This Might Be The Worst Cycling Innovation To Date…

The 2024 Tour de France is a hot bed for new road bike tech and this year is no different. Sam Gupta has rounded up seven weird bits of tech from this years race that he thinks are worth knowing about. There’s everything from new continental tyres, automatic chain waxing machines, aero nose covers, 3d printed mounts and painted handlebars.

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loads of new tech is always launched at the tour but some of it is actually a bit weird and in some cases still quite secret despite being seen at the world’s biggest stage race so thanks to our eagley journalists I’ve pulled together just seven weird and wonderful tech spots at this year’s tour to France the first one comes from ag2r as they were seen to have fitted a new Continental Tire dubbed the AO 111 it’s said to be for the front wheel only and it features a pretty interesting tread pattern the team had it fitted to the yet to be released van risal fcr Pro the bike which looks to be the Brand’s new Arrow bike the sides of the tires were actually pretty blank apart from the names Continental AO 1111 and aerodynamics by swissside but it’s the tread pattern which looks to be a little more peculiar with what looks like chisel-shaped chunks taken out of the rubber we’ll await further information from Continental on this but I think it’s safe to assume that there will be a claimed wattage saving paired with these tires when they’re launched I’m guessing pretty soon over to little Trek and it has been using an automatic chain waxing machine produced by a company called cyclax it apparently takes about 30 minutes to wax a chain and the chain itself can actually stay in place on the bike so there’s no need for the mechanics to remove it and then get the crock poot out in the crazy world of the tour to France if one job can be automated allowing the mechanics to get on with cleaning other bikes then I’m sure that this is a very helpful tool to have any time saved is a blessing for these guys who arguably must be some of the hardest workers at the tour the start of stage three saw Sprint hopeful Dylan grona wagen take to the start line sporting some pretty aggressive looking glasses he was wearing the team sponsor cyon aeroscope glass glasses but with an attached Arrow noose cover this has to be one of the most bizarre things that I have ever seen and I cannot believe that this modification provides any sort of meaningful gain when out on the road but if it works then it works but best believe this is never going to be something that I ever plan of making use of myself stage one winners team DSM have been making use of the space inside their TT helmets as they are now going to be mounting their race radios inside their Lids there’s more to the idea than just not wanting to have a radio on the rider’s back though in fact there’s actually a safety concern here as you can see here this little dot is the microphone and instead of reaching for a button on the chest or in the helmet to turn it on the Riders can use their di2 buttons on their Shimano group sets meanwhile the DS has a Bluetooth button mounted to the steering wheel in the car meaning they can speak to the team without needing to take their hands off the wheel it’s a really nice Innovation which allows both Rider and Driver to operate in a slightly safer and more controlled way arguably one of the biggest pieces of new tech is Vima Lisa bike’s controversial new control room it’s essentially a van packed with equipment allowing the analysts inside to monitor the race situation from afar and then make tactical decisions that the DS in the team car might not be able to see it makes me think of F1 and it feels like this is the cycling equivalent of having a pit wall on Wheels I wouldn’t be surprised if we see the inos grenadiers and team UAE Emirates make an investment in similar units if the UCI allows Vima Lisa bike to continue to use it famed for their marginal gain approach the inos grenadiers have been seen sporting some prototype outfront mounts created by piner’s in component brand most the 3D printed mounts come in different sizes designed to fit the various Garmin models that the team uses it does make for a very clean and aerrow mount and alongside the team’s new Dogma FS the British setup is looking very well put together it’s not uncommon for some Riders to opt for non-sponsor correct components usually this results in black out Saddles shoes or ties depending on ride and preference but there was an odd cockpit pairing being used over at a St despite Vila making a cockpit for the filante SLR this bike was fitted with a black ink cockpit black ink is of course the in-house brand of bike manufacturer Factor so perhaps the rider has a particular Affinity with these bars this mod certainly flies under the radar though as these bars have been painted to match the rest of the bike if you’re going to be stealthy about it then this is the way to do it