Paris-Roubaix 2021 - Where everything Crazy meets up!
#26
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Great race. The women's race on Saturday was equally as awesome.
Hard to believe these pros were racing Paris-Roubaix just a few years ago on 23-25mm tubulars and rim brakes. This year, everyone was on 28-30mm tires and discs, and many/most were running tubeless clinchers. Also a lot of 1x drivetrains with clutched RD's.
Hard to believe these pros were racing Paris-Roubaix just a few years ago on 23-25mm tubulars and rim brakes. This year, everyone was on 28-30mm tires and discs, and many/most were running tubeless clinchers. Also a lot of 1x drivetrains with clutched RD's.
Lizzie Deignan rode a Domane for her Roubaix win. It had a 1x SRAM drivetrain and I swear from looking at it that she was riding 32mm tires. I own a Domane (same frame) and Trek's isospeed is no joke. Admittedly, I've never ridden on pavé and I'm not in Lizzie Deignan's class, but it does work.
I thought one rider might have had 1x but everything moved so quicky it was real hard to get a good glimpse. I did watch some of the 'bike tech' reports for the major Pro teams (Cyclingtips) and ALL were running 2x cranks... The one I might have identified as 1x could easily be 2x cause some cranksets have 'silver/shiny outer ring embellishment and full black inner rings - so visibly hard to see... Apparently MVDP was running a 'Mid-Compact' extreme... 53x34...
For a race like P-R single step cogsets give a real advantage, so a 2x crank is almost a must... SIngle step might give the critical gear to keep power on and not over-spinning.
Definitely all pro teams were using 30-32 mm - surprisingly Bora had riders with all 3 different types - tubular, tubeless and tube (referred to as 'clincher')... Wondering what the post-mortem produced at that post-race tech meeting ??? Fly on the wall...
Ride On
Yuri
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Some of the men were running ridiculously big rings, which is probably why 2x setups made more sense for them. I think it's less about single step gearing (is that even a thing? Like a 11-22 cassette or something?) and more about having a 54/11 or 55/11 for a high speed finishing sprint. It would be pretty tough to push a 54T 1x all day, but they wanted that tall gearing for the end.
#28
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Some of the men were running ridiculously big rings, which is probably why 2x setups made more sense for them. I think it's less about single step gearing (is that even a thing? Like a 11-22 cassette or something?) and more about having a 54/11 or 55/11 for a high speed finishing sprint. It would be pretty tough to push a 54T 1x all day, but they wanted that tall gearing for the end.
I am lousy afflicted with 'SETS' ... Sports Equipment Tech Syndrome... LOL! Been that way ever since my yoot !!! LOL !
so... BMC typical cassette for Roubiax - appears to me to be 11-17 singlestep, then 19,21,23,25, 27... I'd luv that for 'general purpose'... except, for my old legs, I would always give up the 11 for an 18... I lUV 18 !!!
BMC 12 spd cassette for Roubaix - 11-17 singlestep , 19,21,23,25, 27
Campy/SRAM based Pro teams use 12 spd and Shimano based still use 11 spd...
Bora - Salon de Tech... notice the chainring sizes and empty 55... LUV that funky pedal thingie - looks like it might be a 'Q' measurer ??? details, details, details...
If I was a religious man, this would be my heaven !!!
Bora Tech's comments: All riders on Spec Roubaix Frame, All Bora riders on Tubulars, although he expected all 3 wheel variants in peleton. Tire Pressure was TOP SECRET !!! LOL!
Ride On
Yuri
#29
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Must be a reason to avoid it, given the punishment.
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FWIW - Lizzie Deigan's 1x setup ran a 50T front ring paired with a 10-33 cassette. SRAM's Red XG-1290 10-33 cassette (assuming that is what she used) has 10,11,12,13,14,15,17,19,21,24,28,33. The 10-28t version has: 10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,19,21,24,28 SRAM also makes this in an even tighter 10-26t, so she (or her team) seems to have chosen the largest range at the cost of some increased gear jumps.
