2023 Tour de France Tech Trends | What Are Pros Riding?

This video contains paid product placement for Lezyne. Even since last year’s Grand Départ in Copenhagen, the archetypal Tour de France has changed and evolved.
We had the scales and tape measure out while casting our forensic eyes over the bikes at this year’s race start in Bilbao to find the tech trends of the pro peloton.
Which do you think will trickle down? Let us know in the comments 👇
#BikeRadar #CarbonFibre #RoadCycling
Chapters
00:00 Intro
00:34 1x Drivetrains Are Back
02:18 Lots Of Different Tyres
04:09 One Bike For All
05:52 Time Trial Tech For Road Stages
07:10 Even More Narrow Handlebars
08:30 Big Budget Vs Small Budget
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→ • Tour de France 2023
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[@bikeradar]

Do you have any of these on your bike? 👇

[@amitkumar-wj8gn]

Seriously? THAT is how you attack us mere mortals? After liking, commenting and subscribing? Damn, I even pressed the bell icon. :(

[@bikeradar]

Okay we admit, we'd love to be riding some of the tech on those bikes too! Plenty of us do run wider tubeless tyres on our bikes and Simon enjoys his narrow bars 👉kzbin.info/www/bejne/b3vYmYZ3f819oNE

[@AndrewTSq]

I have the same gps-mount, not sure that count.

[@amitkumar-wj8gn]

@@bikeradar yup, i am afraid I jumped the gun here....I assumed you talked about the bikes too....yes, you are right. Can;t afford the bikes but can surely afford alloy handlebars and tyres (at least once in a while)

[@rudyardroxas4586]

I think I used the same electrical tape to fasten the handlebar tape.

[@JimJCJimbo]

Yes, I use the same air as the pros do

[@bikeradar]

🤣🤣🤣

[@parenthlete]

You run pure nitrogen? Dude need to relax

[@maxt1617]

Great video, as you grouped the key trends together and gave analysis. Whereas GCN's video on the same subject just went from team to team and talked about paint jobs, 3D printing and carbon Ti disc spiders. They missed that bikes were getting lighter, 1X drivetrains, more stretched stems and TT tech on road bikes.

[@charlesblithfield6182]

I’d like to see at least one stage in the tour or maybe any complete grand tour use standardized equipment….every rider has the exact same bike. Different manufacturers could be involved but the standardization is like the Japanese Keirin racing bikes. The only differences in performance will come from the riders and not the gear. I get why the gear innovation matters from an industry marketing perspective but a standardized equipment platform would be a great innovation for bike racing fans.

[@hkw3169]

Saving this for later knowing I’ll never afford any of this Great video👍

[@XxxxTxTxxxX]

Pogacar probably using wider tyres because his wrist is still healing and it helps to smoothen the rides

[@laurenz323]

Could be

[@rydelatorre21]

Yup, that's probably their main reason for doing so..

[@TnFruit]

Well, on 25mm Hookless Rims the recommended minimum tire width is 28mm and they get 30-32mm wide on them. Math is simple.

[@munki2]

I agree! I came here to write this

[@victorrodriguez2806]

Those Specialized Turbo cotton Tubs are made by Vittoria.

[@tomeklubomir]

Bad press for Pirelli tyres if even Pog and UAE is riding Conti in TDF and not the sponsor tyres, the fact they blow up so wide on the Enve rims is secondary…

[@einundsiebenziger5488]

Pog and UAE are* riding ...

[@18dbofgain]

Jumbo uses 1X as the SRAM front mechs only works as and when it wants too.

[@trentvlak]

and the chain still falls off.

[@johnboxxy3432]

All this money and tech but they can't avoid punctures and chain drops. Chains coming off seems strange, derailer tensioners have been around a long time .

[@JoshuaTootell]

Weight matters to the typical rider because: -They can feel it. -They cant go fast enough (especially on climbs) to take advantage of aero. -They cant ride an aero position anyway My old SuperSix is about 14.5 pounds. Feels great to pick up. But I just got some nice aero Rovals for my "gravel" bike (I don't ride gravel and it has 28mm tires) and it certainly feels faster everywhere, which I don't like 😂 I am light, have a decent FTP, and can adopt an aero position, so it works. Im going to swap to a more aero frame in the near future. I'll ride the SuperSix on my big climbing days (I am surrounded by mountains) and the aero bike (with discs, great in the rain) for everything else.

