Survey: Are modern bikes really faster?

The bikes and equipment used by professional racers today are at the forefront of what ever-changing technologies can offer. To the point that The equipment seems more effective than ever if we are to believe the opinion of many runners, even if its importance remains to be put into perspective depending on the terrain or the circumstances of the race.

About Guillaume Judas – Photos: depositphotos.com

« Today'Today, we have bikes so fast that if you're really stuck to the wheel of the guy in front, you're hardly pedaling. ", Romain Bardet stressed in Team of April 26, 2022. An observation already put forward by Maxime Bouet in Ouest France from October 11, 2021: “ The bike, it'has become like F1, where you have everything mastered and optimized for the purpose of'improve performance. » These stories of fast bikes raise questions, as they now seem essential to achieving good results in competition.. For some observers, however, this idea would only be the fruit of'a marketing speech cleverly distilled by high-end bicycle manufacturers, or an allegation from the riders' entourage to conceal unspeakable practices.

However, since the invention of cycle racing in the late 19th century, the equipment used by riders has continued to evolve in line with technical improvements proposed by the industry. But It was from the end of the 80s that bold choices made it possible to mark significant differences in terms of performance., first on time trials as with the famous triathlon handlebar used by Greg Lemond on the 1989 Tour de France won by eight seconds to the detriment of Laurent Fignon. That year, the Tour included 136 km of time trial (in three stages). The advancetagThe handlebar speed used by the American was already estimated at two seconds per kilometer compared to the pilot's position.tage shaped like a cow horn used by the French. At the same time, automatic pedals were becoming more widespread, bringing a big advantagetage for the comfort and safety of riders, just before the launch in the early 90s of gear changes integrated into the brake levers. After 50 years of very slow evolution since the appearance of the derailleur in the 30s, cycling equipment made a spectacular leap forward in just a few years.

The carbon revolution

Ten years later, carbon frames began to become more widespread and the norm thanks to new manufacturing processes, which have made it possible to produce new tube shapes, while saving weight and increasing rigidity. " In 2003 we launched our first frame route in carbon with the Orca, which corresponded exactly to the road behavior that we wanted to give it, begins Joseba Arizaga, product manager route at the Basque brand Orbea. At the time, our flagship team was the Euskaltel-Euskadi team with great climbers like Iban Mayo, Samuel Sanchez, Roberto Laiseka, Haimar Zubeldia, or Egoï Martinez. We wanted a reactive, nervous and above all light frame. That was the beginning of two decades of innovation, thanks to developments in manufacturing technologies. Now, we are able to achieve things that were unthinkable ten years ago, in terms of tube shape and thickness for example, while ensuring the desired rigidity and reliability. And we are on the seventh generation of the Orca. »

For Philippe Gilbert, professional from 2003 to 2022, world champion in 2012 and winner of four out of five Monuments, consultant for L'Equipe et Eurosport Carbon made it possible to produce more efficient wheels, before clearly raising the level of frames : " In 2003 we were still using aluminium rims with 36 spokes for the cobbled Classics. Then the CSC team and its leader Fabian Cancellara started using high carbon rims, more aerodynamic, whatever the course. At that time our bikes were already very light, but the frames were not yet aerodynamic, there were all the cables sticking out. Since then, bikes have continued to become more efficient. This may not be noticeable for cycle tourists, but for professionals who often ride at over 50 km/h, the influence of equipment is very important. »

An observation also bytagand among amateurs, with averages increasing over the years. " After a few years in Elite, I raced for 20 years in second and third categories, says Anthony Supiot, 51 years old and amateur runner in Pays-de-Loire. For four or five years, I have seen that on the same races and the same circuits and in the same category, the averages are increasing. Of course, I am getting older, but the data on the meter does not lie, and it has accelerated especially for the last four or five years, since the appearance of a new category of bikes, more aerodynamic, with disc brakes and a lot of integrations.

