Puppy paws & turned-in levers are out, but ultra-narrow super-aero bars are in – and TRed’s TOOT Racing has a UCI-compliant Ashaa RR solution. A bar first developed on the track, the Ashaa RR is a customizable super-narrow, flared & ultra-aero road handlebar designed to get you in the most aerodynamic position, without sacrificing safety or control. To quickly get bars into racers’ hands, Toot 3D-print the handlebars to fit the rider from stainless steel for maximum strength or titanium for additional weight savings.

Or if you have a little patience, weight weenies will be able to get an even lighter carbon Ashaa RR aero handlebar option soon. And it’ll be a lot cheaper too!

TRed’s TOOT Ashaa RR 3D-printed aero road handlebars

Aero gains are everything these days. And refining your position on the bike has always been one of the simplest and most effective ways to save watts. As much as brands like to sweat over the incremental improvements of hidden nipples or tweaked rim profiles, the rider still accounts for most of the drag on a bike at speed.

First developed on the track, then refined on the road

TT & Triathlon racers have long accepted that refining their hand position has been the best way to go faster. But road riders have been stuck with conventional drop bars, as the UCI continues to ban any alternate hand positions.

The latest UCI rules eliminated the “puppy paws” or “invisible aerobars” position for real safety concerns as riders weren’t actually holding onto their bikes in the bunch. So riders opted for turned in levers to keep their hands “on the bars”. But again, lightweight carbon bars were not designed for metal clamps at the unusual inward angles, so that got banned too.

Side note: I’ve both broken a bar off under the clamp in a small crash racing. And removed a ‘factory set’ lever to find the carbon bar crushed under the imperfectly installed metal lever clamp. So, I get the concern.

But pro racers want to go fast. And amateur riders like to emulate their pro cycling heroes. So, there needs to be a solution.

Italian bikebuilder TRed’s component division TOOT has been working on alternate ergonomic and aero handlebars for some time. We last caught up with their Ashaa bar on the track a couple years ago – when the patented it. Updated more last summer. But now, with more UCI restrictions on road racing, the customizable aerodynamic nature of that original bar seems like it could pay off even more. Both for pro and amateur racers alike.

This version then was developed and tested on the road & track with Argentinian former pro cyclist Facundo Lezica working with TRed/Toot’s Romolo Stanco. Then, proven with current Madison World Champ Jan-Willem van Schip.

What’s unique about the TOOT ASHAA RR bar?

TRed calls the TOOT ASHAA RR, the “first handlebar to guarantee an extremely aerodynamic position without compromising control and safety.” That gets to addressing all of the UCI’s concerns, it seems.

It is built around a unique narrow geometry that puts your hands further forward, higher, and closer together, than even a narrow conventional 38-42cm bar (all dimension discussed are measured center-to-center) at the hoods.

Note: UCI regulation dictates allowable outside dimensions for racing eligibility, which is why Toot lists those.

Ultra-narrow and complexly curved

That means a long bar Reach of 118mm and deep Drop of 105mm. That’s designed to fit with your same stem – your arms reach more forward as hands come closer together.

Width is wildly narrow at around 24cm wide at the hoods, which are slightly raised above the stem. Then, they lean the bars themselves in around 5° towards a clamping area, further rotated in another 5-10° to safely interface with turned-in levers – resulting in the end of your hoods being 19-21cm wide.

Wow, right?

Super narrow.

But the Ashaa RR road racing bars also feature dramatic (for the road) ~20° flare for a stable sense of control. Officially it is not “flare” as Toot explains that it is a non-linear curve (a key part of their patent). There are very few real straight angles on the bar. But the result is that it puts the ends of the drops 33-35cm wide. And the roomy drops feature angles to offer a natural-feeling position and plenty of stability.

It’s certainly a dramatically different position – something in between regular drops and aero bars. Yet even though you are narrow and leaning forward, the rider can keep their hands firmly held in the familiar stable position of a dropbar for maximum control.

How Much Faster?

“Both with low and high grip the position is stable and comfortable with perfect handling. From the data collected with the Velocomp Aeropod V5 pitot system – which detects the CdA in real time – my overall aerodynamic efficiency improves by more than 4%. This means that if with a normal 40cm handlebar at 320W I am at 45km/h, with the position that this handlebar allows me to assume (both on the controls and on the handlebar) I ride at 47km/h keeping the levers perfectly aligned with the handle. And remember that the more the speed increases, the wider the gap between the two values is.”

– Facundo Lezica, professional track & road cyclist, and ASHAA RR 3D designer

3D-Printing Tech

Of course, 3D-printing allowed TRed / Toot to quickly turn an idea into reality. But it also means they can customize the actual shape to best fit riders individually – much like we see in custom aero bars. But it is a bit simpler here, Toot refines a proposed shape with a custom bar buyer, then mocks-up a plastic dummy for final testing before printing a metal bar.

Their standard 3D-printed Ashaa RR is made from 316L stainless steel, which allows Toot to tailor strength & stiffness to individual rider needs as well. They say that can vary total bar weight from 360-480g.

They print each steel or ti bar in two interlocking halves, welded together in the middle (see inside, between where the stem clamps), and then ground perfectly smooth for a 31.8mm clamping area.

How strong is that?

This is a 3D-printed Toot Asheeta steel track bar I saw after a massive crash into the barriers last summer at something like 50km/hr, so hard that if folded-in the downtube (but didn’t crack any tubes or welds). And the bar is just scratched. And the ride walked away, although bleeding and missing some skin.

All bars are also compatible with full internal cable routing. In fact, Toot can also make you a custom carbon, aluminum, or titanium stem in any desired length to work with the most common internal routing systems.

Fully customizable in 3D-printed steel

They 3D-print the Ashaa RR in stainless steel in Italy at the University of Pavia. And offer either in this stock geometry. Or you can get a fully customizable size and shape to make it fit perfectly in your own hands and against your own forearms. Importantly, all custom bars are also stress and fatigue test certified by a industry 3rd party.

Toot even says that it can “also be customized for gravel“. We’re quite curious what we’d change to ride off-road. But at this price, they’ll make it whatever shape you need.

Lighter weight in Yottalight 3D-printed titanium

The bar is also available in the standard dimensions as the Toot Ashaa RR Yottalight. 3D-printed in titanium in Germany by ApWorks (a division of the Airbus group) to save weight without sacrificing strength. Weight savings over the optimized steel version is said to be about 15%.

More affordable AND lighter in carbon

If you want to save weight AND some cash – contrary to everything else in the bike industry – you can even pick carbon, instead. But you will have to wait a little longer. Toot manufactures the carbon bar with more conventional molding techniques. Although for now in 3D-printed steel molds in Italy for the early production. So only the stock size and shape is available. The carbon bar is also 2cm wider with wider wings up top, offering a bit more universal appeal.

Toot Ashaa RR – Pricing, options & availability

Essentially 4 versions of the new Toot Ashaa RR aero road racing handlebar are available. Standard geometry in 3D-printed steel for 1390€. Standard geometry in 3D-printed titanium or custom geometry in 3D-printed steel for 1990€. Or ‘just’ 429€ for the carbon bar if you pre-order now.

The 3D-printed bars are all made-to-order with a max 21 working day lead-time for standard geometry. Toot offers the carbon Ashaa RR bars as a pre-order until mid-February, with the first deliveries slated to begin at the end of Mach 2024.

