Every year I come into Paris-Roubaix expecting that this will be the year that the oasis of tech stories finally dries up, leaving us tech journos high and dry, floundering on the desert sands saying "It's just bigger tyres...that's it". And every year there's always something brilliant. Last year Lidl-Trek served up hacked SRAM Red XPLR rear derailleurs, which were in evidence on multiple team's bikes this year, and this year they've been the talk of the town once again with an innovative new (at least to road cycling) 'double bubble' tyre safety system.
In addition we've seen new prototype Dura-Ace parts on the Alpecin-Premier Tech bikes, more affordable race bikes at the Modern Adventure bus, triple-wrapped bar tape, mountain bike and gravel componentry, Visma-Lease a Bike back on aero machines, and Tadej Pogačar aboard a lunatic Colnago Y1Rs in an attempt to take his final outstanding Monument victory.
I’ve already brought you a gallery of Tadej Pogačar’s race bike, but I’ll share some highlights here as it’s a wild machine.
His ‘foam under the brake levers’ has was in evidence again to protect his fingers.
His computer mount was back to the stock Colnago option that can pivot if it takes a knock, rather than snapping.
A massive Carbon-Ti single front chainring transfers the power, and a chain keeper keeps the chain on… hopefully.
Unnecessary hardware is removed to keep the weight down, replaced instead with this slick tape job.
His front tyre is nominally a 35 but it comes up even larger.
He’s running the new (and now re-approved) SES 6.7 wheelset.
He was also running an aero bottom bracket where the non-driveside needs installing from the driveside and has a totally smooth exterior cup.
His spare bike had the usual 3D printed aero computer mount though.
At the Visma bus Wout van Aert’s helmet had fingerprints from other Red Bull athletes on it.
He was also using a new Prologo Choice saddle, which is designed to be aerodynamic and modular.
There was an all black, entirely paintless Cervélo S5 at the bus too, which I think belonged to a mechanic or other team staff member.
Many team cars run Starlink, with square data receiver panels mounted to the cars somewhere.
A neat mechanic trick is a dab of pen on properly torqued computer mount bolts, to save having to get the really fiddly bits out.
Wout van Aert was running 32mm Vittoria Corsa Pro tyres, and clearance was tight at the rear.
I didn’t see it on his spare bike, but his race bikes had a neat line of glue around the tyre bead to stop them burping. There are no inserts inside either.
Van Aert was a contestant on Belgium's version of The Masked Singer, with a sticker on his cockpit to remind him.
A square of bar tape in the bottle cages is an old trick to aid security.
Purple SRAM chains on the Modern Adventure Pro Cycling bikes.
These were wrapped around 56t SRAM chainrings.
The team were using the more affordable (though certainly not cheap) Factor Monza, with some riders running a very intricate paint job.
Are these… Pokémon? It was designed by young Belgian artist, VEXX.
Back to bike tech: Unreleased new Michelin Power Cup S tyres were on the team’s Black Inc. wheels for the race. They have some texture on the shoulders, unlike the current Power Cup.
Yeah, these are definitely Pokémon… at least some of them are.
In other good paint news, the Rose Rockets had a wonderfully painted bike for Lukas Kubis.
Why have a boring black seat post when you can have something resembling a fairground helter skelter?
More Starlink here, too.
Now then, that’s not a road derailleur… it’s not even gravel: It’s an XTR wireless MTB derailleur on Anthony Turgis’ bike.
Shimano doesn’t have a native 1x system for the road, so Shimano-sponsored teams have to go off-script to optimise their machines for the race.
These Carbon-Ti chainrings are really catching on since UAE started using them a few seasons ago.
With a one-by system, most teams use a chain keeper, just to add safety and ensure it doesn't fall off
Ignore the tyres for a minute, as these wheels are ‘66’. I asked the team and they are 66mm deep, but apparently they have a ‘UCI approval’. I’ve no Idea how as yet, but am investigating.
Lotto appeared to have Roubaix specific hubs, or at least hubs earmarked specifically for the race.
They were in the minority in using the slower but more durable Corsa Pro Control tyres.
Most of Movistar were on the new Canyon Endurace, but only one rider was using the new cockpit.
There’s one lone Aeroad user still… old habits die hard.
35mm Continental GP5000 S TR tyres are happily accommodated in the Endurace fork.
EF were also using the SRAM Red XPLR derailleur hack. Take a look at the extra long limit screw in the middle of the parallelogram that stops it accessing the 13th gear.
They were also using gravel wheels, and several riders had bars double-wrapped to the centre.
