Recently, Canadian Cycling Magazine took a spin around ExpoCycle, Canada’s bicycle-industry trade show, to see the new bikes and gear that will be in shops next year. Here’s a quick look at some wheel and tire technology that you’ll see in 2014.
Continental Grand Prix 4000S II has a new look and compound. The beads can come in red, blue, yellow, orange or green. It’s made from the advanced version of the Black Chilli compound.New Easton wheels, such as the EA90 SLX, use the Echo hub. Its bearings have a wide spacing for better durability.The rim of the Reynolds Strike SLG has a ridge on its inside edge called the swirl lip generator. The ridge is supposed to trip the air as it passes over and then join the flow behind, much like a truncated airfoil.Schwalbe’s new flagship tire is the Schwalbe One. It’s so new that the company says the OneStar triple compound, the polymer combination used in the tire, is only six months old. Schwalbe says the One is 15 per cent faster than the Ultremo, as well as 20 per cent more cut resistant.Schwalbe’s new Thunder Burt has already seen action in the 2013 eliminator world championships.Shimano pairs the RX-31 wheel with its hydraulic road system. It has bladed spokes and can run 11-, 10-, 9-, 8-speed cogsets.Now there are three versions of the Shimano XT wheels: 26″, 27.5″ and 29″.The Shimano XTR wheel is a full carbon-fibre hoop for those who want to run tubulars on their 29ers.The Dura-Ace C24 tubular hoops weigh a feathery 1,100 g. That’s both the front and rear wheels clocking in at a little more than 1 kg.
