Foldable Bikes Party: February 2016

Monday 29 February 2016

The madison and other mysteries

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Don't know the difference between the madison and the omnium? Confused by the keirin? Read BBC Sport's guide to this year's World Championships.

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Will ASO presence boost Tour of California field quality?

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With the Amgen Tour of California set to announce its 2016 team line up on Tuesday, questions will soon be answered about how the switch in technical directors from US management company Medalist Sports to the ASO will affect the race start lists.

Rumours have abounded that bringing in the ASO, which owns the Tour de France and other top races around the world, could mean more spots for WorldTour teams and fewer for their American Pro Continental and Continental counterparts, but race organisers have been typically tight-lipped about who will be on the start line when the eight-day UCI 2.HC race departs from San Diego on May 15.

Although there won't be any official word on the teams until Tuesday's presentation, we can speculate, based on past invitations and a little internet research, which teams will likely be at the race this year.

The three US-registered WorldTour teams are sure bets. Slipstream's Cannondale, in all of its previous incarnations, is a regular feature in the race, and both BMC Racing and Trek-Segafredo already have the race listed on the calendars published on their respective websites.

Etixx-QuickStep has only missed the race once since the event moved from February to May in 2010, and the powerful Belgian team already has it listed on its website. Team Sky, which also has the race listed on its published calendar, was at the race in 2011, then missed the race for two years before storming back in 2014 to take the win with Bradley Wiggins. Sergio Henao was a major player in the general classification battle last year.

The Katusha Team of Alexander Kristoff has yet to compete in California, but the race is listed on the calendar published on the team's website.

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

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Vakoc, Van Avermaet climb UCI World Rankings

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Although Tour Down Under winner Simon Gerrans continues to lead the new UCI World Rankings thanks to his victory in the only WorldTour race so far this season, the latest batch of race winners have climbed up the ladder to threaten the Orica-GreenEdge rider's lead. Omloop Het Nieuwsblad winner Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) went from 43rd to ninth in the rankings, while Jasper Stuyven's win in Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne propelled him from an anonymous 416th to 25th overall.

Dual winner this weekend, Petr Vakoc (Etixx-Quickstep) moved into fourth after taking the Drome Classic and Classic Sud Ardèche.

Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida) moved into third overall thanks to a second place in Gran Premio Città di Lugano behind Sonny Cobrelli, who moved into 10th.

Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) moved back into the top 10 thanks to a second place in Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, now in sixth behind Sergio Henao (Sky).

The UCI World Ranking is intended to be calculated on a 12-month moving window of results, but until next season it is based only on results from January 1, 2016.

On the women's side, Anna van der Breggen (Rabo-Liv) continues to enjoy the lead of an actual rolling ranking system over world champion Lizzie Armitstead, who leapfrogged Jolien D'Hoore thanks to her win in the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

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Lotto Soudal files complaint in Broeckx motorcycle incident

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Lotto Soudal says it has filed a complaint over the horrific crash between a race motorcycle and Stig Broeckx in the Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, while the Belgian Cycling Federation (Koninklijke Belgische Wielrijdersbond (KBWB) - Royale Ligue Vélocipédique Belge (RLVB) issued a statement on Monday saying it "regrets the accident", and promises to have the organisation's disciplinary commission question the motorcycle driver involved.

Broeckx had just pulled off from the front of the peloton in the closing kilometers of the race on Sunday when the race medical motorcycle came speeding past and clipped him, sending him crashing to the ground. He had surgery today to fix his fractured collarbone but will miss the rest of the Spring Classics.

"The team loses an important rider who was part of the Classics core and who did a great job on Saturday and Sunday," the team wrote. "Lotto Soudal hopes that after the succession of events the past few months and because of what happened yesterday during Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne the theme ‘safety’ won’t only be further discussed between organisations, teams and their interest groups, federations and the international cycling union, but that soon also concrete measures will be taken to increase the safety of the riders."

