The turn of the year gives us the opportunity to reflect on the past 12 months and, more importantly, gaze into cycling’s crystal ball to see what’s in store for the year ahead.
Bike tech never stands still and that proved to be the case in 2018 - the year of the disc-equipped aero bike. Last year also saw Aqua Blue Sport’s ill-fated experiment with 1x in the pro peloton, the arrival of Shimano’s gravel-specific Ultegra RX rear derailleur and the launch of Continental’s long-awaited GP 5000 TL tubeless tyre.
But that’s enough of the old. What tech is set to fly in 2019? What products can we expect to see rolled out in the pursuit of marginal gains? And what gadgets will arrive to tempt everyday riders into parting with their hard-earned cash?
Cyclist caught up with a range of industry experts to deliver six tech trends and predictions for 2019.
Lightweight bikes return to the fore (with improved aerodynamics)
Bike designers work years in advance - by the time one machine is launched, they are well underway with the next project. It’s a cyclical business, too, and in 2019 we can expect to see a host of lightweight launches.
‘2017 was the year of the endurance road bike, gravel really started to become big in 2018 and for 2019 there were lot of new aero bikes with disc brakes,’ says Sebastian Jadczak, Canyon’s director of road development.
We’re talking model years here, so this summer’s launches will be considered 2020 bikes. (We know; 2019 has just begun, right?).
‘For model year 2020 we can expect to see a lot of lightweight road bikes, with much more of a focus on aerodynamics,’ says Jadczak, who (naturally) believes the Canyon Ultimate CF SLX, with its aero-inspired tube profiles and cockpit, set an early standard.
The Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL6 and the new Focus Izalco Max, launched in November 2018, also provide a flavour of what’s to come this year.
‘When I look at Trek (Emonda), Cannondale (SuperSix Evo), all of these performance bikes are used in competition, but they are a long way behind in aerodynamic terms,’ says Jadczak.
‘Sometimes up to 40 watts more drag at 45kph compared to an aero bike.’
If you’re expecting movement on the UCI’s 6.8kg weight limit any time soon you’re likely to disappointed, according to Jadczak.
He also predicts most new climbing bikes to feature rim brakes (or, unlike many new aero bikes, for there at least to be the option). ‘It’s the only category where it still makes sense to have a rim brake bike,’ he says.
Bike clothing gets smarter than ever before
Wearable technology has filtered into cycling over the past couple of years, led by companies like Métier and POC, with the aim of increasing a rider’s visibility on the road. The technology is evolving quickly, according to POC’s Damian Phillips, and is here to stay.
‘The tech is getting smaller and more advanced,’ says Phillips, ‘but it’s also a case of how you use it.’ Key to the future success of wearable technology in cycling is the integration of safety-enhancing features without sacrificing performance or style, he says.
‘The safest product is the one that someone chooses to wear,’ adds Phillips. ‘It needs to be designed in a way that people make an active choice to say, ‘That’s what I want to wear’, so it becomes a no-brainer.’
POC’s current commuter range includes a jacket and gilet with a reversible, reflective pocket that can be turned into a rear light using the company's See Me app.
Magnetic lights can also be placed elsewhere on the garments. Métier, on the other hand, has recently expanded its range of performance-minded clothing to include a rain jacket and lightweight gilet with integrated LEDs.
Wearable technology for cyclists is smarter than ever before. Expect to see more in 2019.
Gravel bikes need gravel wheels
You don’t need us to tell you that gravel is big right now - 2018 saw gravel bike launches across the board, from some of cycling’s biggest players (like the Giant Anyroad) through to niche builders testing the boundaries of design (the Lauf True Grit Race Edition, anyone?), via established mountain bike manufacturers dipping into the drop-bar world (take a look at the Ghost Road Rage 4.8).
‘When you look at the new bikes that came out last year and what’s in the pipeline for 2019-20, gravel is the biggest development in the market,’ says Alex Schmitt of DT Swiss.
Gravel bike launches are unlikely to slow any time soon, but Schmitt also expects the choice of gravel-specific wheels to grow almost just as quickly.
What makes a gravel wheelset? Durability and comfort are key, Schmitt says, with particular focus on rim width and the interface with the tyre. ‘That’s super-important. Designing a wheel that offers a perfect fit for super-wide gravel tyres,’ he adds.
