High-end performance company CeramicSpeed is known in pro cycling for its ceramic bearings and its Oversized Pulley Wheel system that replaces the jockey wheels on a derailleur with larger, lower-friction models. Later this summer, the company will launch the OSPW Aero, which, as the name implies, is an aerodynamic version of the OSPW component with a built-in fairing.
At the Ironman world championship in Utah, Ineos Grenadiers rider Cam Wurf has an OSPW Aero on his Pinarello Bolide.
Our colleagues at Triathlete including executive editor Chris Foster said there are five athletes at Ironman with this product.
At the Giro d’Italia in Hungary right now, there is at least one rider with an OSPW Aero on his time trial bike for stage 2 on Saturday.
Foster reported from Ironman that this OSPW Aero that this design was a collaboration between “the friction masters at CeramicSpeed and the aeroweenies at U.K.-based Drag2Zero.”
CeramicSpeed is expected to officially launch the OSPW Aero at the start of the Tour de France with a Danish flag graphic on the unit. The Tour starts this year in Copenhagen with four stages in Denmark — home to CeramicSpeed.
The CeramicSpeed OSPW Aero is a fairing-covered version of the Danish company’s Oversized Pulley Wheel system.
This is Cam Wurf’s Pinarello for Ironman. Wurf races for Ineos Grenadiers and also races triathlon. He is the only WorldTour rider that we are aware of to do so.
The OSPW Aero is not yet an official product.
CeramicSpeed bearings are not uncommon on WorldTour or Ironman bikes.
Wurf’s Pinarello Bolide for Ironman.
The OSPW replaces the pulley wheels on derailleurs with larger wheels that spin on ceramic bearings. The size of the wheels varies by model, but it is the lower wheel that is most dramatically different with its 19 teeth. A Shimano 9150 rear derailleur like the one that Wurf has on his bike uses 11 teeth for both pulleys. The idea is that the larger pulleys reduce chain articulation and thereby reduce friction, leading to a more efficient drivetrain.
The OSPW Aero is obviously a product focused on race-day performance, not ease of maintenance.
The current Shimano OSPW goes for $529. This OSPW Aero is expected to sell for $800.