Trends From Paris-Roubaix This Year
In this video, Cycling Weekly's Sam Gupta shares the top 5 hottest tech trends to come out of this year's race. We saw everything from massive chainrings, custom chain catchers, to gravel bikes and some really big tyres.
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00:00 The 121st edition of the men's Paris-Roubaix was a display of sheer power, as, spoiler alert,
00:07 Mathieu van der Poel broke away from the leading group with 60km to go, and by 50k to go,
00:13 the chase had all but given up trying to bring him back. But, as we know, Paris-Roubaix is a
00:19 race where bike tech plays a massive role. Every year there's new developments, new tech being
00:25 tested, and ever more ways the teams try and tame the cobbles. So, in 2024, what were the biggest
00:31 tech trends? Well, for starters, across both men's and women's pelotons, the move to 1x was vast.
00:38 Mainly seen on SRAM-sponsored teams, the benefit of not dropping a chain and simplified gear
00:44 shifting with the use of satellite shifters was widely adopted. Since the race holds its difficulty
00:50 in the cobbles rather than any harsh gradients, it was easy for riders to simply adopt a wider
00:56 range of cassettes to give them the gears they needed. Also, some may have been looking to
01:01 optimise drivetrain efficiency by kipping a super straight chainline, as Ineos rider Josh Tarling
01:08 had a massive 62-tooth chainring fitted to his Shimano-specced Pinarello Dogma. Sadly,
01:15 though, thanks to a bottle which was slightly too sticky, he was later disqualified from the race.
01:21 I am really hoping that next year he will have a better shot, because he is certainly a rising star.
01:27 While Josh's 62-tooth chainring was the biggest I saw in use, there were plenty of other riders
01:32 using single chainring setups in the mid-50 range. Thanks to the widespread adoption of 1x setups,
01:39 there was also a myriad of chaincatchers being used. These ranged from OEM parts from brands
01:45 like Wolf Tooth and K-Edge through to some slightly more imaginative 3D printed solutions.
01:50 Israel Premier Tech decided to opt for one of the most bizarre bike choices.
01:56 They jumped aboard the Factor Ostro Gravel. That's right, they used the gravel bike for
02:02 Paris-Roubaix. It's reported that the team were running some relatively wide 34C Continental GP5000
02:09 STR tyres. Arguably, it's not the most ridiculous idea. The Factor Ostro Gravel is a very aero gravel
02:17 bike, and the position and clearance would stand them in good stead over the technical terrain.
02:22 However, their top-placed rider finished 7 minutes down on the winner in 31st.
02:27 Perhaps had the course been muddier or the weather been a little more dreary,
02:32 then they may have had an advantage, but this time round, it might not have been the right move.
02:38 The style of bike which did seem to be on the rage was out-and-out aero bikes. In fact,
02:44 Uno X rider Alexander Kristoff decided to use a prototype aero bike from team sponsor
02:50 Dair. Predicted to be named the Velocity Ace, it looks to be as aggressive as they come,
02:56 with a super deep headtube making use of the new UCI rules.
03:00 It was a similar story for the rest of the men's peloton, as aero bikes looked to be the go-to
03:07 choice where the riders had the option. It was a slightly different story for the women,
03:12 as they had a slightly wider variation of bike choices, with some opting for the Trek
03:17 Domane over the Madone, or some opting for the Canyon Ultimate over the Aeroad, but even that
03:23 could be set to change over the coming years. Clearly, the current sweep of endurance bikes,
03:29 including the Specialized Roubaix, are no longer suitable for the cobbled classic. Perhaps they've
03:36 become too soft, or perhaps aero bikes have just become versatile enough to the point where they
03:42 can be used very successfully on the hardest of parcours. Personally, I think it's a mix of the
03:49 two. I think it is fair to assume that the bikes which made the podium did so because of one simple
03:55 fact. They can all accept much wider tyres. Maybe, just maybe, this is the most influential factor
04:03 on the versatility of modern road bikes. As such, the peloton's favourite tyre size was 32c,
04:10 with only a handful of teams providing an exception to the rule. The biggest tyres we saw sat on
04:16 British national champion Fred Wright's bike as he was using some 35c Continental GP5000 ASTRs,
04:24 which pushed his Merida's tyre clearance to the very limit. Little Trek were actually running
04:30 some prototype Pirelli tyres that, despite saying they were 32mm wide, when paired with the new
04:36 Bontrager ALS Pro 49V gravel wheels, they measured up at 34.5mm. This big volume tyre will have helped
04:45 Mads Pedersen run a low pressure and enjoy a nice big contact patch with the cobbles.
04:50 It's worth remembering that the maximum size of tyre that can be used in a cyclocross race
04:56 is 33c. So not only is the peloton's choice of 32c one we know that can be ridden on technical
05:03 terrain, but it might also be why the current cyclocross world champion won the race.
05:08 This is kind of why I love Mattia Van Der Poel's setup so much. Other than some wide tyres,
05:14 some double wrap bar tape and some tyre inserts, it's just a normal canyon air road. No gimmicks
05:20 or tricks up its sleeves. Just big rubber and a rider who has buckets of technical ability.
05:25 [MUSIC PLAYING]