What’s next?

One piece 3D-printed steel or titanium handlebar+stem cockpit combos?

Yeah, Toot is already working on that too. This is a custom Ashaa RR 1-piece cockpit in 3D-printed titanium!

Performance.TootEngineering.com

The post TOOT Ashaa RR Ultra-Aero Road Bars Beat UCI Turned-In Lever Rule in Steel, Ti, or Carbon appeared first on Bikerumor.

Italian framebuilder Titici gives new life to their flat toptube aluminum Alloi gravel bike with a uniquely beautiful and protective silver anodized finish. Debuted just last spring, the comfortable alloy gravel bike also gets a subtle update in the tire clearance realm, kicking up capabilities for off-road adventure. And to top it all off, the Alloi AND adds a limited edition Ingrid build for more Italian ano aluminum style…

Titici Alloi AND aluminum gravel bike is GHA Silver Anodized

Unique bronze-colored protective ano finish. Bigger tire clearance. Fully integrated cable routing and race-ready mounts. And a comfortable PAT.H flexy top tube on a more affordable aluminum frame. All handmade in Italy.

We’ve covered the launch of Titici’s handmade-in-Italy Alloi aluminum gravel bike last spring.

An update to their old round-tube All-In, the Alloi added the framebuilder’s signature flattened PAT toptube design for additional rider comfort. The Plate Absorber Tech – new Hydroformed edition (PAT.H), is not quite as flat as in carbon. But Titici claims the comfort gains are still a big help, especially over long days in the saddle off-road. Plus, the alloy PAT.H frameset sells for about half of the carbon PAT version in their Relli.

Now that bike adds the optional AND finish debuted on the old All-In AND a year earlier. A look that truly sets the bike apart, while also boosting frame protection.

GHA Silver Ano – Tech Details

Developed with alloy tubing supplier Dedacciai, the purpose of the GHA (Golden Hard Anodizing) process is actually to better protect the aluminum frame – both inside and out. The name is a bit confusing reflecting the final coloring. But the process works by integrating a protective oxide layer of silver ions onto the porous surface of the aluminum tubes. Delivering “almost infinite durability”.

The result is increased hardness & resistance to wear, but also a lower friction surface, and high antibacterial & anti-mold performance. That’s why GHA has long been in use for marine & pharmaceutical industries. Titici says they have an exclusive partnership with the Japanese creators of the technology, making this the only GHA bike you can get.

Rumor has it, that mud & dirt are noticeably easier to wipe right off after a ride. Cool.

Another side benefit is that the unique anodization process tints the different tubes and welds differently, giving the aluminum bike a varied gold-to-bronze color that actually reminds me of a raw fillet brazed steel frame.

All that, and it’s lighter than paint, too!

What else is new?

The big functional update to the Alloi frame is increased tire clearance. Titici says this new generation of Alloi AND gravel frames now has room for up to 700 x 45mm or 650 x 50mm tires. No word on what exact changes were made. But a quick look at new and old frames suggests a likely subtle chainstay tweak to squeeze an extra 5mm.

The bonus good news, the tire clearance upgrade also applies to the standard painted Alloi this year, too.

Alloi Bike Details

Briefly, the Titici Alloi is a 1690g 7000-series Dedacciai aluminum gravel frame with fully internal cable routing through a 1.5″ Deda DCR headset system, a threaded BSA BB, 31.6mm seatpost, flat mount disc & 12mm thru-axles. It is compatible with 1x or 2x drivetrains – mechanical or electronic. The bike has custom-shaped alloy tubes and a flexy PAT.H toptube for off-road comfort.

It features 2 sets of front triangle bottle bosses, a toptube bag mount & a rear rack mount. And it is sold with a full carbon fork with 3-pack Anything cage mounts.

The Alloi comes in 4 stock sizes (S-XL). And I believe custom geometry is also possible for an upcharge.

Titici Alloi AND in silver ano – Pricing, options & availability

The new Titici Alloi AND frameset is available on its own with stock geometry for 2590€. That’s now only a 200€ upcharge over the standard painted edition. To highlight the made-in-Italy alloy nature of the new bike, Titici partnered with Ingrid components for a limited edition complete build of the new bike.

The Titici Alloi AND X Ingrid LE complete bike sells for 5690€, with a set of matching gold ano Ingrid CRS-POP cranks and a Ingrid 11-44T cassette. That then pairs with a SRAM Rival XPLR AXS groupset. And a mix of Italian company components – Fulcrum Rapid Red 900 alloy wheels with Pirelli Cinturato H tires, and an integrated Deda aluminum finishing kit. Titici claims a complete bike weight of 9.3kg.

Then newly anodized frames are in stock and ready to deliver now. They build complete bikes to order, with an approximate 2 week lead-time before delivery through your local Titici dealer.

Titici.com

The post Titici Alloi AND Italian Aluminum Gravel Bike Updated with Killer Ano Finish, Bigger Tires! appeared first on Bikerumor.

Mathieu van der Poel’s bikes are near the top of our most-covered Pro Bike Checks’ list, and he gets another one with a new Canyon Inflite “CFR”. MvdP had a whole fleet of white Inflites to race for a 6th UCI Cyclo-Cross World Championship title in Tábor, Czechia over the weekend – on the same course where he earned his first Elite rainbow stripes almost a decade earlier.

Yet while his bikes undeniably got the integrated cable routing upgrade of the latest evolution of Canyon’s carbon cross Inflite, van der Poel’s frames seemed like they were having a bit of an identity crisis – each labeled Inflite CF SLX on the side of their seat cluster, but CFR on the top of their toptubes…

So what gives?

Canyon Inflite CFR of 2024 World Champ Mathieu van der Poel

Canyon officially introduced a higher-spec, more integrated CFR spec of their carbon Inflite cross bike at the start of this cross season. All built around their ultralight Canyon Factory Racing carbon construction.

And Mathieu van der Poel was racing on it from day one.

On the outside, this still looks a lot like MvdP’s Inflite CF SLXes that we featured in 2018 & 2019. He’d already won CX Worlds on this same bike in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023, and now adds a 2024 win. Only his first Elite win, also in Tábor back in 2015, was on a different bike – a camouflage Stevens Super Prestige.

So, why the Inflite CF SLX vs. Inflite CFR identity crisis?

My first guess would have been that the new CFR frame was simply not yet on the UCI List of Approved Models of Framesets for road/cross/track racing. At least not as recently as the February 1st update – the day before CX Worlds kicked off.

All of van der Poel’s bikes featured a UCI-approved sticker with the number R059 – the number approved for the CF SLX back in July 2017.

In fact, no Canyon bikes seem to have been added to that list at all in 2023.

But it seems that all of the CFR models on Canyon’s own website have that same R059 designation. So there really is nothing different between a CFR & a CF SLX frame, it seems

The big new feature on the recently introduced Inflite CFR model was its clean fully internal cable routing. Now with cables directed inside through the Aerocockpit borrowed from the road, and via the headset into the fork. So the CFR frames shouldn’t need external cable routing ports, but there still are 3 of them on the sides of the headtube.

What is new though is the CFR fork.

The standard CF SLX had a 1.25-1.5″ tapered steerer. But the CFR uses a 1.125-1.5″ tapered steerer with an opening at the top to allow the rear brake cable to enter the frame internally. And then a 1.25″ sleeve extending down from the cockpit (kinda like an old quill stem) fills in the gap to the same 1.25″ upper headset bearing in the CFR/CF SLX frame.

