Tech round up: New bikes and tech at the Giro, find a mechanic, new Black Sheep jerseys and new/old Oakley sunnies

This week we’ve got Richard Carapaz using disc brakes and tubeless tyres and a whole load of new time trial tech from the Giro d’Italia’s opening three days in Hungary, along with an in-depth look at Corima’s wheel factory. Plus there’s a site to help you find a trusted bike mechanic near you, some rather nice Aussie aero jerseys and an update/rerelease of a famous Oakley style. 

A new gold bike - with disc brakes

The start of any grand tour sees the roll-out of some shiny new bikes and bits and with the Giro starting last week there were some drool-worthy shiny things on display.

So let’s start off with Richard Carapaz’s new Pinarello Dogma F, complete with gold logos for the reigning Olympic champion. Interestingly, having started off on rim brakes Carapaz’s latest ride has switched to disc brakes. The pros’ dalliance with rim brakes refuses to fizzle out, with Tadej Pogačar and Egan Bernal also partial to the odd foray on rim stoppers.

Carapaz’s hankering for the retro shows in the bike’s last-generation Dura-Ace R9150 cranks too, even if the rest of the groupset is the latest generation R9250. He has swapped to tubeless tyres though, along with the latest Dura-Ace C50 wheels on the new bike, although we suspect some backsliding to tubulars, another superannuated pro favourite, once things get hilly.

And lots of new time trial tech

More new tech broke cover in the Stage 2 time trial, with a prototype Colnago TT1, complete with the aforementioned disc brakes - a first for Colnago on a TT bike. There’s a new steerer design as well as shiny new bits from Campagnolo to match: a new Bora Ultra WTO disc wheelset, with the front weighing just 740g and new TT brake levers. 

Wilier too had its new Turbine SLR TT bike out on the 9.2km course. Wilier says it weighs 300 grams less than the old model Turbine. The down tube has no routing for shifter cables, as the latest crop of groupsets means those pesky cables are now obsolete. 

There were custom bar extensions to their Wilier bikes for the Astana - Qazaqstan team too and they were on wheels from Corima, including the Chrono Three Spokes at the front. We’ve recently visited the Corima factory to see how the brand’s wheels are made and took a spin with brand ambassador Thomas Voeckler.

New wheels in the time trial included Israel - Premier Tech riding on the latest Black Inc Zero disc rear wheels. The lens-shaped wheel is asymmetric and Black Inc says that it will generate as much as 20 watts of free speed in certain wind conditions.

CeramicSpeed’s OSPW systems are another watt saver and there’s a new version with its jockey wheels shielded by a carbon fairing to improve their aerodynamics, which CeramicSpeed says can save between 2 and 4 watts over regular Dura-Ace jockey wheels. They made an appearance both in the opening road stage and the time trial.

Trusted reviews for bike mechanics near you

While the pros take their teams of mechanics with them, the rest of us have to take our bikes to someone nearby for fettling. That’s made a bit easier thanks to Bikebook, which lets you search for bike mechanics near you and narrow your search down by the services they offer, whether that’s a full bike overhaul or replacing your bar tape. You'll get a menu of prices for their services and can book online.

Plus there’s the option to leave a review so you get other users’ views of the shop, you can compare prices and there’s a blog with advice for the cyclist. Bikebook says that it’s signed up over 400 mechanics UK-wide. Take a look at Bikebook’s site.

New clothing from Black Sheep

If you missed its Classics Monuments kit collection, Aussie brand Black Sheep has restocked with a second drop of its sold-out Classic Flanders and Classics Milan-San Remo jerseys. Black Sheep says that its choice of fabrics includes a go-faster aero Air/Waffle to give you the edge in Oudenaarde, on the Via Roma or just in the sprint for the coffee stop.

There are also three new colours for the Men’s Racing Aero Jersey 2.0 & Women's WMN LuxLite Jersey 2.0. More at blacksheepcycling.cc.

New Re:SubZero glasses from Oakley

New from Oakley this week are the Re:SubZero sunglasses. The Sub Zero isn't actually new - it was launched 30 years ago. To mark this, Oakley has launched the Re:SubZero which subtly redesigns the shape of the original and throws in a lot of newer tech including the option of Prizm lenses.  

Although not marketed specifically for cycling we reckon the large lens of the Re:SubZero will appeal to riders, particularly since the 24 gram weight won't hold you back on the climbs. Oakley has also rereleased a limited edition of the original Sub Zero with its 1992 lens shape if you want the full retro style and is planning more retro design rereleases as part of its MUZM collection. More at Oakley.com.

That’s it for this week. Enjoy the Giro coverage this weekend including the notorious Blockhaus climb.