rere and recorded my time; then, I repeated the effort on my Baum Corretto (which is almost devoid of aerodynamic profiles).

On the basis of my impressions, I was slower on my Baum, and I had trouble matching the top speed of the Rere without digging deeper, which is exactly what my times showed. I suffered a deficit of ~5s/km while riding my Baum and my top speeds were always slower than the Rere.

Like many aero road bikes with rim brakes, the Rere requires direct-mount brake callipers.

While my Baum is far from sleek, there was a difference in the tyres I was using on each bike (28c Hutchinson Sector on the Baum; 25c Schwalbe Pro One on the Chapter2), which may have had an impact on the results as well. Strictly speaking, it’s one variable that should have been controlled for this “experiment”, however the goal was to test the accuracy of my impressions rather than dissect where the losses may have occurred.

As a result, I feel very confident in my assessment of the Rere: the bike felt like it was quicker because it was actually quicker. I expect that at some point the Rere will be included in an independent wind tunnel study that will be able to put a number on its relative performance, but based on my impressions of it compared to other aero road bikes, I believe it rivals the rest of the market.

There was more to the Rere than pure speed, because it was an easy bike to take into the hills, which was quite unexpected (much like the bike’s forgiving ride quality). All of the agility that I enjoyed on flat terrain was still in evidence, and it was really quite easy to pick up the pace and attack the terrain. Add in the extra speed that the Rere had to offer on descents and it starts to look like a very potent race bike.

There isn’t a lot of adjustment for the height of the stem, and the Mana cockpit has a horizontal stem angle that also keeps the bars low.

There was just one thing missing from the Rere: a stoutness about the front end of the bike. This may not be something that all buyers will want or need, but I’ve always been very sensitive to the way that the front end of a bike behaves. After spending a couple of decades on steel frames with small-diameter tubing, I’ve developed a distinct preference for a sturdy front triangle that displays a minimum amount of torsional movement under load.

That’s not to say that I found the front end of the Rere flimsy, because it wasn’t. The bike never felt like it was ever twisting around under me, even when I was sprinting out of the saddle. But what was really missing was a sense of connection with the front end of the bike. The amount of feedback was also diminished, and there were times when the steering response felt vague, too. With that said, I can’t say that it ever interfered with my ability to control the bike, and on the flip side, the extra torsional flexibility might have helped the compliance of the bike or minimised the amount of chatter from the front end.

The Mana bar/stem, by contrast, was very stiff, which may have accentuated the amount of flex elsewhere in the frame. I had no trouble getting comfortable with the bars, though it is worth noting that with the 70mm of reach makes the Mana much shorter than most compact bars. Had it been possible, I would have experimented with a longer stem to compensate for the reduction in reach to the drops and the hoods of the levers.

Knight’s 50 Clincher TLA wheelset was a good match for the Rere with a rim profile that was tall enough to add some speed while the overall weight was low enough to help the versatility of the bike in the hills. The quality of braking was satisfactory (the front wheel pulsed under brakes, presumably due to an uneven brake track) however the Rotor Rvolver rear hub was obnoxiously loud when freewheeling. This hub features an interesting clutch mechanism, and I’m told that some extra lube can tone down the noise it makes, but riders that prefer a quiet freehub won’t be pleased with it.

Summary and final thoughts

Michael Pryde has done an impressive job with the Rere. To start with, the frameset looks fantastic; indeed, it may be the classiest aero road bike that I’ve come across. Better yet, the Rere achieves some very sleek contours without resorting to proprietary parts (aside from the seatpost) or complicated component integration. As a result, buyers have plenty of freedom to choose the parts they want on the bike, and it is no more difficult to assemble than a typical road bike.

The stirring lines of the Rere raises expectations, and the bike manages to meet, or exceed, them with ease. The Rere feels as fast as it looks, it’s agile and responsive, and it also offers an inviting combination of sure and stable handling, a forgiving ride quality, and a well mannered disposition. In short, the Rere is a refined road bike that has been built to handle extra speed with aplomb.

While the Rere ticks a lot of boxes, including an impressive amount of versatility, it’s not a bike for everyone. It’s a race-day bike, a specialised rig best suited to riders that regularly choose to ride in the drops. It may not be quite sturdy enough for dedicated sprinters, however escape artists that like to ride alone should enjoy this bike a lot.

 

Rotor recently unveiled its Rvolver hubs that feature a novel weight-saving clutch mechanism.

Quarq’s DZero power meter integrates nicely with SRAM’s Red crankset.

 

The Mana cockpit has a couple of bolts under the stem for securing a computer mount.

 

Note the subtle cutout for the front wheel.

The cutout for the rear wheel is much more obvious from this side.

Knight Composites’ TLA 50 wheelset is a tubeless-ready clincher.

25c Schwalbe Pro One were fitted to the wheels with tubeless valves and sealant for the duration of the review period. These tyres are at their best when used tubeless.

 

 

The Rere provides clearance for 28mm wide tyres. The 25c Schwalbe tyres pictured here have an actual width of 27mm when mounted on the Knight wheelset.

There’s plenty of room under rear calliper as well.

Another aqua panel on the frame that features Maori designs.

 

 

Chapter2’s branding on the Rere is quite subtle.

Designed in New Zealand, made in Asia.

 

 

 

 

 

The post Chapter2 Rere frameset review appeared first on CyclingTips.

This bike is gold.

Yep, that’s real 24K gold plating covering many of the components, including the rims and cassette. And no, it’s not really rideable in its pictured state.

However, this isn’t simply a story of a showy gold bike destined as a living-room talking piece, even though its owner has three dozen other beautiful Italian steeds with only this one earning a place within the house instead of the garage.

No, the real story here is that this bike-turned-artwork was actually put together with a bunch of truly trashed components. Restored, brought back to better than new, and turned into something even more timeless. More importantly, with a swap of the wheels, it can be ridden. Certainly this 2016 Colnago Arabesque is one of a kind, built for a purveyor of Colnagos, and yet another stunning example of the work Chris Howard of CycloRetro is capable of.

Reissued Arabesque

Defining the ornate lug work, it’s a name known to many Colnago fans.

A true collector’s item in Colnago’s history, the Arabesque was a bike first built between 1983-1984 to celebrate the Italian company’s 30th anniversary. Effectively a round-tubed Master frame with ornate lug work, the Arabesque name became a family of Italian-made steel masterpieces, including the equally sought-after Regal. Nearly thirty years after its brief run, Colnago claim an employee stumbled across a large box of original Arabesque lugs, allowing the company to re-issue the iconic frame in limited supply (between 400-600 frames produced). The 2016-edition of the Arabesque is extremely similar to the original, albeit with Colnago’s iconic star-shaped tubing from the Master range.

As a Colnago collector, the Melbourne-based owner of this bike (who asked to remain anonymous), knew straight away he wanted to own an Arabesque, and with it, turn it into something very special. “When I heard Colnago was going to reissue the Arabesque, I decided then I’d like to get one in pearl white,” he said. “At that stage, I wasn’t sure what I’d do with it, but I wanted something special and different. It was only after talking to Chris at CycloRetro and looking at the few parts I already had, which were some very average [condition] Campagnolo C-Record, that I knew they could be repaired and turned into something unique.”

Buying a Arabesque re-issue would make perfect sense to any Colnago fanatic, but then why turn it into a 24K gold show bike? As it turns out, it’s more a question of why not?

“The Arabesque was the reason; it’s something different. The pearl white paint with gold decals was just asking for gold parts.”

Restored parts and gold plating

As will be revealed in a future article about component polishing, Chris Howard is the sole set of hands behind CycloRetro.com and is somewhat of a master in restoring old metal components (seriously check these before and after examples). From reforming damaged parts down to smooth surfaces, creating mirror finishes, to his pantograph (engraving) work, he has a strong global customer base.

For the owner, the Arabesque build is his first gold-plated bike, but certainly not his first unique build. “I’ve done a few unique bikes before. Chris also helped me out with doing a black Colnago with copper plated Potenza and Athena parts.” And it was because of this experience with Chris that the owner knew such a show bike could be created out of parts that most would deem ready for the bin.

The outer plate from this very well used Campagnolo C-Record rear derailleur is a perfect example of what Chris Howard started with. This was certainly not a build of NOS (new old stock) parts. Photo: CycloRetro.

“Most of the parts that are on this bike were the sort of parts that you wouldn’t pay a lot of money for,” said Howard. “It was a good candidate to redo. I know this customer well, and I said, ‘Get me crappy old parts; buy the cheapest, the worst, the crappiest, and that’s the part we’ll start with.’ By doing that, the parts were actually picked up very cheaply.”

The bike’s owner had certain components in mind, but Howard took on a number of decisions, too.

“Some must-haves were Delta brakes, first-gen C-Record cranks, rear derailleur and seatpost. Chris suggested the other parts that he thought were essential like the 3T stem and bars, Rolls saddle, and a special Arabesque Colnago logo design on the Delta brakes. When the bike was coming together, it had to have gold plated wheels and cassette, then came the gold gear cables and Chris suggested gold outer cables.”

The bike is currently fitted with standard Fizik tape, but that’s likely to change to something better suited to the rest of the build.

“I want something with a gold stitch through it,” the bike’s owner said. “Something subtle.”

It’s clear that an incredible number of hours went into the bike’s creation.

“The first gen rear derailleur was completely road rashed,” Howard recounted. “The cranks had shoe rub and pitting on them. They were terrible, too. The pedals looked like someone had been riding them with football (studded) boots and the logos on the sides were gone. The stem was average, well worn and with scratches on the top. The hubs were dull and well-used. The Delta (brakes) had typical road spray and corrosion, including faded logos.”

From the picture above to this. This first-generation C-Record rear derailleur, much like many of the other parts used, was given an entirely new life.

To go from such poor condition to mirrored gold is no easy or quick task. Howard had to smooth and reform the components, slowly removing material until the desired shape was achieved. The logos or emblems were then pantographed back into the component, sometimes with a wholly new design (such as on the brakes). From there, parts had to be polished by hand until they took on a faultless mirror finish.

Once Howard could see himself in the parts, he passed them onto a local plating specialist. First, the parts were given a nickel coating to ensure corrosion resistance and proper adherence of the gold. The nickel coating was then hand polished back to a mirror-like shine prior to receiving the gold coating.

Those wheels are heavy! The gold plating covers all surfaces of the rim, including the inside. Apparently draining out the excess was quite an endeavour.

Gold is certainly not a cheap material, but without question, the most expensive part of this bike is time. For the owner, the outcome is something obviously satisfying to look at. Asked about what completes the bike, the owner says it’s the part that perhaps makes the bike one you wouldn’t want to ride. “That would have to be the gold wheels and cassette. The bike looks good with other wheels in it, but with the gold wheels in, it looks like a show bike, a work of art from the 1980s.”

Can it be ridden?

Despite the show-bike nature of this build, it was put together as a rideable steed. Its owner has test-ridden it in its pictured state (without using the brakes), and the bike is simply a wheel swap away from more use. “The good thing is it’s built as 11-speed so when I want to ride it further, I swap the gold wheels for my other modern wheelsets.”

The 11-speed cassette means the bike’s owner can swap in just about any rim-brake wheelset and go for a ride.

The fact this bike has 11-speed shifting is certainly a unique detail given it uses original 6-speed Campagnolo C-Record derailleurs and down tube shifters. The trick is the friction-based shifters, which lack indexing, meaning the shift quality is only as good as the user’s control. Completing this setup is a KMC X11-SL 11-speed gold chain and modern 11-speed Campagnolo chainrings (which have been polished, of course). Riding it will still mean using the gold-plated cables, and you’d certainly not want to drop it, but short of the pictured wheelset, this is a rideable machine.

In the end, a collector’s job is never done.

“This one is definitely a keeper, but my taste in bikes is always changing, I like modern stuff, too, and weird things so who knows. Currently, I’m thinking about doing a Colnago Oval CX with 50th Anniversary maybe?”

Built as a nod to the early 80s racing era, this is a piece of history, preserved in gold.

According to the owner, the gold decals on this white Arabesque reissue were asking for matching components.

A careful look reveals the star-shaped tubes of the reissued Arabesque frame.

It’s a new frame, but it features stunning lug work from the 80s.

Another angle of those lugs.

The 3T (note the old logo) quill stem was engraved before being plated with gold. That engraving is nearly an exact match to the original stems found on the 30th-anniversary Arabesque bikes from some 32 years ago.

The details on the frame and fork are stock, just as Colnago sold it.

It’s (quick release) nuts how much fine detail is in this build.

These were probably a little nerve wracking to lace up.

Yep, also customised.

Details, details, details.

The Campagnolo pedals were apparently all sorts of “fun” to get to this state. When there isn’t a cleat engaged, the retention mechanism also serves as a brake for the axle so that the pedal holds its position. Clip in, and the pedal once again spins freely. It was a neat feature, but that sort of complexity also helped make these pedals some of the heaviest going.

The gold-plated friction levers were originally only meant to move the chain across six sprockets, but in this case, it operates eleven.

C-Record Delta goodness.

Even though it’s wrapped with bar tape, the handlebars were still polished and engraved beforehand.

The white Fizik tape is apparently just a temporary choice. It’s not exactly period correct, and something a little more special could certainly be used.

The Selle San Marco Rolls saddle is mounted to a Campagnolo C-Record Aero seatpost. Both Campagnolo and Colnago have been playing with aero shapes since the early 80s.

This is what the crank originally looked like. Photo: CycloRetro.

Now gold-plated, the crank is certainly not something you’d want to use with large boots. Heel rub would be a sin.

There was plenty of damage to the original levers. It’s a stark difference to their current state. Photo: CycloRetro.

It’s hard to believe that this is the same brake lever.

Disassembling Campagnolo’s Delta brakes is quite the task, but Chris Howard has a lot of experience with it. Photo: CycloRetro.

The finished product works exactly as intended. And yep, all four cables on this bike are plated with real gold. The housing is pretty cheap stuff from a BMX manufacturer, though.

Closed up, some of Howard’s pantograph work is visible on the Delta brake cover.

The post Bikes of the bunch: 2016 Colnago Arabesque living room special appeared first on CyclingTips.

Giro Sport Design has a new flagship road helmet. It’s elegant. It rotates. It’s pricey.

It’s called the Aether. It looks like Giro’s Synthe, with a few subtle improvements — and one very significant development. The current Synthe MIPS has a conventional low-friction, thin plastic “slip plane” placed in between the foam liner and the retention system. But the new Aether utilizes something Giro and MIPS have developed in partnership over the past three years, which they’re calling MIPS Spherical.

First seen in Giro’s Avance MIPS snow helmet, MIPS Spherical takes the concept of protecting the brain from rotational forces to the next level.

The other common alternative to those standard MIPS plastic liners is to integrate the slip plane directly into the retention system, like Giro has done with the RocLoc Air in the new Vanquish aero road helmet, and the similar Float Fit system in the Bell Zephyr. But with Spherical MIPS, there’s instead an elastomer attachment placed between two layers of expanded polystyrene foam — the internal liner and the outer shell — allowing them to rotate independently during an angled impact.

As with all MIPS systems, the goal is to minimize how much the head violently twists upon impact, with the theory being that reducing how much the brain abruptly spins inside the skull helps to prevent brain trauma. Though the full product name of the helmet is Aether MIPS, that’s a bit redundant; unlike with other Giro models, there is no non-MIPS Aether. This helmet only exists because of MIPS Spherical technology; it’s in the DNA of the design.

The result is a MIPS system that spans the entire inner liner of the helmet, yet is invisible to the naked eye, with claims of better ventilation, lighter weight, improved comfort, and increased aerodynamics over the Synthe. Also increased? The price. We’ll get to that a little later. But first, the backstory.

MIPS: WHAT IT IS, WHY IT MATTERS

For all the R&D Giro has put into MIPS Spherical, they are not here to tell you it’s a safer helmet. It might be safer, but you didn’t hear that from them. For legal reasons, Giro — like most manufacturers — will not make specific claims about helmet safety. Every crash is different, every brain injury is different, and in-house attorneys warn against making promises to consumers about the performance of a helmet in an accident.

What Giro will say, however, is that within the constraints of laboratory testing, test engineers were able to see “repeatable benefits” with the MIPS Spherical system — a technology first incorporated into its US$600 Avance snow sports helmet in 2016, which was designed to protect against both high-speed crashes on ice as well as repetitive gate impacts during slalom racing.

Instead, Giro and MIPS are eager to tell the story of how much science and research goes into developing their products. That research includes three in-house tests that Giro began developing five years ago to help prove or disprove the MIPS concept — tests based around rotational, rather than linear, impacts.

The vision behind MIPS (Multi-Directional Impact Protection System) began in 1995 when Hans von Holst, a Swedish brain surgeon, repeatedly found himself operating on trauma victims who had been wearing helmets when their heads hit the ground; their skulls were not fractured, but they had still suffered brain injuries. Von Holst contacted the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and began research into head and neck injury prevention.

After conducting thousands of helmet tests, Holst and partners Peter Halldin and Svein Kleiven determined that most accidents result in oblique impacts — meaning slanted, neither parallel nor at a right angle — which causes rotational violence to the brain.

Existing helmets may have done their job in protecting the skull, but they weren’t doing enough to protect the brain, which is more sensitive to internal shear than to linear impacts. The human brain is soft, like gelatin or tofu, and suspended in cerebrospinal fluid. It doesn’t compress, but when your head violently rotates in an impact, different layers of the brain will accelerate at different rates. As a result, the billions of tiny nerve cells that comprise the brain can stretch and tear.

Yet, until recently, traditional helmets had historically only been tested for linear impact, not those more complex forces that occur when sliding or twisting. The first prototype of a MIPS-equipped helmet was tested at the University of Birmingham in 2000, but it would be another decade before it was embraced by the cycling industry.