A 50/10 is the same as a 55/11, so even with a 50T she had plenty of top-end for the final sprint. 50/33 is roughly 12mph at 100rpm, so I doubt she spent much time in that gear. It sounds like Trek Segafredo women ran either a 50t or 52t 1x setup- and the Trek Segafredo men ran a 54t 1x.
My guess is that Trek Segafredo figured their riders would be in the big ring all day anyway, and it sounds like Trek told media that the 1x setup provided a slight aero benefit and added chain security of running a narrow/wide chainring. Trek Segafredo women riders took 1st, 3rd and 8th on the day, so this setup clearly worked for them.
A 50/10 is the same as a 55/11, so even with a 50T she had plenty of top-end for the final sprint. 50/33 is roughly 12mph at 100rpm, so I doubt she spent much time in that gear. It sounds like Trek Segafredo women ran either a 50t or 52t 1x setup- and the Trek Segafredo men ran a 54t 1x.
My guess is that Trek Segafredo figured their riders would be in the big ring all day anyway, and it sounds like Trek told media that the 1x setup provided a slight aero benefit and added chain security of running a narrow/wide chainring. Trek Segafredo women riders took 1st, 3rd and 8th on the day, so this setup clearly worked for them.
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There is a good history of this on Cyclingtips: https://cyclingtips.com/2020/04/road...paris-roubaix/
Bianchi developed a few different full-suspension bikes for Paris Roubaix in the 1990's.
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What happened to the Pinarello full-suss bike from a couple of years ago? I guess it is obsolete now?
#33
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Decades ago they didn't have the damper tech that is available today. I think the only reason they don't do it is a lack of commercial demand. It would be perhaps a bit too niche and very expensive. There's no way standard road race bikes are optimal for Roubaix, but since they are all more or less in the same boat it is at least a level playing field.
Grip is the biggest issue, and there’s nothing you can do that will better a 32c road tyre at a nice low pressure on wide rims.
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Decades ago they didn't have the damper tech that is available today. I think the only reason they don't do it is a lack of commercial demand. It would be perhaps a bit too niche and very expensive. There's no way standard road race bikes are optimal for Roubaix, but since they are all more or less in the same boat it is at least a level playing field. Colbrelli's bike was pretty much bog standard from what I read.
What happened to the Pinarello full-suss bike from a couple of years ago? I guess it is obsolete now?
What happened to the Pinarello full-suss bike from a couple of years ago? I guess it is obsolete now?
Road racing is all about marginal gains, and if pro riders can suffer through 30k of cobbles on a stiff aero road bike that gains them 5 watts of aero advantage in the last 30 seconds of the race, they're 100% going to do that. They don't care about comfort. They want fast and light.
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You know the biggest argument I hear for why so many people choose SUVs over estates/wagons is because they find it easier to get in and out of them with their dodgy backs and hips. It shows how a modern "lifestyle" impacts general health hey! Just to be clear, I do understand that some people really do have genuine mobility issues that are not self-inflicted from lack of exercise and a crap diet.
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They very clearly are on the optimal bikes for that course, at least the ones with isospeed. Carbon bars make a difference, as do the seatpost and latest frame geometry. Despite the rough surface, the riders can handle it for 6 hours, which is all that matters.
Grip is the biggest issue, and there’s nothing you can do that will better a 32c road tyre at a nice low pressure on wide rims.
Grip is the biggest issue, and there’s nothing you can do that will better a 32c road tyre at a nice low pressure on wide rims.
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If any manufacturer thought they could win Paris Roubaix with a suspension bike they would absolutely be doing it - and they'd immediately be selling it as the next revolution in gravel racing.
Road racing is all about marginal gains, and if pro riders can suffer through 30k of cobbles on a stiff aero road bike that gains them 5 watts of aero advantage in the last 30 seconds of the race, they're 100% going to do that. They don't care about comfort. They want fast and light.
Road racing is all about marginal gains, and if pro riders can suffer through 30k of cobbles on a stiff aero road bike that gains them 5 watts of aero advantage in the last 30 seconds of the race, they're 100% going to do that. They don't care about comfort. They want fast and light.
