Will Sagan line up to the start with these mirrored Roval Wheels? Only time will tell(Image credit: Colin Levitch)
The custom carbon kicks only use a single Boa dial mounted under the arch of the foot(Image credit: Colin Levitch)
The bare carbon is pretty tame when you look at how Hansen has painted up some of his shoes in the past(Image credit: Colin Levitch)
It seems Tyler Farrar forgot his socks(Image credit: Colin Levitch)
It looks like we'll be getting more on bike footage from Tour Down Under this year(Image credit: Colin Levitch)
Only the Bora-Hansgrohe bikes appeared to be set up with GoPro Sessions cameras(Image credit: Colin Levitch)
The whole Katusha-Alpecin were wearing custom Sidi Shots(Image credit: Colin Levitch)
They've also got baby blue Giro Synthe lids too(Image credit: Colin Levitch)
It's been pretty warm down here in Adelaide, and so far we haven't seen many teams opting to wear their aero helmets. Things may change once the race starts(Image credit: Colin Levitch)
It seems Trek-Segafredo were also feeling the heat as well given the mechanics had laid out the Velocis helmets for the riders instead of the Ballista(Image credit: Colin Levitch)
Team Sunweb had some interesting Giant branded computers that look an awful lot like Bryton Rider 530's to us(Image credit: Colin Levitch)
The Sunweb Bikes also have this clever Fouriers Junction Box mount(Image credit: Colin Levitch)
It seems Movistar's tradition of Diadora shoe covers continues for 2017(Image credit: Colin Levitch)
Here's the real shoe, and it looks like the brand's flagship Vortex Pro shoes have received a makeover for 2017(Image credit: Colin Levitch)
This Douche Bag brand case transported Sky's bikes to Australia(Image credit: Colin Levitch)
Sky's new Pinarello's F10's are causing a bit of controversy(Image credit: Colin Levitch)
The concave down tube is the center of the controversy(Image credit: Colin Levitch)
At one point he was moulding the cleats out of carbon but has since opted to use replaceable Look cleats, which he seems to like in a pretty far back position(Image credit: Colin Levitch)
As usual Adam Hansen was wearing his custom home made carbon fiber shoes(Image credit: Colin Levitch)
He was also one of many riders sporting Sidi's new Shot kicks(Image credit: Colin Levitch)
Sagan's Venge ViAS Disc was on display. It's pretty heavy tipping our scales at 8.46kg(Image credit: Colin Levitch)
The bike gets a pearlescent paint job and Sagan's logo on the seat tube(Image credit: Colin Levitch)
The front sees a thru-axel and a 160mm rotor(Image credit: Colin Levitch)
The rear gets a thru-axel as well and a 140mm rotor(Image credit: Colin Levitch)
Peter Sagan went out for a training ride on his custom Venge Vias Disc. He wasn't sure whether or not he would race it this week(Image credit: Colin Levitch)
Recently being picked up by 100% Sagan was wearing a pair of custom sunnies too, featuring the rainbow bands(Image credit: Colin Levitch)
Bahrain Merida’s bikes are sporting SRM's new ultra light power meter. While the cranks are labeled SRM Power, they look an awful lot like THM carbon cranks and are claimed to weigh 99g each.(Image credit: Colin Levitch)
They are also running custom gold anodised PC8 head unit(Image credit: Colin Levitch)
For the most part, it seems all the teams at TDU are running the old Dura Ace 9000, however, Yukiya Arashiro's managed to snag a new Dura Ace 9100 front brake on his Merida Reacto. (Image credit: Colin Levitch)
AG2R-La Mondiale has custom anodized SRM PC8's too, but they are baby blue to match the Factor O2 Frames(Image credit: Colin Levitch)
Dimension Data was running Ultegra 11-28T cassettes on their Cervelo S5's and KMC gold chains(Image credit: Colin Levitch)
LottoNL-Jumbo appears to be riding the same Bianchi Oltre XR4's as later year, and with it comes the boomerang-esk Vision Metron 5D Integrated Aero bar(Image credit: Colin Levitch)
As with most integrated bar and stem combos, they don't play nice with traditional computer mounts. The mechanics cleverly utilise the mount to wrangle EPS wires as well(Image credit: Colin Levitch)
Quite a few of the Orica-Scott riders were sporting wearing the XC MTB Centric Plus lid rather than the aero road Cadence Plus(Image credit: Colin Levitch)
Caleb Ewan had a pretty Schmick pair of custom Bont Vaypor S shoes(Image credit: Colin Levitch)
Esteban Chaves was wearing a Garmin Fenix 3 HR ahead of the Orica-Scott morning training ride(Image credit: Colin Levitch)
Revo Via chain performance system will be keeping Orica-Scott's drive trains well lubed(Image credit: Colin Levitch)
The 2017 Tour Down Under is about to get underway, and with the teams still arriving, mechanics are frantically prepping bikes for the race. We have been wandering the pits for the past day and have spotted a few interesting bits of tech.
