What’s new in tech? Not a whole lot at the moment. Maybe that has to do with a big gravel race next week. Who knows!
This week seems to be dominated by brands better associated with mountain bikes and by training platforms. Both Mondraker AND Kona announced alloy versions of their carbon gravel bikes. Zwift got an update, Ride with GPS starts a global scavenger hunt, Elite’s smart trainers now play nice with the Zwift Cog and Click system, and Strava rolls out smarter, AI-powered route creation.
Don’t fret, roadies: there’s a fresh MAAP x Quoc collab shoe drop, with new shoes from Fizik as well. And Coros? It has announced a unique repair program for its devices to get you back on the road faster.
Here is what’s new This Week in Tech.
Elite smart trainers now compatible with Zwift Cog and Click
The Zwift Cog and Click is one of those engineering solutions so simple it’s genius. All it does is replace the cassette on a smart trainer with a single speed gear and the correct spacing to manage the chainline. From there it then leverages the ability of a smart trainer to adjust difficulty by adding buttons that shift gears by adjusting the trainer difficulty.
It’s inexpensive and it’s simple to use. It should also work on virtually any smart trainer but so far, it hasn’t.
Previously, we saw compatibility for the Cog and Click on select Jet Black, Van Rysel, Wahoo, and the original Zwift smart trainers. Elite later added compatibility to the Direto XR and Direto XR-T and promised more to come. Now there’s more.
This week Elite added Zwift Cog and Click compatibility to the following trainers:
- Direto
- Direto X
- Suito
- Suito-t
- Avanti
- Justo
- Justo 2
As with any Zwift Cog and Click enabled trainer, this means “most 8- to 12-speed bikes” will have the ability to transition to and from the trainer with no setup. All you’ll need is the 79,99 € / $79.99 Zwift Cog and Click Upgrade Kit. For more information visit the Zwift website. – Josh Ross
Fizik adds new top-end Vega Carbon road shoes
Frankly, I think Fizik’s new Vega Carbon shoes look pretty sweet. That’s not just the looks, however: I think they’ve made some worthwhile changes to the fit that are better for the average foot.
There are all kinds of exotic materials here to start. There’s Fizik’s Aeroweave Pro woven fabric used across the shoes, a foot-wrapping bootie made of perforated Airprene, and Fizik’s integrated full carbon outsole. What interests me, however, is the revised last shape. Fizik says the shoe gets an expanded toe box and reduced heel-to-toe drop (also known as toe spring) while maintaining the same heel dimensions. Rejoice, normal feet havers!
Unfortunately, the new fit and materials come at a price: $469.99 to be specific. Here’s to Fizik expanding this new fit to its other shoes. Until then, find more at fizik.com. – Alvin Holbrook
Ride with GPS runs a scavenger hunt
Every year Ride With GPS runs a scavenger hunt across a number of participating cities. The basic concept is that you are looking for hidden hats but it’s always a little different how it’s actually done. It’s an evolving thing and this year marks the 5th anniversary.
According to Ride with GPS, “Cap seekers can earn points in real-time for visiting multiple locations and adding photos of their adventure. It’s a competition against people across the world as well as those in your own city, all for a chance to win some sweet prizes.
- Cap locations will just appear for the player, where they can check in for points, claim a cap if possible, or report the cap being gone.
- There will be photo missions broadcast out throughout the day to everyone playing, encouraging them to take a particular photo and submit it for bonus points.
- We’ll message players about side quests, such as visiting local businesses for extra goodies if they are one of the first ones to arrive
- For the first time ever, we’ll be announcing new cap locations in cities during the morning that aren’t part of the initial 8 AM location reveal
- There will be a leaderboard for everyone in a location scoring their bonus points, with prizes being shipped out after the campaign concludes.
- And this will all be run from a command center on the day of, seeing everyone play in real time, launching side quests and photo missions, and encouraging everyone to play as long as possible throughout the day to find a cap or rack up bonus points.”
For more information visit the RWGPS website. – JR
Strava gets better routing and better leaderboard integrity
Sticking with the theme of mapping and ride tracking services, Strava also has some updates also and mapping is a big part of it.
First up is a new feature for subscribers to help make routes without making them. Of course, this is AI driven but it’s also leveraging the real data Strava has. Strava claims, “updated AI-powered Routes offer smarter, intuitive suggestions by leveraging Strava’s Global Heatmap so subscribers can run, ride, or walk like locals wherever they go. Available in the Maps tab, Routes now provide greater flexibility and reliability, letting users generate community-backed routes from their current location or any custom starting point.”
As you make your way through these new routes there are now going to be tappable points of interest. Things like cafés, restrooms, or viewpoints “now enable subscribers to tap and discover more information and instantly generate a route directly there or suggest routes that include that POI. Available in June, Tappable Points of Interest will provide key details like elevation, distance, and estimated time to arrival, all enriched by photos from the community within the Maps tab in the Strava mobile app.”