Stay in the race

« The evolution of the material is constant, resumes Philippe Gilbert. A few years ago, it was necessary to upgrade every three years or so, but I would say that today, every year, it goes faster and faster.. Sometimes, it can even cause problems of fairness in competition, with some brands more advanced than others. It's something I felt, sometimes being taken out of the slipstream on descents or false flat descents, behind riders from a team with clearly more efficient bikes. We can see the same phenomenon in time trials, where in the rankings we see the same teams with three or four bike models that stand out from the crowd.

“In the time trials, in the rankings we see the same teams with three or four models of bikes that stand out” – Philip Gilbert

« We are forced to constantly seek to innovate in the smallest details, because if we only follow, we quickly get left behind. ", says Slovenian Gorazd Štangelj, sports director at Bahrain Victorious, in a reporttagand broadcast by Eurosport on Youtube end of June 2023. Together with the Dane Martin Toft Madsen, former pro and aerodynamics and equipment consultant for his team, Štangelj piloted a test comparison between bikes and equipment from 1989 (a steel Carrera bike similar to Claudio Chiapucci's), 2003 (a Cannondale from the Saeco team similar to Gilberto Simoni's), 2012 (a Pinarello from Alejandro Valverde's Movistar team) and therefore 2023 with the Merida Scultura used by Bahrain Victorious. Sonny Colbrelli, former winner of Paris-Roubaix, served as a guinea pig and chained rotations with the four machines, riding at 300 watts on the flat and uphill. On the flat, we see a difference of two km/h between the 1989 bike and the 2023 bike, for the same power developed, says Martin Toft Madsen. And the same thing going uphill. But what's interesting is that on the flat there's little difference between the 89 bike and the 2012 bike, but then the gap widens between 2012 and 2023. On the uphill though, the main gap widens between 89 and 2003, and then the bikes are very close. But that's quite logical because the main weight gain on the bikes was achieved in the very early 2000s. »

« The argument of the efficiency of the material is admissible, but under certain conditions, tempers Frédéric Porteleau, a fluid mechanics engineer who designed a method for indirectly calculating the power developed, in order to compare the performances of runners from one generation to the next. For example, it is undeniable that for the Hour Record, the aerodynamic gains brought by the material had a very important influence. But if we want to compare Filippo Ganna's record (56,792 km in October 2022) with that of Eddy Merckx 50 years earlier (49,431 km), we must also emphasize that the Italian is a pure roller specialized in the track, while the Belgian champion was a complete road rider who broke the record at the end of a busy season. On the other hand, Ganna broke the record at sea level unlike Merckx, and he must even be able to do a little better at altitude. In mytagNo, where Porteleau can make precise calculations taking into account the slope, the surface, the weight of the equipment and the runners, he estimates that the gains are really minimal. The weight of bicycles has changed little in 20 years, and we are still at the UCI limit of 6,8 kg. We cannot go below that. In my opinion,tagno, it is the most important factor. The improvement of the material therefore has a small influence in a pass, especially on a route in poor condition. No doubt that with the great progress made on tires in recent years, we have been able to save five watts at low speed but no more. »

“The most important development I have seen in my career is the advent of electronic derailleurs.” – Haimar Zubeldia

Haimar Zubeldia, a professional from 1998 to 2017 and twice fifth in the Tour de France (in 2003 and 2007) tells us that from his point of view, " The most important development I have witnessed in my career is the advent of electronic derailleurs. Before, when you were going full throttle on a pass, you would unconsciously save your gear changes, because it required a slight effort of concentration or pushing on the cable of the shifter. With electronics, you no longer have to worry about chain crossings or the reliability of gear changes, and pressing a button always requires the same weak impulse. For me, on a pass, that counts! » An evolution of transmissions also highlighted by Philippe Gilbert: « In 20 years of career, I went from 9 to 12 speeds at the rear. There was always the missing sprocket, and that is no longer the case today. And we rarely talk about the huge evolution of the gear ratios, which helps to produce speed from the slightest descent. One of my former teammates, Victor Campenaerts, now often rides with a development of 58/11, or even 60/11, or you have for example Jumbo-Visma riders like Tiesj Benoot who use a 54/10, while personally I have spent most of my career with 53/11. »