Performance shouldn’t be overlooked either. ‘Gravel riding’ encompasses everything from road riders wanting a bike or tyre capable of taking a bridleway detour, through to long-distance races like Dirty Kanza. Expect gravel wheels to cover the full spectrum, including a growing range of hoops for riding fast on the rough stuff.
‘When we’re talking about performance for off-road riding, we can also consider aerodynamics and rolling resistance - two factors that are currently underestimated in gravel,’ says Schmitt.
Road tubeless gets a long-awaited industry standard
Tubeless and gravel should go hand-in-hand, in the same way tubeless was quickly adopted by mountain bikers. Schmitt is unequivocal on the subject: ‘Tubeless is especially important for gravel. There’s huge potential.’
Road tubeless has been a slow burn, however. Some road riders may be traditionalists but the relatively cautious uptake has also been driven by the perceived difficulty of setup, itself the result of no industry standard for a tubeless rim and road tyre.
‘Our colleagues from France [Mavic] showed you can produce a really good system that works,’ says Schmitt. ‘That must be the goal for all of us, to ensure that different wheels and different tyres can fit easily and securely, so there’s no more hassle in setting up a tubeless system.’
Mavic certainly wasn’t the first wheel or tyre manufacturer to move into road tubeless - far from it - but when the French firm launched its Road UST line-up in 2017, the precisely engineered wheel-tyre system came with the promise of easy mounting (enabling inflation with just a standard track pump) and secure bead seating (that would remain locked to the rim in the event of a serious and sudden drop in pressure).
‘There are a lot of things going on behind-the-scenes, with wheel and tyre manufacturers working closer together to find the perfect solution for road tubeless,’ says Schmitt.
Could 2019 be the year we see a genuine industry-wide standard adopted for road tubeless?
1x is dead, long live 1x!
If 2018 was meant to be the year single-chainring drivetrains made a splash on the road (we speculated as much in November 2017), 3T’s failed experiment with Aqua Blue Sport put paid to that. In a sport where product adoption has traditionally been driven by the professional ranks, Aqua Blue’s public criticism of the 3T Strada’s 1x setup poured cold water on the idea of widespread uptake on the road, according to Mark Robinson, European general manager for Praxis Works.
‘One-by for road never took off like we thought it would do,’ says Robinson. ‘It just never happened. After what happened with Aqua Blue, people realised it can’t currently offer the wide range required for all-round road riding, particularly racing. I don’t think much will change there.’
While Robinson believes 1x for performance road riding is ‘dead in the water’, he expects its popularity on gravel and adventure bikes to only increase, alongside the use of sub-compact (48-32t) chainsets.
In fact, the fast-evolving gravel scene has accelerated product development at a far quicker rate than road riding (dominated by the ‘big three’ groupset manufacturers) and cyclo-cross (a limited market with a short race season), according to Robinson.
‘Gravel has been a massive motivator in product development,’ he says. ‘Different tyre choices, different wheel sizes and different gearing options, from one-by and dinner plate cassettes to sub-compact chainsets. Cyclo-cross was never big enough to drive some of these developments alone.’
Virtual racing takes off
Since launching in October 2015, Zwift has established itself as the indoor training platform of choice for sportive riders and professional cyclists alike.
While competition has existed within Zwift’s online worlds since day one, with mass start events categorised by fitness levels, 2019 will see rapid expansion into virtual racing, with officially-sanctioned events featuring professional teams.
‘When we started, racing wasn’t a priority,’ says Charlie Issendorf, director of events at Zwift. ‘At the time, we wanted to build a platform for all cyclists, not necessarily targeting racers. We feel like we’ve accomplished that over the past couple of years. This will help us take Zwift to the next level.’
Zwift’s first dedicated eSports competition, the KISS Super League, will launch on 23rd January, with four UCI Continental teams already signed up, while a British Cycling eRacing Championships is expected to take place in February or March.
With $120 million of additional funding to support Zwift’s move into eSports, 2019 could be the year virtual racing vies for your attention alongside pro racing’s traditional calendar.
‘Our hope for 2019 is to prove that Zwift is a legitimate platform for racing,’ adds Issendorf, who says a range of new features will be introduced to support virtual racing.
