Just like that, Opening Weekend is behind us, and the spring classics are now officially underway. Mathieu van der Poel and Demi Vollering emerged victorious in the men’s and women’s editions of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, whilst Matthew Brennan took a fine win at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne after crashing the day before.
Certain classics place greater demands on bikes and equipment, and though the days of the dedicated classics machines for races like Roubaix are over, it’s still always interesting see what is being used for the these hallowed races, and speculate on what trends are informing team equipment choices.
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Slammed front ends are becoming scarce
(Image credit: Tom Wieckowski)
I looked at tonnes of pro bikes at Opening Weekend, and I saw a lot of bikes with 10, 20, even 30 millimetres and more of headset spacers fitted under the handlebars.
This isn’t something that has just happened overnight, and I commented on one or two bikes like this last year, Stefan Kung’s being one in particular, but I was struck by just how many bikes had a healthy spacer stack.
If pro bikes ten years ago had been fitted with this many round spacers with a traditional non-integrated stem, we would have lost our minds. You never saw it. Lance Armstrong was perhaps the one consistent exception to the slammed style of the peloton.
Looks-wise, the integrated non-round headset spacers we now see on nearly all modern bikes just look a little better and seem to fly a bit more than the standard round spacers of old.
I don’t think race bikes have gotten dramatically lower and more aggressive; I think it’s more to do with riders finding comfort, being able to hold an aero position and the ability to make power effectively with a taller front end, paired with modern geometries and setups with zero setback seatposts and steeper seat tube angles. It seems the ‘pro race bikes need to be slammed’ way of doing this is slowly melting away, though there are, of course, exceptions.
Either way, it seems the headset spacer is seeing a resurgence; the slammed stems seem to be in the minority currently, though it didn’t stop Matthew Brennan from winning on Sunday.
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Sub 30mm tyre sizes are gone
(Image credit: Tom Wieckowski)
30 and 32mm tyres were the order of the day for both races, and I don’t think I saw a single 28mm tyre.
Like the headset spacers, this has, of course, been the direction of travel for a while, but it’s good to be on site at a race to gauge things firsthand. It was clear that teams aren’t really going any narrower than 30, at least not for these kinds of races.
The only squads I came across with 29mm tyres were Lotto-Intermarché, who used a 29mm front tyre on some bikes paired with a 30mm rear, and Uno-x with the 29mm Continental Aero 111 tyre, the only team to use that particular model.
32’s and perhaps larger will probably be used across the board at Roubaix and other cobbled races.
More and more 1x drivetrain setups are appearing
(Image credit: Tom Wieckowki)
After Lidl-Trek appeared with SRAM Red 1×13 XPLR equipment for the start of last year’s classics, there seems to have been a more widespread adoption for this year.
Plenty of SRAM-equipped teams were using a 1X chainring or Red XPLR gravel 1X setup, which uses a proprietary derailleur and wide range cassette.
Fitting a 1X chainset drops the front mech, saving some weight, providing a small aero gain and depending on the gearing, aiding drivetrain efficiency. Though a SRAM-recommended chain catcher device will eat into that advantage somewhat. It also, of course, eliminates the risk of a chain drop or issue from a gear change on a double chainset.
Rose Rockets, Bora, Uno-X, NSN ,and Lidl Trek, of course, all had SRAM 1x chainsets. Interestingly, Tom Pidcock used a 1X Red chainset, but without the XPLR cassette and rear mech, instead just using a regular SRAM Red one.
For relatively flat races, at the speed and power the pros ride at, it seems a single front chainring is all they need. 1X is being used more and more by SRAM teams; it will be interesting to see if Shimano offers it as a drivetrain option when Dura-Ace gets an update.
The wait for new Dura Ace continues
(Image credit: Tom Wieckowski)
It’s widely believed that a new Dura-Ace groupset is on the way, and unbranded Dura-Ace wheels have been in use since at least last spring and last year’s Tour de France by Mathieu Van der Poel himself. They are the main cause for the speculation that a new D-A group is in the works. I got the best look I have had so far of them at Opening Weekend, and though the hubs are stamped ‘Prototype’ the did carry a Shimano model code of WH-R9370, which appeared to be new.
The wheels also have carbon fibre spokes, and some tyre inflation guidelines on the rims, which point to at least a new wheelset in the works from Shimano.
I even asked the Shimano neutral service crews for an update, but they, of course, wouldn’t tell me anything, and I didn’t personally spot any other unfamiliar-looking Dura-Ace kit.
Everyone is looking, but it seems the wait for a new Dura-Ace groupset is set to carry on for a while. We will be on the lookout at other races this year.
Getting the basics right still matters
(Image credit: Tom Wieckowski)
Not a pure tech point, but when Tom Pidcock’s sport director Jens Zemke said, “There was not a problem with his jacket, but he was frozen from the beginning,” It made quite an impression on me and to my mind tied into a smart equipment choice I saw from Canyon//SRAM zondacrypto at the finish of the women’s Omloop race.
In Pidcock’s defence, he had arrived from training in South America and recently racing in Spain, where temperatures would have been warmer. The cold of Northern Europe may have come as a shock, but wearing the right kit for the conditions must surely be basic race craft for pro riders.
The Canyon//SRAM riders all had ass saver clip-on mudguards mounted to their saddles, a really great choice in my opinion. Omloop was run off for the mens winner Van der Poel in about five hours, which means even more for riders further behind. For the women, the race took around three and a half hours, and it really got cold towards the end of the day when the women’s race finished, and there was on-and-off rain and standing water.
It was a cold day with plenty of wind and rain. Ok, you generate a lot of heat when racing, but it’s still a long time in the cold, and an ass saver really helps minimise the amount of rear wheel spray that hits a rider in wet conditions, which can soak a rider’s shorts and chamois and contribute to the cold seeping in over time. If you can eliminate this happening its a small win in my book, and is an example of making smart choices that help you do the basics right.
No male racers that I saw fitted ass savers, but for a few grams and a part that’s directly behind a rider out of the wind, it seems like a no-brainer to me if it helps keep a rider more comfortable and dryer. It also likely reduces the risk of UTIs that can also come from spending hours in a muddy, saturated chamois.
Van der Poel himself cited his clothing strategy for Omloop, explaining he kept his extra clothing on until the final part of the race. The classics are a stern challenge for any rider, and keeping warm enough to compete in the cold is surely as important as ever when the temperatures drop.