Pro Bikes of the 2019 World Tour

[velotrack]

https://cyclingtips.com/2019/01/pro-bikes-of-the-2019-mens-worldtour/

feel free to delete if it's already been posted, haven't seen it yet though

if we were to rank aesthetics...
IMO:
-always love the lotto-soudal ridleys, most of the canyons, and the oltre
-the merckx is ugly. sorry.
-trek will continue to make the logos on the aero madones bigger each year until they have no room
-and why did cannondale pick that font..?

overall an okay year of bikes.

[thwart]

The Ridley actually looks a bit like a road bike... rather than a time trial machine. :confused:

Oh, yeah... and it's built with Campy. :D

[zzy]

so many boring black bikes this year.

[phoenix]

I feel sorry for every single one of those bikes.

[choke]

-and why did cannondale pick that font..?

It looks proper to me.....

[Llewellyn]

The Ridley is the best of a very bad bunch. They're all as fugly as sin, wouldn't spend a cent to buy any of them.

[Burnette]

I like the Cannondale, Trek and Specialized, the rest I would try to scrape off the bottom of my shoe.

[dgauthier]

so many boring black bikes this year.

I feel sorry for every single one of those bikes.

(...) They're all as fugly as sin (...)

(...) the rest I would try to scrape off the bottom of my shoe.

Oh, good, I thought it was just me!

Absolutely horrendous looking bikes, and somehow, very depressing. All black plastic and marketing, and not much else...

[dancinkozmo]

thanks for posting....alot of those bikes look beaten with an ugly stick before leaving the factory.
if i HAD to pick one, id go with the giant or maybe the colnago

[ERK55]

OK, so I am old and slow.
But all I can think is how ridiculous I would look atop one of these things.

[buddybikes]

If any, the Bianchi least staying with their famous color.

[El Chaba]

I agree with the others...This is a vomit-inducing lineup.

[R3awak3n]

I must be getting younger and younger. I don't think most of these are that bad. A lot of them are boring (black bikes are boring, period), but there are some nice looking bikes in there.

[wkeller79]

Canyon for me, out of a not too jazzy bunch. The S-Works BORA-HANSGROHE is somewhat oddly satisfying.

[Davist]

Canyon for me, out of a not too jazzy bunch. The S-Works BORA-HANSGROHE is somewhat oddly satisfying.

I concur on all points...

[merckx]

If the beginning of the end of civilization has not yet occurred, it has now.

[EDS]

so many boring black bikes this year.

The all black Giant TCR is my favorite!

[KonaSS]

If you want a classic looking frame, Ridley, Canyon and Giant get my vote.

For new school disc/aero frames, BMC and Specialized rise to the top.

[MisterMurray]

The Canyon, Ridley, and Giant are pretty good if not a little boring. The Merckx and the Cervelo are especially bad. The rest are meh. They are all look basically the same. That's what happens when you have design optimized by wind tunnel testing.

[nooneline]

Some of these bikes suffer from photography with a noisy background, and a photo angle that makes setups and dimensions look somewhat awkward.

The Specialized Venge looks great, as do the Trek bikes - wish there were better pictures of the Trek. BMC, Canyon, and Argon 18 also look like clean, modern classics.

I want to like integrated bar/stems, against my better judgement, but a lot of the ones on those bikes look wrong - particularly the Deda one, which ruins the Ridley for me.

The Cannondale looks particularly awkward with the standard stem and bar - as do most bikes designed for integrated, stem-routed cables. Nice to have the option, but it doesn't look great.

[oldpotatoe]

Since everybody has disc brake groups, surprised there are any who don't have them...:eek:

[Black Dog]

The Argon was the one that didn't make me cringe immediately.

[Jad]

I would love to ride any of these around the block. Wonder if some of them feel as screwed up to ride as they look...

That Ridley is the best classic look. The Merckx looks almost disjointed, but in a mean, racy way. The seat stays and hunched TT do that partly, I think.

The C'dale shows how much font can interrupt. The bike looks bad to me anyway, but the stolid font bums the entire bike out more.

[Mark McM]

Since everybody has disc brake groups, surprised there are any who don't have them...:eek:

The article implies that disc brakes are for domestiques, whereas team leaders use rim brakes. Okay, it doesn't actually imply that - it says it outright. In the description of the Bahrain-Merida bikes:

The Merida Reacto and Merida Scultura remain in use for 2019, with a few more disc brakes seen where riders choose the aero Reacto III. It’s likely we’ll see more and more riders in the team move to disc brakes as the season progresses, while “team leaders” are expected to stay with rim brakes.