BMC manager Jim Ochowicz also issued a statement after his rider Danilo Wyss crashed when a TV motorcycle chose an inopportune moment to pause in the exit from a late 180-degree bend, resulting in a chain reaction incident that delayed Wyss. Other riders have been injured in a series of crashes and dangerous finishes in recent races in Spain, Portugal and the south of France, sparking angry social media posts by several riders and calls for action.

After at least half a dozen incidents between riders and motorcycles in the past year, Ochowicz questioned whether the UCI is doing enough to ensure the local organisers are putting enough emphasis on rider safety.

The Belgian Federation insisted that it "already makes every effort to minimize the risk of such accidents".

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

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Ochowicz reiterates call for UCI to control race vehicles

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BMC Racing manager Jim Ochowicz repeated his demands for the UCI to take action to ensure rider safety following two incidents this weekend where race motorcycles caused crashes - Stig Broeckx (Lotto Soudal) was clipped by a medical motorcycle in Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, and in La Drôme Classic in France BMC's Danilo Wyss crashed after a motorcycle impeded riders by stopping in the exit of a corner. Wyss escaped injury, but Broeckx suffered a broken collarbone and ribs in his crash.

Ochowicz was livid last summer after BMC's Greg Van Avermaet was taken down by a TV motorcycle in the last kilometre of the Clasica San Sebastian, threatening legal action for what he called an act of "pure negligence".

"The UCI has been nowhere in this to resolve the problem. This comes back to safety issues in races where the local organizer of WorldTour events and the UCI are negligent in providing a safe racing environment," Ochowicz wrote in September.

Ochowicz said the UCI needed to show courage in dealing with rider safety issues, calling on the governing body to reconsider the size of the peloton.

After the incident with Wyss, he repeated his cry to the UCI. "On September 1, 2015, less than one year ago, I wrote a similar letter after an alarming number of crashes involving vehicles had taken place in the peloton since the beginning of the 2015 season. Despite my reaching out for help at that time, the problem became even more prominent as the season went on and we watched in disbelief. Now here I am again asking the powers to be to take notice," Ochowicz wrote today.

There have been a number of disturbing crashes caused by race vehicles in recent years. A France TV car caused a crash with Johnny Hoogerland Juan Antonio Flecha in the 2011 Tour de France. Taylor Phinney's career was nearly ended when a stopped motorcycle on a descent caused him to crash, resulting in a compound fracture to his leg in the US championships in 2014. Peter Sagan and teammate Sergio Paulinho were each taken down by motorcycles in the Vuelta a España last year, Jesse Sergent was crashed by a passing Shimano neutral support car in the Tour of Flanders and Jakob Fuglsang was taken out by a motorbike in the Tour de France.

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

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Reinardt Janse van Rensburg drawing confidence for Milan-San Remo

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It's a good thing for South African cycling that Reinardt Janse van Rensburg often failed to see eye to eye with his rugby union coaches when he played the game as a schoolboy.

Janse van Rensburg, 27, still loves rugby and follows the Springboks. But he has no regrets about giving up the game that in South Africa is akin to a religion and which he played in the position of flanker at the Hoërskool Waterkloof, a school steeped in rugby in his native Pretoria.

For cycling has been Janse van Rensburg's calling ever since his father Anton, who took up the sport for "health reasons", encouraged him to do the same at the age of 14 - to the point that he is now one of the Rainbow Nation's leading professional riders.

"My dad started just for health reasons basically and got me involved and I started. I was really passionate about rugby when I was younger, but I fought too much with the coaches and started to do cycling and riding instead," Janse van Rensburg told Cyclingnews before the start of Monday's stage 6 of the Tour de Langkawi. Later in that drama-filled day, he would leapfrog Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) to take the race lead after the Colombian rode into a hole with six kilometres to go, broke his wheel, and lost 35 seconds.

Until then Lopez, 22, was in a strong position to win the tour, and Janse van Rensburg's only chance was to use his sprint prowess over the Colombian to claw back time through bonuses in the daily intermediate sprints and sprint finishes. He was 23 seconds behind the Astana rider after losing 35 seconds on stage 4, but had hoped to be closer. A flat tyre two kilometres before the second intermediate sprint in Sunday's fifth stage cost him a chance to win a time bonus.

