In November 2022, Colnago unveiled a limited run of custom painted C68 road bikes painted by Motoki Yoshio, a Japanese artist living in Italy. Behind the scenes, though, they had a secret one-off version, too…

When Colnago is planning a limited edition bike, of which they do plenty, they try out different paint schemes directly on frames to see how they look in real life. With this one, they tried both gloss and matte finishes for Yoshio’s multi-hued design.

The gloss version won the vote, so the matte version was gifted to a higher up at Colnago. Now, still unridden, it has been built up with Campagnolo Super Record Wireless with Bora Ultra wheels bedazzled with gold sparkle decals. And it’s up for auction at Sotheby’s. Have a look, then get ready to place your bid…

The complete bike is a size 51. It comes with the one-piece Colnago CC.01 handlebar-and-stem, fully integrated routing, Selle Italia SLR Super Flow Carbon saddle, and Pirelli P-Zero Race tires. It comes with their blockchain-enabled proof of ownership, and like a rare NFT, it’s a true 1-of-1. This bike is the only one in existence with a matte version of this paint scheme.

It’s a sealed auction with an anticipated closing price between $25,000 and $30,000. The auction closes this Friday, January 26th, full details and link to place your bid at Sotheby’s.

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The latest limited edition colorway for Cane Creek is a Saran Texture finish in deep shades of green and bronze, colorshifting depending on light and angle. It comes on Helm MKII forks and eeWings titanium cranks. The painting process means each one is unique, and they’re available separately or together.

The Helm MKII Aurora comes in 29er only, with 44mm offset and your choice of air or coil springs. It comes set at 160mm travel, but is easily user-adjustable from 100-160mm for air, and 130-160mm for coil. Claimed weights are 2,080g for air, 2,340g for coil. MSRP $1,099, available while supplies last.

The eeWings Aurora come in 165mm and 170mm lengths for MTB and in 170mm and 172.5mm lengths for All-Road. They come with custom-cut clear vinyl to protect the finish, but it’s still paint (not anodized), so it will wear and chip over time. MSRP is $1,199, weights from 396g (all-road) and 400g (MTB).

CaneCreek.com

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Fizik is broadening their horizons, so to speak, with a new wide-last option for their popular, affordable Omna road shoes. With a single premium Boa dial closure, stiff-enough reinforced nylon sole, and simple good looks, the Fizik Omna Wide is a great shoe for those roadies looking to rack up the miles, but who aren’t comfortable in overly narrow Italian road kicks…

Fizik Vento Omna Wide affordable road bike shoes

While much of the road shoe chatter goes to top-tier ultralight, ultra-stiff roadie slippers, many road riders simply aren’t too comfy in overly narrow, unforgiving shoes. And that’s where Fizik’s new Omna Wide comes in (and really, the original narrower Omna still, too). These are no-nonsense performance road shoes that don’t skimp on the important details AND won’t break the bank. Plus, the new Wide last option simply means more cyclists are going to find their perfect fit.

Tech details

Fizik developed the Omna Wide to deliver the “optimal fit for riders with wider feet, with a higher volume forefoot area being introduced around the ball of the foot and metatarsals”.

It’s not a huge width difference, really we’re talking <10% overall. But on my size 43 shoe for example, the Wide last could be about 102mm at its widest point vs. ~94mm for the standard fit.

The Omna shoes feature a simple, light & durable synthetic polyurethane upper, perforated through the midfoot for ventilation. Then, closure and fine-tuned adjustment is by a single premium Boa Li2 dial with 2-cross lacing in webbing loops. No plastic guides to break.

Fizik recently redesigned the sole, their vented R5 reinforced nylon outsole with non-replaceable rubber walking lugs, and a stiffness rating of 6/12. That sounds a bit low on paper. But is probably plenty stiff for all but the most sensitive or most competitive road racers. The new sole has slightly shifted the cleat bolts back for improved pedaling ergonomics. And of course, your cleats have plenty of adjustment, so the shoes get 2cm of marking to help line them up where you prefer.

Claimed Fizik Omna Wide weight is 240g (per shoe, without the 20g insole).