‘The goal is to show that e-racing is not going anywhere and also that the pros are going to embrace it.’
The cycling trends to look out for in 2018
In 2017, Donald Trump was inaugurated as president of the Unites States. Jeremy Corbyn became a cult hero while Theresa May couldn't stop coughing. Everybody owned something called a 'fidget spinner' and two kids broke the internet by busting in on their dad's BBC skype interview.
At times, 2017 seemed surreal and that certainly didn't exclude the little, mad world of cycling.
We learned that we will happily pay £8,000 for a bike, everybody wants a tan, Greg Van Avermaet is the king of Belgian, you don't need two chainrings, cycling's gone virtually insane and E-bikes are here to stay.
Below, the team here at Cyclist take you through what we think were the big talking points of 2017 and why they will be remain big in 2018:
Tom Dumoulin is cycling’s new poster boy
With his Desperate Dan chin and undeniable charm, Tom Dumoulin is the new poster boy of cycling. He snatched the Giro d’Italia pink jersey from Nairo Quintana before putting Chris Froome in his place at the time trial World Championships in September.
Despite the want of the Dutch nation, Dumoulin is returning to the Giro in 2018, potentially snubbing a Tour de France showdown with Froome, Nibali et al.
Yet, there is an air of inevitability about Dumoulin winning a Tour and it seems as if 2018 will be another Dutch vintage.
Zwift and smart trainers are making the virtual world a reality
The days of staring at a bit of paper on your garage wall to complete sweaty intervals are long gone. This year has seen the advent of truly smart trainers that not only track what you are doing but interact with software and react to other riders in pain caves of their own, all around the world.
There are several training packages in the category but chief among them is Zwift. Eric Min, Zwift’s CEO, says that last year saw user numbers really take off.
‘We’re seeing, from the professional level all the way to the bare beginners in the sport, that indoor training is more than just a stopgap for a few winter months. Now we have the hardware technology to back Zwift up it is efficient, effective, but most of all, engaging.’
While we are all for our audience getting fitter, just remember to keep riding outside at least some of the time. Gamers tend to have vitamin D deficiencies and poor bike handling skills.
The new guys are electric
E-bikes took a turn in 2017, and it looks like there’s more to follow. Focus’s Project Y led the way from the big guns, soon followed by the Orbea Gain and Bianchi E-Road, then topped off towards the end of 2017 with the Pinarello Nytro and its ill-advised ad campaign.
At 12.5kg for the lightest in class Focus, e-road bikes still have a way to go, but they are suddenly looking (worryingly for some) the part and in 2018 they will only get better.
Bikes easily cost as much as cars
It’s not hard to miss this one. Where once a ten grand bike grabbed headlines just for price, now it’s almost impossible to find a big bike brand that doesn’t have at least an £8,000 bike in its catalogue, with many brands eclipsing this figure by some way.
Even people not in the complete bike business are having at it… £3,500 Zipp 454 NSW wheels anyone?
Tubeless
When Mavic joins a wheel party you know the tech is here to stay, so when the French stalwarts released a slew of tubeless ready road wheel systems – having once upon a time sworn to us it would never make tubeless road wheel – it seems a safe bet that tubeless tech is here to stay.
That and the fact that pretty much every new wheel released last year was tubeless ready, and any tyre company worth its butyl offers a tubeless model.
Phil Gaimon caused a big storm with a little book
It’s amazing what impact on off-the-cuff comment can have. When Phil Gaimon wrote ‘that paragraph’ about Fabian Cancellara in his latest book Draft Animals, we doubt he would have expected his words to become national news.
The suggestions made by the now-retired Gaimon, when taken out of context, are quite damning. He suggests that Cancellara used a concealed motor at some of his biggest career wins.
Yet, when taken with a pinch of salt as Gaimon intended, it is just another gripe that the self-declared Strava pro shares with his readers. It seems that anybody who pissed off Gaimon in his career was in line for some criticism.
Nevertheless, with motor doping still very much the flavour of the month, it is no surprise this story escalated to the levels it did, even if it was for 15 minutes.
Cancellara threatened legal action, Gaimon’s book remained on the shelves and now it looks as if the two former pros could be racing each other.
Needless to say, stories around motor doping will resurface in 2018.
