6 Hottest Tech Trends | 2023 Tour de France | Cycling Weekly
The 2023 Tour de France has not just brought us new bikes, but, also a load of brand-new tech! Our eagle eyed tech nerds at the race have been busy spotting all the latest innovations and here, Sam Gupta has rounded them up and identified all the tech trends of this year's race. The tech trends of this year's tour boil down into super lightweight components, fancy cockpits with modifications, 3D printing being used more widely than ever before, new bikes, custom paint and also some brand-new road bike tyres. Let us know, what's your favourite piece of new tech?
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00:00 The Tour de France is well and truly underway, and this year seems to have brought a whole
00:04 raft of new tech.
00:06 So I've taken a deep dive on everything our eagle-eyed tech nerds have seen on the
00:11 ground, and I'm going to bring you six of the hottest trends from this year's Tour
00:15 de France.
00:21 One tech trend that seems to have hit this year's Tour quite hard is the desire to
00:25 drop as much weight as possible.
00:28 We first saw Israel Premier Tech use the Doremo seatposts as well as Uno X as they've opted
00:34 for the AX Lightness seatposts.
00:37 Now this isn't something you usually see these days, as seatposts are so often a proprietary
00:42 component from the bicycle manufacturer, meaning that third-party options just simply don't
00:48 exist.
00:49 But in these cases, it's really nice to see the teams embrace the ability to drop a few
00:54 extra grams.
00:56 It doesn't just stop at the seatposts though, because the UAE mechanics have been working
01:01 hard to find extra weight-saving gains.
01:03 Taddei Pogacar's Colnago V4 RS with a full Dura-Ace groupset has been modified with chain
01:09 rings from Carbon-Ti.
01:12 Now this modification does surprise me somewhat, because even though, yes, Pogacar will be
01:17 saving some weight with the use of those rings, the possibility to drop a chain also does
01:23 increase.
01:24 In my opinion, the risk of dropping a chain in a critical race situation is something
01:29 that I would rather avoid compared to the tens of grams that you'll be able to save
01:35 with the change of rings.
01:37 Perhaps Pogacar and the mechanics are really confident with their setup and believe that
01:41 such a risk just doesn't exist.
01:44 The use of Carbon-Ti products doesn't stop there, because Pogacar's bike is also fitted
01:49 with the brand's brake rotors.
01:51 Again, saving a small amount of weight, but when you are battling it up the side of a
01:55 mountain at the world's biggest bike race, you don't want to make any compromises.
02:05 The UAE mechanics have clearly been very busy, not just with fancy chain rings and brake
02:11 rotors, but it looks like the team has been working closely with team sponsor Enve to
02:17 create some brand new unreleased handlebars.
02:21 Now currently this is an unreleased model from the American brand, but something we
02:26 should expect to see commercially available in the next 12 months.
02:30 However, the team that has really upped the levels with its handlebars are team Uno-X.
02:36 It has managed to perfectly integrate the satellite shifters into the handlebar itself.
02:42 As you can see, it looks like the bar has had a small hole cut into it and then the
02:46 satellite shifter has been screwed into place.
02:49 It's this attention to detail that I absolutely love to see.
02:53 And I'm sure for the riders, it's really nice to have a setup which is so clean and lacking
02:59 in random bits of tape and cable ties.
03:07 Another big trend that has been sweeping over the peloton this year is the adoption of 3D
03:11 printing.
03:12 Since the process allows for riders to fairly easily acquire kit which is made just for
03:17 them, I think they've all jumped on the opportunity to ensure everything is as dialed in as possible.
03:23 So first off, we have seen a new saddle from Specialized in the form of what looks to be
03:28 a new Phenom.
03:29 Clearly, this saddle is made of the brand's Mira technology, but has a top layer of material
03:35 to stop the lattice from getting full of debris from the road.
03:38 In a similar vein, Kadex has also shown off a new perch, as spotted on one of the bikes
03:43 from one of the Jayco Aluna riders.
03:45 Obviously it's unbranded, but we expect it to don the Kadex name when it's officially
03:50 launched.
03:51 Mechanics also seem to be enjoying their newfound ability to create parts that they may otherwise
03:56 just not be able to get hold of.
03:59 For example, the UAE mechanics have created this custom upper headset bearing cover.
04:05 Made of thermoplastic, it is going to be a smidge lighter than the carbon fibre version
04:10 that the bike's supplied with.
04:12 Certainly extreme measures are being taken here.
04:20 We have not been disappointed with the number of new bikes that we've seen at this year's
04:24 race.
04:25 No less than three brands have brought new steeds to this year's edition.
04:29 The first being Ridley.
04:31 They have shown us a new bike, but are not commenting on what the model is called.
04:36 However, when looking at the two profiles, they look a lot less aggressive compared to
04:40 the Noah Fast, which is the brand's dedicated aero bike.