"I had the overall in the back of my mind," he says. "We didn't know exactly how hard the climb [on stage 4] was going to be, but after I saw the profile from the previous years, then I reckoned I could survive that, and then the overall was always in the back of my mind. But you have to see after the climb where you are and see if it is still possible."

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

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Tirreno-Adriatico: Sagan, Nibali and Cavendish headline star-studded start list

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Vincenzo Nibali (Astana), Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) and Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) are among a long list of big-name riders announced for next week’s Tirreno-Adriatico. Race organisers RCS Sport have published a full entry list for the week-long stage race, which will begin on Wednesday March 9 with a team time trial in Lido di Camaiore on the Tuscan coast.

Nibali will be one of two former champions on the start line, with Trek-Segafredo’s Fabian Cancellara also set to compete as he gears up for his final Classics campaign. Nibali comes into it after taking overall victory at the Tour of Oman. The Italian has twice taken overall victory at Tirreno-Adriatico, in 2012 and 2013 and is perhaps the favourite for tis year's race.

Last year’s winner Nairo Quintana won’t be in attendance and his place will be taken by Movistar teammate Alejandro Valverde, who is preparing for a ride at the Giro d’Italia. There are plenty of other strong contenders for the overall classification including Joaquim Rodriguez (Team Katusha), Rigoberto Uran (Cannondale), Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) and Esteban Chaves (Orica-GreenEdge). Team Sky’s Michal Kwiatkowski and Wout Poels are also possible winners but Mikal Landa will not be in action after only recently returning to training.

World Champion Sagan and sprinter Cavendish, who is also riding this week's Track World Championships, will lead the way in the hunt for stage wins as many of the fastest sprinters in the world prepare for Milan-San Remo. Also hot off the track World Championships, Fernando Gaviria (Etixx-QuickStep) will be looking to continue his strong start to the season. Elia Viviani (Team Sky), Caleb Ewan (Orica-GreenEdge), Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida), Matteo Pelucchi (IAM Cycling) and Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Segafredo) will also be aiming to find success in one of the race’s five point to point stages.

Tirreno-Adriatico will begin, as usual, with a team time trial and an individual time trial will come later in the race on the final day. Cancellara will certainly be key on the first stage and one of the favourites to take individual victory on stage 7. The Swiss will face some tough competition with reigning world champion Vasil Kiryienka in Team Sky’s line-up. Tony Martin finished second to Cancellara at the Volta ao Algarve and will be looking to reverse his fortunes.

Tirreno-Adriatico will begin on March 9 and end in San Benedetto del Tronto on March 15.

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

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German rider Arnold Fiek survives 12-metre fall into lake during GP Lugano race

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Germany’s Arnold Fiek of the Christina Jewelry team sustained a hairline fracture to his hip and several bruises but felt he was lucky to be alive after crashing and falling 12 metres into Lake Lugano during the rain-soaked GP Lugano race on Sunday. Sonny Colbrelli (Bardiani-CSF) went on to win the race but his teammate Eduardo Zardini also crashed out and fractured four vertebrae.

A photograph shows Fiek giving a thumbs up from the hospital and he hopes to be back on his bike in six weeks.

Fiek crashed early in the race, apparently sliding out on a corner, hitting a kerb and then falling into the lake. He was fortunate to land in the water and then clambered up onto a narrow concrete strip so he could be seen and eventually rescued by boat.

Photos posted by his team on Facebook show the dramatic moments after the crash, with Fiek stuck on a narrow concrete wall as he waited to be rescued and taken to hospital.

“The road was slippery and I crashed in a right-hand curve,” 22-year-old Fiek told the Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper from his hospital room in Lugano. “I tried to grab on to the guardrail, but I was unable to do so. I banged my hip against the wall and fell into the water. I swam for about five metres and then climbed up onto the wall to wait for the rescue boat.”

