(mechanical noise)
(techno music)
- Pro bike riders ride tens of thousands of kilometers
each and every year
and of course, part of that is keeping comfortable.
So, I'm gonna take a look around the pros bikes
and find out exactly how they stay comfortable,
both with custom mods,
as well as off the shelf mods, come on.
(techno music)
The bike saddle, of course,
a vital piece of every cyclists armory
and there's a huge variety of them available,
hundreds in fact.
And this one from Prologo
has tiny little bits of rubber on them,
which is said to actually dampen vibrations
whilst riding along.
So, essentially, they just compress a small amount
and get you to the finish or the end of your ride
in a little bit of extra comfort.
Now one way some riders do find
a little bit of extra comfort
is by using a saddle with a channel through the middle here
to relieve a little bit of pressure,
well that in there, let's face it.
So, that's becoming a more and more popular choice
in the pro peloton.
For this rider, they've actually got tucked away
underneath the top of the handlebars here,
some extra little gear shifters
mounted into the Shimano Di2 9150 levers.
So, you can just ride along in ease and comfort
and just play around with those levers.
While you'll want to use some aerodynamic handlebars,
but you don't really like the,
well, quite rattly feel you can sometimes get from them
because they are very, very stiff.
So, check out what Steve Cummings has done.
He's just wrapped his joystick handlebar tape all the way in
so he's got a little bit of extra comfort
when riding on the tops.
So, not strictly comfort whilst on the bike.
Well, it is on the bike,
but you're not gonna use one in a race.
It's one of these, a cooling vest.
Just saw these with Team Dimension Data
and basically, they put these inside a freezer overnight
and then traditionally before time trials
or before a really, really hot stage,
riders will be seen wearing one of these.
You won't want to race in it, pretty heavy.
Probably in fact two kilos.
So, I'm just about managing to hold it up.
So these pouches, they're actually filled up with gel.
No, no, not energy gel, that would just be daft.
But rather gel that turns solid
or near enough solid once they're put in the freezer.
Certainly for comfort, that.
I'm here with the Trek bike
of Bauke Mollema of Trek-Segafredo
and I've just been taking a look at the elbow pads here
on his time trial bike
and whilst they are decked with some
really, really lovely carbon fiber holders,
the actual pads themselves are quite roughly cut
and applied bits of neoprene like material or foam.
Now presumably, Bauke actually likes to have,
kind of a longer cup really for his forearms
when he's down there in that aerodynamic position
and then also interesting is this,
he's using the older style Di2 controls.
So, rather than the kind of thumbs
on the ends of the handlebars,
he's got the buttons here on the tops of the handlebar
and if I thought that those elbow rests
on Bauke Mollema's bike were long,
then check out these on Fabio Felline's bike.
They are absolutely, well,
they're probably half the length of my forearm.
There or there abouts.
So, he obviously likes to have a lot of control
over the handlebars when he's riding.
Another way to increase comfort on your bike
is to use some wider rims.
Why's that?
Well, then you can get away with using wider tires
which have shown in tests to actually be more comfortable
when riding along because you can ride them
at a lower pressure
but actually still continue at the same speed
because ultimately, you're taking the shocks
a little bit better
and not being bounced around all over the road.
So these new Bontrager Aeolus XXX 6,
60 mil deep,
but also really quite wide in comparison
to wheels we were seeing say five years ago.
For those of you who have been watching my pro bikes,
you may well have spotted and remembered
that I have noticed some riders
using extended width pedals.
When I say extended width,
it's actually not the pedal itself which is extended,
it's how they're positioned on the bike.
So in the case of these pedals on Nizzolo's bike,
they're actually using a longer axle.
So in that way, they're gonna be further spaced out
from the bottom bracket.
That's gonna allow them to have a more comfortable position.
It's not the most common thing we see,
but we do see riders from time to time doing it.
So it could be because they've got a wider pelvis
than the standard that there is out there, but who knows.
There's a few riders of Trek who are doing it.
I'm here with the bike of Fabio Aru of UAE Team Emirates
and he's got himself some double wrapped handlebar tape.
So, he's using a one piece bar
and do tend to offer a bit of a harsher ride
'cause they are certainly stiffer.
So, to give them a little bit of extra comfort,
he's wrapped them there with that white bar tape.
Interestingly, he's the only rider on the squad
that I can see, using white handlebar tape.
But Fabio, tell you what,
for extra big thumbs up points,
if you got a white matching saddle,
it would look even better.
(techno music)
Now, normally for a rider to get ultra comfortable
on their bike, the position is vitally important.
Take for example these stems from Pro.
This one comes in 125 millimeter length,
which is pretty standard,
but also comes in 126 millimeters.
So believe it or not, Thibaut Pinot,
between his two different bikes,
he can change those stems in just one millimeter,
just to get his position absolutely dialed in
for the different characteristics of each bike.
And then on the flip side,
he's actually reduced the length of stem
by one millimeter on his Aircode bike
and this bike, of course, is designed for the flatter stages
the sprint stages, that kind of thing.