Fizik Omna Wide – Pricing, options & availability

The new Fizik Vento Omna Wide road shoes sell for 165€ / £170 /$170, and come in all-black or white with black detailing. The shoes are available in whole sizes 36-48, plus half sizes from 37-47.

The narrower standard-width Vento Omna shoes sell for the same price with the same tech details & sizing. But they also come in some more colorful options, too.

Get any of the new Omna shoes now direct from Fizik or their retailers.

Fizik.com

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Shimano’s entry into the 12-speed road drivetrain category came a bit later than their competition, but they made up for it with stellar performance and long-term durability.

I’ve been riding the group for nearly two years and it continues to provide flawless shifting, smooth operation, and quiet rolling. Even the wheels, which never seem to get as much attention, are great. Here’s my long-term review…

Setup & Install Notes

I installed the Ultegra group on a Pursuit Allroad, an excellent bike that made my 2022 Editor’s Choice list. Everything went as it should with one catch that’s important to note if you’re installing it yourself, and this includes shop folks… make sure to use the correct spacers on the BB spindle.

Before you read the next five paragraphs, know that I’m not knocking anyone. This is a simple mistake that anyone can make, and it caused a lot of head-scratching grief. Shimano installed the group in their SoCal HQ and commented about how front shifting seemed off. The front derailleur couldn’t move the chain far enough down to reliably shift onto the small chainring.

So they sent it back to Pursuit thinking that it was a frame tolerance issue. Carl Strong, co-founder of Pursuit and amazing frame builder, checked, re-checked, and confirmed the frame was exactly to spec.

Even so, he heated and molded a small divot into the downtube to add clearance for the front derailleur’s cage pivot, and that helped, but didn’t entirely fix it.

I received the bike and had the local Shimano rep visit to replace the front derailleur, thinking maybe that was the issue, and then re-check everything. The new part was identical to the original, and that wasn’t the problem.

Turns out, we needed a 1-2mm (I forget which, exactly) spacer on the crank spindle on the driveside to push the chainrings out. That tiny amount of additional offset solved the problem. It’s something so simple, with no other warning signs to suggest it, that it eluded Shimano, Pursuit, and myself until we just tried it on a whim.

The point? Try the simple stuff first, and try to think of other solutions. Once the spacer was installed, shifting was perfect and has been for the 18+ months I’ve been riding the bike.

The front derailleur comes with a small wire guide that gives it a 90º angle while also protecting it from bending too sharply. This also keeps it from looping so wide it rubs your rear tire. It’s tiny and best installed with your rear wheel off the bike, trust me.

Shimano has easy guides for setting chain length…

…and rear derailleur B-tension settings. The guide is plastic-free, which is nice, too.

A small light is color-coded during setup so it’s easy to know if you’re in setup mode. It changes to blue while charging, then turns off when the battery is full.

One of the biggest upgrades to the new Di2 12-speed is the ability to customize the shifting patterns, turn on Synchro Shift, and other features directly from their e-Tube app. Here’s a good video showing how to set it so you can put the rear derailleur into adjustment mode remotely from the shifters, allowing micro-adjusts while riding (not that you should need them, but it’s still cool).

Ultegra R8100 Ride Review

The nutshell version is this: I’ve ridden the new Dura-Ace 12-speed Di2 also, and Shimano’s Ultegra group performs every bit as well, but for a lot less money and only a few extra grams. If you’re building a bike or upgrading, it’s a great choice not only amongst Shimano’s drivetrains but a great choice in general.

Shifting is as quick as ever, to me feeling slightly faster than SRAM. It’s also very quiet, and feels smooth and effortless, even for an electronic group.

If you haven’t watched this video yet, please do, there’s a lot more to it than just speed…it also slightly overshifts every cog to ensure the chain gets where it needs to go, then trims back. It’s really cool!

The front shifting is powerful and direct, as I expected. I’ve also owned Dura-Ace Di2 and GRX Di2 11-speed groups, and the new 12-speed front shifting seems slightly smoother.

