How to make sure you get a Vitus 2022 bike, new Rapha & Orbea clothing, Map My Track app for clubs, Pirelli tyres now made in Italy, Alba sunnies + more

It's time to check out the latest tech stories from the world of cycling – everything from new clothing from Orbea and Rapha to the tyre pressures you need for riding Strade Bianche. We're starting, though, with some valuable information if you want to get your hands on a new Vitus bike this year...

Don’t miss out on a Vitus… here are the stock drop dates you need to know about

We all know that many bikes are hard to come by at the moment because of interruptions to the supply chain, so Vitus is doing its best to help out by telling you exactly when its various models will be available.

We’ve said in review after review that Vitus offers impressive value for money with its bikes. 

The ZX-1 Evo, for example, provides “excellent stiffness levels, awesome handling, real-world aerodynamic benefits and a spec list that defies the price”.

Then there’s the Vitesse Evo, Vitus’ lightweight racing road bike, which features the brand’s latest one-piece carbon frame. Stu described it as “an absolute belter of a bike” that delivers on performance and comfort. 

> Both are designed to be ridden quickly on tarmac, but they have different strengths, so we took a look at which one would suit your needs better

How can you make sure you don’t miss out? Well, Vitus doesn’t take any pre-orders but does recommend making a stock alert with one of its exclusive retailers. 

Vitus says it doesn’t want to take your money and make you wait for delivery but does want to provide you with as much info as possible so they can make the right buying decision.

The 2022 stock drops are as follows:

Road

• Energie Evo - Live
• Vitesse Evo - February 2022
• ZX-1 Evo - February 2022
• Emitter - March 2022
• Zenium - March 2022
• Auro - April 2022
• Razor - June 2022

Gravel

• Substance - March 2022
• E-Substance - March 2022

Find out more

Find out how a pro team preps its bikes for Strade Bianche

Here’s how the Israel - Premier Tech Pro Cycling Team alters its bikes for a race like Strade Bianche (which took place in Italy last Saturday). It’s all about the tyre width and pressure.

Pro teams are often cagey – sometimes downright secretive – about tyre pressures so it’s interesting to get this little insight.

Map My Tracks launches an app for clubs

UK-based fitness portal Map My Tracks has launched a new Clubs service that provides cycling clubs with a dedicated app that features club rides, membership management and group messaging. 

Once set up, the web app can be added to your phone's home screen and is said to function just like a native app downloaded from the App Store or Google Play. 

“With a club app being able to be set up, and branded, in minutes it means that just about every cycling club can provide its members with a centralised source for rides, routes, messaging and membership management,” says Map My Tracks. 

The Clubs app is based on Map My Tracks’ work with its local bike club, Canterbury Bicycle Club. 

“It brings together all the features that have proved invaluable to them with many being based on their experience during Covid lockdown periods,” says the brand. “During each lockdown period, the app became the club's preferred way to organise group rides and limit capacity. It also acted as a way to keep everyone up-to-date with club activity and news.”

One feature is a live map that allows club members to see where everyone else might be when out on club rides to help ensure everyone stays together and nobody gets lost. 

Map My Tracks Clubs is free to use for clubs up to 30 members; for those with more than 30, there is a £12 monthly subscription. 

Find out more

Zwift becomes Paris Roubaix Femme’s presenting partner

Zwift has announced it will be the presenting partner of the Paris-Roubaix Femmes that’s set to kick off on 16 April. 

The four-year deal sees the indoor training platform expand its investment in the women’s peloton, building on its partnership with the ASO for this year’s inaugural Tour de France Femmes.

Zwift also says it has been working to put women’s racing on an equal footing with men’s for some time with initiatives including the recent UCI Cycling Esports World Championships, the Virtual Tour de France, Zwift Academy and the Tour for All.

Find out more

New colours for Alba sunnies

Alba Optics has added two new frame colour and lens combinations to its Solo sunglasses range which have been designed for prolonged use and multi-day outings. 

What d'you think of the new Rust and Sand colourways - yay or nay? 

The frame is made from the durable, lightweight and flexible Tr90, and the arms of these sunnies can be adjusted to four different positions for the best fit and comfort which is similar to the design on the frameless Stratos model we tested.

Find out more

Orbea launches Spring/Summer collection

It’s that time of year when brands are releasing all the details about their new warmer weather gear, and this week Orbea has revealed its new Spring/Summer range for road and gravel cyclists, that’s been created with technical cycling apparel brand HIRU.

The latest additions are designed to complete the existing range and adapt to more diverse weather conditions, allowing for a greater range of use.

The Lab range focuses on aerodynamic and lightweight gear and, for example, features a new long-sleeve jersey for the pre or post moments during the race season. In the Core range, which is designed for daily use in all types of conditions and terrains, the newest addition is a sleeveless jersey built for the hottest days of summer. 

The Accessories collection has also been expanded. There are now some new short summer gloves which incorporate a patented design that’s said to be multi-directional, elastic and seamless.

Limited time deal: added warranty for Favero’s pedal-based power meters

Italian brand Favero is offering an extra year of warranty for free for anyone who buys its single-sided Assioma Uno (£449) or dual-sided Duo (£699) power meter pedals on its official site until 23 March 2022.

The pedal-based power meter usually comes with two years of warranty but now for a limited time, you can get three years. 

Alongside this, Favero is allowing existing Assioma Duo or Uno owners with a still valid warranty to buy an extra year for €49.90. That’s around £41.50.

Read our full review on the Favero Assioma Duo 

What do you think of Rapha’s new season colours?

Rapha has revealed a whole load of new colour options for its spring/summer range. There are a lot of greens and peaches/oranges in there, although some of the new colours aren’t yet on Rapha’s website.

The Pro Team Flyweight Jersey (£130) comes in this green/blue option, for example.

This is a new colour option for the Brevet jersey (£130) that’s not yet (at the time of writing) shown on Rapha’s website.

The Women’s Core Lightweight Jersey (£60) is available in this peach option.

Women’s Classic Bibshorts (£170) will be available in this wine colour.

Find out more (men’s) 
Find out more (women’s) 

Pirelli offers 'made in Italy' bike tyres

The Pirelli factory in Bollate in Italy has started producing Pirelli cycling tyres, and is said to be the only factory to make industrial-scale “made in Italy” bike tyres.

Opened by Pirelli in 1962, the historic facility is just a few kilometres from Milan and has recently been undergoing a modernisation and overhaul process to accommodate the production of Pirelli’s top-of-the-range lines. 

Pirelli says, “The Bollate factory is truly unique in this sector and innovation is present at all levels: not only in process automation, which guarantees extremely high-quality reliability and geometrical precision to the product - which is an even more important factor when it comes to a bike tyre, given its small size and light weight - but also, for example, when it comes to semi-finished products, here Pirelli tested a unique extrusion system, which also helps reach absolute geometrical and weight precision; and finally its compounds, developed with a continuous mixing system.”

The P Zero Race tyres will be the first to hit the market from March, with the complete renovation of the industrial plant expected to be completed by early 2023.

Find out more

The hottest review on road.cc next week

Wednesday 16th March Find out how the Wahoo KICKR CORE smart trainer performs.

 At £699.99, it's the cheapest direct-drive trainer in Wahoo's range but does it provide the functionality you need? All will be revealed.