04:45 Thanks to the slimmer tubes, we would not be surprised if this new bike weighs a lot
04:49 less than the Noah Fast.
04:51 One other aspect that we've noticed is that Caleb is actually running a couple of spaces
04:56 underneath his stem.
04:58 Since he is a rider that gets famously low, I'm going to assume that he's saving this
05:03 bike to get himself over the mountains.
05:06 Next is the new Factor 02 van.
05:08 This bike has clearly gone on a pretty serious crash diet, with its new slender tube shapes
05:14 and shallow profile wheels.
05:17 It certainly does resemble that of the Giant TCR, with its integrated seat post and sloping
05:22 tube shapes.
05:24 Clearly this bike is built to accelerate quickly and climb mountains like a goat.
05:29 And the new wheels play a big part in that.
05:32 Fitted are some new black ink wheels, which measure 28mm deep on the front and 33mm deep
05:38 on the rear.
05:39 The internal width of these wheels also looks to be quite wide too, meaning we could see
05:44 tyres plumping themselves right out and then creating a fantastically grippy and comfortable
05:50 contact patch with the road.
05:51 For the time being, we will have to await further details from Factor on this new bike.
05:56 But in the meantime, perhaps we could see it grab a stage win or two.
06:00 One of the most obviously new bikes in the peloton is the sticker-bombed BMC.
06:05 What we believe to be the new Time Machine Road, the bike features some pretty aggressive
06:10 tube shapes.
06:11 And, thanks to all of the branding, it has clearly been developed in partnership with
06:16 Red Bull Advanced Technologies.
06:18 Yet another collision between the cycling and F1 worlds.
06:22 Again, no official word from BMC on this new bike, but we expect to hear something pretty
06:28 soon.
06:33 While the bikes might not be new, the paint on them certainly is.
06:37 Custom paint has hit this year's Tour hard, and there's one team that has really stepped
06:42 up its game, that being Little Trek.
06:45 Mads Pedersen has landed himself what might be one of the most outrageous paint schemes
06:50 that the peloton has ever seen.
06:52 A mix of blue, purple and orange chrome fade makes for a pretty eye-catching colourway,
06:58 and one which is only backed up by the bike's specification.
07:02 Claimed to only be available to current and former world champions, the gold chain and
07:07 cassette is the extra little bit of bling that this bike needed to seal its title as
07:12 the most spangly bike in the peloton.
07:14 That's not the only mad bit of custom paint though.
07:17 Since this is Mark Cavendish's last Tour de France, he has been given a custom-painted
07:22 Wilier Philante SLR to signify and celebrate just what the Manx man means to the Tour.
07:29 The special pearl marble finish with deep yellow gold decals make him easy to spot,
07:35 and I for one absolutely love it.
07:37 Now unless he already has, I really hope he gets that 35th victory.
07:42 Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel is another recipient of the custom paint magic, with his beautifully
07:48 simple and clean looking Canyon Aeroad CFR.
07:51 I think brands are clocking onto the fact that creating these custom paint jobs actually
07:56 creates themselves a little bit of buzz and something to talk about, and it probably gets
08:01 those much needed eyeballs on their sponsors.
08:04 So while custom paint is only covering a smattering of the peloton at the moment, I think this
08:09 is one thing which will only become more popular in the years to come.
08:18 Tyre tech may not always be the most exciting thing, but when it's the only component
08:23 joining you and the road together, it's arguably quite an important one.
08:28 This year's Tour has of course brought us some new rubber, but what we've seen has
08:32 left us scratching our heads a little.
08:35 First up, Specialized now seemingly offer a turbo tyre but labelled as being specific
08:40 for wet conditions.
08:43 This is the first time I've ever seen anything like this, and it certainly aids in the movement
08:48 for cycling to become ever more like Formula 1.
08:52 Since this tyre has a very similar, if not the same tread pattern as the newly released
08:56 Specialized Mondo tyre, it's fair to assume that the difference between the two purely
09:02 comes down to the compound of rubber used.
09:04 That wasn't the only other new tyre that was spotted at this year's Tour, thanks
09:08 to our tech nerds.
09:09 Jumbo Visma look to be sporting a new Vittoria Corsa Speed TT tyre in a 28c size, a size
09:17 which hasn't been available for that tyre before.
09:21 Plus it was found that the narrower width was actually a bit more aero.
09:27 So it seems that lightweight components, swanky handlebars, 3D printing, new bikes, custom
09:33 paint and new tyres are the tech trends of this year's Tour.
09:37 Let me know down below, what's your favourite piece of new tech that you've seen?
09:41 If you enjoyed the video, then please do drop it a like, subscribe to the channel for more
09:45 content and I will see you again very soon.
09:47 Thanks.
09:50 (explosion)
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