SIDEBAR: I can’t review this group without talking about Shimano’s 11-speed crankarm recall. The 12-speed cranks are made using the same hollow forged and bonded construction, so I asked Shimano what changed with these new ones to prevent them from having the same problem. Their response was:

“Shimano has made numerous changes, improvements, and enhancements in response to the market information we received. This is standard practice at Shimano.“

…which is about what I expected. I’d love a more technical explanation, but they’re very secretive about their processes. I got a look at that process during my factory tour for the XTR launch if you’d like to see it. FWIW, they’re not the only brand using this construction method, and I haven’t had any problems with these (or my prior DA) cranks.

The rear derailleur is interesting. There’s no clutch or spring damping for the pulley cage, and the spring tension is very light. I applaud having derailleurs that can cover everything from road to rough gravel, but I also appreciate a part that’s purpose built to excel at one thing. I believe this is what allows Shimano’s shifting to feel so light and fast, which is especially noticeable on their mechanical groups.

This is allows the chain to bounce, but not how you might think. As the two action shots (and dust) suggest, a lot of my road rides end up on stretches of gravel, sometimes with lots of stutter bumps and potholes. Despite these mini adventures, I never noticed that lack of chain management and never dropped a chain.

Where I notice it is when I backpedal quickly, particularly in the small chainring. I do this to adjust crankarm position for a corner, or shuffle around on my saddle. A quick, exaggerated backpedal often yanks the pulley cage forward, creating a big swoop of chain slack, followed by a rapid retraction. It feels weird, a little disconcerting, and is diminished by increasing B-screw tension.

I considered shortening the chain slightly, but the setup is dialed according to spec and a shorter chain would likely cause issues getting into the largest cogs from the big chainring (I know, you don’t have to say it, but we all do it). Ultimately, it hasn’t affected performance, but I wanted to mention it.

Hood shapes are great, with nice ridges on top for grip. The pronounced bump at the front is reassuring on spirited climbs, and finger clearance is adequate when braking from the hoods.

The larger shift paddles are easy to use, and the differing textures make them easy to identify even with full finger gloves. The wireless design is nice, decluttering the cockpit, and shifting is as fast as ever…I couldn’t tell any difference between reaction speed from prior wired versions.

The charging port is on the rear derailleur, which is a big upgrade from the tiny junction port and having to wire it somewhere. It’s still a single wire to charge the group, which is convenient, though you’ll need to put your bike near an outlet.

SIDEBAR: Shimano often sends review groups with a full PRO cockpit, and their PRO PLT Ergo Carbon Handlebar deserves a shout-out. It has an exceptionally good shape. The flattened tops get deeper at the corners where my hands often rest, creating a huge platform for my palms. It’s stiffer than most carbon bars I’ve ridden, so it transmits a bit more vibration, but I plan on swapping to a gel-backed bar tape to mitigate that because its ergonomics are worth keeping.

The PLT stem is also great, with surprisingly good torsional stiffness for its girth and faceplate width. Both are reasonably light and a perfect example of Shimano’s understated excellence.

When Shimano first introduced their road disc brakes, they made it clear they were powerful and cool enough to run 140mm rotors, while others were suggesting 160mm as a minimum.

For me, I went with 160m in the front, 140mm in the rear. It’s a good mix, and I like the extra modulation the larger rotor provides. Shimano’s brakes are smooth, with the right amount of bite from their Servo Wave lever leading into well-controlled progression.

Perhaps the least talked about part of the group are the Ultegra WH-R8170-C50-TL wheels, and I blame Shimano. They simply don’t hype them enough, but they’re really good. They’re aero without making a bunch of aero claims, and Ultegra shares the same rim profile as the Dura-Ace wheels.

They roll very smoothly thanks to cup-and-cone bearings. The 21mm internal width rims held everything from 28mm to 36mm-ish tires with easy tubeless setup. And they’re reasonably light (628g front, 872g rear, 1500g total) for the C50 model (50mm deep rims, also available in 36mm and 60mm depths).

The hubs have a gray anodizing to match the rest of the group and come with a standard HG freehub body.

For high performance road riding, Ultegra Di2 12-speed leaves nothing to be desired. Shifting is precise and fast. Hood and lever ergonomics are great. It’s light, and the understated dark gray ano looks great on any bike, perhaps even better than the glossy black of Dura-Ace.

