- Now, as many of you all know,
I am utterly obsessed with bike tech,
and here at the Dubai Tour,
we've got some teams which you don't normally see.
So, let's have a look around, and see what we can find.
Come on.
(mellow hip hop music)
Okay, I'm here with the bike of Paul Martens
of Team LottoNL-Jumbo.
If you look at his seat post here,
what Paul's done he's actually reversed
the top of the clamp on the seat post
so he gets closer over the bottom bracket
so he's got a further forward position.
But what is quite interesting then
is if you look on his other bike he doesn't do it.
I'm baffled by this, but he is a man who is obsessed
with tinkering with his bike.
I heard that something happened in Volta one year.
Tell me about that.
- Yeah, I was riding with Allen key,
and I changed my cleats in the downhill.
And then there was, I don't know,
but some riders had to brake really hard
and then I lost my Allen key in the downhill.
In that World, I lost like five Allen keys
in situations like this.
Since then, I'm not so often starting anymore
with an Allen key.
- There we are.
He lost five Allen keys in one stage race.
Did you hear that?
He was changing his cleats on the downhill.
Crazy!
Right, so this ENVE composite stem.
Whilst it may look normal,
other than it being a pretty whopping 100 mil long,
it's actually highly versatile.
It comes with two different shims.
One of them so you can actually adjust the angle.
So, up five degrees or negative five degrees,
and that depends on which way you rotate it.
And, then, you also have another shim
to give or take two and a half millimetres
off the actual stem length.
So, adding on 142.5 or, the other way, 137.5.
I think that's a great little bit there
if you really want to dial in that position.
Just nail it in.
And then this GPS mount.
It goes in the front of the stem there
in the clamping plate,
and basically screws inside of it
and then you've got no unsightly bolts.
I really like the look of that.
(mellow hip hop music)
Here with the bike of Mark Renshaw,
of course a critical member
of Mark Cavendish's lead-out train.
Yep, 54 tooth chain ring.
The Cav Train.
That's going to be going very fast.
Here we are with the Colnago concept of Alexander Kristoff
who is, of course, the European Road race champion.
Just check out the detail of that paint work.
I do like that.
I do like a custom painted bike.
Now when taking a look around the bikes of Astana,
it's not instantly recognisable at first
to actually see what brand of tyres they're using
because most of them are marked over
in fact with a mark pen.
However, I found these.
They're still using Specialised tubular tyres,
presumably from the days in which
they were actually sponsored
by the bikes of Specialised, too.
So, on the bike here of Almansoori of the UAE National Team.
He's actually using some clinchers,
some Vittoria Rubino Pros.
Interestingly, it's not something really we see
commonly used in races at this level.
But, using clinchers that's not actually holding him back
because he actually took the first preme
of the whole race here at the Dubai Tour.
(mellow hip hop music)
So, I'm here with the Wilier Cento 10 DISC
of Filippo Pozzato.
For those of you who don't know Filippo Pozzato,
I'll tell you something.
He's quite a flamboyant character
as you can see by this paint job.
If we look at it, it's got a full
Shimano Dura-Ace 9170 group set, that means disc brakes,
as well as look at these chromed bottle cages.
How cool are they?
I mean, this paint work.
Apparently, it adds quite a bit of value to the bike, too.
And look in the bar end, too.
He's got one of those special Di2 Junction Boxes in there.
I do like this bike.
It stands out a mile.
So I'm here with the Colnago Concept of Team Novo Nordisk.
Now, what's interesting about this bike
is that they're using pedals from Xpedo,
who actually manufacture
for quite a few other brands out there.
These ones in particular actually use
a Shimano SPD/SL cleat.
If you look, there's quite a bit
of adjustment there as well,
so it's quite a bit range.
I do like them.
Also, if we have a look here, the valve extenders
are actually in the corporate colours of Maxxis
who provide the tubulars for the team, too.
Now, a good valve extender is important
because they are known sometimes to leak,
so let's hope that these ones are all up to scratch.
Finally, look at that.
K3 race number holder.
(mellow hip hop music)
Check out this on the Argon 18 of Astana.
This is massive, this number mount.
So, essentially, it mounts underneath
the brake mounting bolts, and then it loops around.
