With spring now in full swing, meaning races are being raced and products are being launched, there has been a nice mix of content published on Cyclist.co.uk this week.
Monday saw us publish a buyer’s guide on LS baselayers (even though the weather’s nice right now, some sensible layering is a must), report on the route announcement for the Tour De France Femmes, review Vision’s SC 60 Sl wheels and take a close look at Condor Super Acciaio Disc, which you can ride at our upcoming Track Days.
We followed on Tuesday with another Track Day bike, the Pearson Shift, before weighing up the merits of three very capable gravel bikes. The Specialized Aethos was profiled on Wednesday, we updated our one-stop-shop for Liège-Bastogne-Liège and published a guide on the best handlebars.
Yesterday saw the news of some tasty new Zipp wheels, a summer base layers guide and an interview with ultracycling hot shot Victor Bosoni, while today a guide on the best lightweight wheels will go up, joining, of course, the latest and greatest edition of In the Drops.
Campagnolo Super Record 13 Ultra kit
Campagnolo solved plenty of problems when it launched Super Record 13 last year. Most importantly it reincorporated a version of its iconic thumb shifter on the groupset’s Ergopower controls, but it also reconsidered the groupset’s market position, suggesting Super Record sits at the same level as Shimano’s Dura-Ace Di2 and Sram’s Red AXS, rather than one rung above like it has historically insisted.
We should have known that Campagnolo had a trick up its sleeve to cheekily reinstate that differentiation, however. Its Ultra ‘upgrade kit’ is the brand’s ace in the hole.
It comprises a carbon-aluminium composite outer chainring, a cassette whose four largest sprockets are machined from a single block of titanium, and hybrid ceramic bottom bracket bearings. They replace the aluminium big chainring, all-steel cassette and stainless steel bearings that comes as standard.
Arjan Hoogesteger, Campagnolo’s export manager, explains Campagnolo’s rationale.
‘We noticed there are plenty of cyclists out there that enjoy upgrading their bike and we wanted to offer something that has been designed and produced by us. This ensures the best possible performance whilst maintaining full warranty coverage,’ says Arjan Hoogesteger, Campagnolo’s export manager.
Conscientiously, the brand also offers it as part of the complete groupset in place of the standard equivalents, to cut the upgrade cost in half and prevent unnecessary component duplication. But what do the Ultra extras get you in terms of performance?
‘Aside from improved looks, you stand to save almost 80g across the chainring and cassette, as well as the friction and longevity benefits of the ceramic bearings,’ says Hoogesteger.
Pro Stealth 3D Team Stainless saddle
It has taken a while to join the party, but now Shimano’s component brand Pro has produced its first 3D printed saddle, the Stealth 3D. The mesh padding is made from a hexagonal network of hollow cells and provides different levels of support based on Pro’s pressure mapping.
‘The depth of padding was increased to take advantage of the hexagonal structure’s flex, meaning the 3D saddle offers more dampening than the regular Stealth,’ says Anton Peeters, Pro’s saddle design project lead.
The Stealth 3D isn’t lighter than Pro’s existing non-3D saddles, but Peeters says the focus is on comfort over imperfect riding surfaces rather than weight.
- For more information on the Pro Stealth 3D Team Stainless saddle, visit freewheel.co.uk
Pirelli P Zero Race TLR SL-R tyres
As the first part of the bike to meet the wind, front tyres have the ability to set the tone for how the air flows over the parts of the bike behind it, so increasingly brands are seeking to optimise this interaction with aero designs.
Some tyres use tread textures to trip airflow, others use pointier tread caps to better part the air. Pirelli says designs until now have disadvantages – the thicker rubber necessitated by these designs makes for worse rolling resistance, for example – so has released an SL-R version of its Race TLR tyre to develop the category.
‘The SL-R uses shaped sidewalls,’ says Carlo Diclemente, Pirelli’s product manager. ‘If a normal tyre bulges out then pinches in to the rim like a lightbulb, our revised sidewall architecture fills that cavity so the profile is a smooth, upside-down “U” in profile.’
According to Pirelli, the profile alteration saves the P Zero SL-Rs up to five watts in drag versus a normal P Zero at 45kmh across a wind angle sweep of +/-20°.
‘It’s the result of 18 months of development and 14 iterations,’ say Diclemente.
Crucially, this method of optimising aero performance allows for a normal treadcap, rather than a thicker one. As such, Pirelli can use its regular rubber compound and carcass so the aero gains don’t come at the expense of suppleness or rolling resistance, leading the brand to claim a two-watt saving in that area versus its competitors.
- For more information on Pirelli’s P Zero Race TLR SL-R tyres, visit sigmasports.com
Madison Flux kit
Madison might not be a name you’d associate with technical kit but the brand has been developing advanced gear for mountain biking for a while. That experience is now being brought to bear in its road apparel.
‘Instead of traditional grippers, we’ve used Bemis bonded webbing in the Flux shorts’ leg cuffs, which holds them in place without the sticky, restrictive feel that silicone can cause,’ says Jim McConnel, Madison’s senior brand manager.
‘In the Flux jersey we’ve used a high-quality fabric that is soft and stretchy, but kept the construction simple so the price stays low,’ says McConnel.