Race-ready CX bike

Presumably, that’s a minimal enough change to not warrant going through the hassle of getting the UCI to approve an entire new frame. And apparently, the UCI doesn’t ask too many questions about this fork – with Zwift logos and no external cable ports – not being separately on the approved list.

So, essentially the same carbon Inflite as for his previous four championship titles while riding Canyon.

Also the same Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 2x 12-speed wireless electronic groupset that Mathieu van der Poel has raced since its introduction back in the summer of 2021. He’s been on the latest disc brake Di2 groupsets ever since his first Elite Worlds title nine years ago.

It all is a hard formula to argue with. And Mathieu van der Poel continues to dominate professional cyclocross racing on this Canyon Inflite CFR. And especially so, in tough conditions like the unrelenting mud of the Czech course for the 2024 World Championships.

A big help falls to a huge fleet of bikes and a support staff with a fresh, clean bike every half lap. See van der Poel with a clean bike here mid-race, after having just exited the pits.

And mud-ready tires!

And of course, reliable mud traction.

Like fellow Dutch World Champ Fem van Empel, Mathieu van der Poel was also racing on Dugast Rhino tubulars.

What’s different, his tires don’t have any labeling on them. Presumably, that’s to appease official Alpecin-Deceuninck tire supplier Vittoria, even though they actually own Dugast. Anyway, with no logos, we can’t be sure if his tires feature Monsoon rubber or neoprene sidewall treatment. But they are the max 33mm width allowable for cross racing by the UCI.

Van der Poel’s mechanics glue his tires up to deep Shimano Dura-Ace C50 carbon tubular wheels, the same he often races on the road.

Muddy enough to get a fresh bike every half a lap

And yes, there was plenty of mud during the race, when mechanics had to be quick getting the bike cleaned and ready to head out again. But during training, they had a little bit more time to spare. So we caught up with bike #1 getting a bath, for a closer look.

The latest Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupset sees the R9270 levers mounted to the 3-piece adjustable-width Canyon Aerocockpit handlebar + stem + integrated carbon quill combo. It’s a tidy, aero setup. And no displays to distract Mathieu while racing – or warming up apparently.

His Inflite CFR gets a classic pro cyclocross 46/39T Dura-Ace double chainring crankset setup there under a full lap’s mud. An a trusty set of XTR SPD pedals. (Trust us, they’re under there.) No power meter though. When you are swapping bikes every half a lap – or roughly every 1.5km – collecting data across several bikes would simply be a mess.

So van der Poel sticks with a simple Whoop wristband fitness tracker, instead.

Everything gets clogged up with mud & grass in a proper cross race. So when time allows before the racing, MvdP’s mechanics use a Morgan Blue pulley that slides onto the 12mm thru-axle to really get in and clean every nook-and-cranny with the wheels off. There’s also a ton of mud stuck up in that saddle. And with its ergonomic cutout – also van de Poel’s backside.

He rides maybe the saddle with the longest name in the industry, the Selle Italia Flite Boost Kit Carbonio Superflow MVDP edition. And no, this isn’t a custom saddle. We saw several other racers sitting on Mathieu van der Poel’s initials to race.

Muddy kicks, and pro cleaning tips, too.

Mathieu van der Poel has long run the top shoes in Shimano’s line-up. And often can be spotted wearing development prototypes that don’t always make it to production. His shoes this year are Shimano’s latest S-Phyre XC903 iteration of their top mountain bike shoe. Now with a redesigned laser-perforated upper, the latest Ultread rubber sole, and tweaked lacing guides. And of course, for muddy racing van der Poel is running a set of the optional toe spikes.

His pro team secret here, besides having lots of fresh shoes to change into while training? Team mechanics pressure wash his muddy shoes after a course recon pre-ride. Then, they use an air compressor to blow all the water out of them immediately after. With their synthetic construction, they come out surprisingly dry when the mechanic is done with them.

2024 UCI Cyclo-Cross World Champion Mathieu van der Poel

With that setup, MvdP stomped his way to another emphatic World Championship win aboard his Canyon Inflite CFR.

Now with racing for the Dutch National Team done, he can go back to a fresh rainbow-striped Alpecin-Deceuninck skinsuit. And most likely, it’s time for Canyon to figure out a new rainbow-themed paint job for his Inflite CFR race bikes. It’s the 5th World Championship win on this Inflite platform. So, Canyon’s graphic designers are going to have to come on with some creative new ideas.

Any design theme suggestions?

Canyon.com

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Over the weekend at CX Worlds in Tábor, we spotted a small CeramicSpeed crew meeting with several different teams to talk ceramic bearings and low-friction lubrication AND showing off a next-gen prototype OSPW system. Designed for both road & cyclocross, this new version of their Shimano oversized pulley wheel system upgrade gets solid pulleys and ADR tech inherited from MTB for smoother, longer running…

Prototype updated CeramicSpeed OSPW for Shimano Di2

We’re always psyched to find prototypes in the pro pits. Whether hidden in plain view like the new Campy power meter. Or slightly more incognito like this classic black tape covered derailleur cage. Here, fitted to a Cube Cross Race bike from Team Charles Liégeois, the cyclocross racing offshoot of Intermarché–Wanty. And CeramicSpeed was roaming the pits checking in with mechanics from several top riders. We later caught up with the CeramicSpeed crew. And they said they were checking-in with existing sponsored riders, meeting with potential new partners, and even quietly handing over some product to unsponsored teams who use CeramicSpeed gear without sharing that publicly.

So, what’s new in the OSPW department?

The CeramicSpeed prototype that we spotted is an updated version of their long-running Over-Sized Pulley Wheel (OSPW) upgrade for Shimano rear derailleurs. In fact looking back, it’s been almost a decade since we first spotting the CeramicSpeed OSPW solution for Shimano. And outside of a few changes in pulley teeth numbers, that core curvy carbon cage upgrade hasn’t changed much since.

Now, that appears set to change with a new angular design.

CeramicSpeed suggests that their next-gen OSPW gets more angular aesthetics. That better fits with the shaping of modern road bike groupsets. Even under a strip of black electrical tape, this prototype certainly looks like a better fit with the latest Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 rear derailleur, compared to the existing curvy CeramicSpeed cage.

A closer look reveals that both upper and lower pulleys are solid on this prototype. Just like those Alpha pulleys of the recently introduced OSPW X for SRAM MTB Transmissions. We’re not sure. But it looks like the same composite teeth combined to a smooth alloy disc, like on the new MTB system.

This lower pulley is also marked ADR. It features that mountain bike cage’s same Active Debris Remover shaping at the central cover over the bearing. As it’s been described to us, this tangential groove shaping is a patent-pending design that pulls dust, dirt & grit away from the bearing cover as the pulley spins. A self-cleaning solution that promises even longer bearing life

Unlike the mountain bike’s X system with narrow wide teeth, this road OSPW prototype stick with a 19T lower pulley. And appears to keep 13T for the upper pulley.

How else does it differ from the current road OSPW?

Besides the more angular recent mountain bike OSPW cage with solid pulleys & ADR tech, CeramicSpeed’s latest OSPW innovation had been their fully-enclosed Aero cage. Interestingly, that one also broke cover on an Intermarché-Wanty pro’s Cube race bike.