So, the geometry is gonna be different obviously,
and also the dimensions of the frame
is likely to vary slightly too.
Possibly, just gonna offer him a little bit of extra comfort
Check out this, it's a rubber elastomer inside the seat post
on his La Pierre Aircode, belonging to Thibaut Pinot.
So, that is just gonna take out a little bit
of the extra buzz you do feel in fact,
coming in from an aerodynamic frame
because they are pretty stiff indeed.
I do like things like this
because they're subtle yet comfortable.
(techno music)
The riders here of Groupama-FDJ,
they have the options with these Pro Missile Evo handlebars
to have a huge amount of adjustability.
Check out all of the holes in the tri bar extensions
for you to be able to shorten and lengthen
to your desired requirement.
And then the actual pads here for your forearms,
they can be adjusted, obviously up and down,
as well as flipped around,
so you can get further or shorter
depending on your requirements.
Then if we look at the base bar,
well, you can narrow and widen the extensions
to your hearts content.
I think things like this are absolutely fantastic.
Topping it off then,
which is something we don't normally see that often
on many time trial bikes,
is in fact handlebar tape
because, well let's face it,
like I've already said,
it's not the most comfortable discipline,
but if there is a little bit of spite from the leg burning,
lung burning pain that you're gonna endure,
well at least put some white handlebar tape on
for that extra bit of comfort.
Now, if you're looking for a customized
time trial comfortable setup,
then look no further than the bike of Steve Cummings
of Team Dimension Data for some inspiration
because he's got this setup
which is built in conjunction with Enve,
but he's also got some drag to zero armrests here
for his forearms,
so when he's in his aerodynamic position,
he's going to be in the most comfortable position
but still aerodynamic.
So, what's so special about them then?
Well, check out this.
One of the foam pads is different than the other.
They're both held on in place with some insulation tape,
which to be perfectly honest,
is incredibly common across all levels of cyclists
because they do have a tendency just to move around,
especially when you're just pulling back
on those extensions a small amount.
But I absolutely love the fact that he's got
two different materials on there
and underneath there,
there's also just a section of what looks to be,
helicopter tape or something like that,
just to keep them in place a little bit.
Now, one of the reasons behind those different pads
could well be the fact that
one of the actual armrests itself
is fractionally behind the other,
probably about half a centimeter or so.
Probably five or six mil.
So presumably, he has a tendency
just to ride slightly off center I imagine.
If I see Steve, I will ask him
and try and find out.
A nice way of improving comfort on a time trial bike
that you could easily try at home in fact
is to apply a strip of handlebar tape to your saddle.
This is what Bjorg Lambrecht has done, of Lotto-Soudal
So, he's taken a strip of his lizard skin bar tape,
applied it from about the center of the saddle
and then run it almost to the nose,
so that basically he can stay in his same position
and get more comfortable
because he's not gonna be constantly
having to readjust his position
and sitting awkwardly on the nose of the saddle.
(techno music)
This split nose saddle on the bike of Victor Campenaerts
comes from a company called Adamo, who make them
and traditionally, these were spotted
on the bikes of triathletes and time trialists,
hence why it's on a time trial specialist bike.
So how do they work exactly?
Well, they both relieve pressure,
which is obviously quite important down there,
as well as allowing you to open up your hips
slightly more than a standard saddle can.
Or at least that's the thinking behind it.
We are starting to see them creep
more and more into the pro peloton.
Both on standard road bikes too.
(techno music)
I'm here with the bike of Luis Ángel Maté
of the Cofidis Solutions Credit Team
and he has got something really well done on his bike
and it's really, really subtle
for a little bit of extra comfort.
On the drops of the handlebars,
traditional single layer of bar tape
and then on the tops,
and this is where it's been done so neatly,
he's got a double wrap there
just to take out a bit of the shock.
Personally, if I'm ever asked to do this on someones bike,
I dread it because I just can't ever
seem to do it correctly and neatly.
So, I'm gonna ask the mechanics just how
exactly they've done that.
Then if I move over to the bike
of Kenneth Vanbilsen, the Belgian,
he's got the traditional two layers
both tops and on the bottoms of the bars here.
Now, he's from Belgium,
so he's used to the cobblestones.
I reckon that's probably why he's done it.
There we are, some cheeky little hacks in there,
as well as some off the shelf methods
for you to get more comfortable on your bike.
Now mine, personally, well it just has to be
the simple double wrap of the bar tape.
Nice and easy, extra comfort,
winner all day long.
Let me know yours though down there in the comment section.
Remember as well,
to like and share this video with your friends.
Give it a big old thumbs up.
Tell everybody about it.
Also, don't forget to check out the GCN shop
at shop.globalcyclingnetwork.com,
where we have a whole heap of goodies.
Oh and let's not also forget about Dan Lloyd.
He is doing a Veulta review every single day
over on our Facebook page.
So make sure you check that out.
There's a link to it in the description below,
so you don't miss anything that's going on in Veulta.
And now, for another great video,
how about clicking down there.