March 2018

According to Shimano themselves, the new Ultegra groupset is so close to the company's flagship Dura-Ace groupset as to be basically indistinguishable in terms of performance. So, what do you actually get with a Dura-Ace groupset for your extra money?


Register your interest in the GCN Club: 


Get exclusive GCN gear in the GCN shop! 

If we were blindfolded and put on two bikes, one with Shimano Dura-Ace and one with Ultegra, we'd struggle to tell the difference between them, that's how good the new Ultegra is. Of course we'd also crash...

Dan did a deep dive into the technical specs, and weights of the two groupsets to find out what actually is the difference between them.

If you'd like to contribute captions and video info in your language, here's the link 👍 

Watch more on GCN...
Shimano Dura-Ace first look 

Photos: © Velo Collection (TDW) / Getty Images & © Bettiniphoto / 

The Global Cycling Network puts you in the centre of the action: from the iconic climbs of Alpe D’Huez and Mont Ventoux to the cobbles of Flanders, everywhere there is road or pavé, world-class racing and pro riders, we will be there bringing you action, analysis and unparalleled access every week, every month, and every year. We show you how to be a better cyclist with our bike maintenance videos, tips for improving your cycling, cycling top tens, and not forgetting the weekly GCN Show. Join us on YouTube’s biggest and best cycling channel to get closer to the action and improve your riding!

Welcome to the Global Cycling Network | Inside cycling

Shimano Dura-Ace Vs Shimano Ultegra | What's The Difference?

While out at the Volta a Catalunya, Jon headed to the pro cyclist haven that is Girona. While there he happened to run into Lotto-Jumbo rider Robert Gesink returning from training. Gesink kindly allowed us to have a look at his training bike, check it out!

Frame and forks: Bianchi Oltre XR4
Wheels: Shimano Dura-Ace R9100 C40 Clincher
Tyres: Vittoria Corsa g+ 
Handlebars: Vision Metron 5D 
Stem: Vision Metron 5D 
Seatpost: Bianchi Oltre XR4
Saddle: Fi:zi'k Antares 00
Shifters: Shimano Dura-Ace R9150 Di2
Brakes: Shimano Dura-Ace R9100
Front Mech: Shimano Dura-Ace R9150 Di2
Rear Mech: Shimano Dura-Ace R9150 Di2
Chainset: Shimano Dura-Ace R9100
Pedals: Shimano Dura-Ace R9100
Chainring size: 52/39
Powermeter: Pioneer Dual sided
Cassette: 11-28

Bike weight: 8.2kg, including spares, pump, clinchers
Saddle height: 82.5cm
Reach: 62cm
Bar width: 42cm
Stem length: 130mm
Crank length: 175mm
Tyre width: 25c

Finishing touches: FSA Celeste bar tape, customised tool roll, Lezyne mini pump, Tacx carbon Celeste bottle cages

If you'd like to contribute captions and video info in your language, here's the link 👍

Watch more on GCN Tech...
Marcel Kittel's Canyon Aeroad 

Brought to you by the world’s biggest cycling channel, the Global Cycling Network (GCN), GCN Tech goes deeper into the bikes, kit and technology stories that matter.

GCN Tech is utterly obsessed with seeking out and showcasing the best in bikes, tech, products and upgrades. Everywhere. Every week. From news and rumours, first ride exclusives, how-tos, the weekly GCN Tech Show, pro bikes, set-up tips and more, we geek out over the tiny details that can make the big differences to you. 

With years of racing and industry expertise, we also bring you instructive maintenance videos to hone your mechanical skills, as well as behind the scenes factory tours and in-depth analysis of kit chosen by the pro peloton to keep your finger on the pulse of cycling’s latest technological innovations.

Engage with us every week on the channel and across social media – we’re here to answer every question you’ve got on mountain biking tech.

Robert Gesink's Bianchi Oltre XR4 Training Bike

Wider tyres are faster on the cobbles, right? After all, the pros use them at the Cobbled Classics. Simon discusses why wider tyres are faster on rough roads and why the results of the GCN wider tyre tests weren't quite as we expected.

Do you ride wider tyres? Comment and let us know and don't forget to SHARE this video.

Pro cyclists previously raced on narrow tyres – sometimes even as narrow as 19mm! But, now it's rare to see them use anything narrower than 25mm, and, for select races, they'll choose 28mm or even 30mm. Wider tyres are particularly prevalent at the legendary cobbled classics; races like Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders.

Are wider tyres actually faster or is it just a trend? We put it to the test of the brutal cobbled roads of Northern France and Belgium, and, we take an ever deeper dive into the science, tech and geekery of bicycle tyres in this video.