I'm actually glad they don't make much effort to modify road bikes for Paris-Roubaix as the suffering is all part of the spectacle. But as a mechanical engineer I'm far from convinced that a standard rigid road race bike is the optimal tool for Paris-Roubaix. They just ride what they have available and for a manufacturer to commit to building a bike specifically for this event is pretty niche and probably wouldn't sell due to cost and lack of demand. Specialized and Trek have dipped their toes in the water with relatively cheap solutions that cross-over into normal endurance riding. Pinarello had a more serious attempt with their Dogma FS, but that seems to have disappeared with their current line-up.
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#38
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Here's the Dogma FS:-
https://www.pinarellostore.co.uk/dogma-fs/
This is the kind of thing I actually had in mind. But at £7k for a frameset that 99.99% of paying riders don't need for regular road riding/racing is not likely to be a commercial success.
https://www.pinarellostore.co.uk/dogma-fs/
This is the kind of thing I actually had in mind. But at £7k for a frameset that 99.99% of paying riders don't need for regular road riding/racing is not likely to be a commercial success.
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I think it was Moots that had a bike with a tiny rear shock a couple decades back .... Apparently they still make this buike https://moots.com/bike/routt-ybb/
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Nah, I don't agree. They are only on the optimal bikes that are actually available to them. There are a few bikes that have been developed more specifically for it like the Specialized Roubaix, but only in a half-assed kind of way (as in something they can market to the masses for ordinary endurance road riding). Just because a rider can handle it for 6 hours, doesn't make it optimal.
GCN did a road test a while back and the fastest bike over a 5-star sector of pave was a full-squish mtb, but the 3 5-star sectors only add up to about 10km of the 260km distance. The pave makes up about 20% of the course, and it’s true that you can’t win if you can’t ride the cobbles; but a lot of the racing, and winning moves, happen on the asphalt, so you need to be fast there, too.
The riders might have gears like 54x11 and 50x10 available on their bikes, but I doubt they’d be used much on a dead flat course. They probably spend most of the day between the 13 and 17, similar to Tony Martin riding a 60t chainring to have the best chain line.
Last edited by Leinster; 10-12-21 at 08:29 AM.
#41
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Colbrelli won on Merida’s aero bike. Matt Hayman won on a Scott aero bike in 2016. These guys have endurance/comfort bikes available, but chose the harsher ride that’s faster on pavement.
GCN did a road test a while back and the fastest bike over a 5-star sector of pave was a full-squish mtb, but the 3 5-star sectors only add up to about 10km of the 260km distance. The pave makes up about 20% of the course, and it’s true that you can’t win if you can’t ride the cobbles; but a lot of the racing, and winning moves, happen on the asphalt, so you need to be fast there, too.
The riders might have gears like 54x11 and 50x10 available on their bikes, but I doubt they’d be used much on a dead flat course. They probably spend most of the day between the 13 and 17, similar to Tony Martin riding a 60t chainring to have the best chain line.
GCN did a road test a while back and the fastest bike over a 5-star sector of pave was a full-squish mtb, but the 3 5-star sectors only add up to about 10km of the 260km distance. The pave makes up about 20% of the course, and it’s true that you can’t win if you can’t ride the cobbles; but a lot of the racing, and winning moves, happen on the asphalt, so you need to be fast there, too.
The riders might have gears like 54x11 and 50x10 available on their bikes, but I doubt they’d be used much on a dead flat course. They probably spend most of the day between the 13 and 17, similar to Tony Martin riding a 60t chainring to have the best chain line.
#43
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.. My wife normally yawns and walks away when I put bike racing on, but she was glued to the Paris-Roubaix coverage.
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I can fully understand choosing an aero bike because the speed is relatively high. A non-aero endurance bike isn't going to provide that. But that doesn't mean you can't make something with less of a compromise for the cobbled sectors. Specialized have done the obvious with their Roubaix and it clearly has a worthwhile advantage, even though they shot themselves in the foot with poor tyre choice this year. The Trek Domane also looks to have a small advantage. I just think they could take this approach further like Pinarello did with the Dogma FS. An aero bike with electronically controlled damping. But it's not the sort of thing that would sell enough to make it viable commercially. At least not yet. But we are starting to see high end mtbs with electronic "smart" damping, so it's probably just a matter of time.