Some might suggest that MIPS is no more than a marketing gimmick, but recent data says otherwise. In an independent study released last week, developed by Virginia Tech university and the US-based Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), helmets were ranked on the theoretical risk of concussion based on a more modern test protocol; the lower the percentage, the higher the ranking. The first 30 helmets to be included in the test covered a spectrum of prices and styles, but only four earned the top five-star rating: the Bontrager Ballista MIPS, the Louis Garneau Raid MIPS, the Bell Stratus MIPS, and the Specialized Chamonix MIPS. The top six rated helmets all use MIPS technology, and none of the bottom 10 were equipped with MIPS technology.

Granted, the study didn’t directly compare MIPS and non-MIPS versions of the same helmet, so it’s not 100% conclusive that adding MIPS makes a helmet safer. But it’s powerful circumstantial evidence.

The relationship between Giro and MIPS has grown so close over the last five years that former Giro general manager Greg Shapleigh, who had been with the brand since 1990, left to join MIPS last summer.

At a June product launch for the Aether in Scotts Valley, California — just outside of Santa Cruz — Shapleigh was on hand to speak about MIPS and the brand’s partnership with Giro in developing the Aether’s MIPS Spherical technology.

“MIPS is thrilled to have a partner like Giro,” said Shapleigh, who acknowledged that during his time at Giro, the helmet brand originally expressed skepticism of MIPS technology. “While some partnerships between MIPS and helmet brands are more commercial, this is more of a collaborative partnership, and MIPS only has a few of those. There’s no financial arrangement, and we know that Giro will use whatever works best. But our mindset is the same — to reduce the risk of brain injury.”

To those who still aren’t convinced, here’s how Eric Richter, Giro’s senior brand and business development manager, addresses that cynicism: “We all ride. Our friends ride. Our families ride. There is no reason for us to create anything less than our very best.”

DOME: GIRO’S IN-HOUSE TEST LAB

Inside Giro headquarters in Scotts Valley is the DOME test lab — DOME is an acronym for Design, Observation, Materials, Engineering — which includes text fixtures, 3D printers, injection- and thermal-molding equipment, an in-house wind tunnel, CNC machines, and more. The test lab is shared by Vista Outdoor brands Bell, C-Preme, and Giro, and is used to design, develop, and evaluate helmets for power sports, cycling, and snow sports.

Among the text fixtures demonstrated to the media during a tour of the DOME in June were the BRAD, Mono-rail, and Sled, all designed to evaluate how well helmets manage rotational motion. From an engineering perspective, MIPS defines rotational motion as “a combination of rotational energy (angular velocity) and rotational forces (angular acceleration) that both affect the brain and increase the risk for minor and severe brain injuries.”

After Giro was first approached by MIPS, following a period of review and discussion, DOME engineers sought a second opinion. They reached out to a Phoenix-based crash-testing lab called Exponent, where hundreds of crash-test dummies have their heads repeatedly slammed and twisted for test purposes. Exponent’s testing confirmed that MIPS technology was effective, and DOME and Exponent began designing their own rotational-test lab equipment, as none was on the market. In 2014, Giro unveiled its first MIPS-equipped helmets.

Early research MIPS had conducted determined that most often during crash, brain injuries occur when the head strikes at an angle. Simulating that angular impact allows Giro, and MIPS, to develop ways to redirect and attenuate, or absorb, the energy of an angled impact.

The BRAD test uses a helmeted 105-pound Biofidelic Rotational Anthropomorphic Dummy [BRAD], complete with head, articulating neck, and torso, that swings from the ceiling into an inclined ramp to measure rotational violence. The body mass assumes the size and weight of a 50th percentile adult, with an accurate center of gravity. To simulate how a helmet, and brain, might fare upon striking asphalt, sandpaper is applied to the surfaces where the helmets impact the test fixtures.

Video: The BRAD test fixture

The Mono-Rail test drops a helmeted head form onto an angled, stationary surface, replicating an oblique impact. The head form can be placed at different orientations: frontal, 90 degrees, tilted, or anywhere in between. The test is run with MIPS protection and without, with the aim of targeting a 30% reduction in angular violence.

Video: The Mono-rail test fixture

The Sled test sees a helmeted head form on a timed drop into a sliding plate, or sled; the impact causes the head form and helmet to rotate, simulating the impact of a crash. It uses a specific velocity to replicate a 30-degree impact trajectory — the angle at which many helmets impact the ground.

Video: The Sled test fixture

Combining data from these tests, Giro is able to determine how effective the MIPS system is and what can be done structurally to reduce rotational violence to the brain.

INTO THE AETHER: FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Over two days of riding near Giro’s headquarters in Scotts Valley, I rode the Aether in conditions that varied from 27°C (80°F) on a long, exposed climb in the afternoon to 7°C (45°F) along the coast during a morning roll-out.

Like the Synthe, the Aether is light, aerodynamic, and well ventilated. Deep internal channels in the liner create airflow over the scalp, and without the usual MIPS plastic liner, that air can now come into direct contact with your head. Giro claims the Aether surpasses the Synthe MIPS in all departments, including a 2.4% improvement in aerodynamic efficiency and 2.5% better cooling.

Climbing in direct sunlight, with little to no breeze, the Aether kept my head cool, comfortably. I never thought about it once, which is in some ways the highest praise you can give a helmet while suffering on a hot climb. I’ll need to wear it on a longer, hotter day to see if I can feel a difference, but the deep, unobscured channels certainly seem more effective.

Having worn a Synthe for the better part of the last four years, I felt right at home in the Aether. The updated RocLoc 5+ Air retention system offers a new level of vertical positioning — it slides up and down the back of the skull — and is tightened and loosened using Giro’s standard retention dial. Giro claims the new retention system offers the ability to tune the occipital contact points asymmetrically, but I haven’t figured out how, or why, I would do that. Still, the RocLoc 5+ Air retention system works, and works well.

I had no fit issues, and a perfect fit dialed in a matter of minutes, if not seconds. However, given the fact that the helmet is constructed of two independent layers of foam (which offer about 15mm of movement), the risk of rolling around impervious to a slightly cocked helmet is real. Aether owners will want to be sure to do a double take in the mirror on their way out the door.

You’d never know it on first glance, but the Aether’s outer shell is constructed of six individual pieces of polycarbonate that allow for the helmet’s wide, open vents. Asked for details on the construction, Giro said it was “not willing to share” the construction process.

One element on the Aether that stands out is the translucent Aerodynamic Ultimate Reinforcing Arch (AURA), a shatter-resistant piece of thermoplastic resin that runs across the top that connects and supports the outer shell. The AURA replaces a larger, structurally similar piece of foam on the Synthe, and contributes to the fact that the 250g Aether weighs 15g less than the Synthe MIPS. It also looks cool.

Also evident on first glance is the 3D Giro logo on the outer shell, which is laser-cut and pressed into the polycarbonate sheet from behind before it’s permanently in-molded in place. It’s a small detail, but like the AURA, it just looks sharp.

New rubber grippers placed on the outer vents help keep eyewear secure when not being worn. It’s a cool feature, though not something I personally would use often unless in a downpour.

The only issue I’ve had thus far with the Aether is that the MIPS system seems to yank a few hairs from the back of my head every time I take it off. That’s not unique to MIPS Spherical, and though it’s a minor annoyance, it can be a bit of a shock.

The Giro Aether will come in nine colorways, including three limited-edition colors, and a “Black Flash” reflective model.

In totality, Giro says the Aether is the “most advanced cycling helmet” the brand has ever created — a piece of equipment Giro’s senior director of marketing Dain Zaffke called a “stunning feat of engineering.”

“It took us three years to work through the design challenges,” Zaffke said. “It was touch and go; we weren’t sure we would get to this point, and at times I questioned whether we should try. I kept thinking, ‘If this won’t nail it, let’s just create a Synthe with integrated MIPS [into the retention system].’ It would have been easier to shoehorn this into a Vanquish. This is us flexing our muscle a bit.”

The Aether will be available in nine colorways, including three limited editions. The review sample provided to media at the recent product launch is a luminous matte black/blue pearl that has to be seen in sunlight to be fully appreciated. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I’d suggest it’s as elegant a cycling helmet as I’ve ever worn, though the matte black/blue pearl color wouldn’t have been my first choice. That nod would go to their “black flash,” which shows as matte black in sunlight but turns fully reflective in the face of headlights. A black helmet that is more visible at night than any other color? Yes, please.

AETHER VS. SYNTHE: IS MIPS SPHERICAL WORTH THE COST?

It’s impossible to view the Aether outside of the context of Giro’s four-year-old Synthe. Aesthetically, they look very similar, particularly from the front; less so from the rear. What’s different is largely under the hood.

The Aether is smaller and lighter than the Synthe. Giro claims it’s also cooler and more aerodynamic. The “is it safer?” question is a thorny one, but it stands to reason that the MIPS Spherical system offers better protection than the original MIPS slip plane used by the Synthe. When the Synthe launched in 2014, it was just as Giro was embracing MIPS, which is why the Synthe has been offered in MIPS and non-MIPS models for three years now; it was already in production, and the slip plane was an add-on.

Giro claims MIPS Spherical “improves rotational energy management” over previous MIPS systems while optimizing comfort and ventilation. It’s certainly the best-yet integration of MIPS into a road helmet. The technology is there, but you can’t see it.

Giro’s Synthe MIPS (left) is the forerunner to the Aether MIPS Spherical (right).

Rubber grippers placed on the outer vents of the Aether help keep eyewear secure when not being worn.

The Synthe and Aether share a similar profile.

The “SP” on the Aether’s yellow MIPS sticker signifies MIPS Spherical.

The similarities up front between the Synthe and Aether take a striking turn at the back of the helmets.

The slip plane evident in the Synthe MIPS (right) is nowhere to be seen in the Aether’s MIPS Spherical (left).

Deep internal channels in the liner force air to flow over the scalp.

Richie Porte and the rest of the BMC Racing team will wear the Giro Aether at the 2018 Tour de France.

The Aether does not replace the Synthe; instead, the Synthe MIPS drops in price, to US$220, and that’s an important consideration. It’s not fair to say the Aether is an updated version of the Synthe, yet outside of how they might perform in an impact, they look, feel, and perform similarly, at a cost differential of over US$100. That price difference is as inescapable as the aesthetic likeness.

For 2019, there will no longer be a Synthe model without MIPS protection. In fact, Giro claims there are now only two helmets in the brand’s entire cycling line that don’t offer a MIPS option; within the United States, every cycling helmet now comes in a MIPS version.

It’s worth pointing out that the Synthe MIPS earned four stars (out of a possible five) in that Virginia Tech-IIHS test, ranked 13th out the 30 helmets tested. I’ll be very interested to see how the Aether scores, though there’s been no timeline given as to when Virginia Tech and IIHS will conduct their next round of tests, or whether the Aether will be included.

So, in the context of Giro’s new flagship road model and its previous flagship road model, is MIPS Spherical and a handful of other improvements worth an additional US$105? It’s a decision every consumer will ultimately have to make for themselves. Perhaps additional testing information from Virginia Tech will eventually help bring the answer into focus. Perhaps not.

In the meantime, potential customers have to ask themselves a variation of the same question they’ve been faced with for years: What is protecting your brain worth to you? How do you put a price on it?

Just as all crashes (and brain injuries) are unique, the same can be said for account balances and financial circumstances. It’s all variable, and subjective.

If you’re sold on MIPS, you highly rate aerodynamics and ventilation, and your current helmet has seen more than two or three years of regular use, the Aether is absolutely worth consideration. If you bought your helmet in the last two years, and you’re happy with it, you can certainly get another season out of it. If you want the latest and greatest Giro and MIPS have to offer, and you’re willing to invest US$325 in head protection, the Aether awaits.

The post First look: New Giro Aether road helmet advances MIPS safety technology appeared first on CyclingTips.

I’ve long been a fan of Cannondale bikes. I admired them for many years and finally acquired my very first back in the mid-2000s: a CAAD7 in what is possibly the most magnificent paint job they’ve ever done. A clear coat of toffee apple red lacquer with Saeco decals. I still regret selling that bike.

Since then I’ve owned several Cannondales, including an original SystemSix with its carbon front triangle and rear alloy triangle. It was the stiffest thing I’d ever ridden up to that point. It rode as if aggression oozed from the frame and the handling is still up there with some of my favourite bikes.

I’ve always looked at Cannondale as a brand that leads the way. They were one of the first to embrace oversized alloy tubes, to the extent that a friend to this day is still known as Fatty — A nickname he acquired when he moved to my hometown back in the late ’80s. He was the first customer to roll through the door of my father’s bike shop with a Cannondale. Every other bike in the shop at that time was built from skinny Reynolds, Oria or Columbus tubing. He’d come to be known as “that bloke with the fat tubes”.

So it’s fair to say I was an avid Cannondale fan but that deep-rooted appreciation has lost much of its sheen in recent years. Recent additions to the Cannondale road line failed to wow me or stand out like they used to. Sure, they’d led the charge in a few cases when it came to the road market. They were one of the first out of the gate for an all-day comfort bike with the Synapse, and they were early adopters of gravel/mixed-surface riding with the Slate. But when it came to pure racing bikes, the SuperSix Evo line had its tweaks over the years, but to my eye didn’t offer anything groundbreaking or hugely innovative.

But with the new SystemSix — a name I’m glad to see back in the Cannondale catalogue — everything changes. It’s Cannondale’s first drastically different-looking and -performing road bike in recent years. Gone are the characteristic round tubing shapes and silhouettes Cannondale’s known for. The all-new SystemSix is a sleek, highly engineered bike that’s taken three years to come to fruition.

While Cannondale claims the new SystemSix isn’t an aero bike, it is certainly an aero-looking machine. It has the lines, the details and the data to back it up. The question remains: Why is Cannondale late to the aero game? Did they bide their time until they felt they could add something new to the market?

As with pretty much any fast bike that comes out nowadays, the term “world’s fastest production bike available today” was thrown about at the SystemSix launch. Yes, Cannondale has its white papers, graphs and analysis to back all this up but come tomorrow, or the day after, I guarantee you we’ll hear the same claim from others.

So let’s leave that as it is and dig into the finer details. Let’s also look at why Cannondale is reluctant to label this an out-and-out aero bike.

Not the classic Cannondale silhouette.

Reboot or remake?

The SystemSix name is an apt one this time around. It’s Cannondale’s first road foray into a complete integrated package. We’ve seen “SI” (System Integrated) splashed on Cannondale products for many years, but this is truly the brand’s first top-to-tail bike where everything has been incorporated in the design and development phase. Cannondale claims it’s a six-point design process, involving the frame, fork, bars, stem, seat post and wheels.

The highly sculpted frame certainly has an impact. As with any high-tech bike now it’s been optimised and designed using both computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and wind tunnel testing. And the bike has all the design aspects you’d expect from a modern drag-beating bike. The forks are wide, they allow wider tyres and a cleaner airflow, plus the fork legs are asymmetric to accommodate stresses from the disc brakes.

The fork flows into the headtube and downtube exceptionally cleanly. A unique shape at the base of the headtube forces airflow from the rear of the fork’s truncated shape upwards and steers it away from interrupting the airflow at the headtube/fork crown. It’s just one of the distinctive features on the bike.

Rake is 55mm on the 47cm and 51cm models and 45mm on the remaining sizes. Headtube angles range from 71.2º though to 73º. In terms of handling, it all adds up to a very classic-feeling Cannondale, something I was pleased to see unchanged from the rest of their elite road range.

Dropped, widened stays allow tyres up to 30mm wide.

Dropped rear stays flaring from the seat tube are nothing new. Indeed, we’ve seen this on a plethora of bikes in recent years. The frame can accommodate tyres up to 30mm wide but the bike comes equipped with 26mm tyres (actual width, more on this later). The dropouts are full carbon and incorporate Mavic-designed Speed Release axles, saving weight (over regular thru-axles) and allowing for faster and easier wheel changes. The chainstays are thinner in the middle — as on the Synapse — which should make for a more comfortable ride quality. Chainstays are 405mm across all seven frame sizes, from 47cm through to 62cm.

The seattube and downtube are truncated in design, with a now-standard cut-out on the rear of the downtube to allow the wheel to sit nice and close.

None of these features are anything we haven’t seen in some shape or form before, but it’s all very well executed and from an aesthetic point of view Cannondale has done well to make a coherent, clean and fresh-looking bike. In a word, it’s slick.

While frame weight wasn’t something Cannondale shouted about at the presentation, the new SystemSix is acceptably weighted for a bike of this design. The smallest 47cm frame reportedly tips the scales at 894g, the 56cm at 981g, and the 62cm at 1,085g. All weights are given without paint, which adds roughly 70g, and small parts, which equals another 65g.

As we touched on briefly above, the new SystemSix is disc-equipped, which almost feels like a given now for aero bikes. How times have changed!

The KNØT stem with its plastic clip-on base plate.

The underside of the KNØT stem. It’s surprisingly weighty, but hides the cables well and is easily accessible.

The underside of the KNØT stem, this is plastic and easily removed for service. The same goes for the spacers. It’s all designed to allow ease of service. We’ve seen spacers similar to this on the 2018 BMC TeamMachine.

The KNØT bars and stem almost look like a one-piece. Luckily they’re not. Not the prettiest of stems, but it is indeed stiff.

Stiff!

The bars have a pleasing shape and a comfortable drop and flare.

The KNØT seatpost, with the perch of choice being a Prologo Dimension saddle.

Turn the bars over 50º on either side and you’ll get that toe overlap feeling.

The front brake hose passes through the front of the headset.

 

Full speed ahead (Aye aye captain!)

For its new integrated system, Cannondale has designated all components (bars, stem, seat post and wheels) with the name “KNØT”, as in the nautical speed.

The proprietary bar, the KNØT SystemBar, is truncated in shape, like much of the frame. Unlike some integrated bar/stem platforms these carbon bars are actually adjustable in angle, offering 8º for the rider. I found the SystemBar pretty comfortable in the short time I had it, but I’d be interested to see if that comfort holds up on a longer, all-day ride.

