As with bikes, 2023 has been a bumper year for new tech. We’ve had five new groupsets from the main players for starters – or ten, depending on how you want to count them.
Campagnolo has given us Super Record Wireless, its first fully wire-free groupset, complete with an impressive price tag, even if it has lost its thumb shifters somewhere in the upgrade.
SRAM launched Apex, which between its two mechanical and two electronic options accounts for four of the ten new groupsets, SRAM has updated its second tier Force groupset too, which now looks remarkably like a lower priced Red, although with a smattering of Rival.
The last two or four groupsets, depending on your point of view, belong to Shimano, with mechanical 105 12-speed and mechanical GRX 820 12-speed, with the latter in three different guises.
It’s not all about groupsets though and we’ve got wheels, tyres and more in our highlights.
James Spender, Deputy Editor
Vittoria Corsa Pro tyres
For as long as I can remember the Vittoria Corsa has been my favourite tyre, but not one I’d care to run all season. Previous generations have all been possessed of a tremendously supple 320tpi (threads per inch) cotton carcass, which makes for a grippy, smooth rolling tyre not unlike a tubular, only in clincher form. But old Corsas were fragile, the preserve of summer days on nice roads lest the treads wear quickly and the tan sidewalls stain up. But lo, what is this?
The tubeless Corsa Pro takes the same family recipe but adds a few tweaks plus a new manufacturing process to create a more robust tyre. Underneath the graphene/silica tread is a breaker strip for puncture protection; the beads are reinforced to stand up to the sharp edges some tubeless rims have; and where once the tread was glued onto the carcass (which in some unlucky instances could lift at the edges in time), it’s now electrically vulcanised.
This is key because vulcanising creates an ostensibly homogenous mass of tread plus carcass, as the individual elements bond chemically, with the result a harder wearing tyre. Which is what we all want, so why not do this before?
Usually, vulcanising happens with intense heat and pressure, which cotton thread can’t withstand. Hence vulcanised tyres, such as Continental GP5000s, use nylon threads. The downside is nylon is thicker than cotton and so suppleness is lost. Thicker threads are stiffer and take up more room, thereby lowering the tpi.
Vittoria’s new approach is a localised vulcanising process that targets the tread in a way that means high thread count cotton can still be used. The result is a longer lasting tyre that retains the suppleness of the old Corsas.
That’s the theory anyway, and so far in riding various sets this year, it’s so good. The Vittoria Pros are supple and grippy as ever. And as an added benefit, the tan walls don’t seem to stain in the rain as badly as before. Lovely.
Will Strickson, Deputy Web Editor
Shimano GRX 820 groupset
I was very fortunate to be asked to represent Cyclist at the launch of Shimano’s new 12-speed mechanical GRX groupset in Oregon this summer, and while that obviously got us off to a good start, I just couldn’t select anything else for this slot.
It hasn’t been the best year for Shimano, what with recalls, controversy and big WorldTour squads moving to SRAM, but put this one firmly in the ‘positives’ column. I firstly just appreciated the fact it launched the mechanical version of this update first rather than having it an afterthought of the Di2 model – which is coming – but it’s impossible not to be impressed by the quality here.
Gravel isn’t exactly an easy category to figure out. Given its breadth, it would be easy just to stick MTB groupsets on adventure gravel bikes and road groupsets on racy gravel bikes – bike categories eh? – but Shimano has put the time in to develop its hybrid, fine-tuning the details (it’s not exclusive to this but using the anti-slip coating from the Shimano fishing department on the brake levers is excellent) and creating options for all kinds of riding.
GRX 820 comes in three standard set-ups that cover gravel racing and adventure with two 1× options and one 2× all-rounder, making the most of the 10-tooth sprocket to provide sufficient range for some of the inclines that make you question why you veered off-road in the first place. The update also included improved brakes with new rotors, the latest road callipers and the addition of its Servowave technology.