[@pierrex3226]

How is 1x improving chain line? I think it materially worsens chain line! Or what am i missing?

[@bikeradar]

A 1x chainring can be placed more centrally, meaning chianline can be more optimal in the middle of the cassette - where riders would typically spend most of their time (assuming they've optimised their gear ratios properly). f course, if they spend a lot of time at the extreme ends of the cassette, then the chainline could indeed be worse than with 2x, yep. All about getting the ratios right for the parcours. Personally, I'm still a big believer in 2x over 1x for road bikes, but interesting to see different approaches: www.bikeradar.com/features/opinion/1x-on-road-bikes/ Cheers for watching! Simon

[@WesternUranus]

@@bikeradar On a 10-36 SRAM cassette, the middle third of the cassette is 15,17,19,21. Paired with a 48t chainring at the front that gives you between 26 and 36 kph at 90rpm. So that's nice and all but that doesn't checks out at all with TdF stages average speeds. Pros ride way faster than that on the flat and slower in the climbs hence why they need 2x to get the right gearing. The reasoning with 1x is completely flawed anyways since you're not supposed to use the middle of the cassette. One uses the middle of the bottom half on the big ring and the middle of the upper half on the small ring, giving the perfect ranges for flat and climbs respectively. The middle of the cassette is merely a convenient overlap zone of gear ratios for the rider to transition easily.

[@jonathanzappala]

There was a great article by diamondback about the Andean and 1x chain efficiency, but I can no longer find it on the internet. They did not know the quantity of aero gains, but the friction losses are theoretically smaller than the aero gains.

[@bikeradar]

@WesternUranus I don't think the pros are riding 1x with 48t chainrings - especially not on flat or rolling parcours. Van Aert used a 52t ring for Milan-San Remo, for example: www.bikeradar.com/features/pro-bike/wout-van-aert-1x/ Either way, though, I'm not advocating anyone switches to 1x - I'm simply pointing out that it's a trend at this year's Tour, and attempting to explain why that might be. If you want to know my personal thoughts on 1x, you can read this column I wrote recently, which is titled "Simon says: 1x road bikes are a solution in search of a problem": www.bikeradar.com/features/opinion/1x-on-road-bikes/ Cheers, Simon

[@pierrex3226]

@@bikeradar very nice article. Same boat here. The 1x feels like SRAM trying to push its backwards engineering, with chainrings that are too small, cassettes that are too small, just to piss away watts in the name of novelty. 1x on the flat though, yes, it's fun to push a very big ring and go silly fast in tuck.

[@enigma1000]

I’d be more interested in a ‘bike cap’. You can have one bike to ride throughout the race. Any spare bikes must be identical, including tyres and wheels. This would focus development on all round performance, reduce cost and complexity of running multiple bikes, be more relevant to most amateur cyclists, be an interesting challenge for the technicians to optimise the choice for varied terrain and it would be simpler for teams and their mechanics. What’s not to like?

[@ohnezuckerohnefett]

Everything.

[@enigma1000]

@@ohnezuckerohnefett Ok if that’s your opinion but what’s your better idea?

[@mikegaskin5542]

Bike industry wants people to believe that they need multiple bikes. Just like running shoe industry introduced the idea of a “shoe rotation”

[@szurketaltos2693]

@@mikegaskin5542 okay but your shoes do get smellier if you wear them everyday

[@roadcyclist1]

​@@enigma1000let them use as many bikes as they want. Who gives a flying f?

[@gokaygs]

How does a 1x setup improve chainline????

[@Lukearthwalker]

Right?! That's literally impossible, in fact, 1X makes it worse.

[@bubbastard]

Not even world tour teams trust SRAMs front derailleurs.

[@einundsiebenziger5488]

Sram not being able to build a decent FR is the only actual reason why there is 1x in the first place. It's even stupid on MTBs since it gives you a bunch of super-small climbing gears but no big gears to comfortably pedal along on +50 kph downhills or simply for fast riding in the flats.

[@bubbastard]

@@einundsiebenziger5488 I agree, but that's not really why its on MTB. Getting rid of the front derailleurs allowed mtb bike rear suspension design to evolve and be what it is today. If you're going 50+ km/h on downhill on a mtb on trails, the chances that you are pedaling are slim to none.

