Cannondale team mechanics bent the riders' SRAM chain catchers to work better with the unusually large inner chainrings(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Peter Sagan's (Cannondale) Cannondale Synapse Hi-Mod would see a lot of action today(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
The longer head tubes on Cannondale's Synapse Hi-Mod frames had many team riders using aggressively angled stems(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Cannondale team mechanics use several different types of repair stands, including this thing from BiciSupport(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
The sandwich-style replaceable rear derailleur hangers on Movistar's Canyon Ultimate CF SLX bikes are stiffer than ones that only bolt to one side of the dropout(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Movistar uses Power2Max power meters(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Shallow Campagnolo Hyperon Ultra Two carbon tubular wheels for the Movistar squad at Paris-Roubaix(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Movistar riders report that these prototype Continental tubulars roll very fast and yet are exceptionally secure on the cobbles(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Continental provided Movistar with these prototype tubulars, which featured an unusually grippy slick center tread(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Ritchey makes these bars and stems for Canyon(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Two layers of Lizard Skins DSP tape for this Movistar rider(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
The internal Campagnolo EPS batteries for the Movistar team require a different type of 'lock' to prevent the batteries from draining(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
A fleet of Canyon Ultimate CF SLX machines for the Movistar team before Paris-Roubaix(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Colored Allen wrenches are harder to misplace(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Michael Schär's Elite Ciussi bottle cages are bent just a little bit(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Sorry, no - these Katusha water bottles didn't actually have an array of progressively smaller bottles stashed away inside(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
This BMC soigneur cut up an empty water bottle to use as a funnel, making for a much cleaner process(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Lots of riders went with more heavily padded saddles than usual for Paris-Roubaix(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
It's the dawn of a new age for many long-time pro mechanics. Now, instead of adjusting derailleurs with screwdrivers and Allen wrenches, they need laptops(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Long-reach Shimano brake calipers for the FDJ.fr team's Lapierre Pulsiums(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
The unusual finish is a good giveaway that the Shimano Dura-Ace outer chainring is bigger than usual(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
FDJ.fr's Lapierre Pulsium gets a little love the day before Paris-Roubaix(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
The Sky team goes through a lot of drivetrain cleaner. This container holds 25 liters (1.3 gallons) - and if you look closely, you can see that it actually says "Team Sky" on the label at top left(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
That's a lot of cushioning(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Sky team mechanics use a short section of split clear plastic hose to protect their Stages power meters from the pressure washer(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Bradley Wiggins isn't the only rider on Sky who had his bars fully wrapped for Paris-Roubaix(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Fi'zi:k makes custom saddles for the Sky team with truncated center channels(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Filippo Pozzato (Lampre-Merida) uses a 150mm-long stem on his Merida Ride(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
A look 'under the hood' so to speak(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
We've seen these fancy headset on Filippo Pozzato's (Lampre-Merida) race bikes several times in the past(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Team mechanics commonly use a lot of electrical tape to secure the lines on the handlebars(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Tom Boonen's (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) course notes for Paris-Roubaix(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) didn't quite have the legs today(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Mathew Hayman's (Orica-GreenEdge) Scott Addict before the start of Paris-Roubaix(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
28mm-wide Contienental Competition Pro Limited PTX tubulars with orange sidewalls for the Orica-GreenEdge team(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
The Bretagne-Séché Environnement team used 28mm-wide Challenge Paris-Roubaix tubulars mounted to Vision TC50 carbon wheels(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
4.90 bars (71psi) of pressure for this rider(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
When asked, most team mechanics would only say that their riders' tire were inflated to "between 5.5 and 6 bar". In reality, the pressures used were more like 4.5 bar (65psi)(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Johan Vansummeren's (Garmin-Sharp) Rotor 3D+ crankarms were fitted with a solid chainring spider, elliptical Rotor Q-Rings, and Garmin Vector pedals(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Former Paris-Roubaix winner Johan Vansummeren rode this Cervélo R3 Mud(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Double-wrapped traditional-bend bars for Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Sharp)(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