[93KgBike]

If bikes didn't need riders, Cervélo and cannondale would win everything.

[Mark McM]

Since everybody has disc brake groups, surprised there are any who don't have them...:eek:

The article shows both disc and rim brake team bikes for 18 teams, and the descriptions indicate that some teams will be using both types of brakes, depending on bikes selected for each event. Based on these descriptions, here are the number of teams using exclusively disc brakes, exclusively rim brakes, or a combination of both (when no preference is given in the description, the actual bike shown is used for this accounting):

Teams on disc brakes only: 4

Teams on a combination of disc and rim brakes: 4

Teams on rim brakes only: 10


It seems the pelOton (spelling for the benefit of oldpotatoe) is not switching to disc brakes as fast as some predicted.

[Jaybee]

The Cannondale typeface is a callback to the old train station logo. It also isn't that different (to my untrained eye) than the Gaulzetti typeface that everyone seems to be fawning over. It fits the minimal aesthetic of the EF team in general.

Personally I like it compared to all the swoopy slanted too-big typefaces on all the other bikes.

I also find "all the bikes look the same" to be an odd criticism. When everything was skinny steel tubes and downtube shifters, it looked the same. Modern carbon has a remarkable variety of tube shapes, bends, curves.

[R3awak3n]

The Cannondale typeface is a callback to the old train station logo. It also isn't that different (to my untrained eye) than the Gaulzetti typeface that everyone seems to be fawning over. It fits the minimal aesthetic of the EF team in general.

Personally I like it compared to all the swoopy slanted too-big typefaces on all the other bikes.

I also find "all the bikes look the same" to be an odd criticism. When everything was skinny steel tubes and downtube shifters, it looked the same. Modern carbon has a remarkable variety of tube shapes, bends, curves.

funny, my least favorite part of the new gaulzettis is the logo (specially since the HT logo is pretty great). Helvetica or some sort of modified version of it is a big no for me

[azrider]

Welp.....one thing is for certain. My days of riding a Cannondale are numbered........blech.

[old_fat_and_slow]

The future of road bike design looks bleak.

Fat head tubes are fugly. Swoopy-loopy frame tubes are fugly.

[rain dogs]

Good: Bora Spec (reluctantly saved by paint somehow), CCC Giant, Katusha Canyon (barely), Emirates Colnago
Bad/Meh: Astana Argon, DD BMC, Jumbo Bianchi, Mitch-Scott, Quick Spec, Sky Pina, Trek
Ugly: AG2R Merckx, Bahrain-Merida, FDJ Lappy, Sunweb Cervelo,
Horrendous: EF Cannondale (and I love(d) C-dales.... three in our fleet, soon to be 4, have owned 7.)

What I would ride if I had to choose from those: Lotto Ridley or Movistar Canyon.

That font on the Cannondale is awful, that Systemsix aero bike is pure awful. The Supersix is much better but the text would get a sticker treatment or something. And aero bikes.... ugh.... I'll be faster on a regular bike, cause I'll be running away from those f-ugly things.

[93KgBike]

https://www.cannondale.com/~/media/Images/Dorel/Products/Bikes/C11119M/Variants/C11119M3047/images/pewlmahzpguud2leedrb.ashx?mw=1000https://www.cervelo.com/media/catalog/product/cache/3bfb73db877396f2f33da83a74edd420/0/e/0e0s5ert1c.jpg

These are beautiful bikes.

Complaining about fonts and graphics?!!?!!? Really?????

And these choices aren't entirely governed by what wind tunneling testing reveals; the UCI is the real decider. These are bikes of the Pro Peloton. They are mandated to look alike.

If you want see what a non-UCI bike looks like, the web is full of them, but they won't be racing in the Pro Peloton.

Sheesh.

[msl819]

The all black Giant TCR is my favorite!

Agreed!

[BobO]

For new school disc/aero frames, BMC and Specialized rise to the top.

In person the BMC is very sexy.

Wonder if some of them feel as screwed up to ride as they look...

I can assure you that the BMC rides amazing. :)

[homagesilkhope]

Near toss-up between the two most traditional-looking bikes for me: Argon 18 and Ridley, and except for the chunky lines of the Deda cockpit, Ridley would be the clear winner. Like last year, guess I'll stick with the Argon (stay junction and seatpost aside). Eeeeeew, that Trek billboard. Double-eeeeeew, that crooked Merckx!

