Tour de France tech: TT bikes, helmets and more
UTRECHT, The Netherlands (CT) – With the eyes of the cycling world on the Tour de France it’s a prime time for manufacturers to let fans know that they have new products for them to buy. This year’s stage 1 ITT in Utrecht saw more tech goodies on show than in previous years. In fact it was a gear geek’s paradise.
Giro was one company getting a lot of attention on social media while the race was on and they took the opportunity to show off their new and as-yet-unnamed time trial helmet. This is being worn by both the IAM Cycling and Katusha teams.
The new Giro helmet has an excessively long front overhang that results in the visor swooping back towards the face. It is also a lot shorter than many of the rivals products.
Spanish helmet manufacture Catlike were the other brand with a new lid. The new helmet is vastly different from the company’s previous Chrono WT. The new helmet is a lot more boxy with a very short if not close-to non-existent tail.
Two huge vents either side of the visor and two on top of the helmet look as though they would suck great amounts of air through during use, cooling the head.
Abus is better known for its range of bike locks but this year they’re also the helmet supplier for Bora-Argon 18. They have a new time trial helmet that has been developed with consultation from the team.
Then there was Suomy with their time trial helmet for the Lampre-Merida guys. Suomy are in their first year of sponsorship with the Italian team and seem to be producing some “different” looking helmets. The brand is better known in the motorbiking world, though they have had several cycling helmets available in the past including a shared design with Kask roughly 10 years ago.
A close look at Alexander Kristoff’s bike initially seemed to show what looked like a lack of chain cleaning from the team mechanic. A thick white powder covering the chain and splashed on the rear disc wheel was in fact a new coating that helps reduce chain friction.
Initially produced by Friction Fact — a test lab in the USA — the product has now been bought and is offered by Ceramic Speed. It’s called UFO, and only a few riders at the Tour will be using it. Apparently a coating only lasts 300-350km in its optimum state.
Orbea, who sponsors the Cofidis team, had a new time trial bike in action on stage 1 of the Tour: the new Ordu. The Basque brand have been working closely with calliper manufacture TriRig on making a brakeset that flows into the frameset of the new Ordu.
The bike will come equipped with the TriRig callipers when bought by the public but with Vision being brake sponsor of the Cofidis team the team bikes have Vision’s new aero TriMax callipers installed.
The Orbea representative I spoke with stated that they have also been working with Vision on new products. It sounded as though it has been a two pronged attack to allow the bike to have a duel aero brake set up.
Unlike many TT bikes the Ordu comes with no in-built stem and bar setup, instead opting for a FSA mountain bike stem that is quite square but aero-looking plus with a negative drop. The reason for a lack of integrated bar and stem? Orbea apparently sees that the general public wants a bike that is easy to maintain and ship from race to race.
Custom bikes graced the start line of the stage 1 ITT as well. Richie Porte had his green and gold Pinarello Bolide on show, there was a new Pro tri-spoke wheel and Fabian Cancellara had his usual Spartacus design on his Trek. Perhaps the most stunning of all though was Andrew Talansky’s US national champ’s Cannondale Slice.
Ice vests were everywhere on stage 1 as well. With the temperature soaring into the high 30s pretty much every team had some sort of cooling clothing on offer to their riders.
Orica-GreenEdge had the most high-tech setup with a hose pumping water into a long-sleeved jersey that had piping coiled through it. The jersey looked like something from a Ridley Scott sci-fi film.
Trek had a two-part ice vest: the upper body part with a set of wrist coolers as a separate item.
Check out the photos below for a selection of the interesting tech on display at this year’s Tour de France. We’ll have plenty more for you in the coming weeks, including more time trial bikes and kit before the stage 9 team time trial.
Photo gallery
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- The visor on the new Giro helmet flips upwards and is held in place by magnets (see bottom right). When worn the helmet tilts downwards and towards the face as the front of the helmet has a rather deep section to it.
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- On-board cameras were even present on the time trial bikes. GoPro are partnering with the ASO and Velon this year so we should see some interesting footage throughout the race.
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- This Catlike helmet features a much more boxy design compared to the longer teardrop versions of old.
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- Bontrager had a new skinsuit with the zip on the back for Trek Factory Raing. It is similar in design to the Sportful version that is being used by the Tinkoff-Saxo team.
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- Tinkoff-Saxo had all their riders in ice vests while warming up and on their way to the start line.
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- The Tacx aero cage and bottle is something that doesn’t seem to appear on the company’s website.
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- Sky were showing off their new car. A full-body wrap made the Jaguar F-Pace stand out from the rest of the black Jags the team has.
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- FDJ was clearly trying to out-“bling” Team Sky in the car stakes with a blue-chromed team Skoda.
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- Pro had a new tri-spoke wheel in use by several of their sponsored riders including guys on IAM, Giant-Alpecin and Team Sky.
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- Close-up details of Richie Porte’s Bolide. See the feature image for the full-bike shot.
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- Steven Cummings was using what looked like a custom carbon set of arm rests on his team bike for the stage 1 ITT.
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- Met has a new aero road helmet in use during the Tour (more on that in a later article) but the MTN-Qhubeka team was using the latest Drone time trial helmet from the italian company.
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- Mavic has updated its logo but has the company updated any of its wheels yet?
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- LottoNL-Jumbo had a new colourway on their team Bell helmets at the stage 1 ITT.
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- Look’s new TT bike is an eyecatcher, used by Bretagne – Séché Environnement. The new 796 was first seen at the French national championships a week before the TdF kicked off. It’s an impressively slick machine with all cables hidden away and integrated brakes. The bars and stem are all one piece.
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- Bike checks are part and parcel of the racing scene. Every bike has to comply with strict regulations.
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- With the UCI stamp on it, it must mean it’s a serious piece of kit.
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- Levels keep things on the straight and narrow with the UCI bike checks.
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- Dimension Data have a unit on the back of every bike for transmitting all the GPS data that will be gathered and broadcast throughout the race.
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- Cancellara’s custom bike. No real news on the component front from what we could spot. But the bike looked great in the Utrecht sunshine.
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- Nacer Bouhanni of Cofidis warming up prior to stage 1. He was among many with ice vests on.
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- We have seen rubber-like overshoes in the peloton for a good while now, but these mitts from Bontrager also incorporate the material. We are guessing that they’re not very breathable.
