10 cycling trends NOT to copy off the Tour de France pros — do we really need huge chainrings, ceramic bearings and integrated everything?

The Tour de France is the world’s biggest bike race, where the fastest road riders come to battle it out. Last year the 3,405km route was completed at an incredible average speed of 41.4kph, or 25.7mph. So, if you’re looking to go faster or further on your bike, you might think that you should be copying everything the pro riders of the Tour de France peloton do… we'd argue that's not quite true!  

Yep, it turns out that what might be ideal for a professional cyclist at the peak of his/her physical powers, riding on closed, smoothly-surfaced roads with support cars to tender to their every mechanical need might not be so ideal for the rest of us. Without six hours or more per day to train, a team of mechanics on hand and an almost unlimited supply of bikes and equipment (unless you're very very rich) there are some things the pros do that could most likely impair your cycling performance if you try to emulate them. 

All this isn't to say that we shouldn't draw any inspiration from the pros; in fact, we did a whole feature and article on what you should copy off them just last year! Let's crack on with our top 10 pro no-nos... 

Huge chainrings

> 1x vs 2x: Are single chainring set-ups the future of road cycling?

Unfortunately, it’s very, very unlikely that we mere mortals are travelling at anything like the same speeds as the pros. We’ll blame that on not having a nice peloton to sit in, shall we?

This year most of the pros are running massive 54T chainrings, but the team mechanics actually change them in between stages to best suit the terrain. This is because the pros want to be in the middle of the cassette block for the majority of the race, as this is the most efficient chain line that will save some watts. 

> All the gear? Check out the gearing choices of the pros at the Tour de France

Copying the pros gearing In the real world is a sure-fire way to blow up your knees, or have a horrendously inefficient chain line. Instead, most of us amateur road riders will be better suited with a compact groupset, something like a 48/35 or 50/34T chainset.

Race tyres

On a flat road, there’s two main things slowing you down: aerodynamics and rolling resistance. The easiest way to reduce your rolling resistance is by switching to a set of faster tyres; for example, you can see above that Pogacar and his UAE Team Emirates team are using Continental’s GP5000 TT tyre.

> Best road bike tyres

The problem with tyres like this is that they’re not only more prone to puncturing, but they also don’t last very long. Usually you'll need to replace them twice as fast as an all-rounder tyre. 

Now, if you’re a very rich cycling team looking for every marginal gain then that might be worth it, but with the current eye-watering price of tyres we’d recommend giving up a few watts in the name of durability. After all, we don’t have a team car following around after us if we do get caught by the puncture fairy!

Top-of-the-range groupsets

Look around the Tour de France peloton in 2024 and you’ll see two groupsets, Shimano Dura-Ace groupsets and Sram Red AXS. Both are very good, and you can find our comparison between them using the link below; however, when building our own bikes, we wouldn’t actually spend our own money on either of them…

> Sram Red AXS vs Shimano Dura-Ace: which groupset is best?

No, it’s not because we’re diehard Campagnolo fans, but rather because the lower-spec groupsets are just so much better value. Take the 12-speed Ultegra groupset, for example. You won’t find it being used in this year's Tour, but it’s only about 200g heavier than Dura-Ace, has exactly the same motors and tech and yet costs over £1,000 less.

Just to put that weight difference into perspective, it’s less than two medium bananas.

White bar tape

For some reason, this year's Tour de France is absolutely inundated with white bar tape, presumably for reasons of fashion and panache! I have to admit it does look really rather good, but from personal experience, I’d recommend not trying this one at home.

When I tried it I got some lovely comments on the first few rides, and then of course it got quickly ruined by road spray at the first hint of bad weather. No amount of cleaning could bring it back, and after a few months I gave in and went back to black.

Super aggressive frame geometry

You might think that all you need to ride as fast as the pros is the same bike. As cyclists we're quite lucky that unlike in other sports, you can (for a price) buy the exact same equipment being used by the world's best.

Chances are though this probably isn’t the most sensible purchase. In fact, there’s a whole host of bikes that are more suitable for the majority of us than the race machines that the uber-flexible pros use.

> Should I buy a race bike or an endurance bike?