It even works well on “alt roads”, and the rims held up to low tire pressures on gravel roads, too. If you’re in the market for top-tier performance without the top-tier price, Ultegra R8100 delivers.

Read our launch coverage here for all of the tech details on this and Dura-Ace.

Bike.Shimano.com

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Look considers the all-new version of the Keo Blade its fastest pedal ever. Their design team addressed many outstanding issues, such as bearing life, pedal balance for clipping in, and even made the design slightly more aerodynamic. 

2024’s new Look Keo Blade road pedal

What is the Look Keo Blade?

The Look Keo pedal is a staple of the World Tour and the local cafe ride. In 2011, Look’s carbon spring ‘Blade’ version took the Keo design and swapped its metal mechanism for a large, lightweight carbon spring. The unique design reduces the overall pedal weight by nearly 20% – compared to those traditional metal sprung Keo pedals.

What’s New? 

Developed and tested over three years in collaboration with World Tour riders who were working closely with the Look design team, the new Keo Blade is the company’s most well-rounded Keo Blade pedal design.

The updated design offers high-end performance and valuable improvements. The weight didn’t change much, but clipping in and serviceability certainly did.  

Look Keo Blade Updates 

Updated Aero Profile: Look has re-imagined the pedal’s aerodynamic body profile. The design team reshaped a lower frontal surface area, and an all-new leading-edge aerodynamic profile. These updated aero designs work together to reduce drag, saving 2% over the previous Keo Blade design.

Larger Contact Pad: The new Look Keo Blade now boasts a contact area of 705mm²  (at 64mm wide), ample for a pedal weighing just 95g (claimed, per pedal). That#s 5mm² more contact area than the previous version. The larger platform hopes to eliminate hot spots further, especially in thin/stiff carbon shoe designs. And it offer riders increased pedaling stability.

Easier to Clip-in: The new Keo Blade has a 60% easier clip-in rotation due to an improved weight balance vs. the previous generation. This new balance gives riders more confidence clipping in and staying in the pedal, no matter the spring tension.

Durability and Reliability: The latest design also incorporates a new spindle design, updated internal and external dual-sealed bearings, and reformulated long-lifespan water-resistant grease. The imporved water-resistant design allows for (gentle) jet wash cleaning by mechanics without worrying about blowing through the team’s pedal reserves.

Look also updated the pedals’ contact area, from alloy to high-grade stainless steel. Plus, the newly strengthened body design means 200% higher robustness and impact resistance.

Easy ‘Blade Swap’: Riders can also now switch their Blades out in under one minute for their preferred tension (available in multiple tensions from 8-20). Or to just replace the spring for a new same-stiffness one, to keep the pedals feeling brand new.

Look Keo Blade – Pricing & Model options

Look Keo Blade:

• Body – Carbon
• Cleat – Keo Grip
• Axle – Chromo +
• Bearing – Steel
• Retention – 08 – Comp
• Contact Surface – 705mm² 
• Q-Factor – 53mm
• Total Stack – 14.8mm (Pedal 8.5mm + Cleat 6.3mm)
• Weight – 115g
• MSRP – 145€ / $174 / £140

Keo Blade Ceramic:

• Body – Carbon
• Cleat – Keo Grip
• Axle – Chromo +
• Bearing – Ceramic
• Retention – 12 – Carbon
• Contact Surface – 705mm² 
• Q-Factor – 53mm
• Total Stack – 14.8mm (Pedal 8.5mm + Cleat 6.3mm)
• Weight – 115g
• MSRP – 210€ / $252 / £200

Keo Blade Ceramic Ti:

• Body – Carbon
• Cleat – Keo Grip
• Axle – Titanium
• Bearing – Ceramic
• Retention – 16 – Carbon
• Contact Surface – 705mm² 
• Q-Factor – 53mm
• Total Stack – 14.8mm (Pedal 8.5mm + Cleat 6.3mm)
• Weight – 95g
• MSRP – 310€ / $389 / £300

New Keo Blade Availability

The new Look Keo Blades should be available at a shop near you in February 2024. As we test the new Keo Blade, look for a full review and updated photos. 

