00:00How integrated is too integrated? We take a look at this Chinese road bike that could be a glimpse
00:06into the future, for better or for worse. There's also new road bikes from Cervelo and Pinarello.
00:11We take a look at some future Tour de France tech and we see what's hot and what's not as
00:18the race wraps up for another year. Let's get into it. This is the VOOC V9. It popped up on
00:26my Instagram feed the other day and at first glance you'd be forgiven for thinking that this is a
00:31Chinese copy of the Cervelo S5 at the front end anyway. Look a bit closer though and you'll notice
00:37that the front end is fully integrated and when I say fully integrated I mean fully integrated. So
00:45this bayonet fork and the handlebar are all one piece. Now VOOC, the bike brand, says that this
00:52design not only reduces the number of connecting parts but also enhances overall rigidity and
00:58aerodynamic performance and also means that there's no exposed screw holes so it's super clean
01:04when fully assembled. Now I am, it's fair to say, a little bit torn on this. I think it looks
01:10mega
01:11and I love it when brands push the boundaries, try new things, do something different or just do
01:17something that we haven't seen before. However, I do also question why. It's surely a nightmare to
01:25mould and manufacture so I can't see it being that much lighter than a separate setup. Break a bar
01:32and you now also need to replace a fork and how much to replace the whole front end of your
01:38bike?
01:38Imagine if you purchased the wrong stem length. That's quite a big error. So as much as I love the
01:43look
01:44of this bike and I can't wait to see some weights and some more aero details when it does release.
01:49I can't see it catching on or becoming mainstream but of course let me know your thoughts down in
01:55the comments below and whilst you're there please make sure you're subscribed to keep up to date with
01:59all the latest cycling tech. Right, we'll get all the new bikes out of the way first I reckon and
02:06Canyon have just released this. It's called the XSEDE CFR Gravel and I just know it's going to make a
02:12lot of
02:12people very angry. So what it is is a mountain bike with drop handlebars and a 60mm suspension fork at
02:20the front. In Canyon's words it's the ultimate ultra distance gravel adventure machine combining proven
02:27hardtail capability with drop bar speed. Now we've seen plenty of riders making their own Frankenstein
02:34bikes in gravel events so I guess that means that there is a proven market for this. Now I'd love
02:40to see
02:40what it rides like but surely if it's for ultra endurance riding why doesn't it have more mounting
02:46points on? Anyway let me know what you think of this down in the comments below. Now the next two
02:52bikes I think are potentially a little bit less niche so this one is the new Cervelo Soloist and
02:58the headlines are that it's now closer to the S5 aero bike in terms of speed but it's closer to
03:04the R5
03:05climbing bike in terms of weight. Now I've got a bit of a soft spot for the Soloist I must
03:10admit I
03:11thought that the previous generation made a lot of sense for a lot of people and whilst it's fine for
03:16Visma to have two bikes I think most of us want a bike that's going to be great and not
03:23hold us back
03:23whether on a fast group ride or climbing up a mountain. Now the new Soloist has a positive rise stem
03:30it has also shed 176 grams compared to the previous generation. That makes the top spec SRAM Med model
03:37tip the scales at 6.85 kilos but forget that I think the more impressive spec is that this heaviest
03:45model only weighs 7.4 kilos. It has also now got 36 mil of tyre clearance and comes with aero
03:52water
03:52bottles. Do you want to guess how much an aero bottle can save you at 50 kph? 5 watts. Nah
03:584.3 watts
04:00you were close. Apparently we might see Visma switch over to these in the near future if they can work
04:06out their sponsor agreements because well they've tested that they are faster. Right on to the next
04:12one and in a sort of odd situation we've now got an endurance bike with less tyre clearance than that
04:18race bike we've just seen. This is the Pinarello Dogma X. Now the old Dogma X was a bike that
04:23I
04:23thought was absolutely brilliant to be fair. The geometry was more suited to lanes and the general
04:29public than on the Dogma F. It had great looks, competitive weights and it was well specced.