The slight flair of 30mm and shallow drop reminded me of the FSA Compact bars, which may be no coincidence as the non-Hi-MOD SystemSix models come with Vision (FSA’s aero brand) bars and stem as standard. A GPS mount attaches neatly to the SystemBar and can be removed when not in use. The mounting area can also be covered up with a grommet if run sans-computer. The bars come in 38, 40, 42, and 44cm widths. As you might expect, all cables are internally routed. In fact, the whole bike’s internal routing is exceptionally well executed.

Matched to the bars is the KNØT stem, wholly made of aluminium. The bars are cradled by the stem’s C-shaped base, a design that allows 8º of bar angle adjustment. Underneath, a cover plate clicks on once you’ve tidily routed the cables. The headset spacers feature a split hinge design for ease of service and stem height adjustment – allowing the latter without disconnecting cables. Again we’ve seen similar on other bikes already — for instance, the latest BMC TeamMachine or Giant Propel Disc.

The cockpit and front end are undeniably stiff but in terms of aesthetics, I did find the stem a bit on the ugly side.

The lines of the cockpit flow nicely into the headtube. Here the front brake hose is internally routed, not through the headset bearings but in front through a separate liner. This design was settled upon for ease of servicing and to limit cable-pinching while steering. The slight tradeoff though is that the steering is limited to 50º in either direction.

To test this I attempted a tight turning circle on a narrow road and the limitation caught me off guard. It was a feeling similar to toe overlap. Track stand enthusiasts may also find it a niggle to overcome. In real-world riding, however, the 50º limitation shouldn’t be a problem.

Deep and wide, at 64mm deep and 32mm wide.

All the graphics on the wheels match the frame colour. A nice touch.

A top view of the wide rim matched to the 26mm tyres.

 

 

Alloy hubs were fault-free.

The Speed Release axles are quick and efficient.

Wheels: The starting point

A fast bike needs fast wheels, and the Hollowgram KNØT64 wheels are Cannondale’s offering to this end. Though fully designed and engineered by Cannondale in-house, these wheels actually infringe slightly on a patent held by HED. However, Cannondale has a licence allowing the brand to keep the design and not upset HED or the company’s lawyers.

The tyre and wheel system is designed together. The result is that maximum aerodynamic performance occurs when a 26mm tyre (actual width on the wider rim) is used in conjunction with the wide 32mm rim shape. This is the bit that infringes on HED’s patent.

In the case of the SystemSix Hi-MOD range, these bikes come shod with Vittoria Rubino Pro Speed 23c tyres. The wide internal bead of 21mm allows you to run the tyres at a lower pressure. I ran mine at about 70psi (4.8bar) and still found them to be fast-rolling. The widest point of the rim reaches 32mm. At 765 grams for the front and 877 grams for the rear, they’re pretty acceptable for such a deep wheel.

Rims are full carbon with a 20 spoke count and both wheels are paired with alloy hubs. At only 23mm in diameter, the front hub is noticeable small for a disc-brake wheelset.

But it’s not an aero bike?!

With all this in mind, it seems odd that Cannondale isn’t talking about the SystemSix as an aero bike. Instead, it’s being sold as what seems to be a fast bike for all road occasions, as Nathan Barry, lead aerodynamic specialist on the project told us.

“People have a negative connotation … there are certain people in the cycling community that hear ‘aero bike’ and don’t want one,” he said. “[Perhaps] that past experience [was] with other products that had optimisation for aerodynamics but at the expense of a lot of other characteristics … and that compromises the experience of riding your bike. We feel we’ve overcome a lot of those so it doesn’t deserve to be bracketed as that.”

Instead, Cannondale is pitching the new SystemSix as a bike designed not just to help you go fast on the flat, but also uphill, downhill, in a bunch, or on your own. In short, as the Cannondale literature says, the SystemSix has been designed to be “every day faster”.

The stats are all quite impressive. Compared against a “modern race bike, such as an Evo”, 10% less power is reportedly needed to maintain speed when riding the SystemSix at 30km/h. In a 200-meter sprint at 60km/h, all other things being equal, SystemSix will apparently beat a race bike like the Evo to the line by four bike lengths. At 48km/h, the SystemSix reportedly saves you over 50 watts.

Cannondale even claims that the SystemSix is faster uphill, or at least up to a gradient of 6%. It’s worth checking out the latter part of our first ride video (see the top of this post) as we speak with Nathan Barry about these numbers.

Power2max comes as standard on the Hi-MOD framesets, but if you actually want to use it, it’s going to cost you €490/$490.

The silver paint is actually reflective. A nice safety feature.

Scan that code and the Cannondale App unlocks a host of features.

The two bottle cage positions.

Extra features, powermeters and an app

Bottle cages aren’t normally a feature of a new road bike but Cannondale has made them such. There are two mounting options on the downtube: a higher location that’s easier to reach, or a lower setting that’s better for overall aerodynamics.

Though the bikes stand out in design they’ve also been designed to stand out in traffic. For that added bit of road safety, Cannondale has chosen to use reflective graphics in many places. One example can be seen on the Ultegra build where the rear stays, down tube and rear of the seat post all have a silver reflective surface. It’s a small but nice touch.

In Di2-equipped versions, the junction box is hidden in the downtube, making it easily accessible. Above this is something many will not take notice of: a graphic that looks like a QR code which, if scanned with Cannondale’s latest app, will unlock an augmented reality experience. Hold your phone over the bike and the phone will display a gaggle of information, including an exploded diagram of the internals, catalogue information, part numbers, CFD airflow data, and a mechanical manual. It’s all very geeky, but also very cool. It’ll be interesting to see the development of this technology and how it could help the everyday rider.

Cannondale has partnered with power2max for its top-end models. The Hi-MOD Dura-Ace Di2, Hi-MOD Ultegra Di2 and Hi-MOD Dura-Ace Womens builds all come with Cannondale’s own HollowGram SiSL2, BB30 chainset combined with power2max’s NG Eco powermeter. The niggly bit here though is that unless you pay the $490/€490 “activation fee” to power2max, the powermeter will, in essence, be redundant.

It was explained at the SystemSix launch that the power2max activation fee could be something of a selling point for retailers. The industry has a habit of not selling bikes at full RRP, and if they do it’s usually a case of the retailer throwing in freebies. A free activation of a powermeter on a $7,499 or $10,999 model bike may very well be the bargaining chip a shop needs.

Pricing

The new SystemSix range is split into two frame variants: the higher-grade all-new BallisTec Hi-Mod frame, coming in either a Dura-Ace Di2 Hydro (US$11,000 / £8,000) or Ultegra Di2 Hydro (US$7,500 / £6,500) build. These come with the new KNØT64 wheelset and the matching KNØT SystemBar. The BallisTec Hi-MOD women’s offering is slightly different, featuring the mechanical Dura-Ace Hydro groupset but with Vision’s Metron 4D bar matched to a Vision Trimax OS stem (US$7,500 / £6,500). The Hi-MOD is also available as a frameset (US$4,199 / £TBC)

The lower-grade yet still-new BallisTec carbon SystemSix range comes in two builds and two colours: a lime green or a graphite grey. This build is made up of a Dura-Ace (mechanical) hydro groupset with the KNØT64 wheels and Vision’s Metron 4D flat bars with Vision’s Trimax OS stem (US$7500 / £6,000) plus Cannondale’s lightweight HollowGram Si SpideRing chainset. Next in line is the Ultegra (mechanical) Hydro flavour (US$4,000 / £3,500), which loses the KNØT64 wheels in favour of Fulcrum 400 DBs but keeps Cannondale’s Si chainset and the same Vision cockpit. A women’s Ultegra option is offered, too.

Just don’t call it an aero bike.

Riding the bike

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to spend as much time on this bike as I’d initially intended. Let’s just say that a food allergy saw me trade time in the saddle for time on the bathroom floor. But I did manage to take the new SystemSix for a two-hour spin on some varied terrain around the Girona area. It was certainly enough to get a rough idea of the bike’s characteristics.

Cannondale claims the SystemSix is not an out-and-out aero bike but I’d dispute this. It’s a damn fast ride, so let’s put it in the aero stable. With the addition of the new SystemSix, Cannondale now has a nicely rounded range. The Evo can be seen as Cannondale’s all-round climbing workhorse, the Synapse is the fast comfort bike, and the Slate is the do-it-all gravel/all-surface machine.

In the week leading up to the launch, I’d been filming on the roads around Girona and the Costa Brava using an aero bike from a different brand. When comparing Cannondale’s “fast all-round bike” versus the competitor’s aero offering, the SystemSix was in a different league. From the first few moments spent rolling out of town, the SystemSix gave the sense that I’d be hacking along at a few extra kilometres an hour than normal.

As mentioned previously, nothing here feels groundbreaking — it’s all been done in some way already. But as a package, as a system, it delivers. It’s been done right — as a first attempt, Cannondale has hit the nail firmly on the head.

It does slip up in places, though. I feel the SystemSix isn’t as plush as the Evo, but I’d be happy to ride this bike all day as it’s not uncomfortable on rough stuff either. It appears to punch through the rough roads as opposed to gliding over them. I’m sure a wheel change for something shallower would have a huge impact on the bike’s ability to smooth things out.

As a package, the frame and wheels are just too aero to be classed as anything but an aero bike. The 64mm deep wheels wouldn’t be anyone’s choice for hauling up any sort of long climb. So swapping out for something shallower wouldn’t just smooth things out but also open up the SystemSix’s climbing potential too (at least on steeper stuff).

In the limited time I had the bike I only climbed two short sharp hills on the outskirts of Girona. I’d love to ride it more before passing full judgment on the bike’s climbing prowess. Unfortunately, in the time I did get to ride it I found that the front end was just too stiff for me when standing and climbing. Personally, I like a bike with a bit of ‘whip’ or ‘flow’ to the front. But if you want a bike that will not waste a single ounce of effort put in, but is slightly unnatural in its doing so, then this bike should be considered.

The stiff front-end matched to the huge bottom bracket and rear end makes it feel like it’s kicking under you when sprinting — exactly the “head down, arse up” formula that racers would be after. For sprinters, descenders and breakaway riders, this bike is the ideal choice.

Handling is what you expect from Cannondale and I was very pleased to see that this character remains universal across the brand’s elite road models. It was sharp, on point and predictable. The same goes for fit: low and long is certainly possible.

As it comes, this bike may not be for me. A few changes though — replacing the wheels and the stem — would alter it just enough for me to really consider it. Importantly, this bike gets me excited about Cannondale’s road division again.

It’s going to be exciting to see where this bike is used at the Tour de France. Will we see Rigoberto Uran smashing up the medium mountains on it? Will Sep Vanmarcke use it on the cobbles when the tour reaches Roubaix? After all, it’s not an aero bike — “it’s just a fast bike for everyone.”

Oh, and why did it take so long for this bike to come together? Well, as Nathan Barry said: “It’s been something on the company’s radar, but we’ve not had the people or the resources to really do the job that they wanted to do”. Now that it’s finished, they’ve done a fine job indeed.

The name has been revived, but does it live up to it?

Bottle cages can be moved into two positions, one for ease of entry, the other for aerodynamic gains.

The rear end is neat and tidy with the wheel tucked away tightly under the seat tube.

Dropped, widened stays allow up to 30mm-wide tyres.

The silver paint is actually reflective. A nice safety feature.

 

Rubino Pro Speed tyres come as standard.

There’s plenty of sleek lines on the bike.

 

 

The asymmetric fork accommodates the stresses of disc brakes.

 

The post Cannondale 2019 SystemSix first-ride review: ‘Don’t call it an aero bike!’ appeared first on CyclingTips.

This is a story of lessons learned.

As of this week, the Specialized Venge is officially in its third generation, and the latest iteration is many things the last was not. It’s not only a logical step forward, it’s a necessary step back into the real world, where bikes are ridden and races are raced.

It’s not that the old Venge Vias was bad. It wasn’t. It was just annoying to work on and didn’t ride very well, and it was kind of ugly. Or shall we say polarizing? Those ugly wing bars were very polarizing.

The new Venge isn’t any of those unfortunate things. It’s easy to work on and relatively comfortable and really quite striking. And it’s faster, too, so Specialized says. And lighter. And stiffer, but only in the right places. It’s better. I’m happy to say that unequivocally, which is pretty rare.

The funny thing is that it was mostly made by the same core team of engineers and designers. They just learned a few lessons along the way.

The place to start the story of the new Venge is probably with Ingmar Jungnickel. Back at university in Germany he developed a test to research the effect of high profile racing wheels on the dynamic stability of bicycles in crosswinds. Later, an intern, he developed a system for measuring drag in a wind tunnel that is now used by WorldTour teams and the German national team. He did these things before he was 25. This is the sort of individual we’re dealing with.

Specialized has a wind tunnel. They call in the Win Tunnel, because they’re very good at marketing, and it was an integral part of the development of the old Venge Vias. Chris Yu, the aerodynamic lead on that project and also a glorious super nerd, spent hours in the tunnel, working through hundreds of iterations of the frame until they found something they thought was fast. And it was; there’s no question the Venge Vias was fast.

The problem was that in their dedication to aerodynamic gains the engineers at Specialized let a few rather important things slide. They forgot, for example, that it’s a good thing to be able to add or remove a headset spacer without detaching and re-running brake lines. The ability to put a new stem on with fewer than four hands is also good. A bike that handles well is really good — vital, almost. They made tubes narrow and integrated everything and the result was a very, very fast bike that was just not very good at being a bike you’d actually want to ride.

This required a solution. Part of that solution lay in finding a way to keep the bike fast while improving the way it rode.

This is where Ingmar comes in. He arrived shortly before development began for the new Venge. Specialized needed fast tube shapes that would also allow for predictable, dependable handling and good ride quality. Ingmar found them in a supercomputer.

Ingmar set about combining and rewriting a pile of computer programs to create a custom bit of software that churns through thousands of tube shape iterations in the time it would take Chris Yu to get through one or two. Horribly simplified (sorry Ingmar), the software runs CFD (computational fluid dynamics) and FEA (finite element analysis) for each shape and keeps working until it finds a shape that is drag optimized for particular weight and stiffness targets.

The shapes the program churned out became a new launch point. The engineering team had what they believed to be the optimal head tube shape, downtube shape, seat stay shape, fork leg shape, even how the fork leg should be tapered. They had shapes that were just as aero as the old bike, or more so, but that were also fatter, rounder, and stiffer. The frame could be lighter, it could ride better, and aerodynamics wouldn’t be sacrificed.

That’s what Specialized says, anyway. Did it work?

Meet the new Venge

The new Venge is lighter, it rides far better, and, according to Specialized, it’s faster than the old one. It’s also better looking and the integration is better thought out and more user-friendly. It will only be sold with disc brakes and only with electronic drivetrains. Here’s the full breakdown, feature-by-feature.

Is the Venge lighter?

The Venge Vias was portly, around 1200 grams for the frame and another 410 for the fork. The new Venge drops those figures down to 960 grams and 385 grams, respectively, a loss of around 20%. These are claimed weights, mind. But there’s reason to believe they’re at least close: Specialized also claims that the S-Works Venge comes in at 7.1kg with deep, 64mm Roval wheels, and I just weighed the one we have here and it came in at 7,152 grams.

Is the Venge stiffer?

Obviously, we haven’t done any third-party testing yet. Specialized claims that bottom bracket stiffness improves relative to the Vias with the greatest gains at larger sizes (18% stiffer for a 61cm).

Front end stiffness is improved as well. The engineering goal for the new stem was to match or exceed the oversized Zipp SL Sprint stem popular with sprinters like Peter Sagan and Tom Boonen (who rode it with the logo covered in tape or paint). According to Specialized, that goal has been achieved.

Specialized admits that a drawback of the old wing shaped Vias bar was a lack of stiffness. The new bar is flat and uses one of Ingmar’s optimized shapes. Combined with the stiffer stem, the difference is dramatic. The front end feels far more confident and than it did on the Vias, particularly out of the saddle.

Did they fix the cockpit?

Well, they got rid of the gullwing bar, so that’s a step in the right direction already. The purpose of that bar was to allow for a flat stem (-17 degrees) while retaining the same fit, which improved aerodynamics. Specialized apparently decided that this particular marginal gain wasn’t worth it.

The new Aerofly II bar uses a flat top that is slightly textured and has 80mm of reach to 130mm of drop.

There are a couple other important changes to the cockpit area. You can now run any handlebar with the Venge stem. You can also run most aftermarket stems using a universal stem transition spacer in place of the Venge spacers.

Those Venge spacers are clever. The hydraulic brake lines still run down through the head tube, which used to mean that adding or removing a spacer required removing and re-running the brake lines. No more. Now the spacers twist apart, so you can easily mess with your position.

Engineer Doug Russell told me he spent months thinking about nothing but cockpit integration and ease of use. Well, Doug, kudos. Those were months well spent.

Is the Venge more comfortable?

Yes, but not by much.

Is the Venge more aerodynamic?

Aero is kind of the whole point of a bike like this, after all. So, did Specialized manage to pull off some aero magic? A wider, stiffer, lighter bike that’s also more aero? They say they have.

That chart doesn’t provide a lot of detail, and Specialized doesn’t provide much more elsewhere. They do say, however, that the new Venge will save you 8 seconds over 40k compared to the Venge Vias at zero degrees yaw (straight on).

The Venge now comes with three available bottle cage mounting options, two on the downtube and one on the seat tube. Either downtube option provides the same aerodynamics, apparently. Interestingly, if you’re only going to run one bottle, it’s fastest on the down tube, rather than the seat tube.

(Note: You may see the opposite elsewhere on the Internet. Due to a typo, Specialized’s white paper on the bike says the seat tube is faster. We checked in with Yu and he confirmed the down tube is the faster option.)

Compatibility

The new Venge is only compatible with electronic drivetrains, and will only come with disc brakes, which use the flat mount standard.