The new road prototypes are also more angular and feature solid pulleys. We’d have to expect that the new design will be heavier – it surely has more material in the pulleys. But time will tell if that is balanced by decreased aero drag, reduced drivetrain friction, or longer bearing life.

We’ll have to wait and see what CeramicSpeed has to say once they make the new design official.

Were there actually CeramicSpeed OSPW-equipped bikes racing in the mud?

To be honest, not many.

No one actually raced this prototype here in the mud, as far as we saw. The team mounted this one to the bike of a rider who wasn’t even at Worlds, I believe. Perhaps as a backup if one of his teammates had any major bike problems.

It may have been just here to tease all the other pro riders about the new tech coming soon. But to be fair, it was so muddy out there, it’s possible that I simply missed it.

With very muddy conditions on the Tábor World Championship course, I can’t imagine there were too many friction-reducing gains to be had in a set of oversized pulleys. At least, those not offset by more real estate to collect mud on. But you know that incremental gains are always there, relative to the baseline standard. And theoretically ceramic bearings should operate more smoothly relatively – the worse conditions get and the more team mechanics clean the bikes with pressure washers.

Anyway, the U23 development team riders of Intermarché–Wanty’s CX team Charles Liégeois were sporting existing OSPW setups.

We also noticed one or two other riders on CeramicSpeed OSPW X. Like this nice SRAM AXS mullet setup. With an X01 MTB derailleur paired to an otherwise Force 1x for the easier gearing to tackle deep mud.

What else do they have up their CeramicSpeed sleeves?

Everywhere they went – ducking in and out of pro team buses – CeramicSpeed was also carrying a small black case full of pulley cages, ceramic bearings, and who knows what else.

Probably some of their UFO Drip wax lube that is quite prevalent in top-tier racing.

We only officially see CeramicSpeed logo stickers on a few pro road and a couple pro XC mountain bike teams. But, we’ve definitely seen OSPW cages on a number of other ‘non-sponsored’ bikes. And against the high cost and focus on aero gains of most pro bikes these days, it seems like a relatively small leap for more pro riders to see if CeramicSpeed can deliver on their promises of incremental gains. Rumor in the peloton – both on- and off-road – suggests that CeramicSpeed supplies a LOT of additional teams. And all the times we saw CeramicSpeed crew pop up all over the CX Worlds pits backs that up.

CeramicSpeed.com

The post Spotted: Prototype CeramicSpeed OSPW Update for Road & Cross Teased at CX Worlds appeared first on Bikerumor.

Fem van Empel is the Cyclo-Cross World Champion for a second year in a row on Cervélo’s carbon R5 CX cyclocross bike. We caught up with her bike for a closer look at what the, now 2x Elite World Champ, was racing to a fresh set of rainbow jerseys…

Oh, and those fan-held flags above, they were created by her uncle & illustrator Wouter van Empel who was leading a supporters club around the muddy fields of the Tábor course.

Cervélo R5 CX of 2024 World Champion Fem van Empel

Dutch domination was the rule for the elite racers at the 2024 UCI Cyclo-Cross World Championships in Tábor, Czechia this weekend. Nicknamed SuperFem, the 21-year-old Fem van Empel continues to rack up big wins on her Cervélo R5 CX cyclocross race bike.

Developed in a partnership between Team Jumbo Visma & Cervélo, first as a race bike for Marianne Vos and Wout van Aert, van Empel has put the bike to good use, as well – winning almost every race she entered on this bike.

The Cervélo R5 CX has been ridden to the past 3 Elite Women’s World Championship titles. First, by Vos with a Shimano build.

Now twice by van Empel on SRAM.

What’s different on Fem’s bike? And what stayed the same?

What’s the same is the shorter list. A classic double clamp to make sure the seatpost stays securely in place when jumping back onto the saddle. And a 2-piece FSA AXR cockpit with fully internal cable routing and a separate carbon handlebar.

The biggest difference on Fem van Empel’s Cervélo cross bike is the SRAM Red AXS groupset. The majority of elite pro cyclocross racers do seem to be on Shimano Di2, but there’s a solid contingent on SRAM AXS, too.

Curiously, a lot of top riders race not on the top-tier group, but on Force, as well.

And even 2x World Champ van Empel is no different, with a little Red & Force mix-and-match.

Part of that stems from Red’s road focus and its chainring integration. Not available in appropriate 1x chainring sizes for CX racing, van Empel opts for the non-series carbon crankarms and 4-bolt AXS power meter spider on her Cervélo R5 CX. This lets he ride a relatively small 42T SRAM X-Sync chainring for the muddy Tabor course.

While her mechanic can easily swap out a bigger ring for faster, drier courses, like the recent Spanish World Cup track in Benidorm just a couple of weeks ago.

She also opts for Force AXS shift/brake levers with non-series graphics. The difference isn’t huge, but teams have told us that pros with smaller hands prefer the slightly shorter Force hood shape and the longer shift button. Those levers are connected to Red brake calipers, and top-level CenterLine XR rotors.

Btw, another athlete not racing on a Shimano groupset, but who still prefers XTR pedals.

Little pro CX details

Van Empel’s mechanics add a few small additions to tweak the bike for cross racing. Of course, since she runs a 1x, she doesn’t need the braze-on front derailleur hanger. But instead of just removing it, the bolt on an alloy chain retention device, with an adjustable plastic puck that sits just over the top of the gold flattop chain as an insurance policy against dropped chains.

While some CX pros ask for frames without water bottle bosses, most still prefer the versatility for hot weather racing or training. And van Empel’s mechanics keep things clean with little stick-on covers to keep mud out of the bolt holes.

The most popular pro CX tubular, no longer made in Europe

The Rhino tubular is maybe the most popular & most common mud tire on the professional cyclocross circuit. Still, Fem van Empel was racing on the most high-performance of them all. The handmade 100% cotton casing is the most supple Dugast makes for cross. Plus, she gets the factory Neoprene sidewall treatment (the little star logo on the sidewall). And Dugast’s latest Monsoon “superior” compound rubber that promises “lower rolling resistance” AND “enhanced grip”. It’s a next level after their 11 Storm rubber, both introduced after being bought by Vittoria a few years back.

Also, Fem van Empel was racing on 32mm Rhinos, a shade thinner than the max allowable 33s we saw on most of the men’s bikes. A couple years ago chatting tires with the staff behind Team NL, they told us essentially that the smaller and lighter riders (like van Empel) can race the smaller tires to save every last gram without sacrificing grip or comfort.

Of note, this might be the last season to see all these Dugast tires handmade in Europe. Dugast shut down their Dutch production at the end of 2023. And moved it all to the Vittoria factory in Thailand from this year. So outside of existing stock, Dugast will make all new CX tubulars in Asia, now.

Race-ready for a muddy World’s course

Wheel-wise, Fem van Empel races on Reserve 36|39 mixed depth carbon tubulars. Also from the same Pon Holding corporate family as her Cervélo bike. Built light enough to win Tour de France climbing stages, but also clearly strong-enough to race cross. Her wheels are 28mm wide – 36mm deep up front & 39mm deep in the back. And they are laced up to DT Swiss 240 EXP hubs for proven durability and ease of servicing.

Fem van Empel delivered another emphatic win in the Czech mud aboard her Cervélo R5 CX in its stock Jumbo Visma team-edition black & yellow paint job. With another World Championship title she can go back to racing her white bike painted with rainbows for another year. The real question is, will Cervélo think up an all-new World Champ’s custom paint job to celebrate her win a little differently this coming year?