“I never lost consciousness. I was very, very lucky, had I fallen on my head it would not have been so good. In that first moment in the water, I thought, ‘It’s ending.’ You don’t know. Then I swam to the edge, got out of the water and it was not so bad. But then when I was on the wall, I couldn’t move. Fortunately it wasn’t so bad. I think I had a lucky day.”

His Christina Jewelry team suggested he had been lucky to escape a ‘nightmare’ crash.

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

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Sepulveda out for three months after being hit by barrier

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Eduardo Sepulveda (Fortuneo-Vital Concept) could be out of action for three months with a broken wrist after he was hit by a barrier near the finish of La Drome Classic on Sunday. Sepulveda was hit just metres from the line when the wind caught the barrier and blew it into the Argentinian.

The accident knocked him unconscious and he was left with a broken radius and scaphoid and a number of other injuries.

“I don’t know what to think, the bad luck follows me,” Sepulveda told Argentinian website Ciclismo International. “There was a steep slope at the finish and we were finishing one by one. Just as I passed around 125 metres to go, the wind blew up one of the barriers and it hit me directly."

“I lost consciousness and it took me a while to wake up, fortunately the scans went well in this sense. [I have] stitches in the face, broken teeth, a fractured scaphoid in several places. Tomorrow a specialist will operate on me in Lyon and I think that I will be three months without my bike.”

Sepulveda, who finished second at this year’s Tour de San Luis following a stage win on Cerro El Amago, is one of Argentina’s most promising climbing talents. He had also finished third in the youth classification at the Tour of Oman and is hoping to make his second appearance at the Tour de France later this year.

While the 24-year-old’s goal should be safe, he is likely to miss some important early season goals and he expressed his frustration with the incident.

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

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Wiggins says he would not have returned to team pursuit without Salzwedel

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Bradley Wiggins has said that he would not have returned to the Great Britain team pursuit squad had it not been for the appointment of Heiko Salzwedel as British Cycling’s endurance coach in late 2014.

Wiggins had worked with Salzwedel during each of the German’s previous two stints with British Cycling, and Salzwedel was also part of the team that prepared Wiggins for his successful attempt on the UCI Hour Record last June.

“It came down to two guys," Wiggins told The Telegraph. "And if it had gone the other way I probably wouldn't have come back to team pursuit.”

Salzwedel was hired by technical director Shane Sutton as a response to Great Britain’s low-key showing at the World Championships in Cali in 2014. The British quartet took silver at the Worlds in Paris last year and with Wiggins back on board, they will target gold at the Worlds in London this week. Wiggins compared his influence to that of Manchester United manager, Louis van Gaal.

"Heiko is like Louis van Gaal or one of those other experienced European managers. He has his philosophy and he sticks to it. 'We are doing it this way'. The pressing game or whatever,” Wiggins said. “Not everyone agrees with him but it seems to work. Sure enough, he turned it around in a couple of months. After the eighth place in Cali, GB were back to second in Paris."

On leaving Team Sky midway through last season, Wiggins returned to the track with the ambition of winning the fifth Olympic gold medal of his career in the team pursuit at the 2016 Games in Rio in August. With that end goal in mind, he said that triumph in London this week – particularly without the services of Ed Clancy – was not a pre-requisite.

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

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Great Britain women’s sprint team Olympic qualification at risk

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Great Britain's female sprint team must produce a special performance at the World Track Championships in London if they are to qualify for the Olympic Games in Rio.

Jess Varnish, Becky James and Katy Marchant risk missing out on a team spot after a series of team changes and injuries. Unless they finish two positions ahead of France at the World Championships then only one of them will be selected for the Olympics as part of the individual sprint races.

"In team sprint we have it all to play for," Varnish told Cyclingnews and other selected media at a press event last week in Manchester.

"We had a messy run up in qualification through no fault of our own as athletes, mainly through peoples' decisions above us. Obviously things haven't gone perfectly when we've gone out in different teams. They've tried different combinations and I can see why they've done that."