The bottom bracket is a BB30. Thru-axles are 100×12 and 142×12.

The new Venge will fit up to a 32mm tire, which is awesome. It comes stock with 26mm tires.

Pricing

A complete S-Works Venge will set you back US$12,500 / AU$14,500. A frameset is US$5,500 / AU$5,600.

First ride review of the Specialized Venge

If it wasn’t clear from the rest of this review, I wasn’t a huge fan of the Venge Vias. Neither were a lot of pros — Mark Cavendish told me the Vias rim brakes were terrible just days after the bike was launched. Yu admits that he had to go to the Tour de Suisse and Tour de France that year to do damage control with athletes and mechanics. The Venge Vias was aero, but it turns out aero is not, in fact, everything.

That lesson has been learned. I’ve been impressed with virtually every aspect of the new Venge, from little details like the brake line routing and headset spacers to big details like cockpit stiffness and overall ride quality. It’s a better bike to live with and ride every day. And if you believe Specialized’s own data, it’s still faster.

My favorite aero road bike of all time remains the original Scott Foil, mostly because it didn’t feel like an aero bike at all. It just felt like a stiff, lively race bike. That’s how the Venge feels. It’s too early to say if it tops my all-time list, as I’ve only been on it for a week and a half, the signs are promising. The move to wider tubes, made possible by Ingmar’s optimization, changes the character of the bike completely. It’s better out of the saddle and far better in hard corners, when quite a lot of steering input happens at the saddle but needs to be translated to the front wheel.

The cockpit is a dramatic improvement. It’s stiffer, which is nice if you’re a sprinter, but it’s also just a nicer place to rest your hands. The tops have a bit of surface texture and are relatively comfortable even without bar tape. And though everything appears to be hyper-integrated and even proprietary, it’s not. That visual integration comes mostly through the use of cleverly shaped caps and spacers. You can run whatever bar and stem you want. That’s a good move on Specialized’s part.

I’m not going to say the new Venge is comfortable. It’s a race bike. It doesn’t apologize for being a race bike. But it’s not uncomfortable, either. I guess that’s about as good as it gets in this space — though I imagine the new Madone with the ISO Speed Decoupler is a cushier ride.

If you want more comfort, just throw on some bigger tires. The Venge will take up to a 32. Run those at 50psi and you’ll get more compliance than any frame can possibly provide.

Did I mention it looks good? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, of course. But this thing looks good. It turns heads.

Specialized loves its #aeroiseverything hashtag. But bikes, like the races they’re in, aren’t all about the numbers. The new Venge is a reflection of that. Lessons, learned.

The post The new 2019 Specialized Venge first-ride review: Aero is not everything appeared first on CyclingTips.

When Team Aqua Blue announced it would be starting the 2018 season on the disc-equipped and 1x-specific 3T Strada aero road bike, debates ensued. Was the pro cycling world ready for 1x gearing? Were the gaps between each rear shift going to be too great to be efficient in a rolling peloton? What about the gear range for stages that included significant climbs but ended in a fast sprint finish?

It was a big enough deal to overshadow the dedicated use of disc brakes, despite discs still being in a trial phase at the time.

Mentions of mechanical and logistical issues in racing 1x gearing at the sport’s top level since surfaced. First it was a discussion with Team Aqua Blue mechanic, Sam Elenes, who revealed the need for specific length chains to go with specific cassettes, something that the team was having to swap on nearly every bike, on every stage of a major race. And more recently, the team’s owner, Rick Delaney, tweeted his sheer disappointment in the number of mechanicals his team was suffering.

Discussion with Sam Elenes of Team Aqua Blue about 1x drivetrains. Starts at 36:29.

Amongst the public dissatisfaction, we’d heard rumours that 3T was going to add a front derailleur mount to its Strada road bike. And confirming such rumours, 3T announced the news to its email subscriber list just hours ago.

3T have officially revealed the new Strada DUE, a 2x-equipped version of the Strada. The new Strada DUE, much like the new Specialized S-Works Venge, is compatible with electronic shifting only. With the exception of offering a front derailleur mount, a port for an electric wire and likely a slight carbon layup tweak to handle the front shift forces, the frame is otherwise the same as the regular Strada. The new Strada DUE will sit in the 3T line-up next to the original Strada, offered in a Team-level frameset.

When 3T first released the Strada, it did so with plenty of noise about the benefits of 1x-shifting (once the rest of the bike was aerodynamically optimised). The claim was it saved “8 Watts in drag and 300g in weight (shifter, derailleur, cables, chainring, frame construction)”. However, in the release, 3T reiterates that the Strada’s original big story was not the 1x shifting, but rather its design that was most aerodynamic when used with wider tyres (up to 30c).

The email newsletter from 3T explains the company’s position.

“It [the Strada DUE] will also be used by Team Aqua Blue in select races. As you may know, we started working with Aqua Blue at the start of this season to see how far we could take 1x. It’s fair to say it’s gone further than most people expected, even winning a few King of the Mountain competitions including last month at the Tour de Suisse. In other races, the riders would have preferred an extra gear.

“Just like 2x isn’t always perfect (ask the guys who lost Tirreno-Adriatico and Abu Dhabi due to 2x drivetrain issues), neither is 1x as we know. As we said from the start, sometimes 1x will be better than 2x, sometimes it won’t matter, and sometimes 2x will be better.

“Of course pro riders find themselves in a very specific situation, often going up mountains in a peloton surrounded by 100 riders with no choice but to ride the exact pace of those around them, not their own pace. In such a situation, where they can’t go their own pace, having that extra gear can be an advantage. It’s interesting to hear a pro say ‘when I retire, I’ll only ride 1x but right now, there are some races I would still like 2x for’.”

So what does the future hold for 1x shifting in the pro peloton? 3T suggests the Strada was designed to be five years ahead of the present norm, but will we see front derailleurs become obsolete, like they have in mountain bikes, in that time? Will SRAM be able to overcome the big jumps between gears by adding an extra cog? Or will 1x shifting slowly fade back out of the peloton and be left for the booming gravel market?

The post 3T adds Strada DUE to range, designed for 2x gearing appeared first on CyclingTips.

Aero road bikes have historically been about compromises, with extra speed often coming at the expense of ride quality, weight, and/or real-world usability. But BMC’s thoroughly revamped Timemachine Road joins the latest crop of aero road bikes to challenge that notion, promising impressive comfort, low weight, and reasonable versatility to go along with its wind-cheating shape.

But does it actually deliver? 170km of riding over two days hardly comprises a proper long-term review, but based on CyclingTips U.S. technical editor James Huang’s initial impressions, BMC has come up with a pretty convincing argument.

Time for a reset

BMC debuted the original Timemachine Road back in 2012, and while it was visually stunning, it was hardly a knockout. Its ride quality was choppy, the integrated rim brakes didn’t work that well, and even BMC now acknowledges that much of the bike’s aerodynamic advantage went away once a pair of bottles and cages were attached. Riders on the company’s own World Tour team haven’t even used it much, and the model disappeared from the company catalog entirely for the 2018 model year.

All of that has now been corrected with the new Timemachine Road, which is not only claimed to be faster on the road, but also easier to live with, better looking, and strangely comfortable. And as is becoming increasingly common, the Timemachine Road will only be offered with disc brakes.

BMC will only offer the Timemachine R01 with disc brakes; there is no rim-brake version at all.

Despite the improvements, the new bike is actually more conventional in several ways.

For one, the old external steerer tube has been replaced with a standard tapered setup, and the original Timemachine Road’s lobed tube profiles have gone away in favor of more typical Kamm tail shapes with those telltale flat trailing edges. Many BMC design hallmarks still carry over, however, such as the dropped seatstays, semi-angular styling cues, and pleasantly restrained graphics. The bike’s frontal profile remains remarkably minimal as well.

BMC has ensured that there will be no complaints about braking performance on this latest version, either. Thanks in no small part to the UCI finally officially making disc brakes legal across all road disciplines, the new Timemachine Road is all-in on the technology; there are no rim-brake options, and the team is expected to use them at the Tour de France. Going along with that shift are the usual flat-mount caliper interfaces and 12mm front and rear thru-axles, and the front caliper is further shielded from oncoming air with a tidy little fairing.

The disc brakes may add weight to the overall package relative to rim brakes, but at least some of that is offset by a lighter frameset. Claimed weight for the new Timemachine Road frame is a highly respectable 980g, plus 410g for the matching fork — about 200g lighter than before, and a modest 240g penalty relative to the latest disc-brake Teammachine SLR. BMC says the Timemachine is nearly as stiff as the Teammachine at the bottom bracket, too, while actually posting better full-frame torsional rigidity on the test bench.

Flat-backed Kamm tail tube shapes are used throughout the new BMC Timemachine R01 aero road bike.

Naturally, BMC also claims big aerodynamic advantages over the Teammachine, to the tune of 8W of power savings when traveling at 40km/h, or an extra 1.5km/h at the same power output. Those figures were measured on a velodrome, and BMC says the benefits on the road in more realistic wind conditions are greater yet, with as much as 18W of savings at a 15° yaw angle.

Geometry-wise, the new Timemachine is about what you’d expect for the genre. Rider positioning is very aggressive, with 3-6mm more reach and 10mm less stack than the Teammachine, depending on size. Wheelbases are 5-10mm longer and there’s a touch more bottom bracket drop — just a single millimeter, from 69mm to 70mm — but BMC has adjusted the trail dimension to be a consistent 62mm across the entire Timemachine Road size range for even quicker-feeling front ends than the Teammachine.

It’s the little things

Taking a closer look at the new Timemachine Road reveals a wealth of other aero-focused details.

BMC has been big on integrated cockpits and fully hidden cabling for its road bikes lately, so it’s no surprise to see both features on the new Timemachine Road. Just like on the Roadmachine and Teammachine, the Timemachine Road uses a proprietary stem with a bolt-on plastic cover on the underside that conceals the cables as they make their way from the handlebar, down the flattened sides of the steerer tube, and into the frame. Also as with the Roadmachine and Teammachine, the stem on the Timemachine Road uses a standard 1 1/8in steerer clamp diameter, a shaped upper headset cover, and profiled-to-match headset spacers that are split so as to facilitate changes in handlebar height.

There’s no denying that the front end of the new BMC Timemachine R01 is gloriously clean and tidy. And unlike many other integrated aero cockpits, this one isn’t a complete nightmare to work on, either.

Also carrying over is the array of integrated faceplate-mounted accessories. BMC only supports late-model Garmin computers for now, but anything that uses the standard GoPro finned interface will work. I personally use Wahoo Fitness computers, for example, and at the launch event, BMC was prepared with 3D-printed aftermarket mounts.

But whereas those other two cockpits use conventional 31.8mm-diameter handlebar clamps (which also makes them compatible with nearly every aftermarket handlebar), BMC has equipped the one on the Timemachine Road with a downsized 25mm diameter. According to BMC, this reduces the frontal area for better aerodynamic performance, but still allows for user-adjustable bar angle, unlike one-piece setups that provide far less positioning flexibility.

At least for now, there’s just a single carbon fiber handlebar to match, though, built with a curiously compact ergonomic bend and a slight kink at the outer end of the tops to provide a little extra wrist clearance while sprinting.

BMC is only offering the Timemachine R01 with a compact-reach, ergonomic-type bar for now, which doesn’t seem well-suited to the bike’s purpose. Rest assured that a more aggressive option will be added later, if only to accommodate the team’s sponsored pros.

That downsized handlebar clamp diameter isn’t the only way the Timemachine Road stem differs from the one on the Roadmachine or Teammachine, either. BMC has built the new Timemachine Road stem with an aggressively flattened profile measuring 50mm-wide but just 30mm-tall. In terms of cross-section, the new stem resembles a squashed “D” lying on its side, which supposedly offers the same sort of ride quality benefits as the D-shaped carbon seatposts now used throughout the company’s road range (and also widely used throughout the industry). In fact, BMC boldly claims that, when taking the stem into account, the front end of the Timemachine Road is actually more comfortable than the Teammachine.

Other features on the new Timemachine Road include a hidden internal seatpost binder, an optional direct-mount rear derailleur hanger for Shimano drivetrains, a proprietary carbon fiber aero seatpost with three built-in offset options (-30mm, -15mm, and 0mm), a PF86 press-fit bottom bracket shell, and a hidden compartment in the down tube underneath the bottle cage to hold a Shimano Di2 junction box. 25mm-wide tires are fitted stock to each complete Timemachine Road, but BMC says 28mm-wide ones will easily fit.

Nifty add-ons

BMC’s quest for drag reduction hasn’t ended with the frame, fork, or cockpit. This time around, frame designers fully accounted for bottles by collaborating with Elite on a set of profiled cages made just for the Timemachine Road. These integrate neatly into the seat tube and down tube, and there’s even an add-on storage vessel in between the two (nestled above the bottom bracket) that has room for a spare tube, CO2 cartridge and inflator head, tire lever, and multi-tool.

BMC partnered directly with Elite to produce the Timemachine R01’s proprietary bottle and storage system. BMC says that the bike is actually more aerodynamic with all of the accessories fitted than without, and the components can be added or removed as desired – which is good since the storage vessel isn’t UCI-legal for mass-start events. For amateur riders, though, there’s enough room inside for a spare tube, CO2 cartridge and inflator head, tire lever, and multi-tool, and a custom-fitted soft case keeps everything from rattling.

All three of those bits can be added or subtracted as desired, but according to BMC, the new Timemachine Road tests faster with everything mounted than without. But there’s a catch.

That storage vessel isn’t UCI-legal, nor is the front brake caliper fairing. This is obviously only a concern for riders that plan on entering UCI-sanctioned events, though; otherwise, amateurs are free to enjoy the free speed as they please.

Several build options, but no cables allowed

BMC will offer the new Timemachine Road in three complete models. The top-end Timemachine Road R01 One comes equipped with Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 for US$13,000 / €12,000 / CHF12,500; the second-tier Timemachine Road 01 Two is fitted with SRAM’s Red eTap HRD groupset for US$11,000 / €10,000 / CHF10,500; and the Timemachine Road 01 Three is built with Shimano Ultegra Di2 for US$8,500 / €8,000 / CHF8,500.

62mm-deep DT Swiss ARC DiCut db 62 carbon clinchers are included for all three models (the 1100 model for the One; the heavier 1400 model for the Two and Three), and there will also be a bare frameset available for DIYers for US$5,500 / €4,200 / CHF5,700.

It’s worth noting that none of the options will be compatible with mechanical drivetrains; BMC clearly believes wholeheartedly in disc brakes, but also in electronic drivetrains, too. Pricing for the Australian market is still to be confirmed.

Swiss timekeeper

I will freely confess that aero road bikes historically have not really been my cup of tea. While I can fully appreciate that they’re highly engineered tools for the job, and as much as I like going fast, racing bikes isn’t my job (and nor is it the case for most people buying aero road bikes.) As a result I’ve often been unwilling to put up with their rough rides, dead feel, and excess weight to gain speed that I didn’t really need.

But as is the case with many modern examples of the genre these days, this new BMC Timemachine Road is making a much stronger case as an everyday road bike than before.

The BMC Timemachine R01 isn’t the absolute stiffest bike on the market, but it’s easily among the front-runners for the aero road category.

As it should, the Timemachine Road certainly feels fast, with its stout chassis efficiently channeling power to the rear wheel, the admirably solid front end doing a very good job of resisting any unwanted movement when sprinting out of the saddle, and that sleek shape making it tangibly easier to maintain a fast pace as compared to a non-aero bike. I unfortunately wasn’t able to grab an actual weight, but I found the Timemachine Road to be a surprisingly good climber nonetheless, too.

Also as expected, it’s a fairly agile handler. Despite what the trail figures would suggest, I didn’t find the Timemachine Road to fall into corner apexes quite as naturally as I would have hoped, but it snaked its way through fast and sinuous alpine descents and carved up tight corners regardless, albeit with a bit more handlebar input required than I’d prefer.

Those sorts of things should be minimum requirements for any competition-minded aero road bike, however.

What was far less expected was the Timemachine Road’s oddly smooth ride quality. Granted, Switzerland isn’t exactly known for its poor road quality — anything but, in fact — but every road seam, pothole, and broken section of asphalt I could find was managed far better than I anticipated. Even better, that smooth ride quality is pleasantly balanced from front to rear, unlike some competitors that feel more disjointed from end to end.

Graphics are pleasantly subdued and elegant, with just a few logos and a restrained graphic design.

Just as BMC promises, much of the bike’s front-end comfort seems to come from that flat, D-shaped stem, which visibly flexes when you push down on it, yet remains quite rigid when you’re cranking on the drops in a sprint. Just as with seatpost flex, though, some extra length helps, and one curious design decision unfortunately forces the matter upon you.

For whatever reason, BMC has chosen to fit the Timemachine Road’s proprietary ergonomic-bend, compact bar with a strangely short reach and shallow drop, which is exactly the opposite of what you’d think would be most appropriate for a bike like this. My 51cm test bike featured about the same amount of reach as I normally prefer on the road, but the stubby bar forced me to use a 130mm-long stem instead of my usual 120mm one.

My position isn’t unusually aggressive by any means, though, and as you’d guess, BMC’s team riders have to resort to far more extreme measures to get their desired fits. One of the pro chaperones for the longer of our two rides was Stefan Küng, whose shiny new Timemachine Road was fitted with a custom 160mm-long — 160mm! — stem that looked as insane as it sounds. For sure, this is something BMC will have to address for its sponsored athletes, but I’d argue that even for everyday enthusiasts, the stock handlebar bend just doesn’t make sense. And unfortunately, given the unusual 25mm bar clamp diameter, there aren’t any other options for the time being.

The 62mm-deep DT Swiss wheels make much more sense for a bike like this, but even then, I found myself frequently wishing my test sample was rolling along on something else. I’ve got plenty of experience on wheels of this depth, and am used to being blown around to a certain degree. But for whatever reason, these DT Swiss wheels were unusually sensitive to crosswinds, to the point where it just flat-out made me nervous on fast descents. Even the wake of smaller passing vehicles would upset the bike’s stability, and the turbulence from bigger trucks was downright pucker-inducing.