[@michaelvrbanac6923]

Any significant climbing needs to be on a 2x. Allows more efficient gearing. Tubulars for racing. Tubeless for TT's. Rim brake bikes are lighter and more aero. Difference between TT tires and road tires isn't worth the watt or two.

[@szurketaltos2693]

1x climbing is fine... If it's up a consistent enough grade, hence some TTs are being run 1X.

[@m.talley1660]

Shimano called "sponsor of the majority of teams" might best be scripted as the choice of the majority of teams. SRAM is likely paying Jumbo a lot for these experiments. Shimano may have a sponsored team costing a bit less.

[@erich8258]

The alleged aero advantage of 1x always gets repeated with little to no supporting evidence (also to justify the added drag of the Classified hub). It's probably nearly nothing.

[@jonathanzappala]

Call them out for not giving proof for their claim, and make a claim of your own without proof. ;) just giving you a hard time ;)

[@szurketaltos2693]

The air there is so dirty I'd be surprised if it was measurably different. The only advantage is the psychological one mentioned in the video, i.e. ease of use, unless you have a heavy bike or are not racing UCI in which case I guess it's a couple hundred grams.

[@shibaburn7725]

Often such narrow handlebars aren't available to us regular cyclists. What do the UCI rules say about that? I'm surprised that Shimano doesn't offer a larger chainrings than 54/40, given the very high average speeds.

[@roadcyclist1]

I had no problem getting 38 cm bars on my ribble ultra sl r. No idea why you think they are not available. Plenty of bike manufacturers let you customize your bar width.

[@shibaburn7725]

@@roadcyclist1 Which manufacturers allow me to customize with 36 cm bars? And where can I get the bars that Caleb Ewan uses? It's like you didn't watch the video.

[@victorrodriguez2806]

It's funny how once a person has ridden and / or own a Specialized race bike, then try something else( anything ). They realize how horribly rough and rigid that bike is. Sure it's technically everything a bike should be for racing. But in the end, nobody wants to be beat up by the bike between their legs. I own 2 basso's, 4 Bianchi's a Willier, a maron and one specialized. I will never buy another Specialized ( race bike). I'm just not into torture.

[@trentvlak]

Laterally stiff, yet....

[@tomrachellesfirstdance7843]

From Cavs interview yesterday I bet he wishes he has the good ol true and tested 11 speed duraace

[@gourami7]

Did his gears jam or something?

[@tomrachellesfirstdance7843]

@@gourami7 it kept skipping between the 11 & 12 gears he said

[@andrewlabat9963]

Does anyone who rides, and is honest, thinks that any difference in these bikes makes the difference? Not when the difference between the most and least expensive is unmeasurable efficiency. Planning, how good they on it that day, luck (good or bad) all is the difference. This is why pros, and none pros win on every equipment combo available to them. I'd think salary budget and being able to pay the best cyclist and team managers who run the show makes up the real difference.

[@roadcyclist1]

Of course it makes a difference. Have you ever ridden more than 1 type of bike in your life?!

[@andrewlabat9963]

@aewfan7066 LOL, LOL.. then why cyclists win on every type of bike combo.out there? Look, you don't need to justify spending an ass load of money on the bike you want, just do it. But when you're talking the best components out there by different manufacturers, no it doesn't..

[@JingsWorld]

The only advantage we as daily riders from the TDF racers are we carry spare tubes and pump. They don’t.

[@arthurd6495]

I've read that (and found in practice, for tube setup) that putting 28mm tires on 25mm inner width rims is a bad idea and results in a significantly higher chance of pinch flats. Is this false? Is it false for tubeless, but true for tube? Welcome anyone's thoughts. thanks.

[@Piklzzz]

Wider tires is a scam, they just want us to spend more of our money on tubeless, which just don't work with high pressure, so they have to push 28-30-32mm tires down our throats. And it's a common thing to give a different bike to the public than the one that was actually ridden, remember all those "stage winning bike" reviews with disc breaks, when the state was ridden on a bike with the rim breaks.

