Pro Bikes of the 2019 World Tour

[ergott]

Originally Posted by bfd

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]

Originally Posted by bfd

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]

Originally Posted by BobO

... 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]

Originally Posted by Mark McM

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.

[dancinkozmo]

^ meh.....

[notsew]

Originally Posted by 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.

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]

Originally Posted by 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.

Originally Posted by notsew

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...