Varnish and Marchant finished second in the final round of the World Cup in Hong Kong back in January, a result that resurrected the team's chances of Olympic selection. But with injuries to Becky James in recent times, the team has struggled. James is now back and racing once more, providing the team with further experience.

Surprisingly the team admitted that they did not know what the qualification criteria was for the Games ahead of the World Championships – although the details can be found on the British Cycling website. Varnish, the most experienced of the trio, added that their focus was purely on execution rather than points tallies.

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

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Weekend Wrap: Breakthrough wins for Van Avermaet and Stuyven

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Van Avermaet wins Omloop Het Nieuwsblad

After so many near misses Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing) finally landed a major spring victory with the win in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. The Belgian produced a rounded an efficient display, marking several moves before unleashing a winning sprint against Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) and Tiesj Benoot (Lotto Soudal).

"I'm never really winning that much and it's the first race in Belgium so far, so I'm pretty happy with this victory. If I could choose one, I would have picked, definitely, this one," Van Avermaet said at the finish.

The day was also marked by the UCI carrying out 139 checks on bikes - both in the men's and women’s races – for mechanical doping. All bikes were cleared for racing. Read the full race report, right here.

More from Omloop Het Nieuwsblad

Armitstead wins Omloop Het Nieuwsblad

All eyes were on Lizzie Armitstead (Boels Dolmans) as she made her 2016 debut in Belgium on Saturday and the world champion delivered, leading her team to an impressive one-two with Chantal Blaak in second. Tiffany Cromwell (Canyon-SRAM) rounded out the podium.

Stuyven wins Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne

Stevens smashes women’s UCI Hour Record

Vakoc takes double victories in France

Colbrelli wins 70th edition of GP Lugano

Astana dominating Le Tour de Langkawi

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Hayman to miss Spring Classics with fractured radius

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Mat Hayman's spring classics campaign is over just as quickly as it started for 2016 with confirmation that the Australian fractured his right-radius in a late crash at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. The Orica-GreenEdge rider is expected to miss four weeks of racing as a result.

"It is one of those things, part of racing, part of our sport, but still always hard to accept. I had spent months training for these races and to have it end like that, so quickly is disappointing to say the least," said Hayman of the injury.

"It is not a complicated fracture, and I am hoping that it will heal quickly and I can be back on the road with the boys as fast as possible."

It was the first time in three years that Orica-GreenEdge had raced the 'opening weekend' with Magnus Cort the team's best finisher at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in 69th place. With Hayman to miss the classics, greater responsibility will handed to the likes of Jens Keukeleire, Christopher Juul Jensen and Mitch Docker.

"It is a real shame that we will go into the next races without Mat. He was our road captain and someone who is always 100% ready for the Classics. His type of experience you cannot under-estimate," sports director Laurenzo Lapage said.

"When he crashed, he was sitting in the right position as always, but it just goes to show how luck and often bad luck is a deciding factor in these races."

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

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Second again for Kristoff at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne

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Alexander Kristoff came away from Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne with exactly the same result he had done 12 months previously. After finishing second behind Mark Cavendish in the bunch sprint last time out, Kristoff won this year's sprint, though Jasper Stuyven was already across the line celebrating his solo victory.

The race, usually amenable to the sprinters, was a less controlled affair than anticipated, partly due to the windy conditions. Kristoff and fellow sprinters at times found themselves adrift of the leading group in splits and though they did chase down a large select group in the later stages, Stuyven had already disappeared from it.

"For sure it was too bad it wasn't for the win, but we did a good chase, with other teams, and unfortunately Jasper was too strong," Kristoff told a group of reporters before a trip to the podium. "He just about stayed away and we couldn't do much about it.

"Today was second place like last year. Last year I lost the sprint, this year I won the sprint, but Cavendish was not here this year, so it's hard to know if I'm better or worse."

Kristoff was comparing himself to last year and at this stage it's looking remarkably similar. A blistering start once again saw him win three stages at the Tour of Qatar and he went one better at the Tour of Oman with two, before going on to repeat his second place at Kuurne.