It's quite a big bit of metal.
Over-engineered I would say, in fact,
because you could probably just put one on the seat post.
Or, in fact, you could.
That probably adds between 40 and 50 grammes on as well.
Okay, I'm joined now by Sam,
who's a mechanic at Aqua Blue Sport.
Sam, tell me about this bike.
I mean, I can see the obvious.
You don't have a front derailleur on it,
but what is actually so special about it?
- We're now receiving a bike that's optimised
or aerodynamics in just about every way.
It's really inventing what aerodynamics really means
in professional cycling.
You lose a front derailleur.
In theory you're meant to have something like 15% less drag,
and you're also optimising the bike for a large-volume tyre.
And that's pretty much the first time
in a traditional road race bike
that you might see it
rather than the classic Specialist Paris Roubaix-type bike
where you might see a 28 or a 30 or something like that.
But, you're developing the fastest road bike,
the most efficient road bike,
and that's what Gerard Vroomen's providing us.
- [Host] And talking about those tyres.
They're pretty big, aren't they?
How big are they?
- Well, in this case, we're currently using 27C tyres,
but through the season you'll most likely see us
pretty much throughout every condition in a 28C tyre.
- And that chain ring on there.
That's pretty big isn't it?
Blythe, he's riding a 54 so what's that?
54, 11x28.
I don't think he'll be in the 28 much this week, will he?
- Yeah, no, he's got the 11x32 on,
so it gives him an entire spread,
and he won't be in much until the very last day.
Or until Hatta Dam, that is.
So, we'll see him mainly in the bottom four
considering what these conditions really provide us,
so we'll see him using pretty much the 11 through the 14
pretty much is all we're gonna see him doing.
And the 11 is the most important at this race.
- Now, here at Dubai,
it's not just the skyscrapers that are tall.
Look at the size of them... giants!
(mellow hip hop music)
I'm here now with the bike of Mark Cavendish.
It's currently charging up
so excuse the wires we see about the place.
But I was very fortunate enough
to be able to get a glimpse of it.
Firstly, for 2018, Mark is now using
the Astute range of saddles.
This one has actually got a nylon and carbon base
to give it just a little bit more flex
when he's riding along.
And he's changed from Fizik for 2018.
Another change for this season: SPD/SL pedals.
Cav was a former user of Speedplay,
so again another contact point
that's been changed for the season.
It's interesting, that,
because you don't often see that from riders.
Not to make too such big moves or changes.
Also, ROTOR power cranks.
Again, another change, and look at that.
54 tooth chain ring.
That is gonna be a hell of a fast bike
when that gets up to speed.
Right, so I'm here
with the Cofidis sprinter's bike, Nacer Bouhanni.
This is a Kuota Kom, which is new for 2018.
Now, firstly, when I looked at this bike,
I noticed instantly these: the Michelin Power Competition
Service Course tubulars.
Not really that common a tyre that we see these days.
And, these ones are pretty special, in fact.
They've got a little T on them.
When I asked the mechanic what all that was about,
he told me, because they are actually trialling them
to see if they're suitable for Milan-San Remo.
But why?
Well, they're the time trial edition of the tyre
so they want to see if they can change bikes
in the last 100 kilometres of the race,
and he could use them for that.
I love that sort of detail.
Also, if you look here at his number mount, it's not ideal.
It makes me think it was actual for an Aero seatpost.
In fact, definitely it was so it could improve there.
If we look forward as well on the headset,
he's got quite a gap there between the actual bearing
and the top cap cover,
so presumably that's to get into a low enough position
at the front end.
Now, Bouhanni's actually the only rider on the team
using the titanium axles Look Keo Blade carbon pedals.
And, interestingly, his Blade release is set
to 20nm, 20!
Everyone else is on 12 or 16,
but he wants to be fully secured in for those sprints.
So, here on the bikes of Team Katusha Alpecin,
on their Canyons,
are these new SRAM S900 direct mount brakes.
These are fresh out on the market.
They've only just been released.
These are the first ones I've actually seen.
Prior to this, they were actually using Shimano units,
just with the names rubbed off.
Feast your eyes on this.
This is John Degenkolb's custom painted Trek Madone.
He's using the Project One of Trek.