[R3awak3n]

https://www.cannondale.com/~/media/Images/Dorel/Products/Bikes/C11119M/Variants/C11119M3047/images/pewlmahzpguud2leedrb.ashx?mw=1000https://www.cervelo.com/media/catalog/product/cache/3bfb73db877396f2f33da83a74edd420/0/e/0e0s5ert1c.jpg

These are beautiful bikes.

Complaining about fonts and graphics?!!?!!? Really?????

And these choices aren't entirely governed by what wind tunneling testing reveals; the UCI is the real decider. These are bikes of the Pro Peloton. They are mandated to look alike.

If you want see what a non-UCI bike looks like, the web is full of them, but they won't be racing in the Pro Peloton.

Sheesh.

Graphics and fonts can make a bike that is meh be nice. Fonts and graphics change the way people see things. Design is all over the place, either you like it or not.

Those 2 bikes are aweful. The stem on the cervelo is the worst I have seen. But sure, its all subjective and why i like a lot of the bikes posted but most here hate them all

[jmoore]

This...
https://cdn-cyclingtips.pressidium.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Jumbo-Visma-2019-pro-team-bike-Bianchi-Oltre-XR4-1.jpg


or this...
https://cdn-cyclingtips.pressidium.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/UAE-Team-Emirates-2019-pro-team-bike-Colnago-V2R-4.jpg

the rest are meh or awful

[jtbadge]

This is the one I'd ride, if I had to pick. Besides the stem/bar combo, pretty solid.

https://cdn-cyclingtips.pressidium.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/EF-Education-First-2019-pro-team-bike-Cannondale-SystemSix-5.jpg

[cnighbor1]

some with and some not disc brakes
I wonder how that will play out
Disc brakes can stop faster and in less distance
I can see disc stopping faster and non disc plowing into him

[wc1934]

I like the Ridley and the Colnagno.

[Mark McM]

some with and some not disc brakes
I wonder how that will play out
Disc brakes can stop faster and in less distance
I can see disc stopping faster and non disc plowing into him

I doubt it. In my experience riding in racing packs, the biggest difference in brake distances isn't the brake equipment, but the reaction times of the riders. (Besides which, the brake rates and distances on bicycles depends more on rider skill than brake type).

[dancinkozmo]

These are beautiful bikes.

.....

Sheesh.

can you please read the following chart ....
https://www.nairaland.com/attachments/3918782_snelchartblur_jpeg1cd17a57ecaae2e40990082c ffcb6ffd

[bfd]

This is the one I'd ride, if I had to pick. Besides the stem/bar combo, pretty solid.

https://cdn-cyclingtips.pressidium.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/EF-Education-First-2019-pro-team-bike-Cannondale-SystemSix-5.jpg

I like the logos! :)

[bfd]

This...
https://cdn-cyclingtips.pressidium.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Jumbo-Visma-2019-pro-team-bike-Bianchi-Oltre-XR4-1.jpg


or this...
https://cdn-cyclingtips.pressidium.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/UAE-Team-Emirates-2019-pro-team-bike-Colnago-V2R-4.jpg

the rest are meh or awful

I keep looking at these photos and one thing that stands out is how big the rear cassettes are?! They look like pie plates and not something a “pro” would use except on something steep like the Angliru....of course, it could be the angle or lighting and the cassettes are really that big. May be...Good Luck!

[rwsaunders]

It's hard for me to take any bike seriously that has an FSA crank on it.

[ergott]

I keep looking at these photos and one thing that stands out is how big the rear cassettes are?! They look like pie plates and not something a “pro” would use except on something steep like the Angliru....of course, it could be the angle or lighting and the cassettes are really that big. May be...Good Luck!

11-28 is the new norm. Most pros don't care about smaller gaps between cogs and it's one less thing for mechanics to worry about.

[jmoore]

I keep looking at these photos and one thing that stands out is how big the rear cassettes are?! They look like pie plates and not something a “pro” would use except on something steep like the Angliru....of course, it could be the angle or lighting and the cassettes are really that big. May be...Good Luck!I was mostly looking at the frames. The cockpit and drivetrain are personal preference, so doesn't really matter what a pro is riding to me.

Sent from my LG-H931 using Tapatalk

[notsew]

I'd take one of those Colnagos, or a Ridley maybe. Actually, the only ones I don't like are the ones with the arched top-tube, just can't get into that look. Reminds me of a beach cruiser...

[Seramount]

none of these bikes are pleasing to my eye.

they might be state-of-the-art, but they don't excite or inspire me.

[Jad]

... I can assure you that the BMC rides amazing. :)

Nice, and it must be fun to rip on that. It's pretty hard to argue against Van Avermaet's bike (that's the model, right?), especially his super cool golden SLR01, or his yellow version, or the classics version...