Each BMC Timemachine R01 will come stock with 25mm-wide tires, but 28mm-wide ones will easily fit, too.

Not that sudden gusts were necessary, either. I typically don’t have any issues letting bikes run on non-technical downhills, but the front end of the DT Swiss-equipped Timemachine Road felt sufficiently nervous above 65km/h that I was forced to regularly put those confidence-inspiring disc brakes to use. Other editors I spoke to at the event expressed similar feedback, and ones that switched to shallower profiles for the second day’s ride reported much calmer handling manners overall. This issue isn’t necessarily a deal-breaker for me, but if I were to pick up a Timemachine Road for myself, I’d certainly be starting with the frameset option and choosing wheels I know are more stable than these.

Aero or not, those custom bottle cages carry a few little quirks with them, too. BMC didn’t provide any official figures, but just given their bulk, my guess is they’re fairly heavy. More importantly, they don’t perform their core function very well. The bottles seem to be held securely enough, but it’s hard to grab them on the go. The cage’s more thoroughly wrapped shape doesn’t leave much bottle surface area for your hands, and given the option, I’d rather be hydrated and a touch slower than more aero and suffering from muscle cramps. It’ll be interesting to see what the BMC team goes with at the upcoming Tour de France.

Almost the complete package

There’s a lot I really like about BMC’s new aero road bike: the ride quality, the aesthetics, the thoroughness of its integration, how it generally feels on the ride. Overall, BMC has done an excellent job advancing the breed, and it’s a sufficiently entertaining and fast rig that I could certainly see myself enjoying a lot of time riding it on home roads.

However, that handlebar bend is a head-scratcher in my book, and as much as I like the idea of those profiled bottle cages, their ergonomics leave much to be desired. And those wheels? Sorry, DT Swiss, but they’re definitely not for me.

Click through to www.bmc-switzerland.com to read more.

BMC’s new Timemachine R01 is a major improvement over the original Timemachine Road, with a vastly smoother ride, better aerodynamic performance, and more integration.

Without a rim-brake caliper up top, BMC’s frame designers were free to clean up the fork crown area for better airflow. Note the complete absence of exposed cabling, too.

Cables and hoses don’t route through the dedicated stem, but are rather secured underneath and hidden with a bolt-on plastic cap. The flat shape is intentional, and makes the front end of the Timemachine R01 remarkably forgiving on rough roads, especially if running a longer extension.

BMC has done an excellent job with incorporating some adjustability into the Timemachine R01’s aero cockpit. The bar’s downsized 25mm clamp diameter allows for plenty of rotational range while still maintaining a very small frontal profile.

As with BMC’s other recent models, accessory mounts can be attached directly to the stem faceplate. This Wahoo Fitness-compatible computer mount isn’t one of the options directly available from BMC, but it shows how just about anything that uses the GoPro finned standard will work.

BMC has done a nice job of blending the shapes of the head tube, headset cover, headset spacers, and stem. Note how the spacers are split, too, so the stem can be raised and lowered without having to recable the entire bike.

Flat-mount brakes are clumsier to set up that post-mount ones, but as intended, they do make for a more compact and cleaner appearance. Mounting bolts are well hidden, too, and note that there’s no adapter plate required on the BMC Timemachine R01 when using the standard 140mm-diameter rear rotor, either.

BMC has added a small cover up front that helps divert air around the brake caliper for supposedly improved aerodynamic performance.

The cover isn’t UCI-approved, though, so riders in sanctioned events will have to use the alternative cover supplied in order to stay within the technical guidelines.

BMC provides a custom-fit soft case that keeps the contents from rattling. Inside, there’s enough room for a long-stem inner tube, CO2 cartridge and inflator, a tire lever, and a mini-tool.

Given the claimed benefit to aerodynamic performance provided by the custom-made Elite bottle cages, it’s a wonder no other bike brand has done this sort of thing before. According to BMC, the new Timemachine Road actually records less drag with the bottles and storage vessel in place than without, although it’s worth noting that the storage unit is not UCI-legal.

BMC will offer both standard and direct-mount rear derailleur hangers with the new Timemachine R01.

The Syntace-style 12mm thru-axles sit pleasantly flush for a clean look.

As further evidence of BMC’s intentions with the Timemachine R01 – or a sign of where things are headed – the frame is only compatible with electronic drivetrains.

The proprietary aero-profile carbon fiber seatpost has a three-position cradle for multiple offset options. The single-bolt head can’t be accessed with most multi-tools, although riders using cutout saddles may be able to replace with a hex-head bolt for easier roadside adjustments.

Small little “tails” on the trailing edge of the fork tips presumably reduce aerodynamic drag by some miniscule amount. Thru-axle threads are replaceable.

Shimano Di2 batteries are mounted into the base of the seatpost, which is filled with a structural foam.

The post BMC Timemachine R01 first-ride review: A well-rounded speedster appeared first on CyclingTips.

Hot on the heels of the recently revamped S-Works Venge aero road bike, Specialized has announced a special-edition Sagan Collection version for those who want to go a little faster, but also want to be noticed in the process.

Like the previous Sagan Collection family of bikes, this new version is once again awash in glitter-infused paint. But this time around, Specialized has opted for a slightly less ostentatious blue hue instead of gold. Interested buyers aren’t limited to just the S-Works Venge, either. As before, Specialized will also offer the limited-edition finish on the Tarmac SL6 and a few other select accessories.

No one buying a Sagan Collection bike should expect any extra performance, of course — and in fact, given that paint is surprisingly heavy, each of the machines in the collection likely weighs a bit more than its inline equivalent (and in case you’re wondering, Sagan’s S-Works Venge weighs 7.69kg as pictured here). But hey, there’s nothing wrong with just wanting to look good, right?

More information on the new S-Works Venge can be found here (along with CyclingTips senior editor Caley Fretz’s first impressions), and you can find more details on the Sagan Collection at specialized.com.

This second Sagan-edition S-Works machine is no less sparkly than the first one, but it’s arguably more tasteful.

One nice benefit of aero road bikes for graphic designers is the bigger canvas they have to play with.

The matte black upper/rear section is punctuated by Sagan’s name and a smattering of sponsor logos – at least on the team bikes, that is.

The matching anodized headset cap bolt is a nice touch.

The lower half of the bike is particularly dazzling, especially in bright sunlight. Team bikes are fitted with thread-together CeramicSpeed bottom brackets to adapt the Dura-Ace cranksets into the OSBB press-fit shells.

It’s unlikely Sagan will be able to continue his three-year run as the road world champion given how much climbing is slated for the 2018 edition, but it’s still been a hell of a run.

Can anyone even remember the last time Sagan raced in his trade team jersey?

Sagan’s personal Specialized S-Works Venge was fitted with a 150mm-long stem at the team pit area.

Bare-topped aero bars have become increasingly common in recent years.

The mount for Sagan’s Wahoo Fitness ELEMNT Bolt computer is integrated into the stem faceplate.

The black Supacaz bar tape camouflages the Shimano Di2 sprint shifter.

Cables are neatly tucked away beneath the stem.

Sagan (and the rest of the team) is using Shimano Dura-Ace cranksets fitted with Specialized power meters instead of the carbon fiber S-Works cranks found on consumer bikes. Both power meters were developed in partnership with 4iiii Innovations.

Roval’s 64mm-deep wheels are supposedly the fastest of the bunch, but many riders still prefer the slightly shallower 50mm variety for their enhanced versatility.

The glittery paint job of the Sagan Collection bikes certainly stand out against the austere black-and-white finishes on Bora-Hansgrohe’s other machines.

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The Trek Madone SLR takes all that was good with the previous Madone and made the new bike markedly better in seemingly every way. It’s now offered in both disc-brake and rim-brake variants, it’s supposedly just as aerodynamic as before (in both versions), the ride quality is more balanced and composed, and it even looks better with a shape that’s clearly derived from the predecessor, but yet cleaner and more refined.

Is the new Madone SLR the best aero road bike on the market? That question is impossible to answer with putting every other competitor through an exhaustive battery of objective and subjective tests, like the new Specialized Venge, Cannondale SystemSix, Giant Propel, and BMC Timemachine Road. But Trek sure seems to have made it harder for anyone else to claim the crown.

A clever new IsoSpeed design and a more balanced feel

While much of the attention surrounding the new Madone SLR revolves around its newly available disc brakes, it’s the new IsoSpeed system that should really be generating all the buzz.

But first, a primer on IsoSpeed for those of you who might not be entirely familiar with it: Instead of molding the seat tube, seatstays, and top tube together in a single structural unit as is usually the case, Trek “decouples” the seat tube from the rest of the frame, connecting it only with a pivot axle and a set of cartridge bearings. In this way, the seat tube is able to flex much more than usual when riding over rough terrain, and there’s a very significant improvement in ride quality as a result.

Although it’s a big deal that the Madone is offered with disc brakes for the first time, what’s arguably the bigger story is the new IsoSpeed seatmast design, which is now not only adjustable, but offers a broader tuning range than the old seat tube-based design ever could.

Pivot or not, though, deep-section seat tubes like what you typically find in an aero road bike aren’t exactly conducive to bending, so on the previous Madone, Trek used a novel dual seat tube design, where the integrated seatmast stepped down to a much smaller section at the IsoSpeed pivot. That smaller-diameter tube was then inserted into the outer aero-section seat tube, and bonded at the base. It definitely worked, but it wasn’t without its issues.

For one, the softness of the system was inversely related to the length of the tube, which is exactly what you don’t want; smaller bikes are usually piloted by shorter and lighter riders, not heavier ones. And unlike Trek’s Domane SLR endurance road bike, the system on the previous Madone wasn’t adjustable. It’s also worth noting that from a manufacturing standpoint, the double nested seat tube design wasn’t exactly easy to make.

And so for this new Madone SLR, Trek has shifted to a new L-shaped design, with the spring portion of the IsoSpeed system residing beneath the top tube. Since there’s more length to work with here, smaller bikes can now be set up from the factory to ride softer than bigger ones as they should, and because the unit is also now externally accessible, Trek was also able to give it the same adjustable stiffness functionality as on the Domane SLR.

According to Trek, the ride quality of earlier IsoSpeed designs on the Madone and Domane was still linked to frame size – and not in the way you’d want, as smaller frames would feel stiffer than bigger ones. This new boomerang arrangement takes care of that, and it’s also (slightly) easier to manufacture.

According to Trek, that adjustment range is pretty generous, too. The frame is 17% softer in its softest setting than the old Madone’s fixed setting for a given size, but up to 21% stiffer for riders who want a firmer feel. To combat unwanted bounciness, there’s even a small elastomer-based friction damper hidden inside the seat tube to help control the motion while pedalling.

Another complaint on the old Madone was its somewhat disjointed ride: while the rear end stayed impressively planted on rough roads, the front end was comparatively harsh and unyielding. Trek hasn’t added the Front IsoSpeed device on the new Madone SLR like it did for the Domane SLR, but the new cockpit supposedly offers a little more flex nonetheless to help balance things out (more on that in a bit).

As on the current Trek Domane SLR, a small slider effectively adjusts the length – and, therefore, the stiffness – of the carbon fiber leaf spring.

Disc-brake and rim-brake variants

As expected, Trek’s new aero road flagship finally adds disc brakes to the options list, along with the usual flat-mount caliper interfaces and 12mm-diameter front and rear thru-axles. Despite the decidedly non-aero brake hardware, though, Trek says that the new disc-brake Madone SLR posts virtually the same drag figures in the wind tunnel as the previous rim-brake Madone — a claim that’s all the more impressive considering that the predecessor was already widely regarded (and proven in third-party testing) to be among the most aerodynamic bikes on the road.

Trek was once openly resistant to the idea of offering disc brakes on its flagship road racing lineup, but that’s clearly changed with this new Madone SLR.

Trek hasn’t abandoned rim brakes just yet, though.

Rim brakes will be available throughout the entire Madone SLR line, and they’ve undergone some significant refinements. The rear caliper is mildly reshaped, but still blended into the seatstays, but the front caliper is virtually complete redesign.

Whereas the previous Madone had the front brake mounted to the front of the fork, the new Madone SLR flips the script and places the caliper on the back of the fork. It’s still a symmetrical roller-cam arrangement like before, but now the cable passes directly through the base of the steerer tube, and the wedge-and-roller assembly is turned almost 90° to create a more compact package. The old “vector wings” — better known as the spring-loaded “flappy doors” — that were once required for sufficient steering range are gone. There’s now a stop hidden inside the upper headset assembly to keep the bars from slamming into the top tube during a crash.

Trek hasn’t given up on rim brakes for the new Madone SLR, and in fact, they’ve only been further refined. Mounting the front caliper on the backside of the fork instead of the front, and routing the cable through the crown, yields a cleaner final package that also no longer requires those novel spring-loaded doors of the previous Madone.

I didn’t have a chance to sample the new rim brakes, but it’s at least encouraging to see that they offer the same amount of easy adjustability as before, including left and right pad location, left and right arm angle, and left and right arm tension, all of which can be accessed through ports on the cosmetic caliper cover.

The switch to disc brakes carries an additional benefit, too: more tire clearance.

Officially, the maximum allowable tire size is 25mm for the rim-brake version, but 28mm for the disc-brake one. However, it’s worth noting that Trek’s internal guidelines for tire clearance are more conservative than typical, requiring no less than 6mm of space between the tire and the closest point on the frame or fork; 4mm is more common (and technically mandated for stock bikes), and some companies flout those guidelines altogether when making claims of what will fit.

As such, it seems safe to say that a 28mm-wide tire will comfortably fit in the rim-brake Madone SLR, and 30mm-wide ones will fit in the disc-brake version, which should provide more than enough cush for most paved roads.

One geometry to rule them all, but still plenty of fit options

Trek previously offered each Madone size in two fit variants: the slightly more upright H2 version that was aimed at everyday riders, and the more aggressive H1 fit with its substantially lower, and slightly longer, front end. Trek has now switched to a single geometry called H1.5 for the Madone SLR, however.

As the name suggests, the H1.5 fit splits the difference between H1 and H2. It’s about 1.5cm taller than the former and about 1cm lower than the latter. According to Trek, a new -12° stem option will still replicate that H1 fit for its sponsored pro athletes and anyone else that can comfortably ride in that sort of posture, while the standard -7° stem will still offer a sportier fit than the old H2.

Gone are the old H1 and H2 fit variants in favor of a single H1.5 version.

Like before, there is no women-specific frame. There will be women-specific models, but those will only differ from the unisex versions in terms of components, component sizes, and colors.

Speaking of components, Trek has supplied the Madone SLR with an all-new two-piece aero cockpit that replaces the previous one-piece design and finally allows users to fine-tune the bar angle (by up to +/-5°). The flattened tops are also now swept back slightly (for better ergonomics, according to Trek), and there’s more wrist clearance while in the drops than before as well.

Perhaps best of all, the new two-piece configuration not only allows for the slightly softer ride quality already mentioned but also offers a wider range of width and length combinations than before. Stem length options are again limited to 90, 100, 110, 120, and 130mm, but in addition to those two -7° and -12° angles, there are now four bar widths instead of three: 38, 40, 42, and 44cm. Changing either the stem length or bar width later on will obviously be less expensive now, too.

Just as aero, and nearly as light

Trek says that its goal for the new Madone SLR was to “maintain aerodynamic drag performance of the current Madone (within 30g) across an averaged -12.5° to 12.5° yaw sweep.” In the end, the company claims a 3,216g of measured drag with the disc-brake Madone SLR vs. 3,202g on the old Madone — supposedly within the margin of error for the well-known Low Speed Wind Tunnel facility in San Diego, California.

Frame weights have gone up, but only very slightly. According to Trek, the current 56cm Madone 9 frame comes in at 1,053g, plus 376g for the matching fork. Claimed weight for the new rim-brake Madone SLR frame and fork are 1,112g and 378g, respectively, while the disc-brake version is slightly heavier still at 1,131g and 421g. Even so, Trek says the complete bike weights are identical for the rim-brake version — 7.1kg (15.65lb) for a 56cm size, without pedals. Claimed weight for the disc-brake Madone SLR is expectedly heavier, at 7.5kg (16.53lb), but supposedly still within the design targets.

The previous Madone never seemed all that inelegant or clumsy, but it does now in comparison to the new version, which is notably cleaner and sleeker looking.

Truly stunning custom paint options with Project One ICON

Naturally, Trek will once again offer the Madone through its Project One custom program, and there are apparently a lot of people who choose to go that route. According to Trek, fully half of all current Madones sold are Project One variants.

Project One buyers will be able to choose components, component sizes, and paint as usual, but new this year is the Project One ICON paint program, which includes six pre-configured color and design schemes that are clearly above and beyond the usual offerings.

There’s little point in wasting words describing what the new Project One ICON paint options look like. Instead, it’s far better to just show them to you.

We’ve seen this sort of paint used on other brands (such as Masi, who calls it “unicorn blood”), but Trek’s Prismatic Pearl is no less striking.

Is it silver? Green? Orange? Purple? Yes.

The Project One ICON Refliptive finish is meant to recall the old Klein bikes of yesteryear.

The down tube logo is reflective on this one, though, which not only helps with nighttime visibility, but is also just plain cool.

The Trek logo is also pleasantly subdued on this one.

The Brushed Liquid Metal option is elegant and subtle.

From a distance, the Brushed Liquid Metal finish looks like just a plain silver paint job. But when you look closer, you can see the brush lines that are applied by hand to make the bike look like it’s made of metal.

The Brushed Liquid Metal finish really lets the shape of the Madone SLR frame speak for itself.

Holy green! The Candy Emerald Green finish is incredibly rich and deep.

Team riders will be on the Chrome Tour finish, which uses pearlescent white paint and red chrome logos.