"Yesterday I was disappointed – maybe it could have been a different story if we could have chased at the front of the pack rather than behind the pack," he said of his showing at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, where a broken back wheel cut him adrift with 35km to go.

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Encouraging Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne debut performance for Ewan

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Caleb Ewan might have enjoyed a fruitful start to 2016 in the balmy climes of the Australian summer but he encountered a different beast altogether at his first ever race in Belgium as a professional.

The 21-year-old, who had a breakthrough win at last year's Vuelta a España and carried that form through to this season with a double at the Tour Down Under, finished 15th on what he described as a "tough" day at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne. It was bitingly cold in the Flanders region on Sunday, mercilessly compounded by the driving wind, and as it was such a brutal introduction to the European season.

"It's completely different. It was probably more the weather than anything that really played the role. It's freezing cold here, compared to what I'm used to – I was in South Africa a week ago and it was like 40 degrees," said Ewan, delaying his return to the warmth of the Orica-GreenEdge bus to talk to Cyclingnews.

"I'm pretty happy with how it went for my first race. It felt hard and I felt like I was struggling but by the looks of it everyone else was struggling, so that's a good sign."

The racing was aggressive, with the wind playing a part, and there was fluidity in the way that groups were forming at key junctures. Though a sizeable peloton did regroup to try and chase down solo winner Jasper Stuyven towards the end of the race, it was largely a day when Ewan had to stay constantly alert, responding to the digs and accelerations and making sure he didn't find himself cut adrift.

"It was pretty tough. The team did a great job putting me in a good position in most of the critical parts. I was right up there when all the attacks were going and I felt quite good. I felt I did pretty well, just in the end I'm not used to the really long races just yet."

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

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Sagan laments lack of cooperation at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne

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Peter Sagan was left to lament his "destiny", which supposedly dictates that other riders will always be reluctant to work with him, on Sunday after an aggressive ride at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne came to nothing but seventh place.

The world champion was the man to ignite the race for the first real time with a big acceleration on the Oude Kwaremont and he played his part thereafter in turning what is often a sprinter-friendly race into a less controlled affair. He was regularly up front when the race split up and was part of a small group to go clear over the top of the Nokereberg, the final climb of the day, though they failed to get organised.

"I tried a lot of times today and I was hoping we would come [to the final] in a breakaway, but still it's my destiny – it's very hard to work with somebody," Sagan told Cyclingnews and a couple of other media in front of the Tinkoff bus before being hurried off to the airport.

The world champion has been here before; given the depth of his talent, riders are often wary about forming moves with him for fear of simply dragging him to the finish only to be outpaced to the line. Indeed, more than one Tour de France stage went begging in that manner last year.

Sagan missed the boat when a large group went clear ahead of the two local laps around Kuurne – the group from which Jasper Stuyven attacked and took a solo victory – and his chances of breaking free were over as the sprinters teams ramped it up in the peloton.

"After that here were lots of strong teams, Katusha and Cofidis were pulling for a final sprint but still they didn't make it. A race is a race," he added.

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

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Shimano takes single ring seriously with new wide ratio cassette and rings

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Shimano is going toe-to-toe with SRAM’s 1x11 drivetrains with an expanded range cassette and a new chainring design. Riders who prefer more than one chainring will be glad to read that Shimano is still catering to the multi-ring crowd with more 2x and 3x chainring combinations. Also new for this spring, Shimano has two new budget minded hydraulic brake systems designed to bring Shimano reliability to price point bikes.

Shimano takes 1x seriously

Shimano has long been adamant that multi-ring drivetrains were the best for most mountain bikers, but it seems like it has softened that stance with the announcement of a new, wide range 11-46t cassette compatible with XT and XTR 11-speed setups.

That means Shimano's 1x range is nearly on par with SRAM, offering an impressive 418% range to SRAM's 420% range, while offering more low-end gearing than SRAM when running the same chainring. Unlike SRAM's 11-speed drivetrains, which require a special 'XD' freehub body, the new cassette will fit onto any normal hub, making the process of upgrading simpler and cheaper.