An extra clamp on the seatpost provides a bit of insurance against slippage on the cobbles(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Filippo Pozzato (Lampre-Merida) removed his usual Rotor power meter for a set of standard Rotor 3D+ cranks(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Single-wrapped traditional-bend bars for Filippo Pozzato (Lampre-Merida)(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Filippo Pozzato's (Lampre-Merida) Merida Ride just before the start of Paris-Roubaix(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Filippo Pozzato's (Lampre-Merida) Merida Ride was fitted with a cheaper Shimano dual-pivot caliper that had a little more room on the bottom for the 28mm-wide tires(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
This Shimano Dura-Ace hood has seen better days(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
28mm-wide Continental Competition Pro Limited PT tubulars on shallow Fulcrum Racing Light XLR carbon wheels for the Lampre-Merida team at Paris-Roubaix(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Lampre-Merida mechanics don't bother to cut out holes for the Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 sprint shifters; they merely wrap the tape around on either side of the buttons(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Course notes waiting to be taped on the bikes(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Most of the Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise team were on Ambrosio Nemesis aluminum box-section tubular rims wrapped with 25mm-wide Vittoria Pavé CG tires(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise's Eddy Merckx EMX-525 before the start of Paris-Roubaix(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Campagnolo's chain catcher uses a completely flat profile that one would expect to work better than the curved profiles of other competitors. The keyed slot up top also prevents it from rotating under load(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Ag2r-La Mondiale rider Sèbastien Minard was one of very few riders we saw using traditional box-section aluminum tubular rims(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
FMB's 27mm-wide Paris-Roubaix tubulars were incredibly popular once again(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Teams, take note: there is no better way to call attention to a set of tires that aren't supplied by your sponsor than to black out the actual logos with marker(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Dual top-mounted brake levers and wide-profile cantilevers for Sèbastien Turgot (Ag2r-La Mondiale)(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Ag2r-La Mondiale captain Sèbastien Turgot arrived at Paris-Roubaix with this Focus Mares CX cyclocross bike(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Big 53/44-tooth chainrings for Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky) at Paris-Roubaix(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky) opted for aluminum-bodied Shimano Dura-Ace pedals at Paris-Roubaix(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
27mm-wide FMB Paris-Roubaix tubulars front and rear on 50mm-deep Shimano Dura-Ace carbon wheels for Sky's Edvald Boasson Hagen(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Edvald Boasson Hagen's (Sky) Pinarello Dogma K, just after arriving at the start of Paris-Roubaix(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
A bit of sandpaper helps hold the Campagnolo Super Record EPS front derailleur in place on this Europcar bike. Adding some extra insurance is an Aivee chain catcher(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Campagnolo cantilevers and Dugast Paris-Roubaix tubulars for Europcar rider Jérome Cousin(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Jérome Cousin (Europcar) tackled Paris-Roubaix on a Colnago Prestige cyclocross bike(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Riders at Paris-Roubaix were mostly on 35mm and 50mm-deep carbon wheels(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Europcar used strips of grip tape on the riders' Tacx Tao bottle cages(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
The trigger-type action actually felt more ergonomic than Shimano's thumb-actuated setup(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
30mm-wide Hutchinson tubulars for the Europcar team(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Europcar riders used at least four different Colnago models for Paris-Roubaix(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
UnitedHealthcare riders were on a mix of 35mm and 50mm-deep Shimano carbon tubular wheels(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Custom etched K-Edge chain catchers for UnitedHealthcare(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
UnitedHealthcare team mechanics tighten up the grip on the Tacx Tao bottle cages with small zip ties(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
A super-padded fi'zi:k Arione Tri saddle for Martijn Maaskant (UnitedHealthcare)(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Martijn Masskant (UnitedHealthcare) finished fourth at Paris-Roubaix in 2008(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Another Paris-Roubaix has now come and gone and in its wake lies a wide range of bikes and gear that teams adapted to survive the cobbles. It's a mostly standard formula these days - slightly relaxed frame geometries, high-volume tyres, more cushioning at the contact points - but there was still plenty of variation to keep things interesting.
Take a look at our wrap-up gallery of some of the most interesting bikes and gear that caught our eye in Compiègne, France. And don't worry - we've also got a few more pro bike features to come from the Hell of the North.