If you read this far, make sure you hit that thumbs up button!

Watch more on GCN Tech...
Matt and Dan take on the cobble climbs 

Cycling Tyre Width Test On Cobbles | The Geek Edition

Why do professional riders not use wider tyres in the Tour of Flanders? Maybe wide tyres aren't actually any faster. Dan and Matt headed to Flanders to find out.

Using the iconic Haaghoek section of cobbles, Matt and Dan did three runs at 300 watts (just about for Dan). They ran 23mm, 25mm, and 28mm tyres. Which was quickest?

What width tyres do you use on your road bike?

Watch more on GCN...
Riders to watch in Flanders 

Music: Aventura - Andreas Jamsheree
Maximum High 3 - Jack Elphick
Psychadelic Background - Merlean
UK Fever 1 - Jack Elphick

What Is The Fastest Tyre Width For Cycling On Cobbles

What better place to put a brand new range of top end wheels by Bontrager through their paces than the component proving, or should that be wrecking, ground that is the Flanders region.

Bontrager have just released their brand new range of Aeolus XXX wheels, in three different depths, and Matt and Dan were lucky enough to give them a ride out in Flanders. 

Bontrager claim they're not only the company's best performing wheels in terms of aerodynamics and weight, but they're also incredibly stable in crosswinds and have the best braking of any carbon wheel they have ever produced.

Let us know what you think of them down below.

Watch more on GCN...
10 riders to watch in Flanders 

Music: Contigo - AGST  (1)
Second Side - Yomoti
Without A Doubt 1 - Anders Bothén

Bontrager Aeolus XXX Wheels | GCN's First Look

It's time for one of the best races of the year, the Tour Of Flanders! We've had a look at the form book, and picked 5 men and 5 women that we think could be celebrating in Oudenaarde on Sunday.

First of all we've got to say sorry to any rider named on our list, we really hope you don't get hit with the GCN curse 😂

This is shaping up to be one of the best editions of the Tour of Flanders in years, there's been no dominant rider in the classics this season, and we could have named about 20 favourites each for both the men's and women's races.

Who do you think deserves their spot on our list, and why? 

Top 10 Riders To Watch At The Tour Of Flanders

The climbs of the Flanders region of Belgium hold an almost mythical place in the sport of cycling. Climbs like the Muur and the Koppenberg, conjure up images of muddied riders battling just to make it to the top! But which Flandrian climb is actually the hardest?

The people of Flanders don't really go in for nice, steady, hairpinned climbs up their hills. In fact it sometimes seems like they look for the steepest hills, and just put a road straight up them! But that does lead to some truly iconic, and really, really hard climbs!

Matt and Dan rode what are, in our opinion, the five hardest climbs in Flanders, and even battled some particularly Belgian weather to work out once and for all which climb is the hardest! 

Watch more on GCN...
GCN Rides the Koppenberg 

Music: I Am Unbreakable - Niklas Johansson
Save Me From Myself (Instrumental Version) - Sven Karlsson
Smashing Punks 1 - Stefan Netsman
Smashing Punks 10 - Stefan Netsman
Smashing Punks 18 - Stefan Netsman
Wasted (Instrumental Version) - Ramin

The 5 Hardest Cobbled Climbs In Flanders

This week we’re asking the question, can a bike be too good for you? Some interesting answers to that one. We’ve also got great new tech of course from SRM and Officina Battaglin among others, and a new induction onto the Wall of Fame! 

Enter the MET unboxing here to win a MET 3K Trenta Carbon helmet 

Right then, What's hot in the tech world this week?

Well, no pun intended, but Shimano. Literally. There has been a fire at Shimano’s OsakA-Sakai city manufacturing plant, reportedly in the anodising section. 200 hundred employees were evacuated. Fortunately no injuries were reported, we just have to hope now that it doesn’t affect Shimano’s production capacity too much. 

Right then, take a look at these. Any guesses? Yes, Look Keos. But, according to Lotto Soudal pro Adam Hansen, these are prototype New SRM powermeter pedals….

No details available whatsoever, but given SRM’s reputation, you’d think that there must be some rock solid tech in there to warrant a change from their crank based measurements. Having said that, the market has swamped in recent years and the SRM patent which allowed them an almost monopoly for so long elapsed a few years ago now so maybe this is another move to get ahead of the competition? We’ll hopefully get a look at them at the Giro d’Italia. 

Thinking of Giro, if you’ve been around the sport for a while, the name Giovanni Battaglin will sound familiar to you. Or at least it would if my pronunciation was better. Anyway, Battaglin won the Giro d’Italia AND the Vuelta in 1981 making him a bit of a legend. Brilliantly, a couple of years later he then started building bikes, brazing beautiful steel frames, including for Stephen Roche who did the Giro Tour Worlds triple in ‘87. A bike that then latterly survived the Matt Stephen’s treatment 27 years later. 