The Black Gold option in Trek’s new Project One ICON custom paint program clearly isn’t for riders who want to fly under the radar. This is about as showy as it gets.

The bike is fairly subdued when it’s cloudy, but once the sunlight hits it, the gold really comes out.

Sampling the Madone SLR in cow town

Trek’s global headquarters of Waterloo, Wisconsin seems like an odd place to develop a world-class aero road bike like the new Madone SLR. There are seemingly more dairy cows here than people, no massive cols, and the rumbly pavement is poorly maintained. Winters here are long and punishing, and summer heat and humidity can sometimes make riding indoors in artificially cooled air oddly appealing.

Yet that environment still offers a surprisingly demanding setting. Harsh-riding bikes are downright punishing on the coarsely surfaced tarmac and annoyingly pronounced expansion joints, and mushy chassis bog down on the steep and punchy climbs that dot the dairy roads west of town, not to mention the unofficial sprint lines marked by the frequent town and county limit signs. The downhills may be short, but they’re similarly steep and fast, and coupled with the lumpy road surface, it’s easy to get in over your head.

The previous-generation model was widely regarded as a benchmark in the category, with independently verified best-in-class aerodynamic performance, a surprisingly accommodating ride quality thanks to Trek’s truly innovative IsoSpeed “decoupler” at the seat cluster, and one of the most highly integrated designs in the industry.

So is the new version really better? Actually, yes, it is.

The “Blue Mounds” area of Wisconsin is known for its wealth of paved roads, and general absence of traffic. The roads aren’t always the smoothest, however, which also makes them a good proving ground for a bike’s ride quality. Photo: Jeff Kenner / Trek Bicycle Corporation.

First and foremost, the improvement in ride quality is striking. The new IsoSpeed design is unquestionably smoother than the old one, but I didn’t notice a hint of bounciness in the saddle even with the IsoSpeed slider set in “full party mode.” Even better is the more controlled ride up front, which is less chattery and punishing than the one one-piece cockpit. It’s still nowhere near as pillowy as what the IsoSpeed offers out back, but it nevertheless makes for a more balanced feel front-to-back and a more planted sensation in general.

Remember what I said about those dairy roads being a little coarse and occasionally steep? One descent there dropped a paltry 70m (230ft) in elevation, and yet I still easily topped 80km/h (50mph) on the way down. Thankfully, the new Madone SLR felt perfectly at home in that moment, with neither the twisty corners nor the less-than-ideal pavement doing much of anything to upset its composure.

Those twisty corners also only served to confirm another of my favorite traits about the Madone: its impeccable handling. High-speed stability is truly confidence-inspiring, but yet it’s still plenty eager to change direction when necessary, and with little more than a subtle lean required to initiate the turn. Aside from the difference in head tube length, Trek changed nothing about the Madone’s frame geometry, and in this case, that’s a very good thing.

A bike with tubes this deep shouldn’t ride anywhere near as comfortably as the new Trek Madone SLR does on the road.

Bottom bracket stiffness feel about on-par with the old model, which is to say it’s very good and amply efficient. Front-triangle torsional stiffness seems to have improved slightly, though, which is a welcome change seeing as how I found the previous Madone to be a bit lacking in that regard.

Speaking of bottom brackets, Trek is soldiering on with its proprietary BB90 press-fit design. I didn’t experience any creaking either during my initial test ride in Wisconsin, or subsequent rides back on local roads in Colorado, but it’s still only been a few days so far. Even given the weight penalty, I still wish Trek had switched to a wide-format shell with more robust bearing options, such as PF86, T47, or even BB386EVO. But such is life.

I have no complaints so far about the new cockpit, however. The sweptback tops indeed feel more natural to hold (although I’d still prefer they were taped from the factory), and the additional wrist clearance while in the drops is most welcome.

Going along with the new frame design is an all-new aero carbon cockpit, whose two-piece configuration now finally allows for some bar angle adjustment.

But is the Madone SLR fast? And is it light? I can only objectively confirm the latter, as my 52cm sample weighed 7.70kg (16.98lb) without pedals, but with cages — not far off from the claimed figures, but still within the ballpark given the thick coats of paint (and paint is surprisingly heavy). As for speed, well, it certainly seems easier to maintain high speeds on the Madone SLR, which suggests that it’s just as aerodynamically slick as before.

However, what I found more interesting was the fact that I stopped thinking about it being a good aero road bike, and more about how it was a good road bike, period: capable, composed, planted, responsive. Those are all traits I value for any road bike, and the fact that companies have finally figured out how to make everything converge into a single machine that also happens to be aerodynamic is something that is long overdue.

Welcome to the new reality.

www.trekbikes.com

Never has the aero road bike category been so hotly conteested with bikes that are not only fast, but far more usable for everyday riding than they used to be. The latest Madone is supposedly as speedy as the previous one in terms of aerodynamics, but also more comfortable.

Trek clearly isn’t shy about the logo on the new Madone.

With the UCI now finally making disc brakes fully legal, it’s now likely just a matter of time before they become the norm, rather than the exception.

Rather than try to completely hide the new IsoSpeed structure into the frame, Trek actually highlights it as part of the new bike’s design.

The slider can’t be adjusted on the fly, but changing the ride stiffness only requires loosening a single bolt.

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This latest evolution of Trek’s fantastic IsoSpeed concept truly does deliver a smoother ride than previous Madones – or a stiffer one, should you so desire. The company says the tuning range should satisfy just about every preference.

The previous Trek Madone uses a complex dual seat tube design to accommodate the IsoSpeed functionality.

To minimize bouncing, there’s now a small eleastomeric friction damper built into the base of the pivot assembly.

The new Madone SLR may be slightly less complex to manufacture than before, but there’s still a lot more going on here relative to a conventional modular monocoque carbon fiber road frame.

One can only wonder how soon the new IsoSpeed design will find its way into Trek’s other road bike lines.

A pass-through is built into the boomerang to accommodate rim-brake bikes.

When all of the cosmetic covers are in place, the new seat cluster actually looks quite tidy.

Seat height adjustments are now performed with a 5mm hex wrench, which secures an internal wedge. I would have liked to see a snap-on rubber cover here, though.

As with Trek”s earlier no-cut seatmast designs, this one eliminates some of the hassles of truly integrated seatposts. And if you were really pressed for space inside a travel case, for example, you could theoretically remove the IsoSpeed boomerang altogether.

The handlebar clamp itself is aluminum, but there’s a cosmetic carbon composite cap bonded on to the top of it.

At least for now, Trek is only offering its popular VR bend for the Madone cockpit.

As before, the headset spacers are profiled to match, and are split so they can be added and removed without having to recable the entire bike.

The front of the cockpit once again includes an integrated mount for computers, lights, and cameras. Bontrager offers a number of Blendr accessories already, but anything based on the GoPro mounting standard will work. The single-mount plate is shown here, but there’s also a double plate if you want to run a computer and a light, for example.

The new bar features swept-back tops, which Trek claims are more ergonomic than the straight tops used on the previous Madone.

Trek has enlarged the openings on the underside of the stem to help ease the build process (a little).

Bar angle adjustment is physically limited to +/-5°.

The unique steerer tube shape has two flattened sides along with a central channel to accommodate derailleur and brake housings as necessary.

Trek did a great job with the previous Madone, but clearly it wasn’t good enough. Every note shown here represents some type of improvement identified internally by Trek.

Trek showed this concept a few years ago, and it’s interesting to see how similar the new Madone SLR is in terms of styling.

This is just a computer rendering, but essentially identical to the real thing. It looks better in person.

One thing is for sure: the new Trek Madone SLR is about as far from traditional in appearance as you can get while still satisfying UCI guidelines.

Is the new Trek Madone SLR fast? It sure sems that way. But is it subtle? Not exactly.

Even given the complexity of the new IsoSpeed design, Trek has still managed to build an admirably sleek and modern-looking structure around it.

At the rate aero road bikes are progressing in terms of traditional performance metrics like ride quality, weight, and stiffness, one can only wonder how soon they’ll outnumber round-tubed machines.

The frontal profile of the new Trek Madone SLR is particularly svelte, and made even more so by the omission of the rim brakes (and the associated flappy doors of the old version).

Gorgeous.

Trek supposedly designed the new Madone with water bottles in mind, although it’s hard to see how that would be given this sharp leading edge on the seat tube.

The straight break between the two colors on my test sample makes for a simple, yet impactful, look.

Trek uses its top-end 700-series OCLV carbon fiber blend for its flagship road racer, although it’s worth noting that the company quietly shut down its US production within the last couple of years. Every Trek bike is now made overseas.

The chainstays only look relatively slim in comparison to the monstrous down tube. It’s only when you compare them to the crankarm that you get a better sense of their height.

The chainstays are highly asymmetrical, too. And these 25c tires have an actual measurement of around 26.5mm on the wide Bontrager Aeolus XXX rims, so you can see how conservative Trek is being with its 28mm maximium official tire size.

The new front brake caliper operates on the same basic wedge-type design as the old one, but the wedge and rollers are not basically turned almost 90 degrees to make the package more compact.

There are still independent adjustments for pad position, arm position, and spring tension like on the previous Madone.

On rim-brake bikes, the front brake housing stop is built directly into the pass-through at the base of the steerer tube.

The new rear brake has slightly different shaping than the old one, but is basically the same in terms of function.

Shimano’s new handlebar-mounted Di2 interface has been very popular. No longer is it hidden away inside the down tube like on the previous Madone.

To help prevent frame damage in a crash, there’s a stop built into the headset assembly that limits how far the bars can be turned.

The latest Madone is once again compatible with Bontrager’s DuoTrap S wireless speed and cadence sensor.

Can’t stand Trek’s proprietary BB90 press-fit bottom bracket design? Sorry, folks, it’s still here.

The seatmast head is simple to adjust, with separate clamps for tilt and fore-aft position.

Hoses and wires are only very briefly visible on the new Trek Madone SLR.

Trek’s latest Madone SLR features a new chain catcher design, too, which is now adjustable from the top.

Cable guides for bikes with mechanical drivetrains are molded directly into the shell. Cable liners are definitely required.

The new Madone SLR will actually have two options for cleanly mounting rear lights. One attaches to the seatmast binder bolt hardware while the other one clips directly to the back of the seatmast head.

The Shimano Di2 battery and junction box are secured to the backside of this plate on the down tube, which also secures the rear brake hose to help keep it from rattling.

Where does the Madone go from here? We’ll have to wait a few years to see.

Trek is offering the new Madone SLR in a variety of complete builds, but says a surprising percentage of buyers just go through the Project One custom program instead.

The Trek Madone SLR 6 and SLR 6 Disc will be the least expensive on the inline Madone models, built with Shimano Ultegra mechanical drivetrains.

Trek will offer the women-specific version of the Madone SLR 6 Disc in a wide array of colors. The frameset is identical to the unisex version, but touch points are altered to supposedly provide a better fit.

The Trek Madone SLR 7 Disc WSD moves up to Shimano’s Ultegra Di2 groupset.

The unisex Trek Madone SLR 7 Disc is much the same as the women-specific version, save for a few minor component changes (and different color options).

Feeling a little more flush with cash, but still want to stick with a non-powered drivetrain? Trek answers the call with the Madone SLR 8 Disc, which is built with Shimano’s latest Dura-Ace mechanical groupset.

The Madone SLR 8 is possibly the lightest of the new Madone SLR options, featuring rim brakes and a Shimano Dura-Ace mechanical groupset.

The flagship model is the Madone SLR 9 Disc, built with either Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 or SRAM Red eTap, and Bontrager Aeolus XXX 6 carbon clinchers.

And finally, there’s the Madone SLR 9, offering rim brakes and Shimano’s Dura-Ace Di2 electronic drivetrain.

The post 2019 Trek Madone SLR first-ride review: Upping the ante appeared first on CyclingTips.

Bicycle drivetrains have steadily improved over the years, covering shifting precision and smoothness, friction, noise, weight, and what have you. But one common element in every modern high-performance design — internal gearboxes included — is the roller chain. Those have gotten better as well, but what if you got rid of them entirely? CeramicSpeed’s radical DrivEn concept does just that, and it’s the first ground-up rethink of the bicycle drivetrain in quite some time. But whether the hyper-efficient system makes it past the concept phase is anything but certain.

In search of the elusive 1%

Back in 2017, CeramicSpeed presented itself with a challenge that was internally dubbed as the “Pursuit of the 1% Drivetrain.” As the name suggests, the goal was to create a drivetrain with less than 1% frictional losses, or alternatively, was 99% efficient in transferring rider power from the crankset to the rear wheel.  

CeramicSpeed has come close recently by modifying conventional drivetrains with its array of hyper-optimized products, including the UltraFast Optimized chain, Oversized Pulley Wheel System rear derailleur hop-up kit, and a full suite of low-friction ceramic bearings. But even with that secret-sauce UFO treatment, chains still have a lot of bits that rub against each other.

The core concept of the DrivEn drivetrain is how the machined aluminum teeth interact with the cartridge bearings on the carbon fiber driveshaft. Because the cartridge bearings are freely rotating, there is almost no sliding friction anywhere in the system – at least in theory.

Instead, CeramicSpeed’s new DrivEn drivetrain concept — developed in cooperation with a student research team at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado — uses a novel shaft-drive design that the company says eliminates sliding friction almost entirely.

Taking the place of the conventional chainring and rear sprocket are two “gear rings” with teeth that are oriented roughly 60° from the norm, and sitting in between is a carbon fiber driveshaft that rotates on two low-friction cartridge bearings. But unlike typical shaft drives that use high-friction bevel gears, the ends of the DrivEn shaft are fitted with two circular pinion arrays topped with a series of smaller cartridge bearings. It’s these cartridge bearings that intermesh with the gear ring teeth, and by carefully adjusting the angle and shape of the interface, CeramicSpeed says it can limit system friction almost entirely to the rolling type.

At the rear end is a similar gear-and-bearing interface.

So how much does all of this matter, anyway?

“DrivEn creates 49% less friction than a stock [Shimano Dura-Ace] drivetrain averaged across all gears,” said CeramicSpeed chief technology officer Jason Smith, who founded the once-independent drivetrain friction test facility, Friction Facts. “When that Dura-Ace system was optimized with a CeramicSpeed OSPW and UFO racing chain, DrivEn created 32% less friction. From an efficiency standpoint, DrivEn hits the magic 99% efficiency number at 380W of rider output.”

Still so many questions

DrivEn is very much in the concept phase, and there are countless hurdles standing in the way of the system’s widespread implementation.

For one, DrivEn is currently still only a single-speed prototype; a multi-speed system with nearly 500% of total range (more than what you get on a conventional compact double drivetrain) was envisioned and physically conceptualized for promotional photos, but it doesn’t actually work. But the idea of how it might work sounds promising.

The driveshaft rotates on hybrid ceramic cartridge bearings mounted at either end.

Instead of the truncated cone shape of conventional multi-speed cassettes today, the DrivEn one would be a flat disc. Gear rings of different tooth counts would be nested within each other in the same plane, and by moving the rear driveshaft pinion axially along the shaft, different gear rings could be engaged to change the gear ratio. In addition, changing the bearing counts on the front and rear pinion would essentially be the same as changing chainrings.

Figuring how exactly how that rear pinion would move falls outside of CeramicSpeed’s area of expertise, though, and Smith says the company would likely have to partner with another company to do the heavy lifting. In theory, a small electric motor and wireless receiver would live inside the hollow carbon fiber driveshaft, responding to signals sent by the shift levers.

But even then, there would be big challenges. For example, how would you move such shapes against each other, particularly when they’re moving and under load?

“We talked a lot about this automated system and the brain,” said Alex Rosenberry, the engineering student who managed the project on the University of Colorado side of things (and who now works for CeramicSpeed as a contractor). “The system would have to be pretty intelligent to know how fast the system is moving. It’d have to be pretty smart to know how fast it’s moving, which tooth track to select to make the shift happen. Would you have to back off to shift under high load? We’re not sure yet, but there’s definitely potential to make it work.”

CeramicSpeed has already determined that angling the teeth and bearings can further minimize sliding friction between the two.

There are other issues concerning multi-speed functionality, too, such as the ability to select specific gear ratios. While the flat cassette format provides incredible potential for range, the intermediate steps are still limited by what gear rings will fit within each other. And never mind the rather major hurdle of convincing one of the existing drivetrain players to work with CeramicSpeed on this, or finding someone with enough engineering muscle to pull it off.

On a more basic level, DrivEn obviously won’t work with conventional frames, and anything built specifically to suit would have a long list of unknown issues to tackle to make everything work well. CeramicSpeed’s prototype was based on a modified Cervelo P5 that was made by hand, and any company willing to take a chance on making a DrivEn-compatible frame would be rolling the dice with no certain outcome — never mind the person buying the thing.

And while the claimed friction performance of DrivEn sounds enticing, what about other performance metrics, such as weight, aerodynamics, and durability? How much load would DrivEn be able to handle? What would happen if the system got dirty? And what about compatibility with the matching components?

CeramicSpeed created this one-off sample to demonstrate how the DrivEn system might appear in a more production-ready form. Photo: Allen Krughoff.

That’s certainly a long list of what-ifs, and a seemingly insurmountable one at that. But then again, we’ve seen radical ideas turn into reality before, so who’s to say where this will go.

“How likely is it that it will ever come to fruition?” asked Rosenberry. “I have no idea. That depends on a lot of other things. We certainly think it’s possible, but whether or not it’s going to happen is beyond the scope of what we’re working on.”

CeramicSpeed’s DrivEn concept is a truly novel take on what a bicycle drivetrain can be. The company claims that the system is much more efficient than anything else out there, too.

The carbon fiber driveshaft can be very simple to construct, as it only has to handle pure torsional loads.

The proof of concept is only a single-speed drivetrain at the moment, but CeramicSpeed has hypothesized how a multi-speed system might work. This 3D-printed mockup of a rear “cassette” shows where the rear the back end of the driveshaft could potentially shift in between the different ratios.