Cervelo.com

The post World Champ Fem van Empel’s Cervélo R5 CX: Fem-tastic Cyclocross Pro Bike Check appeared first on Bikerumor.

We thought we might have seen it already four years ago, but for sure a Campagnolo Super Record power meter crankset is now really on the horizon. We’ve just spotted independent Dutch cyclocross racer Ryan Kamp’s shiny gold Colnago G3-X race bikes fitted with an alloy power meter spider on carbon crank arms, clearly branded with the winged hub logo of Campagnolo.

Take a closer look and speculate with us below!

Campagnolo Super Record spider-based power meter prototype

Today at the 2024 UCI Cyclo-Cross World Championships in Tábor, Czechia, we spotted Ryan Kamp’s lovely Colnago cyclocross bikes sporting some prototype power meter cranks from his Italian drivetrain sponsor.

While we spotted the bike through the trees this morning, we got some closer looks inside Kamp’s camp. And then out on the race course several times.

He’s the only rider we’ve noticed at CX Worlds riding Campagnolo. And the word in the pits is that he’s been working closely with Campy to refine their ultra-top-tier Super Record Wireless groupset to survive the rigors of cross racing.

Stay tuned, and we’ll have more on that story soon, too.

In the meantime, this is the Campagnolo Super Record power meter we’ve been waiting for since we saw Campy’s patents all the way back in 2019.

But – at least for now – power measurement is NOT integrated into a carbon spider. Instead, it uses an alloy power meter spider much like the SRM that Campy athletes have been racing for years.

Yet, it’s not quite the same as the SRM, and now clearly gets Campagnolo branding.

Customized for Cyclocross

Apparently, it features the same low-Q and standard road chainring spacing. But the pro CX mechanics have spaced the chainrings out about 3mm closer back to the centerline of the bike to better align the chainrings with the bigger/easier cogs of the cassette to deal with the slower speeds of cyclocross racing.

From the driveside, you can see one curious hollow opening of the crank arm just offset from the spindle (like the old SRM option).

But from the backside we also spotted another opening. It’s not entirely clear why either opening exists.

3 of the 4 Kamp’s bikes that we spotted in the open around the public team pits had power meters. And 2 of those 3 appeared to have a stick-on cover on the backside of the carbon driveside crankarm, at least to keep the CX mud out. In any case, it’s pretty surely a hollow carbon crankarm on this prototype power meter.

Campagnolo Super Record spider-based power meter prototype for your winter training bike

A bit of an angled look, shows the thickness of the alloy spider body on this prototype Campagnolo Super Record power meter.

This specific crank was fitted to Kamp’s training bike, and shows plenty more wear from heel rub. But interestingly, it seems Ryan Kamp has only been working with Colnago and Campagnolo since the start of January after his previous team sponsorship ended. So, this bike hasn’t seen too much long-term use & abuse, just yet.

The Shimano XTR pedals are always a nice reminder that Campy doesn’t make pedals. But those XTRs are so trusted and reliable, that we often also find them on the bikes of riders with SRAM groupsets, too.

That’s all we know officially for now. Campagnolo says no comment. But Kamp’s mechanic team seems to be pleased with a genuine back-and-forth R&D relationship, and hints that the overall Super Record Wireless groupset is constantly being refined to withstand the harshest conditions cyclocross can throw at it!

More on Ryan Kamp’s unique Colnago G3-X bike and Campy Super Record groupset for cross racing soon…

Campagnolo.com

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The 2024 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships have kicked off in Tábor, Czechia and we already have a World Champ Pro Bike Check with U19 European Champion Aubin Sparfel winning the sprint for Mixed Team Relay gold on his custom-painted Decathlon x Van Rysel RCX Pro cross bike. With a young mix of riders the French team edged out Great Britain to take the first World Championship race win as Junior racer Sparfel outsprinted Elite racer Cameron Mason on the fast paved finishing straight.

An exciting end to the first race for rainbow stripes of the weekend!

Van Rysel RCX Pro carbon cyclocross bike by Decathlon

Aubin Sparfel is racing on the second generation Van Rysel RCX Pro carbon cyclocross bike, launched by outdoor goods superstore Decathlon late last year. And you can buy it directly from your local big box retailer with affordable Apex AXS or Force AXS builds.

He took the European U19 (Junior) win back in November, so there was plenty of time to get him a custom EU Champ paint job before representing his nation at the World Championships. It’s a subtle update to the standard black team-edition bike, but really makes it stand out.

While we love to drool over premium superbikes at pro races, it’s refreshing to see something a bit more affordable on the top step of the podium. Complete builds of this bike are sold from just 2500€ complete with a wireless groupset. Wow!

Since the Mixed Team Relay is made up of a mix of men & women from multiple teams and multiple age categories, not all of the French racers were on the same bike as Sparfel. But a few of his fellow AG2R Decathlon teammates also race on the Van Rysel RCX Pro cross bike.

As if the white, and blue & stars don’t give it away, Sparfel’s RCX Pro gets his name on the top tube to keep it straight. We only spotted one with the EU Champ paint scheme, and this is bike #1.

Junior Pro bike build

His bike is built up with a well-worn Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupset, and XTR pedals.

Tires are the long-proven 33mm Dugast Rhino tubulars that you’ll see on many bikes for this slippery muddy course, glued up to some mid-depth aero Swiss Side carbon wheels. The cockpit comes straight from the road with a Deda Elementi Superzero RS carbon bar & stem.

A closer look at the headtube of the RCX Pro reveals a bit of sparkle in the custom EU champ paint. Not much sun is forecasted for the weekend of racing, so it’s not likely to shine much more than this.

Junior racers might not always get the newest kit, but Sparfel’s Di2 levers seem to work well, with some battle scars.

Clean, ready & waiting for one lap of the Mixed Team Relay on Friday afternoon.

Getting the Van Rysel RCX Pro muddy

In the relay format, Aubin Sparfel was the last of his national team to race. And he had just one lap to get his Van Rysel RCX Pro cyclocross bike muddy. But the bike has plenty of mud clearance – officially 10mm of clearance around a 33mm cross tire. Van Rysel calls it “Mud Proof Certified”.

The hi-mod carbon frame from Decathlon served Sparfel well for his one lap. And it delivered on its stiffness promise as the 17-year-old outsprinted the UK’s Elite Men’s racer down the long asphalt finishing straight on the Tábor track.

UCI CX Relay Rainbows for the French Federation

So that’s it. The 2024 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships is underway, and the French have claimed the first set of rainbow jerseys. We’ll be here all weekend, scoping out cool custom bikes, and maybe a few prototypes!

The post Pro Bike Check: Decathlon x Van Rysel RCX Pro Helps French Team Land Rainbow Jerseys appeared first on Bikerumor.

Yesterday, I wrote a long breakdown of Scott’s all-new carbon Ransom enduro bike, but now I want to dive deeper into my experience riding the top-spec Scott Ransom 900 RC. Scott developed the new bike to take enduro up a notch. And with an all-new 6-bar suspension design and unique rear suspension remote, they created what I see as a freeride bike for the downhills and an all-mountain trail bike for the climbs. With almost no compromises at either end of the spectrum.