Everything I’ve heard says Colbrelli was riding 32c tubeless, despite the stated max clearance of his bike being 30c. People ride with too-big tires and too-big cassettes and other things past their manufacturer-determine, safety-factor design limits all the time.
Last edited by Leinster; 10-12-21 at 12:22 PM.
#45
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Did Cobrelli have 30s or 32s? GCN was saying 32 but I thought I heard 30 elsewhere. They were definitely the new GP5000 S TR, that much was clear from the pictures.
.. My wife normally yawns and walks away when I put bike racing on, but she was glued to the Paris-Roubaix coverage.
.. My wife normally yawns and walks away when I put bike racing on, but she was glued to the Paris-Roubaix coverage.
#46
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With the weather that weekend hydrodynamics might be more relevant!
Ultimately the cobbled sections are too short compared to the rest of the race to bother with the extra weight. Grade 4/5 cobbles for 100km straight and maybe we get a new bike category, but it’s not close to that.
No one even used a gravel bike with one of the seat-stay linkage suspension ish joints (Cannondale have one).
People race 200km+ on pretty variable gravel roads in the US and haven’t resorted to real suspension yet either.
No one even used a gravel bike with one of the seat-stay linkage suspension ish joints (Cannondale have one).
People race 200km+ on pretty variable gravel roads in the US and haven’t resorted to real suspension yet either.
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With the weather that weekend hydrodynamics might be more relevant!
Ultimately the cobbled sections are too short compared to the rest of the race to bother with the extra weight. Grade 4/5 cobbles for 100km straight and maybe we get a new bike category, but it’s not close to that.
No one even used a gravel bike with one of the seat-stay linkage suspension ish joints (Cannondale have one).
People race 200km+ on pretty variable gravel roads in the US and haven’t resorted to real suspension yet either.
Ultimately the cobbled sections are too short compared to the rest of the race to bother with the extra weight. Grade 4/5 cobbles for 100km straight and maybe we get a new bike category, but it’s not close to that.
No one even used a gravel bike with one of the seat-stay linkage suspension ish joints (Cannondale have one).
People race 200km+ on pretty variable gravel roads in the US and haven’t resorted to real suspension yet either.
Still, as things evolve in gravel this may change. Full suspension XC MTB race bikes were unheard of just 10-15 years ago.
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Ultimately the cobbled sections are too short compared to the rest of the race to bother with the extra weight. Grade 4/5 cobbles for 100km straight and maybe we get a new bike category, but it’s not close to that.
No one even used a gravel bike with one of the seat-stay linkage suspension ish joints (Cannondale have one).
People race 200km+ on pretty variable gravel roads in the US and haven’t resorted to real suspension yet either.
No one even used a gravel bike with one of the seat-stay linkage suspension ish joints (Cannondale have one).
People race 200km+ on pretty variable gravel roads in the US and haven’t resorted to real suspension yet either.
I will say that at least gravel roads have some give to them; the pave are solid rock. It’d be like hitting 3kms of concrete potholes.
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With the weather that weekend hydrodynamics might be more relevant!
Ultimately the cobbled sections are too short compared to the rest of the race to bother with the extra weight. Grade 4/5 cobbles for 100km straight and maybe we get a new bike category, but it’s not close to that.
No one even used a gravel bike with one of the seat-stay linkage suspension ish joints (Cannondale have one).
People race 200km+ on pretty variable gravel roads in the US and haven’t resorted to real suspension yet either.
Ultimately the cobbled sections are too short compared to the rest of the race to bother with the extra weight. Grade 4/5 cobbles for 100km straight and maybe we get a new bike category, but it’s not close to that.
No one even used a gravel bike with one of the seat-stay linkage suspension ish joints (Cannondale have one).
People race 200km+ on pretty variable gravel roads in the US and haven’t resorted to real suspension yet either.