28 is the new 25
Where 2015 saw 25mm wide tyres break through as the new consumer bike tyre width, 2017 saw the UK industry swing towards speccing 28mm rubber.
Disc brakes and redesigned rim callipers have helped by aiding frame clearance, but the real driver seems to be riders waking up to the idea that lower pressure really does mean a grippier, smoother and ultimately faster ride, plus increasingly blurring the lines between road, adventure and gravel riding.
Touring is dead, long live bikepacking
R&D has plumbed the depths of so many cycling niches that it shouldn’t have been surprising that humble touring would receive the treatment at some point.
Bikes have been made lighter, bags more aerodynamic and riders sexier (or so the marketing material would have you believe) and the self-supported riding of huge distances has been rebranded: touring has become bikepacking.
It is said you can ride faster and further with a bikepacking setup, but judging by the sheer quantity of uploads to Instagram by these ‘bikepackers’ they surely can’t have time to do much pedalling.
Bikepacking can get as light, aerodynamic and sexy as it wants, but if I wanted to see the world by bike I’d still rather take my normal steed, one pair of bibshorts and a credit card with a big overdraft.
Saddles are getting stubbier
It started with Specialized’s Power saddle with a weirdly cut off nose, then Pro followed suit with the Stealth and now saddles across the board seem to be getting shorter, to the point where clothing maker Maap has even felt it necessary to redesign its bib-shorts to accommodate the trend.
British Cycling are treading water
Where do we start? The year-long jiffy bag saga? The subsequent UKAD investigation? Shane Sutton’s blase comments on TUEs? Alleged attempts of bribery of a Daily Mail journalist? How about Chris Froome returning an adverse analytical finding for salbutamol?
It doesn’t feel like a final nail in the coffin, but it’s hard to see road cycling in Britain weathering another blow this big.
Journalists can speculate about the outcome of Froome’s test results. About a potential suspension and potentially being stripped of his Vuelta title but in reality, nobody knows what the outcome will be.
After all, the UCI and WADA are as predictable as Dr Ian Malcolm and his Chaos Theory.
Long is the new short
There was a time, not so long ago, when skin was in: sock cuffs did not venture above your malleoli (which are the bony bits of your ankle, of course), bibshorts left little thigh to the imagination and jersey sleeves exposed your emaciated guns to the world.
Now though it is all about what is not on show. Fashion-forward thinkers like Rapha, Isadore and Castelli et al., are lengthening sleeves, shorts and socks and the purported benefits are seemingly endless - Rapha claims the longer sleeves on some of its jerseys improve aerodynamics, while Castelli’s Omloop shorts apparently make knee warmers obsolete.
Still sceptical? Take a look at Sean Sakinofsky’s Sako7 socks. That guy has made an entire brand out of socks so long they cuddle your calves.
Greg Van Avermaet became the (cycling) King of Belgium; long live the king?
Belgium wept a collective tear when it witnessed its darling son Tom Boonen bring an end to his career at Paris-Roubaix last year. However, one swipe of a Cleanex later, and cycling’s greatest nation had already crowned its new king.
That man is Greg Van Avermaet.
No longer the bridesmaid, GVA got to walk down the aisle as bride taking an unprecedented four cobbled classics in the Spring (Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, E3 Harelbeke, Gent-Wevelgem and Paris-Roubaix).
If GVA can win Flanders this year then there could well be a National Holiday announced in his honour.
Tyres go old school for real
Tan wall tyres are back in vogue, whether it’s the Vittoria Corsa G+, which became almost ubiquitous on top end road bikes this year, Specialized Turbo Cottons, Schwalbe One Evos (please bring these to the UK, Schwalbe), Challenge Strada Bianca or WTB’s road plus tyres, which have found favour amongst gravel riders.
If you want to look proin 2018, get a tan and get some tan.
The integration game
Bikes have never looked so tidy – nor ever been so difficult to re-cable. Advances such as chunky one-piece bar and stems, SRAM eTap, disc brakes and Shimano’s bar-plug Di2 charging port have meant that it’s never been easier to hide away unsightly – and un-aerodynamic – cables, hoses and wires.
Bikes such as the BMC Teammachine Disc and Wilier Cento10NDR look fantastic for it.