I also appreciate the redesign of the ergonomics to be based around flared drops. Anything that prioritises comfort on the bike is a big plus in my opinion.
Sam Challis, Tech Editor
Syncros Capital SL wheels
I first saw Syncros’ carbon monocoque Silverton SL mountain bike wheels at Eurobike in 2018 and had hoped the brand would launch a road-focussed version of the design ever since. It took five years, but when the Capital SL wheels came out in the summer, they were worth the wait.
Available in both 40mm and 60mm depths, each Capital SL wheel has 16 carbon spokes co-moulded directly into the rim. Syncros says the spokes are 35% stronger than standard steel alternatives, and a patented pre-straining process is used to appropriately tension them. As such, there’s justifiable promises of stiffness, yet claims of stunningly light weight too. The 40mm wheels are said to weigh just 1,170g, and that’s with a progressively wide 25mm internal rim diameter as well.
There are no other designs on the market that can rival the Capital SL’s such well-rounded performance claims. None at all. Those that do get close are markedly more expensive, so although Syncros’s £4,200 / €4,200 / US$4,200 / AU$7,000 asking price is incredibly high, unbelievably these wheels are even the best value at this level of the market.
Products like this don’t come out very often, so it was great to see Syncros go the extra mile and work with Schwalbe to make specific tyres for the wheels. The Schwalbe Pro One Aeros have been made to provide a flush transition with the wheel rims, to smooth airflow across both products as a system. The tyres are 28mm in width and use differing tread profiles on the front and rear to create a claimed 22% less drag than Schwalbe’s Pro One TTs. I really think Syncros has set a new benchmark for top-end wheelsets with the Capital SL.
Matthew Loveridge, Website Editor
Shimano 105 12-speed mechanical groupset
I fear I pick a new groupset for my gear highlights every year, but the news that we’d be getting a mechanical option for 12-speed 105 warmed the crusty cockles of my adamantine heart.
When 105 Di2 launched last year, it did feel like mechanical groupsets might really be on borrowed time.
105 has long been the everyman option – always affordable, but so very nearly as good as Ultegra and Dura-Ace. The Di2 update took it up-market and I feared it might lose touch with its roots, but the mechanical option restores order in the world.
It looks good and while I haven’t had a chance to try it myself yet, I don’t doubt it will be as dependable as ever.
James Spender, Deputy Editor
Chris King AeroSet 3
Arguably one the most important parts of a bike is the headset. It gives a bike its steering axis, which lets the rear wheel track the front wheel in a caster-wheel (think shopping trolley) kind of way. This is one of the reasons why a bike can stay upright (physics still can’t quite explain why), and indeed change direction.
But this headset from Chris King does something else besides. Not only is it Chris King-bulletproof – CK’s headsets will outlast your bicycle – the AeroSet 3 allows hoses and cables to be routed inside straight 44mm and 1 1/8th to 1.5-inch tapered headtubes. Admittedly the AeroSet needs to pair with specific stems and bars, which at the moment means the Enve In-Route and FSA systems, but the result is metal-tubed bikes can finally start getting fully hidden cabling.
This is the reason the Moots Vamoots CRD is what it is – sure the frame needs a few tweaks inside, but the reason cables can be buried inside such a traditional looking bike is all down to the AeroSet.
If you’re wondering how it works, it’s quite simple: cables run through the inside of a compatible stem and down between the top bearing and the fork steerer via two ports on the top headset cover (which line up with ports on the underside of the stem.
This isn’t a Chris King invention per se – FSA and Token have long made very similar systems, and more recently Deda – but the AeroSet paired with the Enve In-Route cockpit is the best looking I reckon.
I’ve long wished for truly clean lines on metal bikes, and now they’re here. Beautiful. Thanks Chris!
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2023-12-27 15:51:31Z
CBMiPWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmN5Y2xpc3QuY28udWsvaW4tZGVwdGgvZ2Vhci1vZi10aGUteWVhci0yMDIzLXRlY2jSAQA
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