Jim’s Tech Talk
By Jim Langley
It wouldn’t be right to jump into today’s topic without first thanking you all for the outstanding comments over the past two episodes of Tech Talk. No other online magazine, or YouTube channel has a more dedicated, experienced or knowledgeable audience and we appreciate you adding so much value.
If you missed the two stories, here’s part 1: https://www.roadbikerider.com/thoughts-on-shimano-making-105-di2/; and part 2: https://www.roadbikerider.com/thoughts-modern-bicycle-components/.
Disclosure
The Tour de France is one of the largest showcases of new road cycling technology. While I’ve never been lucky enough to be there, the tech trends are widely reported. Here are some of the things that I thought were interesting in what to me was the best Tour de France in decades.
Tubeless Tires Finally Fully Accepted
In a departure from previous years, with only a few exceptions, the teams used tubeless tires in the 2022 Tour. In the past there were concerns about their weight penalty over tubular tires (sew-ups), especially on climbing stages, and their reliability (holding air and staying on the rim).
New tire designs have addressed the reliability issues. And more importantly for racing, it’s agreed now that tubeless tires – especially the wider ones typically used now – reduce rolling resistance, saving precious energy and boosting speeds on the downs, flats and ups.
It would be fun to know a lot more about tubeless tire use at this level, such as average tire pressures used; which sealants are preferred; what types of failures are causing flats (why didn’t the sealant fix the puncture?); if the number of flats is less now; and if the pro mechanics are mounting these sometimes undersize tires by hand or prying them on with tools (I sure hope not).
Chain Failure
After Stage 16 one of the big stories was Rafal Majka’s Campagnolo chain breaking. There probably wouldn’t have been such an uproar had the resultant injury not forced him to abandon. That was sad to see.
Social media was going crazy that day with theories on what happened. A lot of race fans blamed modern chains, like the 12-speed Majka was on because these chains are so thin.
The thing is that you can make a chain thin without reducing the strength of its parts. So, I suspect that the reason his chain broke was because it was either damaged or not assembled correctly during installation.
Tip: Majka’s chain break in the biggest race in the world should be a lesson to us all to check our chains carefully before any important bike event. The only way to do this is to very carefully inspect every link on both sides of the chain for any issues. A flashlight helps.
Disc Brakes on Road and TT Bikes
I may have missed a few bikes that still had rim brakes because I didn’t watch every stage of the Tour due to network access challenges. However, I did watch most of them and it seemed to me that the vast majority of road stage bikes featured discs this year.
Plus, there were discs on the time trial bikes, too, which is kind of a big deal because to switch required major changes to the super aero bikes. Still, they might have actually been what saved Vingegaard on the final time trial stage – watch the video if you missed this scary moment.
It has to be easier to work on team bikes if they all share the same brake technology so this development makes sense. I hope that their use across the board at this level of racing results in improvements in function and maintenance that make it to the consumer level.
Specifically I’d like to see discs include a tool-free centering adjustment so you could fix rubbing issues easily, even bad ones.
More Integrated (one-piece) Handlebars and Stems
I think there were more integrated bars and stems in the peloton this year than ever.
By combining a handlebar and stem it’s possible to reduce the overall weight compared to a separate bar and stem because less hardware is required.
Also, since the handlebar position is fixed, there’s no chance it can loosen and slip or get knocked out of position in a crash. And, one-piece bars and stems sure look neat and tidy, which probably reduces aero drag a bit, too.
A possible advantage is improved ease of routing internal wires and hoses. The disadvantage is if a rider gets injured in a crash or maybe throws out their back, etc. there’s no handlebar angle adjustment available to fine-tune the fit.
Oversize Derailleur Pulleys
If you were watching closely, you may have seen that a few riders were using oversize derailleur cages and pulleys on some stages, like the time trial. Two companies offering them are Ceramic Speed and Kogel.
Oversize pulleys have been around for awhile but it seemed to me that more racers used them this year. The claimed benefit is improved drivetrain efficiency because the chain doesn’t wrap so tightly around the pulleys. Further friction reductions come from their sealed bearings and special lubes – Ceramic Speed makes their own lubes.
The derailleur manufacturers do not recommend changing over to these quite expensive setups, yet their use in the Tour suggests the teams believe that they work. If you’re considering giving them a try be sure to read up on all the pros and cons.
Aero Helmets Gone Wild
My favorite event is the time trial. I’ve invested a small fortune on wind cheating goodies. One of the best is an aero helmet since it helps streamline the entire body.
Judging from this year’s Tour TTs, I’m going to need to spend a little more on an even bigger one. In this video of Stefan Bisseger’s Stage 1 crash, check out his huge mushroom shaped lid.
Your Turn
What trick tech caught your eye this year? Please share your favorites with a comment.
Jim Langley is RBR’s Technical Editor. A pro mechanic & cycling writer for more than 40 years, he’s the author of Your Home Bicycle Workshop in the RBR eBookstore. Tune in to Jim’s popular YouTube channel for wheel building & bike repair how-to’s. Jim’s also known for his cycling streak that ended in February 2022 with a total of 10,269 consecutive daily rides (28 years, 1 month and 11 days of never missing a ride). Click to read Jim’s full bio.
