In a nutshell, the new tyres bring the brand's cotton tyre performance to a tubeless-friendly version and in new, larger 30 and 32mm sizes.
Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe were one of the teams using the tyres at Opening Weekend, along with Soudal-QuickStep and FDJ United-Suez. In the attached press material for the new tyres, there was a mention of the team having the original six pairs of tyres and refusing to give them back.
Whilst this could be a nice marketing line, we followed it up and got in touch with Dan Bigham, the team's Head of Engineering, to go beyond the press release and to try and learn more about the tyre's backstory and Opening Weekend use.
Cotton TLR's now come in 30 and 32mm sizes. (Image credit: Tom Wieckowski)
After speaking with Bigham, it sounds like the team and Specialized are putting lots of effort into tyre development, as Bigham explained.
"We're working very closely with Specialized on tyre research, and then by extension of that, tyre development," he said.
"Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe are very aligned with this approach, and alongside the Specialized tyre team and factory, we've been focusing in on truly understanding tyres. I know that sounds like a funny thing to say, but tyres are a complex component that, in general, are poorly understood."
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Specialized has a tyre production factory in Germany, which is the facility Bigham referred to. Small batches of tyres can be made for teams, which could help speed up testing and prototyping.
"Our testing is multifaceted, with testing across different rigs and environments, with the end goal of fully characterising a tyre to feed that information into our simulation tools to assess the performance impacts. This enables us to objectively assess the different performance impacts of a tyre," he explained.
This quote is interesting and perhaps points to Bigham and his team working to build out a collection of data on when certain tyres may be most suitable to particular racing conditions.
Bigham went on to explain the reasoning for the team holding onto the original six pairs of tyres they were given.
"The latest Turbo Cotton TLR tyres are an early part of this project together, and we're very pleased with the steps forward we've made. With every prototype tyre, there is a very small batch produced and distributed to teams for testing.
"In this case, we received just six, so once we had the data showing how awesome they are, we had to manage those few tyres carefully. This is just the beginning."
I spotted some tyres with this sidewall sealant added at Omloop. (Image credit: Future)
Whilst happy to share information on the tyre development, Bigham wouldn't expand on the external sidewall sealant I noticed on some of the team tyres at Opening Weekend.
The team mechanic I asked at the race told me it was for protection, a plausible move given the racy cotton sidewalls and the race's cobblestones. But could it also have been to minimise any sealant leakage that can plague lighter-weight, cotton tubeless tyres?
To move further into pure tech speculation, it could also have been an attempt to smooth out the transition between the tyre's tread and sidewall to provide an aerodynamic improvement.
We also saw some other tyres that appeared to have external sealant applied, such as the Visma-Lease a Bike Vittoria Corsa Pro tyres featured in our Opening Weekend tech gallery. We also saw that team using tubular glue on tubeless tyres to provide some extra insurance at last year's Paris Roubaix.
Time will tell, but it sounds as if tyre development, gains and 'truly understanding tyres' could be a key area of work for Specialized, Bigham and his team.
Tom joined the Cyclingnews team in late 2022 as a tech writer. Despite having a degree in English Literature he has spent his entire working life in the cycling industry in one form or another. He has over 10 years of experience as a qualified mechanic, with the last five years before joining Cyclingnews being spent running an independent workshop. This means he is just as happy tinkering away in the garage as he is out on the road bike, and he isn’t afraid to pull a bike apart or get hands-on with it when testing to really see what it’s made of.
He has ridden and raced bikes from an early age up to a national level on the road and track, and has ridden and competed in most disciplines. He has a keen eye for pro-team tech and enjoys spotting new or interesting components in the wild. During his time at Cyclingnews, Tom has already interviewed some of the sport's biggest names including Mathieu van der Poel, Tadej Pogačar and Alberto Contador. He's also covered various launches from brands such as Pinarello, Ridley, Specialized and more, tackled the Roubaix Challenge sportive aboard his own rim-brake Cannondale SuperSix Evo, tested over 20 aero helmets in the wind tunnel, and has created helpful in-depth buying advice relating to countless categories from torque wrenches to winter clothing.
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