While he has been in Australia, Peter Sagan has been spotted test riding a custom Venge ViAS. We weren't able to confirm whether or not he'll be lining up at any stages in Adelaide aboard the disc roadie, but we did see him ride it on Thursday's Bora-Hansgrohe team training ride.
It's not a lightweight at 8.46kg, by our scales, but even his Venge ViAS with standard calliper brakes weights 8.01kg.
All the cables are hidden inside the frame, and the flat mount disc brakes feature a 160mm rotor at the front and a 140mm rotor at the rear.
With all the hustle and bustle in the pits, everyone stopped and stared when the Bora-Hansgrohe mechanics began glueing a tire on this Gold Roval rim. With no apparent brake track and a centre lock hub, we'd guess it these wheels are for Sagan's Venge ViAS Disc, but mechanic could not confirm whether or not Sagan, or any of the other Bora-Hansgrohe riders would be racing on these wheels.
The system is powered by two LR1 batteries, and periodically sends lubricant from a frame mounted reservoir to a component that mounts to the lower jockey wheel of the drivetrain, all in an effort to keep efficiency at its max.
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The system was only present on Luke Durbridge and Daryl Impey's frames, but the mechanics will still building bikes.
Bahrain Merida's SRM powermeters
While Bahrain Merida's Scultura and Recato frames are not new for 2017, the teams SRM powermeters are.
The spindle mounted powermeters feature carbon cranks claimed to weight 99g per arm. SRM say they are producing the cranks, but they look suspiciously like THM cranks — the two brands have collaborated previously.
Sky's Pinarello F10
Shortly after Pinarello announced its new F10, the bike was at the centre of a patent controversy. Just hours after the news went live Taiwan's Velocite claimed the Italian brand infringed on its patents by using concave downtube on the new bike.
It all kicked off back in May of 2016 when Pinarello used a concave down tube on its Bolide TT bike, and now Velocite say Pinarello have again used its patented design without permission.
Shimano Dura-Ace 9100
Noticeably absent from the majority team bikes is Shimano's Dura-Ace 9100 group set. So far we have only seen the new components on Sky's new Pinarello F10's as well as the front brake on Yukiya Arashiro's Merida Reacto, where he snagged a DA 9100 front brake.
Check out the gallery above for other new, interesting, and amusing bits of gear we have spotted so far, and be sure to check back for more.
Based on the Gold Coast of Australia, Colin has written tech content for cycling publication for a decade. With hundreds of buyer's guides, reviews and how-tos published in Bike Radar, Cyclingnews, Bike Perfect and Cycling Weekly, as well as in numerous publications dedicated to his other passion, skiing.
Colin was a key contributor to Cyclingnews between 2019 and 2021, during which time he helped build the site's tech coverage from the ground up. Nowadays he works full-time as the news and content editor of Flow MTB magazine.
