Not entirely convinced by the looks…

Reviews seem a bit mixed, highly rated by some..

http://road.cc/content/feature/235054-all-roadcc-bike-year-2017-18-winners-one-place
https://roadcyclinguk.com/gear/reviews/bikes/3t-strada-first-ride-review.html
https://www.sigmasport.co.uk/hub/reviews/3t-strada-team-road-bike

And it’s coming to the pro peloton next year…

http://www.bikeradar.com/road/news/article/aqua-blue-sport-unveil-3t-strada-for-2018-51160/

And then there’s the price. £3600 for the frame 😯

So is this the future of road bikes or a one off clash of niches?

(Edit… or was it simply the only road bike Vroomen could build without getting into a legal battle with Cervelo?!)

(Double edit… a 9t rear sprocket?! That’ll be horrid to pedal.)

I flippin love it and if I could get past the price i’d have one. I’m not sure I’d have it as my only bike, but as a Sunday blaster it’d be immense.

I like it.
Not convinced of 1x taking over the pro peloton.
But on my “gravel”/ road bike 1x works for me on Sunday rides at least.

as a Sunday blaster it’d be immense.

Hmm yes. Well it’s definitely not a year round training bike! And I’m not sure it’s a bike for big UK rides. It could be fun on bumpy flat crits. I’m really not sure where else I’d what to use it. It’d be fun to have one in the quiver of steeds for the occasional type of ride and conditions that would suit, but it’d be a very expensive play thing!

I was talking to the guy in Sigma after Christmas who’d ridden that bike – he seemed super keen on it.
My thoughts are that a disc braked road bike suits being more versatile than sticking with maximum 28mm tyres. Which is why I’d not buy one. I’m also not very keen on the seat ‘tube’ wrapping the rear wheel.

Not entirely convinced by the looks…

I think it looks amazing. Purposeful and pretty – especially in the Red.

However the price is the reason I don’t own one and probably never will 😆

I’m also not very keen on the seat ‘tube’ wrapping the rear wheel.

Not much clearance for guards was my first thought 😉

maximum 28mm tyres

Seems even that’s quite problematic, with Vroomen saying it’s limited to a “true measurement” rather than what it says on the label, so I’d assume most 28mm tyres won’t fit or it’ll be very dependent on specific tyre/rim combinations.

Would still love to take one for a spin though 🙂

I sooooooo want one of these.

Currently riding a cervelo s3 converted to 1×11 and it’s works well. So well in fact that I’m not sure how much better this would be.
It’s an expensive experiment so sitting on the fence until a special offer comes along or they release a version 2.
( I’m sure they will do a v2 based on feedback from the race team and initial users )

looks lovely.

what gearing are you using for 1 x 11? I’ve toyed with the idea but surely it is too much of a compromise – even round the flat new forest I use the full range of gears and spin out with a compact.

The sigmasport guy said… (with a 50t front)

I normally like as tight a cassette as possible when I am riding; a 12-25 is my default ratio and I’ll only change to something bigger when travelling to mountainous areas. Needless to say, the idea of an 10-36 cassette on a road bike seemed ludicrously wide and I was sure that I would be constantly shifting up and down in a vain attempt to find the right cadence, but to my surprise, I was much less bothered by it than I expected to be.

Which I read as being “it wasn’t as crap as I expected it to be, but it was still a bit crap”.

I can’t remember which review it was in but someone also made a good point about group rides (and same would apply to riding to a zone). That if you need to ride at some specific speed and that’s between gears for a preferred cadence then you’ll be spinning or grinding. Not having the right gear would annoy me.

I run 1×11 on one of my road bikes, previously with a 50t on the front but now down to a more manageable to a 46t. On the back I was running a 12/28 but now have a 12/32 (getting old) and the gaps are noticeable. I try to sit in the middle of the block most of the time and I do struggle a bit to find the right cadence on the bigger block. I’ve found it not dissimilar to going back to 10 speed in that it never bothered me before but now its a pain in the arse. I do think that you get used to it over time but once you’re used to fine tuning your cadence (for want of a better expression) going to bigger gaps between ratios seems to be a step backwards.

As MrBlobby says, it’s probably mega for crits and flat’ish blasts but I wouldn’t want to be taking it out on a big day in the hills. Doesn’t stop me wanting one though!

I live in Geneva so plenty of hill and mountains on my usual routes. ( up to 17% gradient )
I use a 44 front with either an 11-40 xtr or 11-32 ultegra.

