Fulcrum has teamed up with Polartec to launch a waterproof wheel bag for its Sharq aero carbon gravel/all-road wheels, producing a Sharq Polartec Edition with special graphics to mark the collaboration.

The Polartec Power Shield Pro wheel bag, made from fabric usually reserved for high-tech waterproof clothing, is aimed at riders who want to keep their Fulcrum Sharq wheels in pristine condition – at least until they hit the trails.

The wheel bag is made from Biolon nylon with PFAS-free DWR waterproofing and a ‘monolithic membrane’ – no, we don’t know what one of those is either, but according to the dictionary, it’s made from a single large block of stone, which doesn’t sound right. It’s claimed to be breathable and weatherproof, however. 

• Read more: Fulcrum Sharq wheelset review

A bold fashion accessory

The brands say the new wheel bag is “engineered to protect the wheel rim and spoke while not in use”. They reckon the wheel bag “cleverly becomes a bold fashion accessory” too, while “reflecting the companies’ commitment to sustainability and long-term resilience”.

To reinforce the message that your wheels aren’t run-of-the-mill alloy, there’s a matching Polartec cycling cap thrown in with your wheel bag purchase.

Made from the same Power Shield Pro fabric, it’s said to be both breathable and quick-drying, so you’re protected from sun and rain on your gravel rides.

Aside from the über-engineered wheel bag and the special graphics, you’re getting the Sharq wheels’ asymmetric wavy rims with 25mm internal width.

Fulcrum says these are aero optimised for 30mm to 42mm tyres, with the Fulcrum 2-Way Fit non-drilled rim bed and a claimed weight of 1,440g. They’re laced to hubs with Fulcrum’s USB ceramic bearings.

With the Polartec x Fulcrum Sharq wheels carrying a £2,289 / $2,807 / €2,460 list price (the same as the standard Sharq wheels), including the limited-edition Polartec bag and cap, we’d guess there’s some incentive to keep them out of harm’s way. 

So is this the strangest cycling collab of 2025? Possibly. But that honour may still belong to Castelli and SpongeBob SquarePants.

SRAM’s CEO Ken Lousberg says the company tried to engage the UCI over its new Maximum Gearing Protocol, but its concerns went “unheard”. 

The UCI, cycling’s governing body, announced in June that it would trial gearing restrictions in a bid to improve rider safety. 

Due to the gear ratios used by SRAM, concerns were raised at the time that the company’s athletes and teams would be most affected by the restrictions.

On Friday, SRAM announced it has filed “a formal complaint” with Belgium’s Competition Authority against the UCI, stating that it’s the only major manufacturer whose current pro team setup would be disadvantaged by the new UCI regulations. 

• Read more: SRAM announces it is taking legal action against UCI over gearing restrictions

In an open letter, Lousberg said: “The UCI’s new Maximum Gearing Protocol is set to restrict the equipment many of you rely on to ride and race at your best. It limits choice, stifles innovation, and unfairly targets SRAM riders – and SRAM itself.”

“We’ve tried to engage the UCI, cycling’s governing body, in good faith, but our concerns went unheard. That’s why we’ve taken legal action – not just to protect SRAM, but to protect the right to compete on equal footing,” added Lousberg. 

“We’re not asking for much. We simply want our racers to compete on a level playing field, and for the industry to be recognized and included as a core stakeholder – working together to make our sport safer for athletes and more inspiring for fans.” 

Lousberg added that he knows the rule has “already caused confusion, anxiety and disruption” and said SRAM’s commitment to rider safety and innovation “remains unchanged”. 

SRAM said in an official statement: “Although the UCI refers to the Maximum Gearing Protocol as a ‘test’, its implementation has already caused tangible harm. SRAM’s gearing has been publicly labeled as non- compliant, creating reputational damage, market confusion, team and athlete anxiety, and potential legal exposure.” 

Gearing restrictions are a divisive issue in professional cycling. Chris Froome and Wout van Aert called for gear restrictions in January. Froome said: “At some point, I think we’re maybe going to have to even have the discussion about limiting the progression of technology in the sport to accommodate for the safety aspect. That could be something as simple as limiting the gears we’re using.”