Lookcycle.com

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Italian tubing and component maker Columbus has an all-new Trittico system of carbon bars, stem & fork developed to bring modern fully internal cable routing to the custom handmade bike market. Designed to fit inside a conventional 1 1/8″ upper headset cup, the Columbus Trittico features a unique Trefoil fork steerer tube that outperforms many other shaped steerers. Plus, a creative stem solution delivers unmatched cockpit adjustability, without messing with your brake lines…

Columbus Trittico carbon cockpits integrate handmade bikes

The idea behind these new Columbus Components carbon Trittico parts was simple. Give handmade bikes the option to build fully internal cable routing with existing tubing – specifically headtube – sizing.

Columbus sells a lot of steel and (increasingly) titanium tubesets to custom frame builders. And even though most of those now use so-called ‘oversized’ tubing diameters relative to old school 1″ steel tubes. We’re still talking about a maximum 44mm headtube for tapered 1.5-1.125″ steerer tubes.

While oversized carbon bikes can often get away with going to a massive 1.5″ upper headset cup to fit shift & brake lines inside. Metal bikes start to look weird with bigger headtubes.

So, Trittico means keeping whatever 1 1/8″ upper headset cup you prefer. And routing cables inside it. Electronic shifting only though, so we’re only talking about internal routing of hydraulic brake lines, or electronic wires on older groupsets.

How does it work?

To make that fit, Columbus developed a new Trefoil steerer tube shape for their own full carbon forks. Their patent-pending design lops off the front 2 corners of the carbon fork steerer for the cables to slip down into the frame. And of course requires a proprietary expander to go inside.

As compared to similar 1.125″ internal routing solutions with D-shaped or I-shaped steerers, the Columbus Trefoil design is uncompromisingly stiffer both front-to-back AND resisting lateral forces.

Unmatched integrated cockpit adjustability

Now, it is relatively straight-forward to route just a couple of hydro brake lines inside a separate bar and stem, assuming the correct size routing holes all line up. But Columbus goes one step further with their carbon Trittico stem. Here, they use a oversized steerer clamp diameter, and fill out that space with an alloy sleeve spacer.

The result, one -8° stem can be adjusted in length by 5mm and its angle by 5°. All without removing any hoses. The regular black steerer sleeve can be left in its 0 position, or rotated 180° to offset stem length by +5mm. Or swap in the red -5° angled insert sleeve, which keeps the original stem length, but lowers the handlebar creating an effective -13° stem angle.

That sleek carbon stem gets a removable alloy faceplate with hidden 3-bolts, and hidden GPS mount. So you get both streamlined looks and real-world ease-of-use.

Combine it with ergonomically-shaped “Smart Fit” handlebars, and you can fine-tune your cockpit positioning, exactly as you prefer. Columbus gives their Trittico carbon bars unique shaping. With a divot for extra space behind the lever for more secure braking from the hoods – especially for riders with small hands who’ve adjusted their lever reach – and triangulated shaped drops for extra grip while sprinting.

Trefoil forks

The Columbus Trittico system is built around the Futura Trefoil full carbon 1.5″ tapered steerer road fork.

425g with 32mm tire clearance (367mm axle-crown, 45mm rake), flat mount 160mm (or 180mm) brake rotor compatibility, and a magnetic cover to hide the front mounting bolts.

There also will be a Trittico-compatible Futura Trefoil Gravel fork with bigger 700c x 57mm tire clearances, anything cage & fender mounts, and dynamo wiring routing. The Futura Trefoil Gravel fork gets a 405mm a-c and adjustable 47/52mm offset, at a claimed 565g.

Trittico component specs & sizing

The carbon Trittico stems are customizable in both length and angle with their adjustable steerer tube sleeve. The 5 sizes are 90-130mm (in 10mm steps) with the standard -8° stem angle. Rotate the stock black steerer sleeve 180° to offset length +5mm. It keeps the -8° angle, but shifts the stem lengths to 95-135mm. Or an optional red angled -5° insert sleeve keeps the original lengths, but lowers the front handlebar clamping area to create a -13° angle.

Columbus also created a direct out-front GPS/GoPro mount. Called the Race Spoon, it mounts to 2 bolts on the bottom of the Trittico stem.