Always higher

To follow the evolution of equipment and even be the direct instigators, cycle brands and professional teams often work together. For reasons of internal strategy, Orbea has moved away from the World Tour, but remains present in the Pro Continental with Lotto Dstny and Euskaltel-Euskadi, and in the women's category with Ceratizit-WNT. The performance requirements are the same, continues Joseba Arizaga, and for a brand like us that sells 400 units a year, from children's bikes to professional bikes to electric mountain bikes, keeping up with technological developments and continuing to progress is essential. When a competitor releases a new model, we examine it from every angle, we compare it, and we try to do better in the areas of aerodynamics, weight savings, stiffness and overall bike behavior. We also have our own objectives, based on the feedback we get from practitioners. We use highly advanced computer simulation tools, we work in wind tunnels, and we also have means of measuring in the field. And all the major brands do this. »

Sébastien Servet, head of the design office route and Gravel at Specialized, the brand that equips Soudal-Quick Step, Bora-Hansgrohe and SD Worx goes even further: “ Beyond the design of the equipment, we have a department called Ride Science, whose job is to collect as much data as possible with telemetry, then to practice simulations based on the routes and weather conditions, and then to advise the teams that ride with our equipment. And it is of course from this data that we know in which direction to launch to design a new product. "As with all teams, the brand also maintains privileged relationships with certain riders reconnaked for their finesse of analysis, like Kasper Asgreen or Yves Lampaert at Soudal-Quick Step, who according to Sébastien Servet " are often in contact with our engineers and testent new things or combinations of equipment, because their feedback is very relevant. »

A sum of marginal gains

The virtues attributed to the material would thus be a little more complex to define than the launch of a new frame or a new pair of wheels with miraculous behavior.. " In 20 years of professional career, I have seen the equipment evolve of course., continues Haimar Zubeldia, but in my opinion he is not the only one responsible for the speed gains that we see today in all races.'Sky's arrival in professional cycling in the late 2000s boosted all performance. Within a few years, we were all chasing marginal gains. In my first Tours de France, we ate whatever was in the hotel. Then we arrived with our pasta, then with our cook, and now many teams even have their own kitchen truck parked in the car park. The performance gain obtained with equipment follows this trend. "" We s'are all mocked at Sky, at first, with their power meters, their stagare at altitude, their cooks, all that…, Maxime Bouet emphasizes in Ouest France. But in fact, look, we all ended up doing like them, five or ten years behind. And we saw that it had an impact on performance. Marginal gains exist and we all wanted to move towards that, in our own way. Gain a little watt here and there... »

The equipment would ultimately evolve at the same time as training methods, micro-nutrition, or clothing equipment, which would logically explain an overall increase in performance. « In all the aerodynamic gains seen in recent years, we can also attribute a share of at least 20% to the clothing and the helmet., insists Sébastien Servet. Almost all riders today race in a skinsuit, because we know that the slightest crease on a jersey costs a lot. »

Disrupted strategies

Everything therefore seems to indicate that it is above all on the flat and on descents that the equipment would have allowed the biggest gains in speed, and therefore in average speed. The other improvements seem less spectacular. What are the consequences? First, an additional risk-taking for the riders, in certain phases of the race. On June 17, 2023, the day after Gino Mäder's fatal fall on the descent of the Albula Pass at the end of the fifth stage of the Tour de Suisse, Jean-François Bernard, third in the 1987 Tour de France and consultant for FranceInfo, stressed on French radio the speed reached by runners in certain situations. There are more and more stakes in the races, the bikes are going faster and there are disc brakes (which are supposed to offer more security, Editor's note) ... ", as if to highlight that new technologies sometimes push people to drive beyond the limits.

More Increasing average speeds also change teams' strategies. The ends of races are getting faster and faster, and the riders are getting closer and closer physically to each other. It is now almost impossible for a single man to break away from a pack just a few cables from the finish. The improvement of equipment and the optimization of all performance-related factors have undoubtedly increased the overall speed of the peloton., concludes Haimar Zubeldia. We are witnessing a levelling up of all the runners. But paradoxically, this evolution pushes the great champions to reveal themselves earlier in the race, to try things much further from the finish. And finally, it is the spectacle that comes out the winner. »

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