04:35I was slightly surprised though when they released this updated version and it's still got 35 mil of tyre
04:42clearance. Surely endurance bikes need more than that to future-proof themselves? Let me know
04:47whether you want more clearance on your endurance bike down in the comments below but yeah I just
04:52found that a little bit surprising. So what actually are the differences then? Well this seat state
04:57X is a bit different. It looks quite similar to the Seeker Spear now. The down tube is slightly slimmer,
05:03the head tube is slightly deeper and it's got an elliptical steerer tube like the Dogma F now.
05:09Fairly minor changes then but there are some new colours and one similarity with the old version is that
05:15the price is still very high. £5,500 for this frame set or you're looking at five figures for
05:23the complete build shown here. Ouch! Right so that's the new bikes covered but before we get on to some
05:29Tour de France tech of the future I wanted to show you this. I've just ordered one of these,
05:35one of these chainrings from a company called Prototype. Now it's been inspired by the turbofan wheels of
05:42rally cars from the 80s. It's got this aluminium ring paired with a carbon fibre sort of, I guess
05:49we're calling that a fairing. There's sizes suitable for SRAM road and gravel bikes, one by setups that is
05:56and in the designers words it might make you faster and it will definitely make you cooler. Well, fingers
06:02crossed. Another race that I want to touch on is a new set of zip wheels. These are the 404S
06:09wheels and
06:09they've been designed to bring speedy wheels to a more attractive price point. They cost under a
06:14thousand quid or about 1100 dollars which we like. They're 50mm deep which we like and they've got 23mm
06:22internals which we also like. There are a few bits that I like less though. They're hookless which is
06:28bound to put some people off and potentially limit tyre choice as well. They've got j-bend spokes which I
06:36think
06:37makes them seem cheaper. And zip says that they weigh just, I quote, just 1585 grams. I'm afraid to say
06:47that
06:47I don't think you're going to have to look very far to beat those stats. Anyway, if you are considering
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07:43can benefit from up to 20% off. Right, back to some new tech and we've spotted this new cask
07:49helmet being
07:50used at the Tour de France. Judging by this photo it's going to be called the Avenir and it looks
07:54a lot more
07:54ventilated than the Elemento. That's not so surprising given the heat at this year's Tour de France.
08:02So could this be an update to the Vallegro? Now that is a helmet which I personally think is one
08:08of
08:08the best looking helmets ever but do you think it can be beaten? Let me know what you think the
08:13best
08:14looking helmet in the world is down in the comments below. Also in the world of helmets you may have
08:20seen
08:20these blue devices fitted to the helmets at the Tour this year. I personally think that these have
08:26been well overdue. They've been a long time coming and it's basically an impact sensor that can determine
08:33the severity of a crash. Now in football or rugby you'll see players heading off the field for a
08:39concussion assessment but in cycling despite increasing awareness you nearly always see the
08:45rider just get straight back on their bike and ride off. Now this can be hugely dangerous. That's not
08:52up for debate and I know bravery and persistence is deep rooted in cycling racing but I do honestly
08:59believe that with the current system it's sort of an accident waiting to happen and hopefully we don't
09:04need that high profile case to get this changed and noticed. Now hopefully this new HIT or HIT
09:12connect impact sensor that UNOX and Team NSN have been rocking will speed up the conversations around
09:18head impacts but I want to know whether you'd sacrifice a few grams on your helmet to run a sensor
09:24like this. And continuing with the topic of safety, could we see airbags being used by pro
09:31cyclists in the coming years? Now this is a topic that keeps on rearing its head but Castelli and Sudow
09:37Quick Steps certainly think that they've got the answer. This is an airbag system that weighs just
09:4370 grams or about as much as two energy gels. It sits near the bottom of the spine and it's
09:49around
09:4910 times lighter than the system that we saw from Van Riesel earlier in the year. So can you imagine
09:55Tour de France riders using this? Let us know in the comments below. If you enjoyed this content then
10:00please give it a like and subscribe to the channel for lots more bike tech. We'll see you next time.