But following the UCI’s announcement in June, others objected to the proposal.

Ahead of the Arctic Race of Norway in August, Tom Pidcock said: “Limiting gears will only make everything more dangerous.”

Dan Bigham, head of engineering at Red Bull – Bora – Hansgrohe, also presented his research into the restrictions at the Science and Cycling Conference in Lille. He said the restrictions would have no impact on the speed of the peloton and therefore would not improve safety. 

“We have the power to make changes. But restricting gear ratios simply distracts from making meaningful changes to rider safety,” said Bigham.

Dangerholm’s latest project is this incredible Scott Scale RC SL, reimagined as a gravel bike. 

Weighing only 7.19kg, it blurs the lines between XC race and gravel bikes, and is dripping in carbon exotica, including new components from Spanish weight-weenie specialist, Darimo. 

The build uses 40mm-wide (internal) rims paired with 2.1in tyres, which Dangerholm – the nom de plume of Gustav Gullholm – says transforms how the bike rides: “You probably want much, much wider rims on your gravel bike – you just don’t know it yet,” he wrote on Instagram, explaining that the combination enabled him to lower tyre pressure without a squirmy feel. 

Darimo provided several bespoke components to make the project possible. These included a one-piece saddle and seatpost designed specifically for Dangerholm’s measurements.

100 per cent specific

“The saddle and seatpost are 100 per cent specific for this build because we need to know the exact height of the seatpost over the clamp to reinforce there,” says Darimo spokesperson, Thomas Skubiszewski. 

“The angle and the shape of the saddle are completely bespoke for Gustav and for this build.” 

Skubiszewski explains the seatpost is not something Darimo intends to bring to market, yet: “We aren’t going to sell it anytime soon because it is so time-consuming to produce. It’s more a proof of knowledge or concept, unless someone offers us 3 million euros or whatever,” he jokes.

The cockpit is Darimo’s Nexum Drag bar-stem combo, here built with a -12-degree stem. 

Like all Darimo bars, it was tailored to Dangerholm’s exact needs.

“First you decide the geometry [of the cockpit] – the dimensions, the width, the length, the angle and everything,” Skubiszewski explains. 

“Then you tell us your body weight and riding style, and we adapt the carbon layup. 

“Then you choose the aesthetic – 3K, UD or forged carbon, matte or shiny – and it’s your bespoke bar.”

Darimo stresses that the finish is as much about honesty as it is about weight. “There are some very small imperfections, but we never hide them under a thick layer of paint,” Skubiszewski says. “Whatever product you see with a Darimo sticker is raw carbon with quality fibres that don’t fade under the sun.”

The bike also provided a showcase for Darimo’s new Sigma crankset, shown here in its final form for the first time.

The pictured crankset is 175mm long and weighs 280g without a chainring – impressively light, but not the lightest on the market. 

However, creating the lightest crankset possible was not the aim of the project: “The aim is not to be the lightest because we can go lighter, but it would be fragile in some situations,” Skubiszewski says. 

“We want our customers to fall and not feel it is going to break. We don’t want you to feel fragile when you ride your bike.”

Darmià Rizo Morant, CEO and founder of Darimo, emphasises that it isn’t a conventional, three-part bonded design – the crankset is a two-piece design, with the non-driveside arm and axle formed in one piece. This results in a lighter and more robust design, according to Darimo.

The chainring mounting sleeve is not bonded to the axle in the usual sense, where you make two parts and then glue them together: “In our process, the carbon fibres expand during production and the same resin that forms the carbon also adheres to the aluminium, creating a mechanical bond.”

He adds that the crank is produced in a single shot: “We don’t manufacture separate pieces and then join them later. Everything is made together, so if you try to separate it you’ll just end up breaking it. It’s impossible.”

Morant says the crankset passed ISO testing, withstanding 100,000 cycles at 280kg of force per side without failure. Multiple axle lengths will be available, covering road, gravel and MTB standards, with crank arms offered down to 160mm if demand exists.