Riding the new Scott Ransom 900 RC carbon enduro bike

I spent three long days back in mid-November riding the new bike on steep, rocky & loose natural trails in Santa Coloma de Farners, just outside of Girona, Spain. And I came away wanting to ride the bike more and more. And then I left. Wishing that my home bikepark wasn’t already deep in snowy skiing season for the next several months.

All-new 6-bar suspension design

There’s plenty that’s unique about the new bike. Like its relatively complicated 6-bar suspension design. Or the Integrated Suspension Technology design that hides the rear shock inside the bulbous downtube. Or internal frame storage, internal cable routing, adjustable geometry, and more.

Read my full 2024 Scott Ransom launch story for all the nerdy details.

But what really struck me about the bike was that it was just super composed and playful to ride. With three distinct personalities.

It could be a full gas freeride bike that wanted to fly down rough tracks at high speed. It could be a progressive enduro bike that dove into technical sections and popped off every lip on the trail. Or it was a upright trail bike, that clawed its way up steep and tight climbs.

How it does all three comes down to Trac-Loc

This is genuinely the single most important feature of the new Ransom. And it is what makes you really able to enjoy the 170mm of plush 6-bar rear suspension.

You can’t actually see the tech that makes this work. Because it happens inside the custom Fox Float X Nude EVOL rear shock. And you can’t even see that because Scott hides it inside the frame. So, instead we look at the 3-position Twin-Loc 2 remote. The two upper levers cycle you through 3 rear shock modes – Climb, Ramp Control & Descend. And the lower lever is your dropper post remote.

It’s not a lockout, but rather three different shock tunes accessible at the push of a button.

Climb, Ramp Control, or Descend

The fully open Descend mode is built to fly. Here you get unrestricted access to the best that the 6-bar can deliver. A rearward axle path and progressive linkage rate that east up big hits for breakfast. Go down as fast as you can hold on, like you are riding a few years old DH bike, but upgrade with 29er wheels to roll over everything.

The middle Ramp Control mode is the most interesting. By closing an air chamber in the rear shock, you effectively get volume spacers that you drop in at the push of a button. No change to the full 170mm of travel or your compression damping settings. The bike just becomes instantly more progressive.

Changing volume spacers to adjust your shock progression for different riding conditions isn’t really feasible for the average mountain biker. But being able to do the same thing at the flick of a switch is game-changing.

Interestingly, the middle Ramp Control mode is a lot of fun on descents that aren’t too technical – think flowy berms and jump lines. But it’s also good for climbs that aren’t as smooth or steep.

Lastly, Climb mode increases compression damping, reduces rear travel down to 130mm, and lowers the air volume for more progression. Together, it makes you sit up higher in the stiffened suspension, and makes pedaling uphill a breeze. Perfect for when you really need to stomp up some steep climbs that demand your attention.

Riding the new Scott Ransom 900 RC out on the trail

The first thing I did on the new Ransom was pedaling up steep, rocky, sandy fire road climbs. And alternating between Ramp Control & Climb let me adjust the bike to how my legs were feeling at the time.

Then as the big rock slab descents got steeper and rougher, I would transition from the playful Ramp Control mode into full-on Descend to let the bike soak up the big and sometimes unexpected hits. And as I got up to full-send speeds, I could let the gravity-shredding magic of the new 6-bar really do its thing.

How much does it really weigh?

Looking back at it now, it’s no big surprise that my sub 16kg ready-to-ride test bike climbed well in 130mm travel mode. (Size Large at 15.96kg with 480g of Mallet DH pedals, a bottle cage, set up tubeless, and with a spare tube, levers & chaintool inside the matchbox internal storage.)

Of course, that’s not superlight for a trail bike, but with a gravity-ready burly build it’s really not that heavy. My steel enduro hardtail weighs almost that with everything I carry on regular rides. And my carbon fatbike with 130mm fork, a frame pack to carry extra warm clothes, and light studded tires weighs the same at the moment. And I’m happy to pedal those slowly up endless climbs, too.

Weight is really the only compromise in Climb mode. And there don’t really feel like there are any in Ramp Control or Descend modes.

Transforming from Trail to Enduro to Freeride, and back again

The transformation seems like a much bigger attitude shift than I’m used to in bikes with remote lockouts or adaptable geometry. Singling out one, I feel like the shift is significantly more that the experience I’ve had with Canyon’s innovative ShapeShifter on their Strive enduro bike. Plus, I appreciate that the Ransom achieves the same concept entirely inside the shock, which feels less complicated, and less likely to deteriorate in performance over time.

I pedaled up a lot on this bike. It undoubtedly is totally a reasonable climber. But internally, we got to talking about ebikes after riding this new bike, because at this price & weight-level, there are some solid e-Trail eMTB options, too. For those that are itching for the assist to cram more ascents/descents in, there is a use-case for eMTB in some locales.

But the Ransom is simply so much more fun descending on really rough trails, that I’m happy to take a few extra minutes and sweat out a bit more on the climbs to get to my downhills.

And really it would/will be a blast in the bikepark. It feels way more like a DH bike going down than most of the enduro bikes that I regularly ride at my local uplift. And way better at climbing than the other big bikes, more on par going uphill with lighter all-mountain or trail bikes. The 2024 Scott Ransom is now officially a gravity bike, but it manages to vastly improve pedal-ability at the same time thanks to Trac-Loc and user adjustable geometry.

2024 Scott Ransom 900 RC build spec

The 2024 Scott Ransom 900 RC reviewed here is the top-tier 10,000€ build, with the full HMX carbon frameset, Fox Factory suspension, and a SRAM X0 Eagle AXS Transmission. While, there’s not a lot more you could ask for, even with money as no object. Perhaps a gravity-ready carbon wheelset could save a few grams. But for a bike built to smash bikepark laps and race blindly through rock gardens, the aluminum RaceFace R30 wheels are at least something to not worry about.

Now do I really need all those fancy components to enjoy an enduro bike? I think there are plenty of compromises I could make to save a few bucks, and still be happy.

It’s really hard to ignore the 10,000€ pricetag of the bike, no matter how good it rides. Sure, there are a lot of more expensive bikes out there. But this is clearly far out of many riders’ budgets. There is a silver lining though…. All of the unique tech that makes this bike great, is also available at lower pricepoints. Not exactly cheap. But the 6000€ 920 & 5200€ 930 have the same 3-mode rear shock function, a slightly heavier carbon & alloy frame, and more affordable mechanical drivetrains. At just 1-1.5kg weight penalty.

Final Thoughts on the new Ransom

I can’t think of a bike I’ve ridden in recent memory that was more composed and confident on the downhills than this new Scott Ransom.

And I kinda fell in love with its Trac-Loc remote. Especially, riding even downhills with the rear shock in the middle Ramp Control mode was a playful blast. And I really wish this was an option on almost every big travel bike I ride – from all-mountain to DH. Then, of course, popping it into Climb mode transformed the bike completely. It didn’t drop 2kg which would have been nice, but it did make it climb much better than I anticipated.

If I were looking to buy a new bike for enduro racing and riding bikepark laps, this is the first bike that I would think of. But realistically, I would consider those more affordable models first.

Scott-Sports.com

The post Scott Ransom 900 RC Review: Go Big on a DH-Ready Enduro Bike I Can Pedal Uphill, Too! appeared first on Bikerumor.

