Trek's blinged up Madone, CHPT3's new cycling shoe, The ultimate Brompton upgrade, Are tovershoes the new overshoes? + more

Another weekend, another edition of Tech of the Week. We've got plenty of cool stuff to share with you this week, from Factor's gold medal-winning track bike to what might possibly be the ultimate upgrade you can make to your Brompton.

Elsewhere, CHPT3 has released its new cycling shoes, Trek has dazzled us with a brand-new eye-catching colourscheme for its Madone, BBB Cycling has launched its Bio range, and we're catching up on Alex Dowsett's 'tovershoe' invention. 

Let's dive straight in...

"The 90s called and they're ready to party": Trek's "radical" new Project One x 100% paint scheme

Now THAT'S an eye-catching bike colour. You almost wouldn't need lights riding one of them. The bold 90s-inspired party paint is available as part of Trek's Project One custom bike programme, in short giving the buyer a choice on components, a "seemingly endless palette of exquisite colours", and "ultra-premium paint schemes created by the best designers in the industry", such as this...

Trek has teamed up with 100% on this one, the first 100 orders also receiving a free pair of colour-matched Korbin shades to complete the look.

The CHPT3 Transit cycling shoe

"Wear it on the road, to the office, the café, the club – you can ride, walk, jump, and dance everywhere," CHPT3 says of its new stylish cycling shoe. That's very kind of you, but honestly you really don't want to see me dance anywhere, let alone everywhere. 

The point the cycle clothing brand set up by former pro David Millar is making of course is that these have the looks and practicality to be a cracking option for people who like to travel by bike, whether they're off to work, the pub, meetings, the doctor, the supermarket, or any other daily errand.

No more balancing a trainer on pedals designed for cleats or hobbling around Lidl in your cycling shoes. Have one pair of footwear that can do both. They are made of "luxury grade leather", weigh 370g per shoe, and cost £195.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by David Millar (@millarmind)

We saw a bit of this sort of thing when Adidas released its Velosamba SPD cycling shoes back in 2021. George gave them three and a half stars but reckoned they were too stiff for regular use off the bike. We'll see how we get on with the CHPT3 Transits that are on their way to the road.cc office for testing.

Millar also appeared on the latest episode of our podcast to talk about the new product. You can listen to that episode here...

"Absolutely the most powerful, best modulating, most adjustable brake you can put on a Brompton"

Iconic US components manufacturer Paul has updated its cult-classic Racer Medium brake, adding a roller-bridge and trunnion to make them side-pull before modifying the reach and hardware to specifically fit Bromptons. The result, Paul says, is "absolutely the most powerful, best modulating, most adjustable brake you can put on a Brompton".

The process followed "many requests" from fans of the brand's manufacturing, and "after witnessing way too many bad and downright dangerous adaptations of our (and other crappy knock-off) brakes, we decided to do something about it".

Currently the design is such that it fits the latest Bromptons, with a recessed front brake, Paul saying in the future a version for older versions may be added too. They also offer enough clearance to fit a 45mm fender and report there won't be any problems with the brake pinching the side of the fender as can be the case with other single-pivot, side-pull designs.

Each brake weighs 194g, but as it's for your Brompton you're probably less concerned with gramme-counting than on other bikes. The Sidepull Racer Medium costs $237.50, that's $475 front and back, or $271.50 each with a polished finish.

You've heard of overshoes... but what about tovershoes?

Not technically new tech from this week but we thought this Alex Dowsett invention was worth a shout-out, even if Nopinz has been selling them for a little while now. Nope, that isn't a dodgy overshoe that needs returning, it's a tovershoe...

For £29.99 you can rock them too, the creation inspired by hours of wind tunnel testing that left the two-time Giro stage winner pondering how to make cycling shoes with BOA dials more aero, bridging the gap between the more aero (but less practical laces) and the more practical but less aero BOAs. Admittedly, it's not a problem 99.9 per cent of us have ever thought about or will worry about, but if performance is the name of the game then that's a different matter.