Xtr cassettes are perfect as the ratio gaps are vertically equal. I think it’s somthing like 20% per shift.( can’t find the technical doc on line)

I have high cadence so 44/11 will see 38mph – plenty other than the longest down hill.
Id usually tuck in at that point and get aero.

Needs a dropper.

I’d assume most 28mm tyres won’t fit or it’ll be very dependent on specific tyre/rim combinations.

They tested it with 28mm GP4Ks, which size up at around 31mm so I’m imagine that most 28mm tyres would fit.

I’d have one if I won the lottery. The Aquablue one is gorgeous.

Aquablue

Whut? *heads off to Google*

YES!!!

I wonder if they were a bit early for hydro eTap for that photo? Or maybe a range thing for the rear mech that means they need to run Force?

Whut? *heads off to Google*

There was a link in the first post 😉

I saw one in my LBS, in the hands of one of the Aqua Blue pro riders. They had popped in on a training ride with Mark Cavendish to sort out a few issues with his Cervelo.

It does look nice, but he did comment that the jumps in the cassette were not great when racing. For training it was fine, but not ideal when trying to go flat out up a mountain.

eTap HRD still needs a front derailleur to make the system work. I’d expect a 1x eTap to be launched this summer, with the first customer deliveries sometime after Easter 2019. I’m waiting for an eTap 1x MTB groupset so’s I can get rid of the stupid internal cable routing on my Air9C.

(Edit… or was it simply the only road bike Vroomen could build without getting into a legal battle with Cervelo?!)

cynic 😆

Vroomen even had 1x glasses on in a vid i saw recently

46; 11-36 on my Bowman Palace

Built for flat bumpy crits but works for hill climbing sessions in Winchester and 2-3 hour blasts round the New Forest just as well. I love it.

3T porn…

http://road.cc/content/tech-news/235321-pro-bike-aqua-blue-sports-3t-strada-race-trim

What mudguards for a 3T Strada? ;-D

Hmmm..

Not too sure about it. On one hand it looks like an S5 on the other it looks like Propel.. and I can’t get used to the very tight clearances on the seat tube and the ultra vertical seat post.
Loox rong.

And don’t get me started on Mamil Discs… 😛

Any resemblance to a Cervelo is purely coincidental 😉

I didn’t go for it initially, due to the seatpost angle, but I really like it now.

I run 1x on my roadie but it’s more of a gravel setup with 42t oval and 11-34. Not sure if I’d run a best roadie 1x…

First win in the crosswinds at the TDU…

Not convinced of 1x taking over the pro peloton.

This is the bit that I think makes it interesting. I’ve always thought close ratios on the road made things more efficient, but may be this will prove that’s not true? (Mind you, I still haven’t found anything on bigger tyres on the road that makes me 100% sure they are quicker.)

Does the fork really flex that little? I would expect that tyre to hit the downtube under braking on any bike I’ve ever owned

what about chain dropping off the front ring during rear wheel changes?

Popped this on another thread but seems relevant to this one…

While Hansen ran a fairly standard cassette on stage 1 of the race, 3T produce cassettes designed to work specifically with their 1X drivetrains, with closer ratios at either the top or bottom of the cassette to suit the parcours. However, large jumps do remain if a wide range is required and the Aqua Blue Sport riders will have to choose their gearing carefully later in the week.

So their riders need to carefully pick not only ring and cassette range to suit a stage, but also whether they need a cassette with close ratios at the top or the bottom. What a faff. I’m wondering whether we’ll see their riders swapping bikes during stages for different ratios when we come to mountainous terrain, one bike with climbing ratios, another with descending/flat ratios?

1×12 surely a good idea, if it catches on then I can see Sram bringing out 1×12 groupset, useful for cross as well I guess. Then Shimano will bring one out in five years.

For road, I doubt they will. You can see why SRAM are pushing it as it’s a clear differentiator for them but for road it just seems like a big compromise for little gain, and a fair amount of faff for pro teams to make it work for them.

Are Sram even pushing it? Seems like its the frame that’s put the need in place. If 3T are having to make their own cassettes you have to wonder if Sram are really all that bothered (or they’d be doing it themselves)

custom cassettes sound neat

sounds like the old days when you could go to the bike shop and custom build your 6spd block from a selection of cogs on the wall 🙂

Yet to see a Strada in the flesh but have had a quick look at the 3T Exploro and they’re super nice bikes, would be keen to see how the Strada rides.

For those asking about 1×12 for the road, it’s coming. Sram very, very stealthily launched an XDR frehub body, basically a modded standard XD driver from what I understand that will take a narrower range 12 speed cassette.

SRAM explains XDR freehub body, which will make 12-speed road possible