The all-new 2024 Scott Ransom is now officially a gravity bike, thanks to an all-new ultra-plush & efficient 6-bar suspension design. As enduro riding blurs into bikepark freeride, Scott built a new, much more-capable Ransom. A bike for how mountain bikers actually ride enduro these days. A bike that truly goes uphill almost as well as it goes downhill. But still one that can just shred back-to-back shuttles or bikepark runs.

2024 Scott Ransom 170mm 6-bar enduro mountain bike

Pedal up like you are riding a trail bike, flip a switch and descend like you’re on a dedicated freeride rig!

Scott went back to the drawing board for their all-new 2024 Ransom to build a gravity bike that you could also pedal to the top of the mountain.

The previous generation of the Ransom was already a quite capable 170/170mm enduro bike with an adjustable geometry Horst-link 4-bar. But bikes and disciplines evolve. And by now, last year’s latest all-mountain Genius ST, Super Trail, is already just as capable a descender as that old Ransom was on steep technical trails. So for their dedicated enduro bike, there was room for improvement when it came to full-send descending.

With so many mountain bikers taking their enduro bikes up bikepark lifts and doing shuttle runs, it was clear that the new Ransom needed to be more of a gravity bike than ever. With the same amount of travel, this new one takes enduro to another level… with 6-bar suspension.

What’s new? What is a 6bar?

Now, as Scott’s design engineers put it, “people expect to do some crazy stuff with enduro bikes these days”. So, they built an all-new freeride-capable Ransom.

The heart of their new enduro bike is an al-new 6-bar suspension layout, which gave the design team more fine control over performance changes like shock rate, axle path, chain growth, and braking influence throughout the bike’s travel. In fact, it allows for almost completely different suspension performance at different stages of travel.

Now 6-bar suspension deigns are becoming more common in big travel bikes. But they are harder to visualize mentally. And harder for me to put into words. (Even more so, when Scott hides the shock inside, Bold-style.)

I like to start to visualize a 6-bar as if were a bit simpler to get a better idea of what’s really going on. It it weren’t for that (blue) dogbone, it would have five links (easier to imagine its unstable movement with just an extra link splitting the Horst 4-bar). But then, with that extra control link (blue) connecting the two front short links (yellow & green), it guides their relative rotation mid-way through the travel – giving the suspension designer more control over kinematics.

Basically, it seems to take the virtual pivot concept to the next level, letting the suspension designers pick & choose performance characteristics that they want.

Things like supple early travel with more rearward axle path for a plush feel. Less chain growth in the middle to end of travel and a flatter anti-rise curve for consistency pedaling through rough sections and limited pedal kick back on big hits. A smooth, consistently progressive leverage ratio that works well with large volume air or coil shocks.

Really, it just seems like the extra pivots give the engineers more control over the situation. And it simply feels great out on the trail.

Why so Integrated?

Maybe more noticeable than the extra pivots and linkages tucked in there, is the Integrated Suspension Technology design, hiding the rear shock inside the enlarged downtube in front of the bottom bracket. From a design & engineering perspective, Scott’s move here is to get weight lower in the bike, to allow longer dropper posts, and to protect the sensitive shock from the dirty mountain biking elements.

As the lead Ransom engineer Kai Wheeler described it, “frame Integration keeps dirt & dust out of shock seals. So end of season suspension suppleness is just like day one.”

I know how my suspension gets treated year-round, and how much mud I wipe off my seals after most ride. And I also have good idea how few mountain bikers lovingly take care of their suspension and how few actually regularly service the internals (or pivots).

So, I can understand that might be the best reasoning for hiding shocks inside.

The new Ransom also moves to integrated internal cable routing, too. Routing brake lines under the bar and into the frame through a neat Syncros stem and through the upper headset bearing. Service-wise you can flip the angle adjustable headset cup around without messing with cables, but swapping to 0-offset or needing to replace that bearing is going to require disconnecting line and bleeding brakes.

Also new is integrated storage in the downtube. Scott already had to give the lower end of the frame s big cutout to access the rear shock. So, they took advantage of that opening and the big protective bash guard cover to store tools & spares. Clipped into the cover is an 8-bit mini tool. And then, a plastic “Matchbox” slides up into the downtube and clips in place securely. Inside you get a spare tube strapped flat, plus a chaintool & tire levers.

New Adjustable Geometry

The new Ransom gets updated enduro geometry that is a bit more gravity infused. And it is a 29er-only. Kinda.

A little longer frame Reach and a little slacker headtube angle want to make this bike go downhill fast. But it also gets a substantially steeper seattube angle to 77.2° for a more forward position for improved climbing. A lot of focus on putting more weight on the front wheel for good steering handling grip. And it makes the bike feel almost short when you are going uphill. Don’t fret, it feels long and slack going down.

That slackest 63.8° head angle is also adjustable so you can fine tune your ride. Many will keep it in that slackest -0.6° offset position for max stability at speed. But flip the +/- 0.6° cups around to get a 65° angle if you ride tighter trails where you need more maneuverability. Or the bike also comes with a zero offset cup for a 64.4° happy medium setting.

The rear end is also adjustable with a chainstay flip chip that allows an optional 27.5″ mullet rear wheel swap. No complete bikes come set up that way, but Scott knows that serious gravity riders want options depending on where they ride or race. And with this simple chip, the mullet conversion is quick & easy.

Trac-Loc: a whole new type of Twin-Loc 3-position remote lockout!

I first rode the triple-button Twin-Loc 2 remote lockout and dropper controls on the XC Spark when it first debuted the integrated internal shock layout for Scott 2.5 years back. It took a bit to adjust to. But wow, did it work well. Especially that middle reduced travel traction control mode (with reduced air volume AND higher compression damping). The new Genius also gets the same setup, which Tyler show in great exploded detail here.

Well, now the Ransom reinvents the remote lockout, too. And this genuinely might be the single feature that makes this bike work so well. (Sorry, 6-bar.)

You see, the new Trac-Loc isn’t actually a lock-out. It still has 3-modes. But Scott calls these three: Climb, Ramp Control & Descend.

The unrestricted Descend mode is fully open as you would expect.

But the Ramp Control mode does not change travel or compression damping. It is simply closes an air chamber in the shock, increasing suspension progression, like adding a bunch of volume spacers at the push of a button. Magic.

Then, Climb mode is your normal lower air volume AND extra compression mode, reducing travel down to 130mm and keeping the bike sitting high to make pedaling uphill more efficient.

Tech details

The new 2024 Scott Ransom comes in two levels of frame construction, all with alloy links. The top-tier features ultra-hi-mod HMX (High Modules Extreme) carbon front & rear triangles, only on the top 900 RC. A standard-spec hi-mod HMF front triangle paired to 6061 aluminum swingarm rear end on all other models reduces cost a bit, only adding a couple hundred grams.

All frame specs combine 170mm of travel front and rear. And all reduced down to 130mm in traction control Climb mode. There’s also a neat Sag-meter on the non-driveside link at the BB that makes suspension setup easy. And with the shock hidden, it lets you know if you’ve used all of your rear wheel travel.

The bike sports 29″ wheels and 2.5″ tire clearance. It features internal cable routing through the adjustable angle headset – wireless or mechanical shift compatible, a PressFit BB92 bottom bracket, UDH, and Boost spacing. With the 31.6mm Syncros posts, you get long dropper travel – 140mm on S, 180mm on M & 210mm on L & XL.

Pricing, options & availability

Five complete bike builds are available of the new Ransom, all with 29″ wheels only.