For example, team Movistar and Deceuninck Quickstep riders have been using the unreleased Canyon Aeroad CFR in this Tour de France; however, rather than just copying the pros, another bike in Canyon's range such as the Endurace is likely better suited to most amateur riders.

> Giant Defy vs Canyon Endurace vs Lauf Uthald

An endurance bike like this is still performance-focused, lightweight and has top-end components. The main difference is that it's taller at the front, which will probably mean that we mere mortals can ride it in more comfort for longer.

Ridiculous aero tech

I am a big fan of aero… but the 2024 Tour de France has seen some seriously bizarre tech all created in the pursuit of cheating the wind. These are things that unless you want some odd looks, are probably better left to the pros…

This $300 aero beak that sprinter Dilan Groenewegen was spotted using, for example, is probably enough to get you laughed out of your local cycling club. I know my riding buddies wouldn’t let me live that one down!

> Has aero gone too far? 

Taping up your boas like Cav is also probably best not copying. Or, how about the TT-style POC helmet complete with visor that the EF team have been wearing? Even if it might save you some milliseconds, it's not going to be a very practical or affordable choice. 

Super lightweight components/bikes

Now I know this one is going to be controversial, and to be fair there is a few exceptions to the rule. If you live somewhere really mountainous, for example. 

Most of us don’t live in mountainous terrain though. I live in the Mendip Hills in the UK, which is quite hilly, but I know that sacrificing a few extra grams to get something more aerodynamic is well worth it if I want to go as fast as possible.

> Wilier unveils its "lightest ever bike", the Verticale SLR

The pros take on some of the hardest climbs in Europe, so of course they’re going to try and shave grams and ride bikes like the Wilier Verticale (above). This new lightweight bike is right on the 6.8kg UCI weight limit when fitted with 25mm tubular wheels and tyres.

Personally, though, I would much rather ride something like the Wilier Filante. Yes it’s a few hundred grams heavier, but I don’t think that this will make the foggiest bit of difference to my (very non-pro) performances. 

Ceramic bearings

> 6 of the best value bike upgrades

If you were to pull apart the bikes of the pros, then on nearly all of them you’d find ceramic bearings residing in the bottom bracket, the wheels, the pedals, and even in the headsets. Manufacturers of ceramic bearings claim they are the best of the best, but quite often this performance comes at a premium.

For example, take Hunt’s latest Sub 50 wheels (above). They will set you back £1,849 with steel bearings, and a whopping £440 more for the same wheels with ceramic bearings.

Ceramic bearings might save you a few watts out of the box, but it isn't a very cost-effective upgrade and your money is likely much better spent elsewhere. In the long- term, proper bearing maintenance will most likely reap larger rewards for you.

Integrated cockpits

Over the past few years, there’s been a shift from just a few sprinters using integrated cockpits to a very large proportion of the Tour de France peloton. Integrated cockpits look absolutely great, and are probably a tiny bit faster too!

However, for adjustments they’re not so good. If you're a Tour de France pro then you’ll have a whole team of people analysing your position, bike fits multiple times a year and access to an unlimited supply of very expensive cockpits.

> The things I learnt from a professional bike fit

Most of us don't have access to all that though, so we need a solution that is adjustable over time; not to mention that some brands don’t even offer the same widths and lengths of cockpits to consumers as they do to the pros.

Comfort is key for most of us, not only to enjoy cycling to the full, but also to ride faster for longer. In my opinion, this is far easier to achieve with a conventional bar and stem.

Gels and high-carb drinks

Professional cycling takes quite some fuelling, and riders in the Tour de France will be consuming upwards of 6,000 calories a day. This will be made up of gels, high-carb energy drinks and the pros' old favourite of rice cakes.

Fuelling is just as important for us amateurs, although we’d recommend not ingesting quite the same quantity of gels and energy powder in drinks. The pros have spent years optimising their fuelling strategies, building up their carb intake and ensuring that they can get enough calories down in as short a time as possible.

> How to eat right for sportives and long rides

If we tried to eat the same as a pro, then all that would happen is we’d feel very sick and potentially regret it even more the day after. If you really want to copy the pros, build up your carb intake over time and never try something new on event day.

Let us know whether you agree or disagree with these choices in the comments section below.