[@Scheeringiscaring]

@@Piklzzz30mm tires are just so much more comfortable than the old 25s i‘d rather sacrifice performance on perfectly smooth tarmac for better grip and comfort on slightly uneven tarmac that hasn’t been repaved in the last 6 months

[@barrowsworm1226]

@@Piklzzz You need to do some actual research, as you are plain wrong. Spend some time looking up the rolling resistance testing which has been done. It has been proven that 28 mm tubeless road setups at more moderate pressures are fastest on normal road surfaces (not the track, where the surface is much smoother). And if you still think rim brakes have an advantage, well, I just cannot help you-or perhaps you rude somewhere with no technical high speed descending.

[@markschmalenberger8301]

I don't know what material the teeth on that one x chain ring are made of,but they sure appear to be wasted.😮

[@Nyarlathoth]

The Colnago and the Willier are as aero as my 300$ Triban. Budget does not mean performance in a manufacturer's advertisement show.

[@szurketaltos2693]

Your $300 triban has a more upright, wider position unless you changed out the stem and handlebars. That's going to be most of the difference, though the other differences range from probably minutes over the course of the tour (wheels, overall weight) to seconds or less.

[@barrowsworm1226]

Comments here suggest people really do not understand that 28 mm tires are faster over road surfaces, period. For road racing (not TTs, or track) with asphalt road surfaces, 28 mm tires are the new standard for most road pros, and many newer rime are optimized in terms of aero benefits for 28 mm tires especially rims from Enve and Zipp.

[@gourami7]

Not if they don't run flush with your rims or you don't have clearance on your frame...

[@barrowsworm1226]

@@gourami7 Contemporary rims like Zipp and Enve are specifically designed to achieve best aero performance with 28-30 mm tires, they are wider for this very reason. Current road frames are also designed to fit wider tires, specifically because they are faster.

[@trentvlak]

supporting evidence?

[@db613]

DA 9100 mechanical is lighter than 12 speed 400 grams

[@bikeradar]

🤔It is a little lighter, but I don't think it's 400g - it's just 35g according to Shimano's claimed weights. Unless you're talking about rim vs disc brake groupsets? Total Energies are running Dura-Ace Di2 R9170 (the disc brake groupset), though, on their Specialized Tarmac SL7s. Cheers for watching, Simon

[@db613]

@@bikeradar I was mistakenly comparing my Ultegra mechanical vs 12spd DA... the battery adds weight. I love my 11 spd mechanical is 2272 grams against 2514 grams DA 12sp plus I swapped to a lighter DA cassette and saves 400 grams. Cant see changing to Di2 12 any time soon

[@tsc4842]

@@db613don’t know what u r smoking but you are completely off with the weights..

[@wisnuaji783]

O😊

[@kallewirsch7915]

Why is MVDPs bike so heavy? 7,95kg!

[@gregmorrison7320]

Large frame built with added stiffness for his immense power?

[@molder2233]

Bloody hell!

[@chadbarbaro]

strength and stiffness still has to be there regardless of materials. mvdp is a big strong guy.

[@kallewirsch7915]

@@chadbarbaro You mean when I buy a stock Aeroad with 7,2kg and push 1500 Watt it will break down? I don´t think so. Never heard about stiffness problems with this model.

[@johnd1466]

Controversial I know but “it’s not about the bike”

[@andrewlabat9963]

No, not when the difference between the most and least expensive is probably less than half a percent efficiency. Planning, how good they on it that day, luck (good or bad) all is the difference. This is why pros win on every combo available to them.

[@Dyoochoob]

Anyone know how much the hidden motors actually weigh?

[@donwinston]

A one by does not improve chain line. It will make it slightly worse unless you compare it with a two by being used improperly.

[@TenSapphires]

We don't have equipment like pro's, they have mechanic and spare bikes, we don't.

[@mskelly330]

I'm not opposed to budget caps. It'd be a shame if pro cycling turns into the Premier League, where the wealth gap is so painfully obvious and exploited.

[@gourami7]

Well wasn't that the case when Sky/Ineos won so many GTs and had a roster of GC leaders with triple the budget of most teams ?

[@ThunderStruckMTB]

No to "budget cuts to level the playing field". The TDF is the premier, F1 event of the sport and should be treated as such.... You just can't get in the ring with Ali because you think you can box.

[@bikeradar]

Formula 1 actually does have budget caps in order to level the playing field and increase competitiveness 😉Cheers for watching, Simon

[@kennys1425]

@@bikeradar MotoGp too also same ignition parts and tyre manufacturer across all bikes.

