To prepare for the 18 cobbled bergs of the 101st Tour of Flanders, riders dropped the pressure in their tubulars a little bit — and a few opted for 28mm casings instead of the standard 25s. BikeRadar took a close look at the bikes of all 25 teams.
Rim brakes remain supreme
While the Tour of Flanders course celebrates Belgian cobbles, the pro peloton does not regard it as extreme as the following week's Paris-Roubaix, where disc brakes can offer clearance for ultra-wide tires to deal with the stones. At Flanders, we only saw five disc bikes, and none of those had tubulars wider than 28mm.
Stijn Devolder rode a Felt FR1 with SRAM eTap Hydro and his Veranda’s Willems–Crelan teammate Dries De Bondt raced on the older SRAM Red Hydro.
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Team Sunweb, which recently debuted Shimano Dura-Ace discs in the peloton, had three disc bikes.
Quick Step's Tom Boonen raced a new Specialized Roubaix, which is sold as a disc bike — but his version was configured for rim brakes.
Tubular widths and pressures
The peloton has recently moved from 23mm to 25mm tubulars for normal racing. For Paris-Roubaix, riders will often go as wide as they can, with 28mm or 30mm tubulars being squeezed into frames. For Flanders, most choose 25s, but seemingly more riders than last year opted for 28mm. Continental's Competition RBX was a popular choice for both 25 and 28mm widths.
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