Watch more on GCN Tech...
Can you test positive without doping? 📹 

BARTOLI:
By Eric HOUDAS (Own work) [GFDL 

(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0

BATTAGLIN:
By Gipiemme (Archivio foto Gipiemme) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons

Can Your Bike Be Too Good For You? | The GCN Tech Show Ep. 13

Riding your first century on the bike can seem a daunting task. Emma and Simon have got some tips on how to successfully complete your first 100 miles, and even how to have a great time doing it!

Have you set yourself the goal of cycling your first 100 miles? Whether you are entering a sportive or taking the challenge on alone, Emma and Simon give the lowdown on how to achieve your goal. Training, planning and race day nutrition are all key elements in achieving the century benchmark. 

Don't forget to let us know how you get on with your first century 💯

Watch more on GCN...
When to eat while cycling 

Cycling Your First 100 Miles | How To Prepare For A Century

Jon is back in the GCN Tech Clinic, answering all of your cycling tech questions. This week we've got questions on using carbon specific brake pads with aluminium rims, small chainring hacks, and reusing tubular tyres.

Can you use 10 speed Di2 shifters with 11 speed derailleurs? Is there any point to synchro-shift? And how do you get your position the same on a different bike? Jon is answering all these and more this week in the clinic.

Make sure you keep your questions coming in across the channel and on social media using the hashtag #askgcntech

http://yojimg.net/bike/web_tools/stem.php

Watch more on GCN Tech...
Tech Show Ep. 12 

Are You Using The Right Brake Pads? | The GCN Tech Clinic

This week we're talking fashion over function - or is it? Plus we've got an exciting new game to play on the Show thanks to a new sponsor...

The GCN Show's Wiggle of Fortune now CLOSED for this week. Check out the latest GCN Show to enter now.

This week in the world of cycling, we learned that it’s a tough old game. Firstly, some fitness tests are so hard you need to wear a safety helmet even when riding a stationary bike, indoors. 

He puts me to shame there, that’s another level of suffering. Secondly, We also learned that pro racer Elia Viviani likes a good cry. Nothing wrong with that at all, only that his dismay at finishing second at the prestigious Gent Wevelgem on Sunday nets him a top five position in cycling’s list of all time biggest breakdowns. 

I’ve got one in there, possibly two actually. Right, our big talking point this week is a touchy subject, are we cyclists too vain? We know we’re pretty bad, but is it at a point that we prize how we look over how we ride? 

Fashion over function. 
Style over speed. 
Let us know in the comments!

Watch more on GCN...
The DIY Aero Challenge? 📹 

Style Before Speed – Are Cyclists Too Vain? | The GCN Show Ep. 272

Welcome to the GCN Racing News Show.  This week, the cobbled campaign begins in earnest whilst the climbers are in Catalunya.  We’re in Asia for the Tour de Langkawi and in Berlin, for the Rad Race!

Moving on now to E3 Prijs, which took place two days previously, and what an extraordinary race we had there.  The main peloton was completely obliterated with eighty kilometres still remaining, partly due to a crash, but partly down to a masterclass demonstration from Quickstep.  

They do it year in, year out, but still, the way they race at the cobbled classics is quite incredible to behold. After some stellar work from the likes of Tim Declercq and Iljo Keisse, the rest of the team drilled it up the Taaienberg, and over the top, Niki Terpstra and Yves Lampaert forced themselves clear.

Meanwhile, man of the season Alejandro Valverde was already in the driving seat, wrestling control on stage 2 and from that point onwards the result was never really in doubt.  He won again on stage five, making it seven wins to date this year, which, according to stat man Cillian Kelly is his best start to a season to date.  And there we were last year wondering if his career was over.  And, after the conclusion of the race on Sunday, a tough circuit race in Barcelona won in some style by Simon Yates, you can add the overall win to Valverde’s collection too.  

The Rad Race is a series of fixed gear races, which kicked off in Berlin on Sunday.  The first ever event was four years ago now and it has been growing in popularity ever since.

One hundred and sixty four competitors took part in the last man and woman standing format on the Mobikart Fun Racing circuit, just Four hundred and thirty metres in length.  It’s pretty simple, each race has eight participants, and every 2nd lap the rider at the back gets eliminated, whilst the winner goes through to the next round.  


If you'd like to contribute captions and video info in your language, here's the link 👍 

Watch more on GCN...
Cobbled Classics Explained 


Music: Jack Elphick - Head Nod Supreme 2

March 2018

Subscribe to the GCN Newsletter