The claimed weight for the CS-M8000 cassette is 540g.

Updated chainring combinations

Budget hydraulic brakes

Pricing and availability

You can read more at BikeRadar.com

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Shimano 1x for the road, now it's official

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Shimano teased us with it last year at the Eurobike trade show but now it's official – Shimano Metrea, a dedicated groupset for urban cyclists, will be available from April 2016.

Shimano has been bold enough to state that this could be ‘the most exciting development in cycling since the dawn of mountain biking’, no really. What they were talking about was Metrea, a new 11-speed groupset designed specifically for the urban cyclist (pricing to follow once we have it).

The name? It's a hybrid of metropolitan and real; two words that Shimano claims are key concepts behind what it calls the urban sports category. What exactly is urban sport? Well, put in a more down-to-earth way it means daily commuting. Shimano does have a point – after all, any hybrid or commuter bikes right now tend to use drivetrains that have been developed for road, mountain biking or touring.

What should you care about?

Probably the biggest news is that Shimano is now behind 1x transmissions on the road for the first time. A wide-range rear cassette, namely the CS5800 block from Shimano’s existing 105 group can be paired with either a single (42t) or double (46-32t) Metrea chainset – ratios Shimano has optimised around urban riding. People are usually split when it comes to the aesthetics of a crankset, and this one will probably divide optionion more than most. An anti-corrosion finish and integrated chainguard (gotta keep those trousers clean) are also neat touches.

You can read more at BikeRadar.com

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Shimano’s Sora R3000 groupset brings mechanical discs

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Shimano has released its new Sora road groupset, featuring mechanical disc brakes and E-THRU road wheels, for winter and urban commuting bikes

Forming the first part of its new 2017 road bike products, the new Sora (R3000) groupset remains nine-speed, but visually takes plenty of cues from its more expensive siblings.

There's a four-arm crankset, which takes on the two-tone black-grey gloss finish that first appeared on the top-level Dura-Ace, and which also now features on the Ultegra and 105 groups.

Related: Shimano 1X for the road, now it's official
Related: Shimano takes single ring MTB seriously with new wide range cassette

Gearing and cranksets

The cranksets are available in double (50-34t) or triple (50-39-30t) configurations, and can be combined with a large-range 11-34t cassette to spin easily up the hills, thanks to the inclusion of two extra teeth on the cassette over the previous Sora.

Shifters and disc brakes

Thru-axles

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Buyer's guide to GPS bike computers

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GPS technology has found its way into many things over the past few years and is now commonplace in cars, phones, cameras and, yes, bike computers. Where GPS computers of the past were overly expensive and offered poor battery life, the current generation are far more affordable, reliable and offer a host of features previously only dreamed of in traditional cycle computers.

In the past, cycling GPS devices were primarily for riders who wanted navigation and trail guidance. Their usage has changed greatly however, and these devices now combine heart rate monitors, bike computers and navigation into one unit. The GPS is now just as much a dedicated training tool and ride tracker as it once was a navigation unit.

Furthermore, the technology is now hitting price points that rival basic bike computers. Using GPS technology to provide speed and distance information means it's no longer necessary to use wheel-mounted magnets and sensors. Switching the computer between bikes has never been easier.

The cycling GPS market is dominated by similar brands to the automotive GPS industry – Garmin is the key player and Magellan (Mio in Europe, owned by Navman) as a fast-growing option. Brands such as Polar, Bryton, Suunto, CycleOps, Pioneer and CatEye also offer GPS options.

And while this buyer’s guide is for dedicated GPS units, the use of smartphones is quickly becoming a viable alternative. There are many speed, cadence, heart rate and power accessories available to work with popular smartphones and purpose-designed apps.