Jim, I would be interested in your take on the :”used” chains being employed on some tour team bikes. Used chains better than new ones, the article says.
Thanks for asking, Stan. I didn’t see the article that said this, but you can purchase chains that have been super cleaned and then super lubed specifically for more efficient pedaling https://zerofrictioncycling.com.au/product/msw-race-chain/
So I’m thinking if teams are using used chains that they’re not used that much and rather cleaned, specially lubed and then perhaps worn in very gently maybe on a machine made for that purpose? I could see believing that a slightly worn chain would have any burrs removed from the sideplates for a little less friction and a little better shifting. That’s just a guess.
Interesting idea, thanks for sharing, Stan!
Jim
Thanks, Jim, I meant to include the URL to the article. Here it is. https://www.velonews.com/events/tour-de-france/marginal-chains-how-muc-off-optimizes-drivetrains-for-tour-de-france-teams/
I have to disagree with you about tubeless tires and disc brakes. These technologies were pushed by non-pros. I submit that if we let the pros lead the way in these technologies we would still be using rim brakes and tubed tires.
Thanks for the comment, syborg, but please reread what I wrote. I didn’t say that the pros chose the technologies, I said the teams did and of course the teams are limited by what their sponsors allow them to use.
Jim
I was wondering if they use disc brakes on TT bikes as the rims can be lighter due to less material for the brake surface?
I say no to the aero helmet unless you are auditioning for the movie Spaceballs. May the Schwartz be with you!
Yes, that’s part of the reason they use the disc brakes, Pete.
Thanks!
Jim
I am a Campagnolo user and have been watching the Tour for many years and was sad to see Majka”s Campy chain snap on an important mountain stage. However, I have seen several snapped Shimano chains over the years and note that this has not been just a problem with the thinner 12-speed groups, in my opinion. I was further saddened to hear Christian VDV’s comments about “recent problems with Campy’s equipment that UAE has been having” and that this might get UAE to consider switching away from Campy.. For the past few years I’ve seen many examples of Shimano’s equipment dropping chains and having rear derailleur shifting failures. Of note was the Shimano rear derailleur going into the default “crash mode” on a rider’s bike during the time trial. Had this happened on Vingegaard’s bike he could have conceivably lost the Tour. I believe all of the major groups are still working out bugs with their respective electronic groups.
I agree 100% on snapping chains NOT being unique to one manufacturer.
A few years ago there was a tragic freak incident on a (fast) group ride in which a local rider had his chain snap just as he was standing on the pedals to accelerate. He was critically injured when he went head over the handlebars and ultimately died.
Jim gives an EXCELLENT reminder to periodically check your chain CAREFULLY using an inspection light.
Hi Jim! Thanks for the great article. Just a suggestion; in the oversized pulleys section, you have a picture of the Kogel Kolossos oversized derailleur cage (https://www.kogel.cc/collections/oversized-derailleur-cages), but you’re linking to CeramicSpeed.
“Linking it”, no pun intended! Ha!
😉
🙂 🙂
Thanks for pointing that mistake out, Bryan and sorry for the confusion. Somehow a line of text is missing from the article that I submitted. I asked Lars to plug it back in. Once it’s there, it’ll have both links as follows:
“If you were watching closely, you may have seen that a few riders were using oversize derailleur cages and pulleys on some stages, like the time trial. Two companies offering them are Ceramic Speed https://www.ceramicspeed.com/en/cycling/shop/oversized-pulley-wheel-systems and Kogel https://www.kogel.cc/collections/oversized-derailleur-cages ”
Thanks for sharing the link to Kogel, appreciate it!
Jim
My pleasure. Keep up the great writing!
🙂
Thanks Jim. Yes lots of innovations. It was a great tour. In my opinion Wout was the closest I’ve seen to an All-a-rounder in a long time. Lots of high tech stuff. for Sure. I couldn’t help but notice the overall speeds seems to be faster. On the one Stage they covered 26 miles in 45 min. Yikes!, without looking at there power I wondered if the newer innovations were putting those speeds over the edge.
Regards
Mike.
I agree, Mike – great Tour and Wout is incredible. I am amazed how fast his cadence is and how it never slows. But, there were so many incredible riders this year. Fun to watch all of them. It wouldn’t surprise me if the cumulative effect of the new tire and aero technologies are what’s making the speeds so much faster. It sure is fun to watch!
Jim, I’ll bet this is what you were thinking when writing about widespread tubeless use in the TDF: “It’s a good thing riders do not have to mount them, particularly the Continental 5000’s. Grrrr…”
Ha, ha, yes the negative comments about Conti 5000 tubeless tires continue online, Seth. Lots of roadies say their Specialized tubeless tires go on easy. I’ve used their gravel tubeless tires and they do go on easy.
Thanks, Seth!
Jim