These mock-ups show an earlier version of the CeramicSpeed DrivEn concept (at left), plus two later revisions.

Eventually, CeramicSpeed says that a small motor could be embedded inside the carbon fiber driveshaft that would move the rear pinion across the different cassette sprockets. This is just a mock-up, however, and it remains to see just how far the project will actually go. Photo: Allen Krughoff.

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Is it Christmas in July already? It is for bike tech geeks, perhaps. With the world’s largest cycling trade show having moved forward seven weeks from its traditional date in late August – it now overlaps with the Tour de France – July has never been busier for cycling-related excitement.

Eurobike is a labyrinth of what’s new in the world of cycling tech with more than 1,500 exhibitors, many of which are showcasing multiple individual brands. The show serves as the launching pad for thousands of new products, but e-bikes and related parts and accessories increasingly dominate the floor space here. Several indoor halls are devoted solely to powered bicycles, there’s a huge (and wildly popular) demo area just for e-bikes, and virtually every manufacturer has pushed them to the front of their booths.

James Huang and Dave Rome will be walking the halls on each of the show’s three days to bring you a collection of what’s new and where the industry is headed. As per previous years, if there’s anything you’d like to see or learn about, let us know in the comments below, and rest assured there will still be plenty more to see from us in the days and weeks after this year’s show closes its doors.

PowerTap finally has a disc-compatible power meter hub again. The new G4 works with standard Center Lock rotors, not the proprietary ones from before. And before you get too excited about the purple hue, keep in mind that it’s basically just for show. Production versions will be matte black.

The new PowerTap G4 power meter rear hub will also be USB-rechargeable via a magnetic dongle, and you won’t need to remove the rotor to access it.

CycleOps has built a prototype platform for indoor training that not only floats fore and aft, but also tilts side to side, all of which is meant to create a more realistic feel. I rode it briefly, and it indeed feels surprisingly realistic. The prototype is made mostly of wood, and is exceedingly heavy. If the project moves forward, CycleOps envisions it being light enough for one person to easily carry, and made in such a way that it could fold in half for easier storage.

A sliding counterweight is located at the back of the platform to balance out stationary trainers whose mass isn’t perfectly centered.

Straps slide along slots in the upper platform to keep stationary trainers secured in place.

The rollers travel along curved tracks that automatically keep the platform centered. The curve is specially chosen to more accurately mimic real-world motion when getting out of the saddle or sprinting.

Two fixed pads are situated at the corners to faciilitate getting on and off the bike.

Canadian company AeroLab Tech stealthily displayed a development sample for a device that is best described as a portable wind tunnel. Similar in concept to what Argon 18 and Alphamantis have proposed, the device – in conjunction with a direct-measurement power meter – instantly calculates rolling resistance and aerodynamic drag.

Two sensors at the front of the device continuously measure wind angle in order to get accurate drag measurements. I don’t expect this device to become available to consumers in the near future, though. Instead, I would almost guarantee that a bigger company (Quarq seems like the most likely candidate) would purchase or license the technology, and then they would bring it to market.

Silca’s new Sicuro bottle cage is made of hollow titanium and weighs just 29g.

Silca says it uses a double-pass weld technique derived from the aerospace industry to produce such impeccable tiny and perfect weld beads.

The mounting slots are pleasantly long, meaning there will be plenty of flexibility in where the cage is located.

Wolfpack is a new brand created by Wolfgang Arenz, the tire guru responsible for the Continental Black Chili, Specialized Gripton, and Schwalbe Addix rubber compounds. According to Arenz, tires have gotten efficient enough in terms of rolling resistance, so he’s focused on improving grip for better handling and improved safety.

Wolfpack is launching with just three road tires (two clincher; one tubular) and three mountain bike tires for now, but more are certainly on the way. It seems safe to say that despite Wolfpack’s modest launch, the other tire companies for whom he’s worked in the past may be just a little bit concerned with where the brand goes from here.

Coming soon to Zwift are two new courses. First up is an exact replica of the 2018 road world championship course in Innsbruck, Austria, which will be added in August. Apparently, the Australian U23 national team have been (or will be?) using it for course recon work.

Further down the line will be a course based on the famous Central Park of New York. It’ll be somewhere between the fantasy world of Watopia and the life-like ride of Richmond.

Jagwire’s Pro Internal Routing tool isn’t new, but it’s still neat enough to warrant a second look. Special bits attach to the ends of derailleur and brake cables, hydraulic hoses, and Shimano Di2 wires, which can then be guided through the frame by a large magnet placed on one end of the handle.

At the other end of the Jagwire Pro Internal Routing tool is a smaller extendable magnet that can then “grab” those bits so they can be pulled back out of the frame.

And then after you’re done, everything stores within the handle for compact storage.

Wahoo Fitness launched three new products at Eurobike. First is the new KICKR Headwind (US$249), something many will be a fan of (pun intended). This fan directs air at the rider, and can sync with a heart rate strap, speed sensor, and/or KICKR trainer to automatically ramp up the fan speed based on your exertion level. Flip-down legs at the back allow it to be mounted on the floor or a table, while still aiming air where it needs to go. The next phase will be for third party platforms to work it into the experience, offering headwinds and breezes on descents.

The original Wahoo Fitness KICKR gets a few small running updates. The flywheel is heavier at 16lb, it’s quieter, and it now has a maximum resistance of 2,200W.

The new Wahoo Fitness KICKR Core fills the gap between the top-tier KICKR and the budget KICKR Snap. At US$899, it’s a paired-back version of the flagship version, offering a lighter 12lb flywheel, a simpler frame design, and 1,800W of maximum resistance.

The pattern on this silicone rubber bar tape from Silic1 provides a visual aid for how tightly the tape is wrapped. Why does that matter? Silic1 says the effective tape thickness can be varied between 2-3mm depending on how much it’s stretched, and the lines help you see how much padding you’ll end up with.

The Hex storage stand from Granite Gear (the sister brand of Funn Components) is similar to the Feedback Sports Scorpion, and works with hollow crank spindles to provide a quick and easy way to hold the bike upright. It weighs just 730g and folds to an impressively compact size.

Funn’s new dropper seatpost design features a twin-tube configuration that the is claimed to help prevent the internal air pressure build-ups that can commonly cause other dropper posts to start sagging over time.

Tripeak was one of the first companies to offer thread-together bottom bracket solutions for press-fit shells. New to the catalogue are oversized rear derailleur jockey wheels with hybrid ceramic bearings that fit within existing Shimano R9100 and R8000 derailleur cages. The 12-tooth upper and 14-tooth lower pulleys replace the stock 11-tooth wheels, which should slightly decrease drivetrain friction. If there’s as much extra room in the stock cage as claimed, such a component upgrade will likely become available from a number of other manufacturers.

Early Rider is a brand that’s foreign to us, but had a booth full of impressive kids bikes that all looked trail-ready.

Enduro Bearings is experimenting with supplemental stainless steel outer shields for its Max range of full-complement suspension pivot bearings. At just 0.2mm thick, these are designed to create an extremely precise two-way barrier, keeping grease in and contamination out. It’s an idea already proven in industrial applications, according to Enduro, and should find OEM use on full-suspension mountain bikes soon.

Enduro Bearings is expanding its range of XD-15 rear derailleur pulley wheels. These feature Delrin teeth for quiet and smooth running, but a hollow aluminium central core that both saves weight and decreases flex relative to all-plastic construction. That added stiffness is claimed to improve shift performance, and like all of Enduro’s XD-15 bearings, these carry a lifetime warranty.

Cane Creek’s Thudbuster suspension seatpost has been used to add comfort to an otherwise rigid bike. The new eeSilk is a much lighter-weight option at 295g, and with less travel and firmer tunes than the Thudbuster, is aimed more at road and gravel bikes. The seatpost will ship with three different elastomer inserts designed to suit riders weighing under 50kg to just over 90kg. Additional inserts for heavier riders are available, too. The post uses titanium hardware and is available in only a 27.2mm diameter and with setback.

Cane Creek’s new BarKeep expandable bar end plugs weigh just 12g for the pair, and hold much more securely than cheap plastic plugs. The design is similar to the company’s amazingly light eeNut steerer expander plug.

Unior continues to make many of its tools in-house and in Slovenia. These CNC machined bottom bracket sockets feature a 1/2in square drive (most BB tools are commonly 3/8in) and are far simpler than Unior’s previous offerings.

Two tools in one. This tool is used both for straightening disc rotors and spreading disc pads. We’ve seen similar ideas from other brands before, but this one is more neatly implemented.

Not all of Unior’s tools are made in-house. For example, these new digital torque wrenches are sourced from Taiwan, something Unior openly admits is done for categories for which they’re not manufacturing experts. The larger one features a 1/2in drive, whereas most torque wrenches of this size would typically feature a smaller 3/8in drive.

Do you prefer cradle-style repair stands? This workshop version uses a steel base that was requested by a number or Unior’s sponsored WorldTour teams.

Unior will soon have a new pro-grade shop workstand clamp that features brass handles, a quick-release button, and a ratcheting closure system. This looks like another nice option for shops.

Unior teased a new race stand last year, but the Pro Road stand is now all finished. These sorts of repair stands are hardly new, but one feature that’s unique to Unior’s version is that the entire bike can be angled, which makes it much easier for mechanics to work on road bikes with hydraulic disc brakes and internal cable routing.

The post Eurobike 2018: Hits and highlights, part one appeared first on CyclingTips.

Castelli isn’t quite sure why the sheer, smooth fabric that will stretch over the shoulders and backs of Team Sky riders in Monday’s team time trial is so fast, they just know the wind tunnel says it is. It’s certainly unique, like stretchy, thin silk. The company went through thousands of fabrics and dozens of iterations of a new skin suit for the team and found something it says saves five to six watts compared to last year’s suit.

Castelli provided CyclingTips with a sneak peek of the suit, called the Body Paint 4.2b, late last week, out of the back of a van at a team hotel. The white fabric that sits on the arms, shoulders, and back has an interesting feel, close to silk, but with far more stretch. It’s thin, translucent, and soft to the touch. Castelli’s Steve Smith wouldn’t name the specific fabric.

The suit replaces a controversial skin suit that Castelli believes was about to be banned by the UCI for its use of “pimples” (not dimples because they push out rather than in, according to Castelli) across the shoulders and arms. That suit created controversy last year when it was debuted in the opening time trial, where Castelli claimed it was worth more than 10 seconds on the short, 14km course.

FDJ filed a formal complaint, alleging the suit ran afoul of UCI rule 1.3.033, which bans “non-essential items of clothing or items designed to influence the performances of a rider such as reducing air resistance.” The wording of the rule allows for such items if they are integral to the structure of the clothing, and thus essential. Sky argued its pimples were structural.

Smith met with UCI technical coordinator Jean-Christophe Peraud a number of times about the new suit and it falls on the right side of all UCI regulations.

There are few places in cycling where such tiny details matter as in a team time trial. Speeds and stakes are both high. Castelli began development of the new suit before last year’s Tour ended, with a meeting after the Marseille time trial on the penultimate stage.

This year’s particular TTT is somewhat exceptional, mostly for the speeds riders will hit. Drag is proportional to the cube of speed — riding twice as fast requires 8 times more power — meaning high speeds make aerodynamics even more important than usual.

“This TTT is super super super fast. We had to change our parameters we’re trying to reach,” Smith said. The team and Castelli modeled the time trial and determined that average speeds could be close to 60kph (Smith wouldn’t provide a precise figure used for the modeling). “When they’re on the front they’ll be up to even 700 watts, when they’re on the wheels it’s down as low as 300.”

The development process was centered around finding the right fabric and then perfecting the fit. The fabric came out of months of testing. “It’s super fine, it has some special qualities when it hits the wind,” Smith said. “We went out and tried thousands of fabrics and combinations of fabrics. There are a couple diff fabrics on the suit, but the part that the wind sees is pretty special.”

Riders were first fit for their new suits at the end of last season, “because they do pack on a few kilos over the winter,” Smith said. That’s the baseline. Then as the Tour approached, Sky handed Smith a long list of 15 riders. Castelli caught up with each in the weeks leading up to the race to dial in a final fit.

Are there any riders who require a bit of extra tailoring? Well, Froome does.

“Everybody comments on how Chris looks a little funny on the bike, but Chris does actually have some strange morphological stuff,” Smith said. “His chest measurement is almost a size large for us, he has a huge huge lung capacity. And then his shoulder width is more almost between a small and an extra small. That’s what makes him fast, he has those tight, narrow narrow shoulders. All the great TT guys are able to get their shoulder down to the width of their body, and then he’s got huge lung capacity.”

“He changes shape quite a bit before winter Chris and [Tour Chris],” Smith continued. “Everything we give to him, we put in the date of when we did the fitting. He has about four different fits in his closet. He’s the only guy we’ve ever done that with. He will balloon up a bit.”

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The 2018 Eurobike trade show continues to give up its riches for intrepid attendees willing to wander the halls of the sprawling Messe Friedrichshafen convention center.

As one would expect of the world’s largest bicycle trade show, many of the better-known brands are on hand with plenty to show off, such as Enve Composites, Stans NoTubes, Park Tool, Fizik, and Camelbak. But even amongst the hundreds of exhibitors on hand, smaller ones can still find a way to get noticed, such as Effetto Mariposa, Abbey Bike Tools, KS, and Wheels Manufacturing.

But being based in Germany, Eurobike is also a prime showcase for European brands that value a stage on their home soil. De Rosa always makes a strong showing here, and French wheel and hub specialist Duke Racing Wheels — who works closely with former cross-country world champion Julian Absalon, but is hardly known in the United States — certainly enjoys a friendly audience here.

Eurobike is also usually good for a handful of new brand introductions, and this year was no different. Exept is a bespoke carbon fiber road frame builder based in Finale Ligure, Italy, and while custom carbon is hardly a new idea, it is definitely novel that Exept is offering made-to-measure frame geometry using monocoque construction instead of the far more common tube-to-tube methods. How does Exept do it? No one would say, but consider us intrigued.

New Italian company Exept is crafting modular monocoque carbon fiber road frames in Italy. That in and of itself isn’t hugely groundbreaking, but what’s interesting is that the company is also offering fully custom geometry.

Exept is currently offering two main styles of bike: a more race-oriented model with more obviously aero-inspired tube shaping and a more integrated fork and cockpit, and this more classically designed version that uses more rounded tube shapes, a conventional cockpit, and a round seatpost.

Since Exept doesn’t do stock bikes – and has no plans to produce in higher volumes – the company can get away with this novel handwritten specs on the seat tube of each frame it produces. Also note the ISO testing certification, which is not only very rare for a small custom builder like this, but very reassuring for the rider.

Exept is very careful to point out that its custom-geometry frames do not use a tube-to-tube construction method. Some sort of modular mold system is used to create the various tube lengths and angles used for each frame, but the company wouldn’t go into precise details.

On the more integrated version of its bikes, the fork crown and headset are more fully blended into the surrounding head tube.

The edges of the outer carbon plies are visible through the raw clearcoated finish, which leaves nothing hidden. There’s some hint as to how Exept uses its modular frame molds visible in the head tube-to-top tube junction.

The asymmetrical chainstays are tall and rectangular in profile, and are shared between both frame shapes.

Since every frame is built to order, customers have their choice of color accents and cable routing as needed.

For Shimano Di2 users, the junction box is housed inside the down tube below the water bottle cage.

With either the aero-shaped or round seatpost option, there’s a neatly hidden wedge-type seatpost binder tucked away inside the top tube.

Offset seat clusters like this have already been shown to yield smoother ride qualities relative to more traditional profiles.

When the Shimano Di2 junction box holder isn’t needed, the space is filled with a third water bottle mounting hole, giving users the option of placing the bottle further down in the frame.

Exept has launched exclusively with disc-brake frames. Want rim brakes? Look elsewhere.

“The black swan symbolizes both contrast
and distinction in the genus of custom
carbon fiber frame manufacturers,” says Exept’s marketing materials. “Exept
is the only manufacturer to combine the
performance advantages of monocoque
with custom geometry and personal riding
styles.”

De Rosa’s Kermesse welded aluminum road bike is designed to be a workhorse racer – just as the name suggests.

Somehow, installing anything but a Campagnolo groupset on this De Rosa just wouldn’t seem right.

Is De Rosa’s TT-03 time trial bike as aerodynamic as the better-known options on the market? Maybe, or maybe not. But it sure is pretty.

De Rosa and legendary Italian design house Pininfarina joined forces to create the Metamorphosis city bike. Built primarily for comfort and style, it certainly wouldn’t seem out of place under a well-dressed man or woman in Milan.

This shaping has no function whatsoever aside from looking interesting.

Camelbak has redesigned its popular Podium water bottles. This third generation features an all-new shape that’s compatible with more cages, it’s more squeezable than before, and even easier to clean. As before, there will be both small and large sizes, plus insulated versions.

The new Camelbak Podium cap can be easily and completely disassembled for very thorough cleaning – perfect for riders who regularly fill their bottles with sugary energy drinks.

An optional rubber cap helps keep trail debris out of the nozzle.

If CeramicSpeed’s 13-speed shaft-driven drivetrain wasn’t enough, the Danish company has a new bearing concept, too. These SLT pivot bearings are claimed to be at least three times more durable than the current market leader in suspension pivot bearings, the full-complement Enduro Max. CeramicSpeed’s trick is in replacing the usual grease with a plastic polymer matrix that is melted throughout the inside of the cartridge. According to CeramicSpeed, the plastic polymer is self-lubricating, won’t attract dust since it’s dry, and also doubles as the cartridge seal. Hardened stainless steel races and ceramic ball bearings work with the polymer to further increase durability. Expect to see these used in OEM applications before it’s made available aftermarket.