Suggested headline: Ineos uses sponsor-incorrect 50cm wide Michelin tyres for Paris-Roubaix. (The team is sponsored by Continental, for those at the back)
As another Shimano team, Ineos had a whole host of aftermarket chainrings. This one from Drag2Zero.
The team bikes were also using Scope’s second tier R series wheels, rather than the faster but more fragile Artech options.
This Carbon chainring on Filippo Ganna’s bike is from Miche.
Josh Tarling was once again sporting his usual monster Digirit 62t chainring.
It was the biggest one I saw all day, with most teams topping out at 56 or 58t.
With tyres being pushed to ever-wider extremes the commissaires were roaming the pits with 3D printed tools to check for illegal setups.
Decathlon were running Swiss Side All road wheels with 35c Continental tyres at the front, and 32mm at the rear.
This hood position must be absolute murder on the wrists at the end of the day.
While the BMC bikes of Tudor have very wide forks, the actual tyre capacity isn’t huge. A 32mm Schwalbe is quite snug.
SRAM blips glued under the tops is a classic move for the cobbles.
The new Selle Italia SLR Super Flow is a lot more angular than the old model, and not a saddle we see very often.
Bikes aside, the team had a very nice coffee setup at the bus.
DT Swiss gravel wheels and Schwalbe’s proprietary valves rounded out quite an interesting setup here.
Astana had aftermarket colour matched lockrings.
While many riders are going for ever shorter cranks, some staunch belevers in more leverage remain.
GRX gravel derailleurs aid chain retention at the back end with another off-standard 1x setup.
This alloy chainring appears to be from The Mechanic Parts.
The machining on the back side of it was very pleasing.
Sprinter Gleb Syritsa was running an alloy Velobike stem and separate Vision bars. He also gets a special layup to his frame to handle his huge sprint wattages.
Not many teams were using Prologo’s stippled bar tape, but there were a few bikes at Astana with it on.
It’s nothing technical, but this Kazakh national champs paint really grabbed me.
Bahrain’s Bianchi’s were kitted out with Chinese Elilee power cranks.
And their race holders were bonded on to make a very neat system free of rubber bands.
Uno-X had the Sram derailleur hack on too, as well as gravel wheels like Tudor.
They looked to be using ‘only’ 32mm tyres however.
Lidl-Trek were once again using their XPLR hacked derailleurs from last year.
The talk of the town was their innovative new ‘double bubble’ tyre safety system, involving a small air bladder inside the main tyre void to force the tyre bead onto the rim.
How many Sharpies do we think Picnic got through to hide the fact they were using Vittoria Corsa Pro tyres rather than the usual Michelins? I bet if they hadn’t made it so obvious they might have got away with it.
Q36.5 were riding bikes with a Tissot collaboration paint job, with a corresponding watch to match. Sadly I didn’t get to see the timepiece itself.
After all the media noise about the new Canyon Endurace, Mathieu van der Poel ended up riding his standard Aeroad.
He does have a custom saddle, which is neat.
He’s also not opted for the new Canyon cockpit, sticking with his usual wide handlebars.
He also had the standard, non-prototype Dura-Ace pedals, though Jasper Philipsen had them on his bike.
A 55/40t double means he doesn’t have to engineer a back door 1x solution like so many others.
He's aboard the Pirelli P-Zero Race TLR RS tyres
Its name is quite a mouthful, but not as much as the brand’s new even more aero tyres, the P-Zero Race TLR SL-R, which only come in 28 and 30mm options.
I checked the roofs of all the team cars and he only had Aeroads on there, so no hope for a bike swap for the sponsors.
32mm tyres have worked for him the last few years, so why change now?
I think his actual race bike was on the roof, as it was the only one sporting the prototype Dura-Ace wheels we’ve seen since last year.
Philipsen had the prototype pedal goods on his race bike, however. Given Van der Poel couldn't clip into these when offered the spare bike on the Forest of Arenberg, it's safe to assume they use different cleats.
Jayco usually run Cadex tyres, but they were another team going off script and using Corsa Pros, but they weren’t trying to hide it.
They also had the only wireless GRX rear derailleurs that I could see.
At Red Bull things were remarkably normal. Standard Rapide CLX wheels and Cotton tyres.
At Soudal the team mechanics had coated the outer walls of their Specialized Cotton tyres in a layer of urethane though, likely to aid in sealing, but it also stops them rotting in the wet over the long term.
‘The Wolfpack’ as they are known (at least to themselves) also get custom K-Edge computer mounts.
There was one special edition Look in the Cofidis pits, and while they aren’t new I have a real soft spot for the gloss Campagnolo Bora Ultra WTO wheels.
Corsa Pro Control tyres will slow them down compared to the standard Corsas though.
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