[@jonathanzappala]

F1 teams design and build their cars, world tour teams get paid to ride them, cost cap comparison falls flat.

[@jonathanzappala]

One more thing to add, does said budget cap apply equally to world tour teams and continental teams? Why should a continental team like total direct energies have the same budget as TJV?

[@devinmorrison7131]

The riders are ditching the front derailleur because new bikes are so heavy. Grams are more important than aero when it matters most at gradients above 10% when they can hemorrhage major time.

[@stibra101]

People are riding lighter steel bikes than pro bikes today!

[@DCassidy42]

It's about the whole system weight. A 130lbs rider with a 20lbs bike is still going to go up a hill faster than a 150lbs rider with a 15lbs bike.

[@stibra101]

@@DCassidy42 Light bikes are more fun to ride, it does not matter how heavy the rider is.

[@Dyoochoob]

@@DCassidy42 yeah but that 130lb rider might be quicker on the 15lb bike no? :)

[@x3631]

stupid suggestion to introduce budget capped

[@einundsiebenziger5488]

Almost 8 kg for a +10,000 €/$/£ road bike is offensive! Yes, aerodynamics might be more important than weight, but a light aero bike is still faster than a heavy one. And why all the effort to make bikes more aero (and close to non-serviceable) by routing all cables and hoses inside the stem and frame and then completely negating this effort with super-wide tyres that add the surface area back on that was saved by hiding the cables?

[@roadcyclist1]

Apparently you think you are smarter than all the engineers and teams at the very top of the sport who have every interest in performing the best. The gall.

[@cxwrench1]

Stop saying 'c' when describing tire width...it's millimeters.

[@kabobsyea9985]

Go back school mate

[@DrJRMCFC]

If I want wide tyres, I'll ride my mum's shopping bike.

[@bikeradar]

Is your mum's shopping bike also a Colnago V4Rs with ENVE wheels and Carbon Ti parts?

[@patrickbateman7444]

What an L take, what a dumb, ignorant statement. Once you tested 28mm tubeless (i ride the Schwalbe pro one) you will never go back to 23mm 8 bar garbage. It's faster, more comfortable, more grip, it is so much better.

[@einundsiebenziger5488]

@@patrickbateman7444 Won't go back to 23s, but 25s give me enough grip to go down my favourite local descent without braking. Understand 28s if you live in an area with bad roads. Anything wider is useless.

[@patrickbateman7444]

@@einundsiebenziger5488 28s are faster than 25s in most conditions. Modern wheels like my DT Swiss ERC 1400 are aerodynamically optimized for 28s. 28 is the minimum you should ride these days

[@Piklzzz]

Wider tires is a scam, they just want us to spend more of our money on tubeless, which just don't work with high pressure, so they have to push 28-30-32mm tires down our throats. And it's a common thing to give a different bike to the public than the one that was actually ridden, remember all those "stage winning bike" reviews with disc breaks, when the state was ridden on a bike with the rim breaks.

[@seanmccuen6970]

my light, fast 30mm road tires with latex tubes at 40psi front/46psi rear on modern wide rims ain't no scam. it's pure win/win; speed, rideability, traction, durability, comfort. no fkn' way I'd personally ever ride anything smaller than 28's at this point.

[@szurketaltos2693]

Why are you worked up that the industry is actually trending towards something good for consumers (more comfortable ride, fewer flats)?

[@richardhaselwood9478]

Oh go away. Wider tyres are amazing. Lower rolling resistance, more comfort, and more speed. Tubeless is pretty great too (I'm not road tubeless yet though). And disc brakes are so much better than rims, it's not funny.

[@einundsiebenziger5488]

Wider tyres are* a scam / disc brakes*, rim brakes* - otherwise completely agreed.

[@einundsiebenziger5488]

@@richardhaselwood9478 Lower rolling resistance is nonsense once you're past 28mm. Also rolling resistance is by far the least significant of all types of resistance you have to overcome when riding a bike. Dropping a tyre's weight by 10 percent will make you much faster than dropping your tyre's rolling resistance by 10 % (if the latter is at all possible). How is having to push added weight up a hill "more comfortable"?

[@9118693223]

clincher tyres still on pro cycling?? i thought that only us , the recreational riders, still ride on them ...