Spotted: Primož Roglič looking for marginal gains at the Vuelta a España
Is Primoz Roglic chasing every last watt at the Vuelta by using a smaller computer?
The battle for the overall rages on at the Vuelta a España today and Primož Roglič appears set to try and wrestle the red jersey from overall race leader Ben O'Connor as the race enters its final stages.
O'Connor's once healthy lead has been cut to the quick over the last several stages but Roglič will surely be looking for every possible advantage in his quest for victory. Something that may only gather pace in the future after the announcement this week that Dan Bigham will join Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe as Head of Engineering.
The quest for aero gains appears to have already begun with Primož Roglič using an unknown computer that we don't recognise for at least one stage of the race. Stage 15's horrifying climb on Cuitu Negru in particular seems to have received special attention from Roglic who switched to a bike with a 1x drivetrain and large cassette with lower gearing before the race hit the climb.
The Slovenian's mystery unit clearly differs from the rest of his teammates who are using the latest Hammerhead Karoo unit which was launched alongside the SRAM Red AXS groupset in May. The computer isn't SRAM only but is designed around the Red AXS groupset for improvement integration.
Our thoughts on what the unit could be are below along with some useful shots from the race which provide a clear comparison.
What could this unit be?
The Hammerhead Karoo is easily recognisable thanks to its tapered shape and large white lettering on the front of the unit. Roglič appears to be the only rider on the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team using the alternate computer currently and has been doing so for several stages. The unit has been hiding in plain sight, but is clearly quite a lot smaller than the stock team unit and has no branding, unsurprising if this is a new or alternate unit.
We don't have any details on the unit and can only speculate on what it might be at this point. SRAM owns Hammerhead and the Karoo has been designed to integrate with the Red AXS groupset that the team started using at the start of this year.
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We got in touch with SRAM to find out and the brand told us that the model in question is in fact a competitor head unit, perhaps a blacked-out Garmin Edge 130 model. The brand said they allow riders to be flexible on specific days to suit their specific needs. The use of an alternate, smaller unit by Roglič highlights a single-minded pursuit of the fastest possible setup whilst chasing victory.
Plenty of WorldTour teams now try to use the smallest computer they can in the name of aerodynamics. A smaller shape bolted onto the front of the bike is going to provide an aerodynamic saving no matter how small. We found another example of this when we tested how aero placing sunglasses into the front of your helmet is in the wind tunnel. Alongside smaller computers, teams are also using 3d printer aero computer mounts to smooth the airflow in this area. We snapped some examples of these aero computer mounts into our Vuelta tech gallery from the race.
We have seen Garmin and Wahoo sponsored teams using the smaller Bolt and Edge 130 Plus models already for a small aero advantage or to fit well in between tri-bar extensions. In future could this lead to the development of a new smaller / race-focused unit from Hammerhead?
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.