Today marked the first WorldTour individual men's time trial of the year, which means the Cyclingnews tech team dusted off our gear-spotting binoculars after a long winter and we're back on the lookout for new and interesting time trial tech.
Stage two of the UAE tour was an individual time trial won by British rider Josh Tarling. Early time trials represent a good chance to try and spot innovations and components that teams have adopted for the new race season.
Here we have a couple of tech titbits that are worth sharing. The first is a deep-section Enve mystery wheel that we don't recognise. It's a model that isn't on the brand's website and was being used by Tadej Pogačar and his teammates.
The second takes the form of some Shimano SPD-SL aero pedal covers which were being used by German rider Max Walscheid of Team Jayco AlUla. We spotted them on the Cycling Spy Instagram page initially, and haven't seen an aero SPD-SL option before.
A new Enve wheel for Tadej Pogačar
This deep section Enve appear doesn't appear on the companies website (Image credit: Getty: Dario Belingheri / Stringer)
Tadej Pogačar and at least two of his teammates were aboard a new Enve front wheel, not currently listed on the Enve website. As it stands the deepest front wheel the American brands offers is the 60mm SES 6.7, although a 67mm deep rear option is also available. Looking back, Pogačar wasn't using this wheel during the final time trial of the Tour de France last year, and we don't think we have seen it in competition before.
The one-piece Enve SES AR handlebar, which retails for a cool $1,200 took a long time to become publicly available, we wonder if this deep section Enve offering will also be a pro-only option for a while.
It's probably fair to assume that a deeper front wheel is a faster overall option for the UAE Team Emirates-XRG time trial setups and that Enve has responded with this deeper model. We also spotted the team using the same deep wheel at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana time trial at the start of the month.
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Everyone’s favourite cycling tech spotter the Cycling Spy grabbed our attention with a screenshot of Max Walscheid’s Giant Trinity time trial bike. Walschied was using some aero pedal covers to smooth the underside of his Shimano Dura-Ace SPD SL pedals and we assume take advantage of some small aero savings.
These covers appear to be made by ‘Faker Composites’ which produces 3D printed and carbon fibre parts such as cycling shoe insoles. We have been familiar with the dimpled aero underside of Wahoo Speedplay aero pedals for a long time, but this is the first time we’ve seen an aero mod for a Shimano SPD SL pedal.
Walschied shared a video of his time trial bike on Instagram before the race, and the pedal covers can be easily spotted in the video below.
Cyclingnews has asked both brands for more information on these products and will update the story if and when we learn more.
Tom joined the Cyclingnews team in late 2022 as a tech writer. Despite having a degree in English Literature he has spent his entire working life in the cycling industry in one form or another. He has over 10 years of experience as a qualified mechanic, with the last five years before joining Cyclingnews being spent running an independent workshop. This means he is just as happy tinkering away in the garage as he is out on the road bike, and he isn’t afraid to pull a bike apart or get hands-on with it when testing to really see what it’s made of.
He has ridden and raced bikes from an early age up to a national level on the road and track, and has ridden and competed in most disciplines. He has a keen eye for pro-team tech and enjoys spotting new or interesting components in the wild. During his time at Cyclingnews, Tom has already interviewed some of the sport's biggest names including Mathieu van der Poel, Tadej Pogačar and Alberto Contador. He's also covered various launches from brands such as Pinarello, Ridley, Specialized and more, tackled the Roubaix Challenge sportive aboard his own rim-brake Cannondale SuperSix Evo, tested over 20 aero helmets in the wind tunnel, and has created helpful in-depth buying advice relating to countless categories from torque wrenches to winter clothing.
