The Tour de France is well underway and my goodness, what an edition it’s been (we love you Cav!). For cyclists and tourists alike, the TDF plays host to what is often dubbed “the biggest sports event in the world”
Not only do the race organisers do a rather good job of showcasing the picturesque French regions, but with so many eyes on the riders, Le Tour offers an idyllic theatre for manufacturers to launch and showcase their new kit. The last decade has seen some major advancements in technology, with the primary focus being to increase speed and efficiency. With over 80% of a riders power being used to overcome aerodynamic drag, it’s easy to see why there has been so much focus on aero. Every second counts and with that in mind, let’s check out the weird, wonderful and woeful kit that’s being used in this year’s edition.
Hot or not: Dylan’s Scicon glasses..
Lets get straight into this one. Dylan Groenewegen’s Scicon glasses with additional aero beak. Does the beak increase speed, help you breathe or is it there to simply look cool? Who knows! You know what though, I quite like them. Unsurprisingly however, The UCI (not particularly known for their forward thinking or humorous characteristics) ordered the beak to be removed mid stage. What are your thoughts?
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Cav’s socks by Nopinz
Aero socks are not exactly a new thing, but our man Cav has taken it one step further with custom, made to measure aero socks. At just under £1000 for a pair (gulp), I can’t see many people buying this particular set of socks from Nopinz, but after last years tour, I don’t blame Cav for wanting to use them. Interestingly, he used a different model sock when he won his momentous 35th victory. Who knows, they might be even faster?
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Continental Aero Tread
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale have installed these brand new Continental aero tyres onto their front wheels (Apparently, there isn’t enough of an advantage to having them fitted to the rears, due to turbulence caused by air hitting the down and seat tubes). The Continental Aero 111 tyre has 48 cavities in the tread, known as “vortex generators.” These are designed to help control the airflow as it passes over the front tyre and wheel. Pretty cool I guess!
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That Giro TT helmet
Ok, so we can’t claim this one as being super new tech as it was already launched at stage one of this year’s Tirreno-Adriatico. TT aero helmets are in all honesty, a tricky one to make look good, and it seems that in the pursuit of speed, any morsel of fashion sense has been filed under B. The helmet features an enormous visor and a large frontal protrusion, which seems to bridge the gap between the head and hands when sat on the skis. Aero? Yes. Cool? Erm….
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Poggie’s aero saddle
£1,019.00 is the cost of Tadej Pogačar’s new Prologo aero saddle. Spoiler alert, it’s also sold out..!
It’s been “engineered for Tadej Pogačar” and officially named the Predator. Featuring a carbon shell and minimal covering, it appears to provide additional weight savings. It’s likely designed to enhance Pogačar’s comfort in the time trial position, potentially offering significant, though immeasurable, aerodynamic gains by allowing him to adopt and maintain a more aerodynamic posture. Cool stuff indeed!
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Remco’s Specialized shoes
Specialized are at it again. This time, they are teasing us with some more prototype gear being tested for feedback and development by the worlds best, in this case a certain Remco Evenepeol…It’s a win-win. Lots of online speculation about what the new gen shoes will look like and also a perfect test bed for the manufacturer.
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Bonus – Custom paint jobs
Custom paint jobs are nothing new but always exciting to see. The 2024 edition has seen quite a few cool paint jobs. As much as I’d like to share a photo of Cav’s Wilier Filante SLR, we’ve probably all seen it enough already. The Factor Ostro VAM however, makes me very excited. With its paint splatter and chrome logo finish, this frameset looks out of this world. It’s available for us to order, provided you’re ok parting with approx. $ 5,499 for the frameset. Happy shopping!
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I’m sure that there is loads of other cool stuff taking a lap around France as we speak…what have I missed? Let us know in the comments.