The Trittico carbon road bars come in 40/42/44cm widths at the hoods, with subtle 4° flare in the drops (below the levers) for an extra 2.7cm of width (center-center) at the ends. The 31.8mm bars feature 71mm reach and 128mm drop, with a claimed weight of 215g.

Wider carbon Trittico gravel bars will add more dramatic 15° flare. Plus, they feature an extra ergonomic loop at the ends of the drops, yet only a shade heavier at 225g. The 75mm reach/110mm drop gravel bars will also come in 40/42/44cm at the hoods. But, in the end, 11cm wider at the drops thanks to the flare and further 4° oustweep at the ends.

There’s also a matching carbon Trittico seatpost to finish out your contact points. It’s available in 27.2 or 31.6mm diameter (200g or 210g). The seatpost features swappable 2-bolt head guts for 15mm or 25mm offset, round or carbon rail compatibility, and an asymmetric carbon shaft layup for optimal rider comfort.

Columbus Trittico – Options, Pricing & Availability

Columbus designed the Trittico cockpit system as an integration solution for custom handmade bike builders. So for now, your best bet it to buy a new custom road bike. Then, tell your frame builder that this is what you want. Columbus says a number of builders are already using the Trittico system. Beyond the Jaegher bikes I photographed above, you can also already find Trittico-equipped bikes from Barco, Beach Club, Belle, Bixxis, Cinelli, Condor, Festka, Ioklin, Legot, Onguza, Passoni, Repete, Stelbel, Titici, Victoire, Wittson, and more.

Officially, only the road bike series with the Futura Trefoil road fork has launched so far. But Columbus shared renderings with us of a gravel series with a Futura Trefoil Gravel fork and flared carbon bar. And we’ve seen the gravel product names already pop up with some distributors. Those likely are already making their way to bike builders early this year.

As for aftermarket retrofit installation into your existing bikes… Columbus has a “Pre-Order Now” contact form on their microsite for consumers looking to buy the Trittico system components. But we’ve also seen the individual components already being offered online separately. With fork prices around 475€, stems/seatposts/bars for around 420€.

Columbus1919.com/Trittico

The post Columbus Trittico Brings Modern Full Internal Routing to Classic Handmade Looks appeared first on Bikerumor.

The latest bike from Moots – the Vamoots 33 – pushes the boundaries of what a road bike is with big tire clearance & versatility that edges towards gravel. And thanks to simplified construction, it’s the most affordable made-in-Colorado bike you can get from them.

Moots Vamoots 33 titanium all-road bike

The new addition to the Steamboat Springs, CO, brand’s road bike lineup is built to ride any road. The Moots Vamoots 33 comes ready for fenders, big tires, and do-it-all geometry. Like the similarly “more affordable” gravel Routt 45, the Vamoots 33 takes its numbered name from a local county road in Moots’ backyard, not its tire clearance.

In fact, Moots designed the new all-road bike to fit 700×38 tires with fenders, making it a jack-of-all-trades model with subdued endurance road geometry. It’s a bike for folks who don’t want something as racy as the Vamoots CRD or Vamoots RCS, but still want a solid performer.

Tech details

Keeping cost down a bit, the big difference between the 33 and other Vamoots is the tubeset. Moots welds the 33 from thin-wall but straight-gauge 3/2.5 titanium tubes, whereas the higher-end models use custom double-butted tubes with some sections made from lighter 6/4 ti.

The Vamoots 33 still gets Moots’ latest 3D-printed titanium flat mount 12mm thru-axle dropouts…

…and hooded dropouts with a replaceable hanger.

Other details include conventional internal cable routing, a 27.2mm seatpost, proper head badge, 44mm headtube for tapered steerers, and a standard BSA threaded bottom bracket (not T47 like the higher-end models).

Moots Vamoots 33 – Pricing, options & availability

Complete Vamoots 33 bikes start at $7500, available in 9 stock sizes (48-62cm). That’s nearly $6000 less than the base Vamoots CRD or $4500 less than a Vamoots RCS.

That lower cost of entry gets you a wireless SRAM Rival AXS 2x groupset, alloy Zipp cockpit, and aluminum DT Swiss E1800 wheels wrapped in 32mm Panaracer Gravel King Slick tires.

