“Warm out this week, wasn’t it?”
Right, now the time-honoured British weather-related greeting has been ticked off, let’s recount what we’ve been up to at BikeRadar Towers.
It won’t have escaped anyone’s attention that the Paris 2024 Olympic Games have begun, and we kicked off the sporting celebration with our own XC Weekend bout of content, ending with our profile of the gold-medal winning bikes of Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and Tom Pidcock.
We also celebrated staff writer Rachel Bennet’s British National Masters Championship win – and Rach shared some of the things she learned along the way.
My review of one of the brightest-coloured bikes in the professional peloton was published (the Cannondale SuperSix Evo Lab71 EF Replica), while we shared our guide to all the action taking place in the velodrome in Paris, starting on 5 August.
Then, the biggest tech news of the week hit, with the arrival of SRAM Red AXS XPLR along with what Zipp is calling its fastest – and widest – gravel wheels to date. Warren Rossiter has been up close and personal with the new groupset and delivered his verdict.
Of course, while all this has been going on, we’ve seen plenty of shiny and interesting tech land. Here are a few snippets.
Core Body Temperature Sensor
The Core Body Temperature Sensor has been used by numerous WorldTour professional teams this season – including those from Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, Lidl-Trek, Soudal-Quickstep and Canyon//SRAM.
The device provides live core body temperature data direct to cycling computers and smartwatches, via Bluetooth and ANT+, attaching to a pre-existing heart-rate monitor strap (or to its own band).
Core claims it includes a sensor capable of tracking heat energy moving to and from the body, giving a more accurate picture of the user’s core body temperature, relative to a sensor that simply tracks skin temperature.
In theory, this means users can avoid tracking core temperature metrics using more invasive (usually lab-based) methods.
An athlete’s core body temperature is said to be key for optimal performance. Recalling my school biology knowledge, human bodies are said to operate most efficiently at around 37ºC.
That said, body temperature can change significantly during exercise, which can have a significant impact on performance. At its extreme, it can lead to hyperthermia (heat stroke) or hypothermia, and represent a serious risk to health.
The sensor also syncs in-depth data to the Core app for review. Core claims this enables the rider to work out the temperature range they perform best in and perform more effective acclimatisation training.
After each recorded activity, the Core app automatically provides a ‘heat strain index’ score, heat zone ratings to inform a training load score (much as many riders use heart rate and power zones to inform their training), plus a heat adaptation score.
Overlaid with power and heart-rate data, the system could offer the ability to assess how body temperature impacts performance, enabling the rider to make more informed decisions about effort level on a given training or race day.
Core says the device can sync to most major bike computer and watch manufacturers (including Garmin, Wahoo, Hammerhead, Suunto and Apple) and, notably, with TrainingPeaks software.
- £230 / $295 / €273
100% Slendale sunglasses
100% is known for its striking designs – and the Slendale is no different.
The sunglasses feature a near-full frame design, with a shield-style oversized lens. That said, the bottom corners have been kept open for clearer peripheral vision.
At the bottom of the frame and lens, and the arm socks, are cut-outs, which 100% says are there to improve ventilation.
The lens itself is said to offer complete UV protection, be scratch-resistant, and have hydrophobic and oleophobic treatments.
The model pictured features the brand’s top-spec Hiper lens (£99.99 / $119), which is claimed to improve contrast. This red lens offers 23 per cent light transmission, while the blue lens (with a black frame) enables 12 per cent transmission. The ‘crimson silver’ lens (with a carbon-weave styled frame) delivers 15 per cent.
There are also cheaper purple lens/translucent grey (£89.99 / $109) and black/black (£84.99 / $99) versions available.
- £84.99 - £99.99 / $99 - $119
GripGrab Faststream Aero socks
Aero socks aren’t anything new, albeit one particular set grabbed some attention this summer – principally because Mark Cavendish wore NoPinz P35 socks on his way to his record-breaking 35th Tour de France stage win.
Those socks cost – take a breath – £999. No, I’m not missing a decimal point there.
Happily, the GripGrab Faststream Aero socks are priced far more reasonably, leaving £976 in your pocket.
Similar principles apply here, with GripGrab opting for a golf-ball like texture to help disrupt the airflow passing immediately over the surface. In theory, this turbulent boundary layer enables passing air to slip by more efficiently, reducing drag.
The socks are also compressive and are claimed to shape the lower-leg muscles into a more oval (aerofoil) shape. They use a seamless knitted construction.
GripGrab says the socks were developed in partnership with Flanders Bike Valley wind tunnel, but the brand hasn’t published any comparative results from its testing.
- £23 / $28 / €25
Kask Nirvana helmet
The Kask Nirvana broke cover in January and has been worn by many Ineos Grenadiers riders in racing action ever since.
The main design feature is the ear shroud, which partially covers the rider’s ears in an effort to shape airflow more efficiently around the head.
My aero-astute colleague, Simon von Bromley, has kindly modelled the Nirvana for me, because my prominent auditory organs (sadly) don’t fit particularly comfortably – something Kask acknowledges is a downside of the design.
That said, in the search for marginal gains in the heat of battle, I suspect most racers will gladly put up with any discomfort if Kask’s claims are accurate.
The Italian brand says the helmet is 35 per cent more aerodynamically efficient than “the best aero helmets in its class”, arrived at through CFD (computational fluid dynamics) simulations.
Notably, over 180km at 45kph, the helmet is said to save the rider 72 seconds. It also says, at that speed, the helmet is more efficient than a Utopia Y at 0, 10 and 20 degrees of yaw.
It also says the helmet delivers 19 per cent more ventilation than comparative helmets, through its Utopia Y-like front ventilation channels and rear exhaust vents.
No evidence has been published to support these claims, however.
Kask has also included ‘Multipod’ padding, a 3D-printed pad layout, which is designed to help absorb impact stresses as well as offering increased strength to the helmet itself.
This also makes space for the ventilation channels, while an Octofit+ dial provides cranial adjustment.
- £320 / $400 / €360 / AU$570