The Hypersonic Tovershoes (no word yet if a Supersonic Tovershoe special will be available at a certain band's reunion tour next year) work much like conventional overshoes, sliding over the shoe, but rather than covering the whole foot these just cover the dial area, resulting in what Nopinz says is an on average 1.8 per cent reduction in drag by smoothing out the dials. 

"It's the first product at Nopinz that I was involved with from concept to completion," Dowsett said. "It's exciting that we can provide not an insignificant gain for a relatively low cost. For road racers, choosing to wear an overshoe is no longer a significant decision, simply go for the Tovershoe."

Tempted?

Fancy owning the track bike Australia rode to Olympic gold and a new team pursuit world record? 

Factor has made the HANZŌ track bike available on its website and at authorised dealers, allowing anyone with deep pockets and a desire to go super fast the opportunity to buy its new pursuit bike that Australia's men's team pursuiters stormed to gold and a new world record on.

It's the result of a three-year partnership with AusCycling, the aim, unsurprisingly, to create the fastest track bike for the Australian riders to compete on at the Paris Olympics.

Again, unsurprisingly, optimising aerodynamics was at the forefront of the design process, Factor saying the wide fork and seat stays are intended to isolate the spinning wheel from the pressure change from the fork moving through the air. Similarly, the rearward position seat post acts to straighten the highly turbulent flow coming off of the rider's legs, to "decrease the amount of mixing taking place".

Alongside the $10,299 (£7,792) HANZŌ, Factor has also released its RAIDEN track bike for those "focusing on mass start endurance and sprint events", the brand's engineering team taking knowledge gained through the design process of the  HANZŌ and Ostro Vam road bike to "balance the requirements of straight-line speed and manoeuvrability required when racing in a group in the velodrome".

It features the headtube and leading edges from the Ostro Vam and starts at $6,699 (£5,068). Factor's move into track racing has also seen its sister brand Black Inc release two sets of wheels for velodrome riding, the Black Inc ZERO Track disc wheels also designed in collaboration with AusCycling and promising all the usual good stuff about how they "prioritise stiffness and aerodynamic performance enhanced for the airflow experienced in the velodrome".

The SIXTY Tubular Track wheelset is described as a "gateway wheel to track racing" and "ideal for hard training sessions. The Black Inc Zero Track is priced at $4,998 (£3,781) while the SIXTY is $1,699 (£1,285).

Rob Gitelis, Factor and Black Inc founder said: "Three years ago when Factor / Black Inc began a new partnership with AusCycling, our collective vision was to develop the world's fastest pursuit bike and help Australia reclaim the top step of the podium in Paris this summer. To take this vision and manifest it into reality is a testament to the hard work and engineering excellence of everyone involved. We look forward to our continued pursuit of being the fastest bicycle brand in the world, and helping even more riders unlock their maximum potential."

You can check out the bikes and wheels on Factor and Black Inc's websites...

BBB Cycling launches its first bike care products that are plant-based and biodegradable

Dutch-based bike parts and accessories brand BBB Cycling has launched its Bio range of care products — made from sustainable ingredients, and packaged in 100 per cent recycled PET packaging with labels printed using plant-based soy inks.

The new Bio products include chain lubes, tyre sealant, drivetrain cleaner, bike shampoo, frame polish, assembly pastes, bearing grease, hand wash and lens cleaner. Available in personal and workshop size quantities, BBB says the range comes as a result of recognising the "need to go further" for the cycling industry to become sustainable.

BBB hopes to achieve net zero emissions by 2030 and says the development of the Bio range is one part of this, "as does its growing use of recycled materials and bio-plastics throughout the brand's wider range of parts, components and accessories".

Check out the new range on BBB's website...

In case you've missed it, here's this week's top tech news and features: 

• Have 'climbing bikes' had their day? An aero vs lightweight road bike efficiency test
• A more sustainable future for the bike industry? Hunt introduces recyclable carbon fibre to new gravel wheelsets and plans to implement tech more widely "over time" 

• "World-first" prosthetic arm for cyclists developed with help of GB Paralympians   

• Should you fit shorter cranks on your bike? Find out why bike fitting experts recommend going shorter

• A beginner's guide to building your first bike tool set — the essentials you need to start your journey towards becoming a home cycling mechanic