There are also ample kit upgrades for anyone looking to build up a more premium rando bike or all-road mile cruncher.

Moots.com

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Belgian custom bikebuilder Jaegher adds new top-tier stainless steel FL.X Ascender Phoenix to their road bike line-up, leveraging 3D-printing and Artificial Intelligence to give the bike the smooth curves we expect from modern carbon bikes. Calling it a “step into the future”, the new stainless steel Jaegher Ascender Phoenix road bike is made-to-measure for each buyer with a 3D-printed headtube, ‘tailfin’ seat cluster, and dropouts that add up to seamlessly smooth good looks. And of course that classic lifetime steel ride…

Jaegher Ascender Phoenix custom stainless steel road bike

I always love to ogle beautifully-crafted handmade steel bikes. And we never really tire of seeing cool 3D-printed parts find their way into the bike building process. So Jaegher’s latest creation is our kind of jam.

Debuted over the weekend at their home Velofollies show, Jaegher created their latest fully-custom Ascender Phoenix road bike by mixing the latest in manufacturing tech up against the most advanced iteration of the most classic bike building material.

In order to match 3D-printed stainless steel parts with a fully-customizable fit, they let a parametric model powered by AI tweak the shaping of the headtube, seat cluster & dropout alignment. Then, they can just pop in the straight top tube and seatstays. Weld it all up, and the end result is as curvy as carbon, with all that makes stainless steel bikes great.

Ride it hard for a lifetime. High stiffness, yet tuned compliance. No corrosion or crash damage worries. And no paint needed, really. Although, Jaegher does some great paintjobs that highlight the beauty of stainless steel without going overboard.

Tech details

Matching 8 round stainless Columbus XCR steel tubes to 4 custom 3D-printed parts, Jaegher seamlessly TIG-welds a frame in Belgium that combines all the best characteristics of a modern road bike with the lively ride and timeless durability of stainless steel. What’s more, Jaegher claims that it weighs just 1400g.

Plus, the Ascender Phoenix features the latest standards. Fully integrated internal cable routing for wireless drivetrains. Customizable 30-35mm max tire clearance depending on the buyer’s needs. A T47 threaded bottom bracket.

Additionally, it sticks with proven standards where they work best. 12mm thru-axles and flat mount disc brakes. A 27.2mm seatpost (with an internal clamp built into the seatlug). An IS headset fits the 1.5″ tapered steerer Enve carbon fork. And a clamp-on front derailleur hanger for clean 1x or 2x builds.

Jaegher Ascender Phoenix – Pricing, options & availability

The new made-in-Flanders Jaegher FL.X Ascender Phoenix sells for 6950€ for the frameset, with fully custom geometry. That then includes the stainless steel frame and carbon fork.

Plenty of complete custom bike options are also available, with a Builder’s Choice SRAM Force AXS build featuring Enve Foundation wheels totaling up to 13,590€.

Bikes require a 1250€ to get the ball rolling. Jaegher frames typically have a 7-10 week lead time, while complete bike builds add anywhere from a couple of weeks to a month extra. Officially, the first new Ascender Phoenix frame deliveries are slated for “the summer of 2024”.

Jaegher.be

The post 3D-printed Jaegher Ascender Phoenix Road Bike Curves Steel Like Carbon With A.I. appeared first on Bikerumor.

Over the weekend, X user @MoBaohua posted three images of what appears to be the anticipated next SRAM RED group. They show a very different hood and lever shape, a streamlined and hollowed-out rear derailleur, and a tightly-spaced cassette. Read our 2024 Predictions from a couple of weeks back. We aren’t too surprised to see it’s really coming soon.

Here’s what we can tell so far…

First, the disclaimers: SRAM has not announced a new Red group. But based on timing and the age of the current Red group, it’s very likely launching this year. Second, they have not commented on the veracity of these images nor are they likely to, that’s just how this works. Third, the images are low quality and we’re living in the age of incredible AI image generation, so….

Is this a new 2024 SRAM Red eTap AXS that’s leaked on X?

