Often, teams used to switch to their sponsors\u2019 endurance bikes<\/a> for Paris-Roubaix, highlighting another model in their range. That\u2019s dying out, though, with modern road race bikes now offering tyre clearance that\u2019s generous enough to fit wider tyres that enable riders to tackle the cobbles more easily.<\/p>\n With average winning speeds over the 160km of the race now reaching around 47km\/h and many wins on aero bikes<\/a>, after Matthew Hayman won in 2016<\/a> on a Scott Foil, bikes used for Paris-Roubaix are becoming more and more normal<\/a>.<\/p>\n Riders typically fit wider tyres than in races ridden exclusively on asphalt, though. That\u2019s often 32 or 35mm, while in the past 28mm was usually as wide as you could go on a bike with rim brakes<\/a>.<\/p>\n Another change that\u2019s frequently made is to wrap handlebars with two layers of bar tape<\/a>, to help cushion riders\u2019 hands from vibrations. Nevertheless, it\u2019s not unusual to see riders with bleeding hands at the end of the race.\u00a0<\/p>\n Bar tape ends up in other places, too, helping to stop things rattling loose on the cobbles. That includes strips of tape on water bottle cages, computer mounts and even pedal-top surfaces, where it may help dampen vibration from the cobbles.<\/p>\n With few hills, riders may fit extra-large chainrings<\/a> for Paris-Roubaix. This not only provides higher top ratios, but it enables them to run a straighter chainline in the centre of the cassette at the race\u2019s fast speeds, thus increasing drivetrain efficiency.<\/p>\n Some riders, including Lizzie Deignan when she won the inaugural Paris-Roubaix Femmes<\/a> in 2021 and Mads Pedersen<\/a> of Lidl-Trek, who has placed highly in previous editions of the men’s race, have run 1x drivetrains<\/a>.<\/p>\n The single chainring, which is often an aero design, can make the bike more aero and cut some weight, while the lack of proper climbs renders the smaller chainring and lower gear ratios redundant. A 1x setup can also be fitted with a chain catcher to help avoid chain loss on the cobbles.<\/p>\n Some riders switch from integrated one-piece cockpits to two-piece designs, which are more adjustable and may be more robust. Satellite shifters are often placed on the bar tops to avoid having to change hand position on the cobbles. We\u2019ve seen bar-top brake levers used, too.\u00a0<\/p>\n Bikes with external seatpost clamps may have a second clamping ring added to avoid saddle slippage, although, with most modern top-tier bikes having an integrated clamping mechanism, this is now seen rarely.<\/p>\n Paris-Roubaix is the place to search for novel equipment, too, such as Visma-Lease a Bike\u2019s Gravaa variable tyre pressure system<\/a>, so it remains a highlight of BikeRadar\u2019s tech coverage<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Throughout the build-up to Paris-Roubaix 2026, we\u2019ll be answering common, quirky and unexpected questions about the Queen of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":592060,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-592059","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-cycling","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=592059"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592059\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/592060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=592059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=592059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=592059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Mat](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775721794_842_Mat-Hayman-Scott-Foil-d43df0a-e1681200215894.jpeg\")
Matthew Hayman’s 2016 win on a Scott Foil proved Paris-Roubaix could be won on a standard aero road bike. Ben Delaney \/ Our Media<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1396804663794-1k52jafnhde2c-8736ce8.jpg\")
Double-wrapped bar tape remains a favoured modification for Paris-Roubaix. James Huang\/Future Publishing<\/p>\n![\"Emma](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Paris-Roubaix-tech-hacks-1-Paris-Roubaix-tech-2024-BikeRadar.jpg\")
Bar tape can help keep cycling computers and bottles in place. Matt Grayson \/ Our Media<\/p>\n![\"Lizzie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Lizzie-Deignans-Trek-Domane-SLR-for-Paris-Roubaix-4-f698fd3.jpeg\")
Lizzie Deignan won Paris-Roubaix Femmes in 2021 on a 1x Trek Domane with a chain catcher. Jacob Kennison<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/MGBike-Radar-PR23207-1-8ee3ca2.jpg\")
Satellite shifters enable gear changes without changing hand position when riding over the cobbles. James York \/ Matt Grayson \/ Our Media<\/p>\n