The rest of the build is suitably premium, with a top-end SRAM drivetrain and RockShox SID fork.

Dangerholm describes the result as “riding like nothing else I’ve experienced – in a good and very fast way”.

The UCI has confirmed the use of a GPS tracking system to enhance rider safety at the Road World Championships, which begin this Sunday 21 September in Kigali, Rwanda.

The UCI, cycling’s governing body, announced rider trackers would be used at the World Championships back in August – but the introduction of the tech led to disputes with pro riders and their teams. 

As part of the UCI’s SafeR initiative, which is intended to enhance rider safety in professional road cycling, the use of GPS trackers was trialled at the Tour de Romandie Féminin in August. 

However, several teams raised concerns with the UCI about the “imposition” of GPS tracking devices on one member of each team. 

EF Education–Oatley said the team would “not select a rider ourselves, nor install, remove or maintain the device”. 

They added that the UCI chose to impose this measure “without clear consent” and that it is unclear why the UCI did not want to nominate riders to trial the GPS trackers.

Five teams refused to nominate a rider, and therefore, the UCI disqualified them, leaving only 63 riders in the race. The UCI said their decision was “deplorable” and undermined “the cycling family’s efforts to ensure the safety of all riders”. 

But despite the objections at the Tour de Romandie Féminin, the UCI now says all riders in all categories (the elite men and women, plus under-23s and juniors) will be equipped with a GPS safety tracker attached under their saddles. This will be across the road races, and individual and team time trials.

The system will be operated from the UCI’s control centre and will enable real-time monitoring of rider position. This will allow for the identification of any unusual situations, such as a rider suddenly stopping on the course.

“In such a case, the rider’s exact position will be transmitted to the relevant parties in the convoy – organisers, UCI Commissaires, medical and security services – so that appropriate measures can be taken without delay,” the UCI said in a press release. 

The decision to use GPS trackers comes after 18-year-old Muriel Furrer died following a crash in the junior World Championship race last year in Zurich, Switzerland. Furrer reportedly lay alone for almost an hour and a half with a serious head injury.

Race radios are not allowed during the World Championships.

The 2025 Road World Championships will take place between 21–28 September.

SRAM has announced it has filed “a formal complaint” with Belgium’s Competition Authority against cycling’s governing body, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), in dispute of its upcoming ‘Maximum Gearing Protocol’ trial.

Following this, SRAM says the BCA has “initiated formal anti-trust proceedings under EU and Belgian competition laws”.

In a bombshell statement, the American brand says it is challenging the UCI’s upcoming gearing restrictions trial because it will “unfairly disadvantage SRAM riders and SRAM”.

This is because, SRAM says, it is “the only major manufacturer whose current pro team setup will be blocked” by the proposed regulations.

SRAM says its formal complaint comes after multiple failed attempts “to engage the UCI and raise concerns about the impact of the Maximum Gearing Protocol”.

Although SRAM notes it will continue to support its pro teams to comply with the proposed trial event at the Tour of Guangxi in October, a “lack of transparency and collaboration left legal action as the only remaining path forward”, according to SRAM’s statement.

SRAM alleges the UCI’s Maximum Gearing Protocol:

• Was adopted without consultation or transparency and lacks supporting empirical evidence, and any safety justification.
• Disadvantages SRAM-equipped riders in professional cycling events.
• Distorts competition in the road drivetrain market by limiting choice for professional teams and ultimately consumers, because SRAM relies on top-level teams to use and market its products.
• Violates EU and Belgian competition law (Articles 101 and 102 TFEU).

Speaking on behalf of the brand, SRAM CEO Ken Lousberg, said: “This protocol penalizes and discourages innovation and puts our riders and teams at a competitive disadvantage.”

“We rely on the sport’s governing body to foster an environment that encourages innovation for the benefit of riders and racers today, and riders in the future. We also rely on the governing body to make science-based, impactful changes for rider safety.”

The statement also notes that while the UCI says the 2025 Tour of Guangxi will be a “test” event for the proposed gearing restrictions, SRAM feels “its implementation has already caused tangible harm” to its brand.