All that said, if they’re real, the most exciting part seems to be the revised brake levers. Slimmer and shorter overall hoods, even more so than the recently revamped Force and Rival groups, lead to a very new lever shape.

The recess just below the hood should help it clear your fingers better when braking hard, which is a big deal. The paddle seems taller, though, so it’ll be interesting to see if that interferes with fingers on the drops. Equally interesting is the apparently higher lever pivot location, which should give us more leverage over the brake lever and allow for more nuanced braking.

And that little rubber plug at the top of the new carbon lever blade looks a lot lie where we would find the access hole for a brake lever reach-adjust bolt.

Upgraded ergonomics?

Of course, there’s no telling any of these are real, but they do match patent drawings from mid-2023. Those drawings also reveal a button on the inside top of the hood, which could allow remote control of a cycling computer. If it’s an AXS button, it could also (finally) allow one-handed shifting in either direction from a single shifter…something that we’ve wished for when trying to hold a bottle, snack, or phone while on a climb.

We’ve read plenty of unsubstantiated online rumors that following SRAM’s purchase of Hammerhead back in 2022, that the new Red group will also come with a newly-integrated cycling computer head unit. So these could likely be the control buttons for those, without taking your hands off the bars!

Lighter brakes?

The calipers appear much smaller, with a larger gap between it and the mount, and less material around the pistons. Combined with the slimmer levers, these could be substantially lighter weight than before, helping put SRAM RED back in the weight-weenie pole position.

The rotors look leaner, too, with deeper scalloping around the circumference, larger vents, and much less material on the aluminum carrier.

Still 12-speed, but lighter MTB-inspired Red rear derailleur?

The rear derailleur looks leaner, particularly with the cutout on the outer parallelogram. The weight-weenies are really rejoining now!

That part does not look to be user replaceable like on the new T-Type Transmission MTB derailleur, mainly because the rear-ward pivot sits inside the B-knuckle, not outside.

Two features really stand out, though:

• It is not UDH – it’s using a standard derailleur bolt attachment, not a concentric one like Transmission. This makes us think UDH is still primarily a gravel and MTB thing in SRAM’s eyes. But road bikes will remain focused on the lightest possible weights. The inclusion of high/low limit screws reinforces this notion.
• Larger lower pulley – This appears to have a 14-tooth lower pulley with the same breakaway design as T-Type. We feel like the breakaway aspect seems less important for road. But we do like that it’s bigger. Bigger wheels mean less resistance, just ask every aftermarket cage maker.

The angled view of this cassette makes the first six cogs appear much closer than the current cassette, but both share 1-tooth jumps for the first six cogs with a 33-tooth big cog. Current smaller cassettes get 1-tooth jumps for the first seven cogs and we assume that’ll carry over, along with 2x chainring combos up front.

It remains 12-speed, but that chain looks to have huge cutouts on the outer plates to save weight. That’s something the current Red chain does not have, but the new Eagle XX SL does.

Thoughts? Did we miss anything?

What do you want to see from a new SRAM RED group?

Let us know in the comments!

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Aimed at road and gravel cyclists, the new Ritchey Logic Cabrillo saddle gives them their first short-and-wide saddle design. While it looks very much like a traditional saddle, the dimensions don’t lie.

The Cabrillo comes in two versions, WCS and Comp. Both use Ritchey’s Vector Wing shell design, which isolates the rails from the top, creating a flex zone to suspend the rider without making the saddle squishy.

The Cabrillo WCS gets a nylon & carbon shell with stainless steel rails and lightweight polyurethane foam padding. It weighs 222g and costs $99.95.

The Cabrillo Comp gets a nylon & glass fiber shell with chromoly rails and standard foam padding. Weight is 266g, price is $59.95.

It’s mildly short compared to some other brands, measuring 260mm long. That’s 18mm shorter than their Streem saddle.

The top profile is flat from tip to tail, making it easier to slide fore/aft on the saddle over technical terrain, which makes it perfect for cyclocross. A slight curve from side to side mimics other popular short-and-wide designs to offer good sit bone support without hindering hip and leg movement.

The unisex design has a slim center channel to reduce pressure on the perineal area. Available now.

RitcheyLogic.com

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