Gallery: New bikes at the 2020 Tour de France
The Tour de France traditionally serves as one giant unveiling for new bikes and gear. And while the events of this year mean most brands have already revealed their new race offerings, that hasn’t stopped the Tour being a place to see some shiny new things (from a distance).
This gallery looks at a handful of new bikes seen so far. Israel Start-Up Nation is riding a yet-to-be-released Factor aero bike, select riders on Movistar are using Canyon’s newly lightened Ultimate CFR, Mitchelton-Scott has a few new Foil Discs in use, and then there are a handful of other teams riding new bikes since the start of the season.
And if you haven’t already, go check out our video from Abby Mickey and Dave Everett which covers the Bikes of the Tour De France (at least those they could get within sight of).
Factor is one of the few brands to have what’s clearly an all-new bike at this year’s Tour. A quick look at the UCI-approved frame and fork list leads us to believe this is the Ostro, a likely successor to the company’s One aero road bike.
The new aero frame features truncated airfoil tube shapes, a fork crown that’s nestled into the down tube and a fully integrated cockpit. Perhaps what’s most interesting is that Factor’s unique “Twin Vane” down tube is no longer. New bike or not, Israel Start-Up Nation has new bike graphics and they’re brilliant.
Factor has long offered one-piece carbon handlebars and stems via its sister brand Black Inc components. The integrated cabling is a fresh feature for Factor, and is also being offered with a newly updated version of Factor’s lightweight climbing bike, the 02 V.A.M.
Flame emoji.
The frame features a horizontal top tube.
No slender D-shaped seat post here, Factor’s new aero bike is using a deep section seat tube and matching post.
Israel Start-Up Nation isn’t sponsored by Shimano and so uses a mixture of components. The power meters are from 4iiii, while the brake pads and rotors are from SwissStop.
The team is also racing on new Black Inc tubular wheels. In this case, it’s a low profile Thirty (30 mm depth) up front matched to a Sixty (60 mm depth) at rear.
CeramicSpeed is a sponsor of the team and supplies its oversized pulley wheel systems (OSPW), bottom brackets, hub bearings and headsets.
The fork features airfoil-shaped legs. There are replaceable inserts at the dropouts, a feature that’s almost certainly provided for long-term servicability.
Maxxis provides team-issue tubulars.
This new Factor belongs to Germany’s Ben Hermans.
The frame offers a direct-mount derailleur hanger.
Israel Start-Up Nation appears to be using 3D-printed number plate holders that are retained with a simple o-ring.
The bikes of Israel Start-Up Nation have a small “100” decal in clear view of the riders. This is in memory of the team owner’s father, Marcel Adams, who recently passed at the age of 100.
Most Trek-Segafredo riders are now using the newly overhualed Emonda. Pictured is Richie Porte’s bike.
A close look reveals something rather unexpected – the bottles touch each other. It’s an odd sight, especially given the production version of the Emonda certainly fits two bottles just fine. It’s possible that Porte’s bike has the bottle cages placed lower for aerodynamic reasons.
Porte’s bottle cages have added rubber grippers on them to retain the bottles that aren’t fully seated.
Like much of the team, Porte runs “team issue” 52/39T chainrings. Compared to what was seen earlier in the year, these chainrings are looking quite polished, perhaps even production-ready.
So why such large chainrings when there’s a 10T at the back? Well, it’s something we speculated about during the Tour Down Under, and the general theory is that the team doesn’t use its 10T cog; rather the 11T is the smallest they go to. The way this bike was setup for the photos suggests our theory may be right.
Trek-Segafredo team-issue bikes have long featured integrated race number holders. The new Emonda is no different.
The new Emonda now tucks the cables into the front of the bike. Such a design means most regular stems and bars can still be used, although it makes sense to see the team mostly using Bontrager’s supremely lightweight Aeolus RSL one-piece setup.
Alejandro Valverde is riding Canyon’s new Ultimate CFR (Canyon Factory Racing). This uses the same mould as the pre-existing Ultimate CF SLX Disc, but features a new ultra-premium layup that sees that frame weight drop to a claimed 641 grams, some 144 g lighter than the regular version. Another 40 g is saved in the CFR fork.
Joining Trek-Segafredo, Movistar is the other WorldTour team on SRAM groupsets. Both teams use the top-tier Red eTap AXS.
Movistar also uses the larger team-issue chainrings. At the start of the Tour Valverde was riding these huge 54/41T rings, suggesting he either likes to sprint below 100 rpm, or that Movistar, too, avoids the 10T at the rear.
Valverde is using a zero-offset Zipp seatpost to afford what’s obviously a forward riding position. We’re guessing this saddle sits right near the UCI’s allowed 50 mm saddle set-back rule (where the saddle nose must be at least 50 mm behind the bottom bracket).
The cockpit is Canyon’s CP20 cockpit, an item that’s claimed to weigh just 270 grams. Not seen in the pictures is that Valverde has adopted a tilted hood position, meaning his levers are turned in toward the stem. This seems to be becoming a trend with the intention of reducing one’s frontal profile.
Valverde is using Zipp NSW 303 tubular disc wheels shod with Continental Competition Pro LTD. These wheels aren’t a new model but rather feature Zipp’s updated graphics.
Most teams have their own solutions for mounting race numbers to the bikes. Movistar’s approach is to use a small aluminium bracket that’s double-sided-taped to the post and then cable tied for additional security.
Interestingly it appears that most of Movistar is on the regular Ultimate CF SLX and not the new CFR version that Valverde is riding. Perhaps that’ll change for the mountains.
Bahrain McLaren is riding a mix of Merida’s lightweight Scultura and the recently overhauled Reacto. Pictured is the latter, the Merida Reacto aero bike. This new model is disc-only and uses FSA’s ACR integrated cockpit and headset system.
The new Reacto features Merida’s unique cooling fins at the front and rear brake calipers, but they’re not used here. Interestingly, these cooling fins are not integrated into the frame and fork, but are rather just wedged between the brake caliper and frame. Clearly the team has decided to do without them, most likely due to weight and the fact that pros don’t exactly drag their brakes for extended periods of time.
Ag2r-La Mondiale continues to ride the Eddy Merckx Stockeu69, effectively a re-painted Ridley Helium SLX. The team has access to the relatively new 525 model, but continues to use this lighterweight option.
Romain Bardet is running the Stockeu69 in a noticeably different paint scheme. We’re still yet to hear the story for this one. Also intriguing is Bardet’s choice of the 64 mm deep Mavic Comete Pro SL wheels, with such a deep wheel not often seen in use by such svelte climbers.
Scott released an updated version of its Foil Disc just in time for the Tour. The bike is much the same as before but earns a new fork and integrated cockpit to clean up the front end.
Scott has retained its fork flaps. It’s an element of aero trickery also done by the likes of Pinarello and Ridley, however, Scott’s are noticably more elongated.
Both Bora-Hansgrohe and Deceuninck–Quick-Step are riding the new Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL7.
The big story for both Specialized-sponsored teams is related to the choice of wheels. We’re seeing a whole lot of the clincher-only Rapide and Alpinist CLX wheels in use.
Bora-Hansgrohe is sponsored by Shimano’s component company PRO, and so often uses PRO’s stems and handlebars in place of Specialized’s own. With the S7 this means the cables are briefly exposed to the wind. They’re not the only team in this boat — EF Cycling does the same with balancing its Cannondale and FSA/Vision sponsorships.
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