Tyres which may inflate themselves have typically appeared like a sci-fi conception of a would-be achieve in WorldTour using, however the know-how has moved one step nearer to breaking into the WorldTour peloton on the 2024 Gravel World Championships.
Marianne Vos (Netherlands) showcased Gravaa’s self-inflating tyre know-how forward of the Gravel World Championships following an absence of the system because the 2023 version of Paris-Roubaix.
The Gravaa system makes use of tiny compressors which reside throughout the bike hubs to inflate the stress of the tyre whereas on strong terrain, earlier than lowering stress to accommodate rougher terrain the place decrease stress may optimise rolling resistance.
Gertjan van Ginderen, proprietor of Gravaa, defined that the system has been developed significantly since its preliminary launch in 2022. “So we improved the electronics lots, I have to say,” he instructed Cyclingnews. “So there is a PCB inside every hub, and that is very weak for moisture filth, so we have truly made a change contained in the know-how to have it fully potted.
“So it is fully potted the electronics within the epoxy. We have modified the antenna, we have modified the disc brakes, together with the interface of the disc brakes, additionally to be appropriate with different spoke configurations.”
“This principally is a really small compressor clutch mechanism and digital printed circuit board, and the hubs speak with one another. So the entrance hub is the grasp, whereas the rear up is a slave. And to the entrance up, you’ll be able to join both your smartphone or your bicycle pc, so long as it and plus or Bluetooth appropriate.”
The know-how shocked the world of biking tech obsessives when it first made its look in 2022, with the potential enhancements of rolling resistance providing a substantial benefit in opposition to competitors in combined terrains.
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Whereas initially intriguing, not one of the riders utilizing the Gravaa system for Visma in 2023 noticed success at that yr’s version and the hubs weren’t used the next yr.
Nevertheless, with the technical updates, and Gravaa’s broader enterprise growth, Van Ginderen is assured the know-how will now turn out to be a extra everlasting fixture of Visma-Lease a Bike’s bike setup on the Classics.
Marianne Vos defined that she had been coaching on the bike forward of the race. “I have been on the Cervelo gravel bike already two years in the past, however now this setup on the brand new bike I solely had since final week. We have now executed some recons on this bike, a minimum of the bike is prepared,” she mentioned with amusing.
Vos enters the girls’s elite race as a favorite, and so her use of the know-how is a giant vouch within the crew’s confidence in utilizing it.
“I’ve to do an excellent race, keep out of bother. It is tough to foretell how issues will unfold, how I shall be. I really feel good. We need to attempt to be with some Dutchies within the closing,” she mentioned.
Dutch teammate Femke de Vries can also be utilizing the system, and Belgian rider Tiesj Benoot will use it in tomorrow’s males’s elite race.
