{"id":69791,"date":"2024-10-07T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-07T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/7a6838eb-4ced-4eca-a05f-2c03ddf99baf"},"modified":"2024-10-07T17:25:28","modified_gmt":"2024-10-07T15:25:28","slug":"new-bikes-repair-essentials-and-tyres-of-all-widths-2024-gravel-world-championship-tech-trends-unpacked","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/rss_feed\/new-bikes-repair-essentials-and-tyres-of-all-widths-2024-gravel-world-championship-tech-trends-unpacked\/","title":{"rendered":"New bikes, repair essentials and tyres of all widths \u2013 2024 Gravel World Championship tech trends unpacked"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our pick of the bike and component choices from Leuven <\/p>

By <\/p>

Published: Monday, 07 October 2024 at 15:00 PM<\/p>

\n\n

Since their inauguration in 2022, the UCI\u2019s Gravel World Championships have become progressively more ‘gravelly’. <\/p>

Each year also brings some fascinating bike and component choices for us to marvel at and unpack.<\/p>

So, with Marianne Vos and Mathieu van der Poel crowned the winners, here are the tech trends we spotted at the 2024 event.\u00a0<\/p>

New bikes from Superior and Lapierre<\/h2>
Superior’s special-edition gravel race bike turned plenty of heads. Superior<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>
Superior is a brand that will be new to many people, but it used the event, for which it is a sponsor, to tease its 2025 gravel race bike.<\/p>
$\"\"$
The bike was equipped with SRAM Red AXS XPLR. Superior<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>
This special-edition bike, with a top-spec SRAM Red AXS XPLR build, was on display and the brand was more than happy to chat about specifics. <\/p>
The new frameset, for example, uses a SRAM Universal Derailleur Hanger<\/a>, has mounts for a front derailleur and is compatible with full gravel mudguards<\/a>.<\/p>
$\"\"$
The ONE Carbon Integrated Cockpit ICR will be familiar to fans of the previous bike. Superior<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>
Superior has carried the ONE Carbon Integrated Cockpit ICR over from the previous-generation bike, but there’s now a smartly integrated rear light at the seatpost.<\/p>
$\"\"$
Tyre clearance has been increased. Superior<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>
The new bike also features 5mm of extra tyre clearance, with the frameset now allowing for up to 45mm gravel tyres<\/a>. Despite the extra space, Superior claims the bike weighs 7.4kg in a medium size. <\/p>
I was fortunate to have time for a short ride aboard the XR GR, so watch out for a first-ride review when the bike launches in February 2025.<\/p>
$\"\"$
Whether this will replace the brand’s existing Crosshill or be a new model entirely is unclear. Liam Cahill \/ Our Media<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>
Lapierre, meanwhile, is an established brand with a love of interesting seatstay junctions.<\/p>
It’s hardly a surprise to see, then, that the new bike \u2013 which looks very close to being production-ready \u2013 features seatstays that extend past the seat tube, joining the frame a few centimetres along the top tube.<\/p>
$\"\"$
The RockShox Reverb comes in 50 and 75mm-drop options. Liam Cahill \/ Our Media<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>
This bike belonged to an unidentified FDJ\u2013Suez rider, who helpfully displayed the bike’s compatibility with gravel dropper posts<\/a> and suspension forks<\/a> by using both.<\/p>
The 45mm Schwalbe G-One RS<\/a> tyres also gave away a key detail of the frameset. The tyres looked to be running very close to the chainstays, suggesting this is at the upper end of what the bike can take.<\/p>
With the long, loping seatstays and a heavily sloping top tube, the bike may look longer than it is, but we\u2019ll have to wait for full details from Lapierre before we draw any conclusions about the geometry.<\/p>
It\u2019s becoming a gravel race<\/h2>
$\"\"$
Flared drops mean canted-in levers are still in line with the drops, therefore remaining UCI legal. Liam Cahill \/ Our Media<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>
There are a lot of topics over which fans and weary tech writers can chew the fat after a weekend of UCI gravel racing<\/a>. The chief of these is simple: is this a gravel race?<\/p>
You can point to the road bikes<\/a> still present on the start line \u2013 some riders on the TDT\u2013Unibet team used Cannondale SuperSix road bikes. However, when I queried this with the team\u2019s mechanic, the choice transpired to be one born of simple necessity.<\/p>
One person not struggling for bikes at his disposal is Mathieu van der Poel. The Dutchman now has rainbow jerseys in road, cyclocross and gravel, with the latter taken aboard a custom Canyon Grail CFR<\/a>.<\/p>
Van der Poel said the course used this weekend featured more technical sections than the 2022 edition in which he finished third, making the choice to pick the Grail a simple one. However, equally, you can argue that road bikes are perfectly capable of traversing princess gravel.<\/p>
Still, though, the tech on display suggests the World Championships is becoming more of a true gravel race each year.<\/p>
Size quandaries\u00a0<\/h2>
$\"\"$
Tyre width is always a hot topic in gravel racing. <\/figcaption><\/figure>
As I sat on Friday evening, partaking in a number of the local Belgian tipples, a question was asked: if you were a WorldTour pro, what tyre size would you use for the weekend\u2019s racing?<\/p>
Being completely useless on this subject, I listened to the riders who had ridden the course that day and their answers ranged from 36-40mm. As it turned out, Quick-Step\u2019s American sprinter, Luke Lamperti, was asking the advice of his former Trinity Racing mechanic Aaron McCann.<\/p>
In the end, he settled on 32mm, at 32psi, with no inserts.<\/p>
The rider on everyone\u2019s lips, however, was van der Poel. This isn\u2019t the former world champion\u2019s first dabble with gravel, having ridden the inaugural event in 2022. His choice of Canyon\u2019s Ultimate CFR road bike that day led to most of those arguments above.<\/p>
$\"\"$
Mathieu van der Poel opted for 38mm Vittoria Terreno Zero tyres. Liam Cahill \/ Our Media<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>
He turned up to 2022\u2019s race with 34mm tyres, but this year the course seemed to demand more, and Van der Poel started on 38mm Vittoria Terreno Zero tyres, the brand\u2019s slickest gravel offering.<\/p>
The Alpecin mechanic told me his pressure was a whopping 50psi and he never runs inserts.<\/p>
$\"\"$
Continental’s 40mm Terra Speed TR tyres were Connor Swift’s preference. <\/figcaption><\/figure>
Connor Swift, meanwhile, opted for 40mm Continental Terra Speed TR with inserts.\u00a0<\/p>