And, this is called the Chasin' Aces.
Look at that brushed aluminum-style lettering.
Love it!
Okay, I never thought I'd see at the Dubai Tour,
a 44-tooth outer chainring,
or in fact, just a 44-tooth chainring being used.
Sam, how on earth
is this rider gonna get around the Tour with that?
- So we're using a nine-tooth to 30-tooth tooth spread
Bailout cassette it's called,
so it's really reinventing what gear ratios are meant to be.
- [Host] Fantastic!
I'm amazed at the size of that nine-tooth sprocket.
I've seen them before, like you said, on mountain bikes,
but on a road bike that is a real game changer, isn't it?
- You get it going, and it goes just as fast as the rest,
so the idea is make it go faster.
- Okay, I'm here with the bike of Dylan Groenewegen,
who's the sprinter, of course, of Team LottoNL-Jumbo.
Now, on his bike, he's got a 54-tooth chainring.
Interestingly though, none of his domestiques do, though.
They've all got 53s on there,
so let's hope they can get him up to speed.
(mellow hip hop music)
Daniel Teklehaimanot, he was the last minute addition
for the Cofidis squad here, at the Dubai Tour,
and, in doing so, he was actually a last minute addition
to the team in general for 2018.
And, have a look at this.
He's got a fair few spaces there on his steerer tube.
Presumably, he's still finding his position on the bike,
which he won't have received, actually,
until pretty recently so expect those spacers to go soon.
And, what's the inspiration or idea behind them?
- We decide, me and my friend, the whole design,
and we make it for Dubai Tour special.
- I might have to give your friend some of mine
so he can do it as well.
- Yeah, tell me.
(laughing)
Me, I'm a fan of your talents, really.
- What can I say?
He's a fan of ours.
How cool is that?
So, the team of Mitchelton-BikeExchange are here
at the Dubai Tour, and of course,
they're the development squad
of World Tour team, Mitchelton-Scott.
Just spotted on this bike here,
this is the first time I've seen them in the flesh,
are InfoCrank, and it's a dual sided unit.
And if you look closely,
they've got easily user-changeable batteries
on both sides of the chainset.
Now, I'm not big into cartoons,
but let me know who this is in the comments down below.
So, these one-piece aerodynamic bars
on the bikes of Wilier Triestina.
We're seeing them held in place,
actually, using a wedge system
similar to that on an aerodynamic frame.
Gives a nice, clean appearance, doesn't it, at the front?
So, the front derailleurs cable tension is adjusted
through this quite-chunky barrel adjuster
here on the down tube.
Now, presumably, you can actually remove these pieces
and swap them out if you want to not have a barrel adjuster
or if you are using Di2 or EPS for instance.
Inside of his GPA mount, he's got a little bit
of bar tape to actually stop the GPS unit wobbling around.
Nice little hack, or is it a botch?
Let me know in the comments.
Now, when you really want to slam your stem,
that's what you do.
You remove the top cap.
So, eagle-eyed viewers, you'll have noticed this.
It's a new SRM power metre, and that's to fit
the chainrings of the Shimano 9100
because they are slightly different than the 9000 models.
Also, if you look very, very closely at Nibali's bike,
what you can see he's not using a PROLOGO saddle.
He's actually using a Fizik.
Hmm.
So, the bike here of Brandon McNulty.
He's got quite an interesting position.
As you can see, his zip seat post.
He's flipped that around
so he's further over the bottom bracket, or towards it.
And, also, he's removed the top cap cover
of the headset bearing so that he can drop his stem.
He's gone up a frame size this year,
so in order to get that lower position
that's what he's had to do.
I've just spotted
a pretty custom looking rear derailleurs hanger
on the bike of Dylan Groenewegen.
Look at that!
It's certainly different from the rest of the squad.
Presumably, it's a stiffer unit to enhance the shifting.
Not sure though.
(mellow hip hop music)
So, there we are.
A look at some of the tech I've found at the Dubai Tour.
Let me know your favourite bits in the comments down below
because I certainly can't put my finger
on my all time favourite bit, so I want to read yours.
Now, remember, as well, to like and share this video
with your friends.
And for a video on what the pros check
before they go out for a ride, click down here.