Getting to those points of interest will be a little easier as well, but this one is starting in July. Once it goes live, point-to-point routing will deliver “the most efficient, activity-specific route from A to B—powered by Strava’s new Routes engine and informed by the Global Heatmap.”
For those who are looking to be a bit more competitive there are also some new features for you as well. In February Strava launched an AI system to better police segment leaderboards. Now the system is getting advanced enough that the brand is unleashing it on the entire database and having it reprocess every person on every top 10. “This effort has removed 4.45 million activities with the wrong sport type or recorded in vehicles so far, helping to rightfully restore KOMs and QOMs to reflect true performances.”
For more information visit the Strava website. – JR
Mondraker Arid adds an alloy model
Mondraker’s latest Arid gravel bike was certainly distinctive, carrying over all the angles and (divisive) looks of its mountain bikes. After seeing a preview at Sea Otter Classic, now comes two Mondraker Arid alloy models that are said to offer the same overall ride comfort as the existing Arid carbon frame, but bring the starting price point down quite a bit.
Other things that carry over from the existing carbon Arid include the bike’s longer, slacker geometry, array of mounts across the bike, the unique seatstay ‘window’ design, its 50 mm + tire clearance, and the geometry of the current Arid. There’s no denying the striking looks of the Arid Alloy, but its more mountain-bikey geometry isn’t going to be for everyone.
What will certainly be for more people are the prices, starting at $2,499 for a 1x Shimano GRX mechanical drivetrain and $2,899 for a build with SRAM Apex AXS. See more at mondraker.com. – AH
The Kona Ouroboros gets in on the alloy bike party
Want a drop bar mountain bike like the Kona Ouroboros, but you want it in an alloy frame? Say no more, for Kona has you covered with its Ouroboros Aluminum. The latest bike keeps the same 2.3-inch tire clearance, suspension-corrected geometry, and dropper post compatibility. What it does get it a lower price point. Yay, affordability!
This latest bike gets a Suntour GVX fork with 40 mm suspension, a 50 mm Maxxis Ravager gravel tire, a TransX dropper post with 125 mm drop, and a Microshift Sword 10 speed drivetrain with an 11-48t cassette. Other than that – and some welds at the ends of each tube – the Ouroboros alloy is said to be just as capable as the carbon models.
Pricing starts at just $1899. See more at konaworld.com. – AH
Revel Bikes is back
Revel is our third of three specific updated from MTB-specific brands. What is this, Pinkbike?
Revel Bikes might make mostly mountain bikes, yes. But we have a deep appreciation for the Revel Rover carbon gravel bike and the Revel R+ (formerly of Why Cycles) titanium gravel bike. And just a month after the Golden, Colorado-based Revel announced it was shutting its doors, Revel has been acquired by its original founder, Adam Miller.
Miller says, “The private equity firm had a very different vision for Revel than I did. They helped us by making heavy investments in manufacturing and supply chain… but they also pursued an aggressive growth-at-all-costs model that didn’t align with the DNA of the brand.”
Revel says it will honor the lifetime warranty for all current owners while the company aims to be leaner and smaller. Miller says that’ll mean a frame-only program for dealers and direct-to-consumer complete build options.
We’re hoping for the best, and perhaps an update of its gravel bike lineup to come. See more at revelbikes.com. – AH
MAAP x Quoc M3 Pro
We were big fans of Quoc’s first collaboration with Maap for its new road shoes, which we first saw at Sea Otter Classic. Now comes another collaboration between MAAP and Quoc, this time for road shoes, called the MAAP x Quoc M3 Pro.
Maap says its special edition M3 Pro features MAAP-specific detailing, including big MAAP lettering along the carbon sole, smaller MAAP logos on the side of the shoe, and small changes to the upper. The MAAP edition shoe seems to ditch the obviously large area mesh air vents for some smaller arrow-look vents. It also adds panel detailing around the outer heel area.
The MAAP x QUOC M3 Pro is available in two colorways – ‘White’ and ‘Musk’ (pink) – for £340 / €395 / $450 at maap.cc and quoc.cc. – AH
Coros repair service
Coros has announced its own Coros Repair Service as a way to fix your broken Coros computers and devices should they break. Break a screen, button, dial, or battery? Just send it in, pay a small repair fee, and you’ll get a refurbished replacement within a week. As a bonus, Coros says it will even ship a temporary device right away so your training doesn’t miss a step.
Coros says all of its current devices are eligible for the repair program, including the Pace 3, Pace Pro watch, and Coros Dura bike computer.
For cycling fans, the Dura is the device you’ll most care about. Pricing starts at $69 for a Dura battery replacement or $99 for a Dura screen or dial replacement. See more at coros.com. – AH