Want a Italian made torque wrench at a more affordable price? Effetto Mariposa will soon have this 0-8Nm version of its Giustaforza torque wrench. In addition to a narrower torque range (the original one goes up to 15Nm), this budget edition also lacks a ratcheting head. But as a result, the smaller head offers the best clearance of any torque wrench on the market. Expect this tool to sell for €100, or €140 with bits and case.

Duke Racing Wheels has been working with cross country racing legend Julien Absalon to develop front and rear specific rims – a concept that Absalon’s earlier wheel sponsor, Mavic, pioneered several years prior. Named 6Sters, the front rim is wider and deeper to provide greater tire width and improved wheel stiffness. The rear rim is shallower and narrower, and built to add compliance and save weight, all while featuring a reinforced spoke bed for the higher tensions and forces seen at the rear wheel. Currently, the idea is for mountain bike wheels only.

Duke makes its own hubs in France. These feature sprung ratchet rings, with a choice of three available tooth counts (25, 50, or 75 teeth) so that buyers can choose their balance of engagement speed, friction, and noise.

Enve’s new aero road stem uses a shim at the steerer clamp to allow both angle and finite length adjustment. It’s a feature we first saw used on older Specialized stems.

Announced at Dirty Kanza, Enve’s G Series wheels are one of the first truly dedicated gravel wheelsets on the market. Super light and designed to prevent pinch flats at the tyre, these provide clear insight to where gravel wheels are headed.

Abbey Bike Tools will soon have its first chain breaker for sale. Called the Decade, the American tool company says it broke 10,000 chain pins on a single prototype, simulating ten years’ worth of use in a professional environment.

The cromoly body and lead screw are given an ultra low-friction powder-based physical vapor deposition (PPVD) coating for super smooth operation. Massive aluminium handles provide plenty of leverage and some weight for easy spinning. The tool can peen Campagnolo rivets, and stores a spare pin in its handle.

The chain tool’s steel mid-plate is easily replaceable, and can be upgraded with changing chain dimensions so that the tool is never rendered obsolete.

Fizik has expanded its R1 Infinito Knit shoe colour range. Being able to design such patterns is one very obvious benefit for the new knitted technology.

Here’s another example of the expanded colour ways.

The wall-mounted HipLok AirLok is a stylish way to store and lock a bike.

KS has been working with professional cross-country racer Jolanda Neff on a dropper seatpost specific to cyclocross and gravel bikes. Pictured is a prototype remote lever for drop bars.

KS is a big player in the OEM world, and the company’s latest development is in frame-integrated dropper posts. Swiss mountain bike company Bold, best known for hiding the rear shock within a carbon frame, is the first to adopt the new design. It features a seatpost topper that allows 70mm of height adjustment – roughly half what is usually offered.

MIPS has a very obvious presence at Eurobike. The helmet safety company is pushing a clear message of adaptability in design, showcasing that there are endless ways for MIPS technology to be implemented into helmets without compromise. The pictured BOA system is one example, and Giro’s new Aether helmet is another. More simply put, there’s no cookie-cutter MIPS design; each one is designed specifically for one particular helmet.

PEdALED is a premium clothing brand within the Selle Royal group that also includes Fizik, Brooks, and crankbrothers. This Tokaido jacket (also available as a vest or neck warmer) features a silky soft Polartec Alpha inner lining, a material that’s claimed to offer amazing insulation and breathability, all at an impressive weight. The jacket easily stows within its own pocket.

PEdALED also offers a full range of highly reflective clothing. These gloves will certainly give you a hand in being seen.

The new Polygon Stratos S7 offers stellar value with its full-carbon frameset and Shimano 105 groupset for under AU$2,000 (€1399). The Indonesian company manufactures its own metal frames, but outsources the production of its carbon bikes. Distribution method varies based on the market.

The Stratos S7 offers a number of high-end features, such as a tapered fork steerer, an integrated seatpost clamp, and internal cable routing.

Park Tool has updated its BX-1 travel toolbox with a whole new pallet arrangement. Despite the case itself being much the same as the previous version, the new pallets cannot be retrofitted to older cases.

If Park Tool’s previous travel case isn’t big enough, there’s now a much bigger case to fit a full workshop’s worth of tools inside. It’s designed for race mechanics traveling in team trucks, or for event support mechanics who require a huge array of tools. Built-in wheels and an extendable handle make it easier to move around.

Park Tool has joined the hex screwdriver game and now offer 2, 2.5, and 3mm drivers, built with American-made CNC-machined handles and precision ground blades. Such a tool is extremely handy when dealing with smaller bolt sizes in tight spots (such as front derailleur limit screws). The torque requirements for these smaller bolt sizes are rarely an issue for a screwdriver handle.

SwiftCarbon was founded in South Africa, but now has a Portuguese owner. The Revox is the latest road bike from the company, designed as an all-around race bike. There are some aero elements, but it’s not a wholly integrated design. Most interesting, there’s just one frame that features mounts for both flat-mount disc brakes and direct-mount rim brakes. The fork is changed depending on which way the customer chooses to go. We don’t think having both choices built into one frame is a benefit to riders, but it would certainly ease production and dealer stocking.

A view of the Revox’s edgy front end. Like that paint? All SwiftCarbon frames are now painted in Portugal.

Wheels Manufacturing is no stranger to bearing-related tools. This new bottom bracket tool set is designed to both install and remove just about any press-fit bottom bracket on the market. A kit like this will set you back US$250.

Stan’s NoTubes has updated its gravel range. The Grail Mk3 (right) features a 20.3mm-wide (internal width) aluminium rim. Like all Stan’s rims, it’s optimised for tubeless tyre use. Claimed to weigh 1,675g for a pair with tubeless tape and valve stems, they retail for US$700.

The Stan’s NoTubes Grail CB7 is for those willing to spend a little more, built with a 21.6mm internal width that’s meant for tyres between 25-40c. Claimed weight for the top-tier version is just 1,277g, and retail price is US$1,635. The wheels are said to be more compliant and stronger than the alloy Grail MK3.

The post Eurobike 2018: Hits and highlights, part two appeared first on CyclingTips.

And that’s a wrap! Well, sort of. The Eurobike trade show has shut its doors for another year, but not before we share with you some of the highlights that caught our eyes during our third and last day on the ground.

The recent exodus of bigger bike brands from the show has left the floor with fewer complete bikes relative to prior years. However, we still found plenty of interesting machines that will soon arrive on shop floors, including Ceepo’s truly radical triathlon bike, and new road and gravel bikes from Basso.

Shimano is one major label that continues to return to Friedrichshafen, Germany, unveiling a comprehensive range of parts, accessories, clothing, and helmets, not only from its main brand, but also from PRO, Lazer, and Pearl Izumi. Spanish brand Catlike also showed off three new road helmets, Oakley has announced an expansion into mountain bike helmets, and Stages Cycling has grown its collection of cycling computers with two new Dash models to go along with the original version.

Don’t think that this is all that we have left to show you, either. Eurobike may be over for now, but there is plenty more coverage to come from us in the following days and weeks.

Basso’s latest Diamante uses more rounded tubing than before in order to make a more structurally efficient (read: stiffer and lighter) frame than previous editions. According to Basso, the frame is wholly produced in Italy, from lay-up to molding to paint and assembly.

The “monolithic” front end still looks unusual despite the fact that several other brands have adopted similar design philosophies in recent years.

The seatpost shape and integrated binder design seems quite novel.

Gravel bikes are definitely hot in the United States, but they’re definitely not quite on everyone’s mind in the halls of Eurobike. That said, Basso’s new Palta model is one of a handful we saw from European companies that seems to properly fit the bill.

Tire clearance looks very generous on the Basso Palta, with plenty of space around these 38mm-wide WTBs.

The removable front derailleur mount indicates that Basso designed the Palta with 1x drivetrains in mind. This mini-guide is optional, but not a bad idea if you intend on hitting rougher sections of trail.

Basso doesn’t use the same front-end design on the Palta as it does on the new Diamante, but the profiled headset spacers are still meant to help the stem blend into the frame shape somewhat.

Hidden seatpost binders are definitely very popular at the moment, for better or worse.

A third bottle mount is located on the underside of the Basso Palta.

The Ceepo Shadow-R triathlon bike is a perfect example of what’s possible when bike companies aren’t restricted by UCI technical guidelines. The radical shape – and especially the wild fork – is specifically designed to minimize how much surface area is presented to the wind.

Ceepo says the fork on the Shadow-R is not only more aerodynamic than a conventional double-legged fork, but also more comfortable since the whole structure basically acts as a leaf spring on bumps. That said, the fork also weighs a whopping 1,450g despite being made of carbon fiber.

The upper section of the fork is further supported by a small strut mounted to the steerer tube below the stem.

Even if the Shadow-R is as aerodynamic as Ceepo claims, triathletes will probably still want to stick to flatter courses while riding it. As already mentioned, the fork alone weighs 1,450g – double some high-end road frames – and the frame adds another 2,230g.

Catlike showed off three new helmets at the Eurobike show, including the all-purpose Kilauea (at left) and the aero-inspired Vento (at right). Both unmistakably adhere to the company’s highly distinctive design.

The Catlike Kilauea (left) focuses more on ventilation, and features an internal reinforcement structure made of aramid (Kevlar) and graphene that allows for bigger vents and deeper internal channeling. Meanwhile, the more solid exterior of the Vento aero road model (right) doesn’t require as much reinforcement, so it gets by with a more conventional aramid skeleton.

Catlike’s retention system closely follows the lower edge of the helmet for minimal sunglass interference.

As the name suggests, the new Catlike Mixino Evo is an evolution of the current Mixino. That model was already riddled with holes, but the new has even more than before.

As compared to the previous Catlike Mixino (right), the new Mixino Evo (left) has a slightly more rounded exterior as well as a few more vents that further accentuate the company’s trademark Swiss cheese aesthetic.

Fixed strap splitters can be nice because they create more room around the ears, but their lack of adjustability can sometimes be problematic. Catlike has a clever take on the idea, with guided splitters that still create extra room, but can also be fine-tuned for fit.

The occipital pads on Catllike’s wispy retention system can be independently adjusted for lateral position.

Aramid reinforcement cages aren’t exactly pretty on their own, but they still play a big role in helmet safety and design. They help hold the EPS foam liners together during an impact, and also allow for bigger vents and deeper internal channels than what would otherwise be possible without them.

Stages Cycling expands its range of computers with the new Dash L50 (left) and Dash M50 (right). Both are still focused on power-based training like the original Dash (center), but now have GPS-powered mapping functionality and easier-to-use interfaces that should appeal more to riders that are less accustomed to training with power meters.

Like the original Stages Cycling Dash computer, the new Dash L50 and Dash M50 computers have aluminum external frames that not only add a bit of visual flash, but allow the computers to be mounted in either landscape or portrait orientations.

Stages Cycling includes the standard out-front road mount with each of the new Dash computers, but also offers a full range of other mounts to suit nearly every cycling application. All of them are made of machined aluminum, too, so there’s little motivation to look for aftermarket options.

Just how quick is the bike packing market growing? Well, PRO (Shimano’s accessory company) has joined the game, offering a seat pack, top tube bag, handlebar bag, and frame bag. All bags feature waterproof zippers and materials, but the seams are aren’t taped.

The new bike packing range clearly takes inspiration from existing competitor products. For example, the two-piece handlebar roll uses foam blocks to space it away from the bar tops, a feature that also helps keep the bag from vibrating.

The PRO frame bag features two compartments with dividers in each one. The mounting straps can be fed through multiple loop holes along the length of the bed, allowing it to fit a wide variety of frame sizes, from 50cm bikes and up.

The top tube bag offers a 0.75L capacity and can be attached with either a strap or dedicated bolt-on mounts. The strap is given a soft finish to protect frame paint, while reflective tabs and a shielded cable port are welcomed features, too.

Like the handlebar bag, the 15-liter seat pack also uses foam blocks at all contact points to prevent rattling and scratching. A removable plastic insert gives it shape and stability, while Velcro and elastic loops keep excess strap length from flapping in the wind.

PRO has added lighter-weight versions of the Vibe Carbon and Vibe Aero drop handlebars, each reinforced with Innegra fibre to improve impact tolerance. The Aero bars weigh a paltry 205g, and the regular Vibe Carbon bars are lighter still. Both bars offer full Di2 integration with pass-through ports that work with stems designed for internal routing.

PRO now offers a handlebar for gravel riding with flared drops. The bars feature a 42cm width at the tops, but flare to nearly 50cm at the drops. The aluminium bars offer semi-Di2 integration, meaning the wire appears at a cut-out just past its ends and then runs externally to the shifter.

PRO has greatly expanded its range of Koryak dropper posts. There’s a new 27.2mm-diameter version with 70mm of travel (external cable routing only). Additionally, there are new internally and externally routed 150mm-travel droppers, as well as a 170mm-travel internally routed model. All models features updated internals with faster speeds, smoother action, and more reliable service.

PRO has long offered consumer-grade tools, but they’re now adding a small range of enthusiast-level tools. As it was explained to us, Shimano already offers a range of professional-grade tools, while these PRO versions are designed to be more affordable, and most importantly, easily available. The range currently consists of a chain whip, cassette lockring tool, multi-speed chain breaker, pedal wrench, and an internal cable routing tool. The chain whip, lockring tool, and pedal wrench feature long handles for leverage and a comfortable grip. The chain whip doubles as a bottom bracket wrench, while the lockring tool features a hollow design to ensure axle clearance on Center Lock lockrings and the ability to remove a cassette without removing the quick release. That last feature is something that was made popular by Abbey Bike Tools.

PRO’s new chain tool features a spring-loaded sliding mid-plate that allows the tool to adjust to just about any chain width. It borrows a number of features from Shimano’s professional TL-CN34 tool, such as the built-in chain catcher and generous leverage.

There are a few internal cable routing tools on the market and this is the cleanest setup we’ve seen to date. The design is somewhat similar to the Park Tool version, but instead of four separate wires, it uses a single wire with threaded inserts. The tool will help route Di2 wires, hydraulic tubing, standard brake and derailleur housing, and inner cables.

The internal cable routing tool folds up and wraps together into a small pocket tool. It’s not the sort of thing you’d carry on a ride, but the compact size is sure to find use with travelling race mechanics, workshops, and of course, home mechanics.

There’s a new floor pump specifically for tubeless tyres, too. This rather stealthy design looks much like a regular floor pump and shows no obvious sign of an internal pressure chamber. To charge the pump, flick the lever at the base and start pumping; once you’re ready to seat your tubeless tyre, flick the lever up and away you go. There’s no word on pricing just yet.

Pearl Izumi is now joining the likes of Castelli and others in offering waterproof garments that don’t require the use of an additional rain jacket. But instead of coating the entire garment after it’s woven, the fibres are coated individually to make it more breathable. This new PI-Dry kit is effectively a waterproof summer-weight kit. Expect to see more of this technology being used by Pearl Izumi in the near future.

Last year’s Shimano S-Phyre RC9 race shoes have been updated for this season. The new RC901 see just a handful of small improvements, including a heel cup that’s said to be more forgiving of various foot shapes.

The biggest changes are made up front. Gone are the mesh panels, replaced with generous perforations in the material. This is said to keep the shoe more aerodynamic and prevents the material from creasing. The larger perforations at the ball of the foot are designed to allow a little material flex, something that should be welcomed on a hot day with swollen feet.

The off-road crowd hasn’t been ignored by Shimano, either. The new S-Phyre XC-901 receives similar tweaks to the road version, but most notably, the treads are now moulded with the sole, and a more generous toe guard protects the foot from rock strikes.

The new S-Phyre RC-701 is Shimano’s second-tier road race shoe. It’s now more similar to the RC-901 in both aesthetics and performance, and features a carbon fibre sole that sits at 10/12 on Shimano’s stiffness index.

Shimano’s RP range is designed to offer high performance shoes at more modest prices, and the range receives some big updates for 2019. For example, the new RP5 now uses Boa dials, plus premium styling that belies is reasonable cost.

The nylon sole on the RP4 is certainly more flexible than carbon fibre ones, but the Boa dial is an impressive addition for what’s effectively an entry-level shoe.

Shimano continues to expand on their S-Phyre performance clothing range. The pictured vest is a new addition and aims to be one of the best-ventilated on the market, keeping you shielded from the wind, but still comfortable and dry when riding hard.

Lazer Helmets now sits under the wheel house of Shimano. New for 2019 is the Century aero road helmet, which sits below the flagship Bullet model at €160, but still borrows a number of styling cues.

The Lazer Century features a new “Twist Cap” magnetic cover that lets you easily switch between closed or open front vents. It’s similar in principle to the sliding cover found on the Bullet, but is easier and cheaper to produce.

There’s an integrated USB-rechargeable light at the rear of the Lazer Century, which is said to last 37 hours on flashing mode. The Century will be offered in three sizes, and both with or without a MIPS low-friction liner. It’s claimed to weigh 277g, including the Twist Cap and light. Expect it in stores around December.

Oakley is expanding into mountain bike helmets and clothing. The new DRT5, an open-face trail helmet, was designed with nearly two years of testing and development with downhill mountain bike legend Greg Minnaar.

A big part of Oakley helmets is eyewear integration. The new DRT5 features the innovative “eye landing zone” at the back of the helmet. Certainly, finding a place to put your sunglasses is a far more annoying issue on mountain bike helmets than it is on the road helmets.

The new DRT5 uses a Boa retention system and MIPS. The former was chosen as it doesn’t interfere with eyewear. Perhaps the most welcomed feature is the silicone rubber sweat guard that diverts sweat away from your eyes and channels it to your temples.

In addition to all the new mountain bike kit, Oakley revealed the new G+ Aero road jersey made with graphene-infused material. Oakley claims the material effectively conducts heat better than conventional textiles, and releases it faster into the surrounding air, for superior body temperature regulation. In testing, it was shown to keep a rider’s core temperature half a degree cooler than usual, a test that involved someone shallowing a thermometer pill. Frankly, we don’t care whether the results are true or not; that’s dedication to the cause.

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