It’s easy to look at professional cyclists and think they only use the latest and greatest tech available.
However, just as there’s some road bike tech the pros can’t have because it falls foul of the UCI regulations, there’s plenty of old tech still used by WorldTour pros.
Whether that’s because their sponsors simply haven’t invested in upgrading it, or because it’s so good it has stood the test of time, here are seven of the oldest bits of tech still in use in pro racing.
Specialized Turbo Cotton tyres
While most of the pro peloton has swapped over to using tubeless road tyres, Specialized-sponsored pro teams remain staunchly loyal to the brand’s S-Works Turbo Cotton clincher tyres.
When it launched in 2014, tubular tyres (which, for our younger audience, involved an inner tube sewn into a tubular tyre casing, with the whole thing then glued onto the rim) ruled the roost.
As was fairly popular at the time, the Turbo Cotton employed an ‘open tubular’ design, using a lightweight, high-thread-count casing with the rubber tread glued onto it.
Paired with a latex inner tube, such tyres could provide a tubular-like ride quality on clincher wheels.
It was also very fast for its time – Specialized claimed it had the lowest rolling resistance of any tyre it had ever produced.
That it has glorious golden sidewalls also helps, no doubt.
More than a decade after it debuted, it’s clearly still competitive too, with a long list of high-profile wins on the bikes of riders such as Remco Evenepoel, Mark Cavendish, Primoz Roglic and Kasper Asgreen.
Over the years, the Turbo Cotton has seen off internal competition from multiple tubeless options in the Specialized roster, including the original Specialized S-Works Turbo RapidAir in 2019 and the updated version that launched in late 2022.
Its long-standing reign could finally be nearing an end, though, because Specialized looks to have yet another S-Works Turbo tubeless tyre in the works.
Spotted at the 2025 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, could it be the one that finally convinces Specialized’s pro road teams to go tubeless?
Giro Aerohead time trial helmet
After it was superseded last year by the radical Aerohead II time trial helmet, we thought we might have seen the last of this one.
But, with time trial helmets in road racing being one of this year’s hottest tech trends, Giro’s 2015 Aerohead time trial helmet has found a new lease of life in the pro peloton.
Its extended brow – which Giro would double (or triple) down on with the Aerohead II – was a prominent feature compared to most TT helmets, which tended to focus on smoothing the airflow off the back of the rider’s head.
It launched into a market dominated by short-tail TT helmets inspired by Team Sky’s Kask Bambino, and immediately proved its effectiveness, with Rohan Dennis using it to ride the fastest-ever time trial at the Tour de France in 2015.
With time trial helmets getting larger and more outlandish in recent years (so much so that the UCI announced it would be conducting an “in-depth analysis” of the situation last year), the 2015 Aerohead was beginning to look a little benign.
And perhaps using the 2015 Aerohead as an aero road helmet is just a stopgap until Giro develops something new for Visma–Lease a Bike to use in road racing.
For now, though, the Aerohead clearly retains its place in the WorldTour on merit, even if its focus has shifted slightly.
Giant Pursuit aero road helmet
Sticking with the theme of helmets, Giant’s Pursuit aero road helmet is also fairly long in the tooth, having first been used at the 2016 Tour de France.
Following in the wake of early aero road helmets such as the Giro Air Attack, the Giant Pursuit was designed to balance aerodynamic efficiency, ventilation and weight – a combination of characteristics that remains relevant today.
Over the years, it has been worn by the likes of Tom Dumoulin, on his way to overall victory in the 2017 Giro d’Italia, and 2017 Tour de France green jersey winner Michael Matthews.
With updates to its mid-range road helmet (the Rev Elite MIPS) and its high-end road shoe (the Surge Pro) in recent years, Giant clearly hasn’t mothballed its line-up of road-cycling accessories.
Having recently launched a new time trial bike (the Trinity Advanced SL) and helmet, perhaps a new aero road helmet could be next on the cards.
Before we move on from aero road helmets – Tadej Pogačar’s favourite lid, the MET Trenta 3K Carbon helmet, is also pretty old, having launched back in 2017.
Fizik Ares saddle
Having launched way back in 2009, the Fizik Ares saddle is a real golden oldie, but it remains the favoured choice of British road and track star Ethan Hayter – at least when it comes to track racing.
Originally prototyped in partnership with the Garmin-Slipstream pro team (which continues today under the guise of EF Education-EasyPost), the Ares saddle is essentially a short-nose version of the brand’s popular Antares saddle.
As well as helping to reduce soft-tissue pressure, the shorter length meant riders could push it further forwards towards the bottom bracket, for a more aggressive TT position.
With Hayter having moved to Soudal Quick-Step for 2025 and 2026, it will be interesting to see if he switches saddles for all disciplines, or whether he stays true to the Ares when racing on the boards.
Power2Max NG Road power meter
Power meters are a firm fixture of practically all WorldTour bikes nowadays, but it's an area that has been fairly settled – in terms of basic tech – in the previous decade.
As such, Power2Max’s long-standing NG Road power meter has been working away diligently, recording the monstrous watts of pro cyclists since 2016.
If, at this point, you’re thinking “But Power2Max doesn’t sponsor any WorldTour teams”, you’d be right… but it sneaks in under the guise of FSA’s PowerBox Team Edition, which is supplied to three men’s and two women’s teams via agreements with FSA.
In this instance, it’s likely a case of ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’. After all, it already offers accuracy to +/- 1 per cent, within a power range of 10 to 2,999 watts and a cadence range of 20 to 250 RPM.
What more does anyone need?
Elite Ciussi Gel bottle cages
A bottle cage so old we’re not sure exactly when it launched, the Elite Ciussi is generally reserved for one race and one race only – Paris-Roubaix.
It is admittedly a rarer sight than in years past, but British national road race champion Pfeiffer Georgie opted for a set during last year’s edition of the infamous cobbled classic.
As far as we can tell, the Ciussi launched some time in the mid-1990s, so why – when all manner of fancy new materials and designs exist for storing cycling bottles on road bikes – do some pros doggedly persist with it?
Perhaps there’s an element of nostalgia involved, but the fact the aluminium arms can be bent in for an even tighter hold doubtless helps.
With pro riders consuming huge amounts of fluid and carbohydrates during races nowadays (big power requires plenty of calories, after all), ensuring you don’t lose your bottles is crucial.
Shimano Hollowtech bottom brackets
Having lived through the bottom bracket wars of the late 2000s and early 2010s, many road bikes have now come full circle and settled back on a standard launched in 2003.
When it was introduced, Shimano’s Hollowtech BB moved the bearings outside of the frame, allowing for larger bearings and a wider, stiffer, bottom bracket area.
It shone brightly for a few years until press-fit fever took hold and brands began ‘innovating’ to their heart’s content.
More than 20 years on, though, even some pro race bikes at the cutting edge of tech, such as the Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL8, Cannondale SuperSix Evo Lab71 and Pinarello Dogma F, still make use of this decades-old tech.
Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments below.