2024 Scott Ransom 900 RC

The 2024 Scott Ransom 900 RC that I tested is the top of the crop at a whopping $10,000 / 10,000€. For that you get the full HMX carbon frameset, a Fox 38 Factory fork to match the hidden Float X Nude EVOL Factory shock hidden inside the frame, and a complete SRAM X0 Eagle AXS Transmission with Code Ultimate Stealth brakes at a claimed 15.2kg.

A 1-piece carbon Syncros Hixon iC bar+stem cockpit, Duncan travel adjust dropper, and no-nonsense alloy RaceFace R30 wheels wrapped in Maxxis Assegai EXO+/Dissector DoubleDown tires finish the build (tubeless sealant & valves included). Plus, built in Syncros Tubeless Tool in the handlebar ends & fully-stocked Matchbox kit inside the downtube.

Ransom 910 & Contessa 910

The stealth black $8000 / 8000€ Scott Ransom 910 softens the blow to your wallet just a bit, switching to the HMF mainframe & alloy rear, plus a Performance Elite fork & shock, and still a GX AXS Transmission with Code RSC Stealth brakes.

You get the same bar, dropper, built-in tools & tires, on Syncros Revelstoke 2.0 alloy wheels. All at a claimed 15.7kg (all weights claimed for a size M set up tubeless, but without the hidden tools/spares installed).

A Contessa Ransom 910 build at the same price gets a flashier white & splatter paint finish, but the same exact spec, except for a more women-friendly Syncros Savona saddle vs the Tofino on all of the other bikes. The only limit is the Contessa only comes in sizes S-L.

2024 Scott Ransom 920 & 930

Then, a 2024 Scott Ransom 920 at $6000 / 6000€ lops off another two grand in mustard yellow by dropping back to a conventional mechanical SRAM NX Eagle drivetrain on a good old fashioned Universal Derailleur Hanger.

It gets a RockShox Zeb Select+ fork, but the same Fox Float X Nude shock hidden inside. Plus, alloy separate Syncros bar and stem (still with hidden internal routing), the same Duncan dropper & Revelstoke 2.5 wheels for a claimed 16.4kg.

Lastly, the 5200€ Scott Ransom 930 offers the lowest cost of entry to the new bike. (Sorry Americans, looks like this one is not coming your way). You get the same HMF carbon front end with remote controlled 3-position Fox Float X Nude shock inside and alloy rear as the 910 & 920, but a lower spec again – still with the Duncan dropper & Syncros Matchbox internal storage.

The 930 gets a RockShox Domain R fork, the only Shimano build with Deore 12sp & MT520 4-piston brakes, plus 30mm alloy tubeless rims on Formula hubs, at a weight of 16.7kg.

As for availability, it depends a bit country-to-country. But officially, the new 2024 Scott Ransom is slated to be in dealer shops from the “early summer”. So you will get to riding as soon as possible.

So how does it ride?

My initial impressions were that the bike really crushes downhills. The 6-bar really seems to do some gravity-shredding magic.

But really, the first thing I did on the new bike was to pedal it up some super steep rocky & sandy fire road climbs to earn my turns a bit. And popping the new Ransom into reduced-travel traction mode really did turn it into a mountain goat. Thinking back, it’s kinda no surprise that my <16kg test bike reduced to 130mm of rear wheel travel climbed like a regular trail bike.

The magic of this bike really feels like the Trac-Loc. That lets it be a killer freeride bike on the descents. And a perfectly reasonable trail bike for the climbs back up. And there really isn’t much of a downside. Well, except for its impact to your wallet.

Tune in tomorrow morning for my complete detailed review of the Ransom 900 RC.

Scott-Sports.com

The post Scott Ransom Enduro Bike Shifts Towards Freeride on All-New 170mm 6-Bar Suspension appeared first on Bikerumor.

A new set of Hunt Sub50 Limitless UD aero road wheels pair ultra-wide front & rear specific rims to carbon spokes & ratchet hubs to lose lots of weight while going faster into the wind. Now with aerodynamics re-optimized for 28mm & 30mm tires, these 49.5mm deep Hunt Sub50 Limitless Aero Disc weigh as little as 1380g per set. And Hunt’s open-access wind tunnel data shows them outperforming the industry’s best wheels up to 50mm deep, on par with deeper wheels, and also weighing quite a bit less than other aero wheels that come close.

Hunt Sub50 Limitless Aero Disc road wheels get faster AND lighter

I’m just going to offer a quick PR email quote because I appreciate its brevity & efficiency:

“TL;DR: Front & rear specific hookless rim profiles (34mm wide external front/30mm wide external rear), UD carbon spokes, and all-new ratchet hub design create an unmatched system weighing just 1380 grams per pair.”

Hunt’s first foray into Limitless aerodynamic optimization resulted in the “world’s fastest” Hunt 48 Limitless Aero Disc wheels that set a Paris-Roubaix pavé KOM, before being raced on the World Tour and even being ridden to a Giro stage win in 2012 by Victor Campenaerts. They were the first-ever road wheels to be wider than 30mm external to benefit from modern wide tire aerodynamics. They teed up deeper 60 Limitless road and 42 Limitless Gravel wheels. And they featured a unique patented-filler construction method that keep weight in check.

But apparently the pros & fastest riders wanted even lighter weight to go with their industry-fastest wide tire aerodynamics.

And that’s what they got…

What’s new?

Thanks to all-new front & rear rim shapes, both with 23mm internal hookless tubeless beads. The blunt-nosed 34.2mm wide external rim up front leads to smoother airflow through the cleaner air the rider enters. And the more v-shaped 30mm external rim out back saves weight while slicing through the turbulent air coming off the bike and rider’s legs.

Hunt Sub50 Limitless aero wheels – Pricing, options, spec & availability

Three versions of Hunt’s new Sub50 Limitless aero wheels are being offered. Pick UD carbon spokes or conventional stainless steel spokes. And pick steel or CeramicSpeed bearings on the UD wheels.

Hunt Sub50 Limitless Aero Disc UD Carbon Spoke wheels with CeramicSpeed bearing upgrade:

• Weight: 1380g per pair
• Spokes: TaperLock UD Carbon
• Spoke Count: 18 Front | 20 Rear
• Bearings: CeramicSpeed, double-sealed
• Pricing: £2289 / $2789 / 2749€

Sub50 Limitless Aero Disc UD Carbon Spoke wheels with standard stainless steel sealed bearings:

• Weight: 1380g per pair
• Spokes: TaperLock UD Carbon
• Spoke Count: 18 Front | 20 Rear
• Bearings: Double-sealed stainless steel cartridge
• Pricing: £1849 / $2249 / 2279€

HUNT SUB50 Limitless Aero Disc Steel Spoke wheels with standard stainless steel sealed bearings:

• Weight: 1428g per pair
• Spokes: Pillar Wing 20 Elliptical Aero
• Spoke Count: 20 Front | 24 Rear
• Bearings: Double-sealed stainless steel cartridge
• Pricing: £1,479 / $1799 / 1849€

All three are available to pre-order direct from Hunt starting today. And the first batch of new Hunt Sub50 Limitless wheels will arrive at early buyers’ doorsteps by the end of this month. Those who order a CeramicSpeed upgrade will have to wait until late April 2024 though, as those wheels’ hubs have to head to Denmark first, where they get the premium bearings pressed-in at CeramicSpeed’s own facility.

HuntBikeWheels.com

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