Related reading: Best iPhone and Android apps for cycling
Related reading: Best GPS devices for cycling

Despite the numerous handlebar mounts and cases available, while smartphones continue to get larger and more expensive, the use of a dedicated device on your handlebars during riding is still the preferred method for most cyclists. That said, if you’re not seeking live data such as speed, heart rate or your cadence, then keeping the phone in your pocket or pack remains an option for data collection.

Buying a GPS device – what to consider

What features are most suitable for me and the riding I do?

GPS device glossary

ANT+: The most common wireless protocol in cycling GPS and electronics. This is used for communication between sensors such as power meters, cadence, speed and heart rate monitors and the head unit device.
Barometric altimeter (barometer): Where some devices will use maps to give an estimate of elevation, the better options use a barometer to accurately measure elevation. In some devices, this is also used to provide more accurate co-ordinate tracking.
Bearing/heading: Bearing is the compass direction to the next waypoint, heading is the actual direction of travel (which is usually expressed in degrees)
Bluetooth: A form of separate wireless receiver/transmitter that is the standard in smart phone technology. Now becoming more popular in GPS units to sync with phones.
Geocaching: The GPS equivalent of a treasure hunt, using given co-ordinates to find the location. Arguably this feature has had its day, but is still given in some devices.
GPRS Information: Downloadable and up-to-date information on such things as accidents, congestion, road closures and so on.
GPX: Also known as GPS Exchange format, this open data format is free to use and is widely accepted as the standard way to share ride, track, waypoint and other GPS based data.
GLONASS: Stands for Global Navigation Satellite System, it provides alternative satellites to GPS (Global Positioning System). Units that offer GLONASS often have more reliable map coverage and recording along with faster start-up.
IPX7: This refers to the water resistance rating. IPX7 is a standard benchmark of many electronic devices and means the item will withstand incidental exposure to water of up to one meter for up to 30 minutes. This means that use in the rain will be of no concern
Odometer: Measures the distance you've travelled since it was last reset
Route: Predetermined points, which are known as waypoints (see below), linked together in the order you intend to travel to them
Segments: A term made popular by Strava (see below). Strava uses ‘segments’ of tracks and roads to offer virtual racing on popular climbs, descents and time-trials.
Strava: Website and mobile app used to track fitness activities via GPS. It offers a ‘cloud’ to upload your ride data and compare your fitness with riders in the same area.
Track: The record the GPS unit makes of your actual course over the ground on any journey that you undertake
Waypoints: Specific locations that are stored in the GPS – usually used to navigate to or linked together to form a route. May also be known as Points of Interest (POI), or by the more traditional term, Landmarks.

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Rotor Power LT power meter

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Rotor launched the left-sided Power LT to create a more affordable entry point below its dual-sided Power, though oddly it was only ever sold as a complete crankset so you couldn’t upgrade a Rotor crankset you already owned.

The LT weighs just 50g more than Rotor's regular 3D+ crankset. The strain gauges are built into the crank arm and the electronic gubbins are housed in a unit on the end. It has an accelerometer so doesn’t need a magnet, making both installation and pairing a breeze.

Rotor proudly claims that the Power LT is (along with its siblings) entirely unaffected by temperature changes, meaning you don’t need to calibrate it before every ride. The meter wakes with the first light push on the pedal, so it won’t go to sleep on a long coasted descent.

The CR2477 battery is rare and slightly more costly than most, but then it lasts longer than any of other replaceable batteries we've tested recently (as well as being several times the size). We'd still recommend keeping a spare though, especially if you’re travelling as you won’t find them in many shops.

In normal, steady riding the Power LT performed very well, tracking closely with other meters and remaining consistent. Certain efforts confused it, though. Doing hill reps at 50rpm and high effort caused it to under-read by 5% compared with riding at normal cadence. And it doesn’t catch sprints very well, often showing a maximum power figure that’s lower by as much as 100-200W.

That’s not all. It’s slower to respond to changes in effort, and gear shifts usually cause power to drop to zero for a second or two, as if the clunk of the shift had upset it. That might not sound like a big deal but when you’re used to training to power using one of the slicker meters out there, it grates a bit.

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