[rustychisel]

Just been down to the race start at Norwood...

Helluvathingbutallcarbonsbikeslookmeh... cookie cutter with embellishments for the marketing department, that's the end of the story.

But the Argon18s with Corima wheels look pretty schmick. Can you believe just 5 minutes before the start one of the riders was fussing around trying to get his cadence magnet/function to work?

Cassette size? Yeah, looks like a current accepted 'standard' spread for 12 speed cassette with 53 x 39 on the front. Gears for all occasions. We don't have mountains, but the hills can easily have 10 ~ 12% pitches, and greater. Oh, and some lighter gears isn't a bad thing when the temperature is > 40ºC or better than 110ºF

[ergott]

I hear the term cookie cutter for current aero bikes a lot. There are certain shapes that are known to work and wind tunnel testing has bunched up the best frames to within a few watts of each other.

But cookie cutter? Every frame in the 80s looked the same save for different paint. The details of today's bikes have much more variation than round, steel/aluminium double triangle bikes ever did. Don't blame the bikes, those are the rules they have to follow.

[quickfeet]

Bunch of grumps on this thread today. A lot of those bikes look great.

[oldpotatoe]

The article implies that disc brakes are for domestiques, whereas team leaders use rim brakes. Okay, it doesn't actually imply that - it says it outright. In the description of the Bahrain-Merida bikes:
The Merida Reacto and Merida Scultura remain in use for 2019, with a few more disc brakes seen where riders choose the aero Reacto III. It’s likely we’ll see more and more riders in the team move to disc brakes as the season progresses, while “team leaders” are expected to stay with rim brakes.

Wonder if it's the continuing problem of wheel changes..both not perfect compatibility plus time to change..

[ceolwulf]

Never mind the World Tour, best looking pro bikes hands down belong to Caja Rural.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190116/fa248e992ab21a14b591544dc149b69c.jpg

[dancinkozmo]

^ meh.....

[notsew]

I hear the term cookie cutter for current aero bikes a lot. There are certain shapes that are known to work and wind tunnel testing has bunched up the best frames to within a few watts of each other.

But cookie cutter? Every frame in the 80s looked the same save for different paint. The details of today's bikes have much more variation than round, steel/aluminium double triangle bikes ever did. Don't blame the bikes, those are the rules they have to follow.

Seriously! Bikes have always looked "the same" they have waaaaay more variation than they ever did before. Like them or not, you have to give them that.

[R3awak3n]

I hear the term cookie cutter for current aero bikes a lot. There are certain shapes that are known to work and wind tunnel testing has bunched up the best frames to within a few watts of each other.

But cookie cutter? Every frame in the 80s looked the same save for different paint. The details of today's bikes have much more variation than round, steel/aluminium double triangle bikes ever did. Don't blame the bikes, those are the rules they have to follow.

Seriously! Bikes have always looked "the same" they have waaaaay more variation than they ever did before. Like them or not, you have to give them that.

Agreed.

I wonder if in 50 years people will be commenting on how new bikes are terrible but the bikes from 2019 were amazing and so different.

[Mark McM]

Sure, the bikes like very similar, but that's the way the UCI wants it. Want to use seat-tubeless frame like the Trek Y bikes? The UCI says no. Want to use swoopy curved tubing? No, says UCI. Want to experiment with wildly shaped tube cross-sections? No again.

The UCI wants the riders to use equipment that is widely recognizable as bikes to all viewers, and even resembles the types of bikes that consumers commonly own and use.

Besides, complaining that the bikes all look the same is like complaining that MLB baseball teams use the bats and balls, and same style of uniforms. Only bicycle fetishists (like all of us here) know or care about the differences.

[philhan89]

ridley wins cause it looks like a world tour race bike. cannondale font neither hate or love. im sure if any of these are supplied to us we wouldnt mind. with that being said lapierre would def give a whirl. black is classic not boring, it matches with everything. as far as 11-28 cassettes go, bro they are just human...

[FlashUNC]

Give me Cervelo's swoopy stem thing over the gargantuan stems on Trek et al used to hide Di2 cabling and junction boxes and god knows what else.

[93KgBike]

https://www.cervelo.com/media/gene-cms/8/5/85b_4112_1_.jpgcan you please read the following chart ....
https://www.nairaland.com/attachments/3918782_snelchartblur_jpeg1cd17a57ecaae2e40990082c ffcb6ffd

That jibe would make more sense if the chart were legible. But whatever, it's not like I'm in the market for one of them. I'm still a full-metal kinda guy.

[dancinkozmo]

.