Jon is on the ground for the biggest race of the year, the Tour de France, bringing us a selection of the new and custom bikes we will see in the race.

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    Jon takes a look at the custom Argon 18 for Astana’s Jakob Fuglsang, the Mavic Canyon neutral service bikes, Adam Yates’ new Scott Addict and the brand new Trek Madone Disc. It’s interesting to see the widespread use of CeramicSpeed components within the peloton, even by teams who are not directly sponsored. It’s also interesting to see the changes they’ve made to the neutral bikes, including a dropper seat post, Shimano pedals and some cool ENVE bottle cages!

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    – Now the Tour de France is a wonderful time because it helps nerds like me stalk, I mean check out the pros’ bikes. And the very expensive tech and equipment that they’ve got especially for this race. So right now, let’s go and have a look at some of the bikes

    Which I think you should keep a close eye out for during this year’s big race. Now Jakob Fuglsang of the Astana team, he’s a pretty lucky guy. Because well, he’s got himself one of these. An Argon 18 Gallium Pro. But it’s not just any old Gallium Pro. This one is painted up especially for him. So if you look here on the top tube, we’ve actually got,

    Well a picture. Half of it’s his face and half of it looks to be a robot of some kind. I’m sure someone out there will be able to tell me exactly what that is, but I’m not that sure myself. Also on the down tube, even got his own logo on there too.

    An integrated J and F, standing for of course, his initials. And then well, this paintwork. It’s done by a company called Colourburn Studio who have collaborated with Argon 18 for a number of bikes so far this year for the team Astana. And I personally, I think this one is my nicest one.

    Yes, my favorite. Now, if you look as well on the handlebars where they meet the stem, there’s just a little bit of white paint. So basically that enables the mechanics to know exactly where to refit those handlebars. If for any chance they did have to take those bars out

    For maybe dismantling during travel, that kind of thing. Also, pretty customized and pretty trick, that Oversized Pulley Wheel System down there on the Shimano Dura-Ace rear derailleur. Now, Astana themselves are actually sponsored by CeramicSpeed. So maybe if we were saying, “He’s gone out and spent his pocket money

    “to get a little marginal gain “so he can maybe save himself a few watts “by using that Oversized System.” All in all, I think this is a really trick bike. I’ve just been past this bike. This is the brand new Scott Addict belonging to Adam Yates of the Mitchelton-Scott team.

    And I’ll tell you what, this bike is a beauty. Do you know why? Because this colorway is literally just been released. The riders who are riding for Mitchelton-Scott in this year’s Tour de France are the first batch of riders to get this gray and silver matte edition bike.

    And the yellow really kicks out well from it. So interestingly as well, I’ve just found out that Adam rides a size small frame, and his identical twin brother Simon rides extra small. So there we are, a little bit of trivia for you. I wonder why exactly that is.

    Now if you look at the cockpit of this bike, it’s not decked out with carbon or a one-piece integrated setup. Instead it’s really traditional aluminum components. What is most striking about the front end of it is this. The climbing shifter is reverse onto the front of the handlebars as opposed to being thumb-operated.

    So you’re gonna use your forefinger and maybe a middle finger just to actually be able to change gear. I do like that. It’s covered throughout in Shimano Dura-Ace 9150 Di2. A little number meant there and there. And a Shimano Dura-Ace power meter on there too.

    I’ve just weighed it, have a guess at home. What do you think it is? Close. 6.8 kilos on the dot. Absolutely beautiful. Let’s not forget though, those brand new Pirelli PZero tubular tires too. First time they’ve been used in competition at the Tour de France. Now one of the bikes

    Which you commonly see at the Tour de France but not that commonly used is one of these. One of the Mavic neutral service bikes. So these are provided by race neutral service sponsor Mavic to any rider who encounters a problem out in the road and can’t be helped out by his own team.

    So what’s so special about it, then? Well for a start, it’s a Canyon bicycle underneath this yellow paint and the Mavic stickers. And it’s got a full Shimano Ultegra 6800 mechanical groupset. You’ve got yourself Mavic Cosmic Carbon wheels too, tubeless tires from Mavic also. And get this, a dropper post. That’s right.

    So a rider doesn’t need to faff around with an Allen key or anything like that to adjust his saddle height. Instead, at the side of the road they can easily just raise or lower it as they wish. Now they do have different bikes with different pedal types on there as well.

    But most commonly used in the Peloton are the LOOK pedals as well as the Shimano SPD-SL. So generally, most of the bikes come fitted with those. And finishing kit, well for a start we’ve got a Fizik Aliante saddle. We’ve got Fizik handlebar tape. And get this, two ENVE carbon fiber bottle cages.

    I think most people at home would be more than happy with this as their bike. Let alone a neutral service spare bike. Now another bike which you should definitely keep a very close eye out for during this year’s Tour de France is this. The brand new Trek Madone Disc

    As used by the Trek-Segafredo team. So this is the first time it’s officially being used in competition, although we have seen spy shots of riders using it in a few races leading up to the event. But what’s so different then? Well naturally, it’s got disc brakes on it. But importantly,

    Gone is the quite over-engineered, perhaps some would say, flaps on the front head tube of the current Madone, so that’s the rim rails. So previously when you turned the handlebars, those flaps would actually open up as you turned to allow the brake to do its job correctly.

    Don’t need to do that now though. Because you’ve got disc brake hoses. Then the handlebars, well they are a two-piece affair. So previously they were a one-piece integrated unit handlebar and stem. But these ones, two separate pieces. So you can run different stems and bar widths,

    And really mix and match to your heart’s content. As well as importantly for some riders out there, actually angling them around a little bit so the drops aren’t necessarily parallel to the floor. And then it’s fully decked out in a Shimano Dura-Ace 9170 groupset. And using those Bontrager Aeolus XXX 60-millimeter-deep wheels.

    Keep a close eye out, because this isn’t the only version you’re gonna see. I tried to arm wrestle John Degenkolb earlier on, but have you seen the size of his guns? I have no chance. Look out for their pearlescent white ones, they are stunningly beautiful. So there we are.

    A few bikes which I think you should keep a close eye out this year during the Tour de France, and my personal favorites thrown in there. Now let me know which one’s your favorite. And also, which ones have we missed? Let me know in the comments. And as ever,

    Make sure you like and share this video with your friends too. And don’t forget to check out the GCN shop at shop.globalcyclingnetwork.com, where we have a whole heap of goodies for you to check out. And now for another great tech video, how about clicking just down here.

    47 Comments

    1. A question for the techy guys/ gals out there. I've considered oversize jockey wheels for my specialized tarmac elite. What are the benefits? Are they worth the money? And would the chain size need to be increased? Thanks all!

    2. I don't think the branding on that red bike is clear enough 4:44 – what brand is that? They should have made it a bit more prominent in my opinion..

    3. That new Trek Madone is really a porn. Looks so beautiful, aero, and quite light. Head tube length will be very helpful for small people like me who wants to be able to go low at the front…

    4. The Madone is a beautiful machine. In love with my 9.0
      (Expensive) upgrades only make it sweeter, especially disc brakes.
      Well done Jon 👍🏼 Keep the good work coming…

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