“SRAM’s gearing has been publicly labeled as non-compliant, creating reputational damage, market confusion, team and athlete anxiety, and potential legal exposure.”

Lousberg says: “SRAM-equipped teams will have to race at a disadvantage on compromised equipment with a reduced number of gearing options compared to their competitors. It’s also not clear what is being tested.”

As first reported by Daniel Benson, the UCI has said that “relevant data will be monitored and feedback from all stakeholders will be gathered to study the effects” of the restrictions – but exactly what the “relevant data” is remains unclear.

As we noted back in June, the UCI’s proposed restrictions will affect SRAM-sponsored teams most heavily, due to SRAM’s extensive use of cassettes that start with 10t sprockets.

Under the UCI’s proposed rollout limit of 10.46m, SRAM-sponsored athletes would face using chainrings no longer than 49t – and taking a hit to drivetrain efficiency compared to rivals using bigger chainrings – or artificially limiting their derailleurs to 11 out of the 12 available rear sprockets, so that the 10t isn’t accessible.

Alternatively, SRAM could row back on its use of 10t sprockets, and provide teams and riders with cassettes starting with 11t sprockets, but SRAM notes that “complying with the protocol would require a full redesign and technical step back – a process that would take years”.

SRAM is also critical of the UCI’s framing of the trial as “a safety initiative”, noting that “no evidence has been presented to support such claims”.

It claims its own analysis of “crash data” from the 2025 Tour de France “found no correlation between higher rollout configurations and crash risk”.

SRAM says it has requested “the immediate suspension of the gearing restrictions”, as well as “representation” for manufacturers on the board responsible for the UCI’s technical regulations.

Citing recently announced changes to the UCI’s regulations surrounding handlebar width, rim depth and so on, Lousberg says: “Today, the UCI’s actions unjustly penalize SRAM riders and SRAM. But given the way the governing body makes its decisions… It’s impossible to know who may be impacted in the future.

“We hope to create a more transparent and collaborative climate for teams and component suppliers that ultimately leads to a better and safer sport for all.”

More to follow…

This week’s event picks are primarily based on sign-up numbers. See below to learn which events are the most popular group rids and races for the weekend!

Bikealicious Rubberband Joy Ride

The Ultimate Women’s Mini Races – Eat My Dust

JETT Endurance Ride 100km 2.5~3.3w/kg

Herd Autumn Racing Experience (H.A.R.E.)

¡HISPerame!

How We Make Our Picks

We choose each weekend’s Notable Events based on a variety of factors including:

• Is the event unique/innovative in some way?
• Are celebrities (pro riders, etc) attending/leading?
• Are signup counts already high, meaning the event is extra-popular?
• Does the ride include desirable unlocks or prizes?
• Does the event appeal to ladies on Zwift? (We like to support this under-represented group!)
• Is it for a good cause?
• Is it just plain crazy (extra long races, world record attempts, etc)?
• Is it a long-running, popular weekly event with a dedicated leader who deserves a shout out?

In the end, we want to call attention to events that are extra-special and therefore extra-appealing to Zwifters. If you think your event qualifies, comment below with a link/details and we may just include it in an upcoming post!

Rotor has revealed the Uno, a new wireless electronic groupset for mountain and gravel bikes that promises fast shifting speeds, low weights and “maximum modularity”.

First spotted by BikeRadar at Eurobike, this is the first groupset Rotor has released in nearly ten years, since the previous Uno groupset, which had a novel hydraulic shifting design. 

But while the previous Uno groupset was an outlier in a field of cable-actuated and electronic drivetrains, the new Uno groupset could signal where drivetrain tech is headed. 

The groupset is offered with different components for mountain biking and gravel riding, with hydraulic disc brakes also being part of the package for the latter.

In terms of pricing, the MTB upgrade kit (derailleur and shifter) will be under €700, according to Rotor. The gravel kit (derailleur, levers and brake calipers) is expected to be around €800.

In a growing and increasingly crowded market of challenger brands, Rotor believes the new Uno components “will be among the most competitive on the market” and “a reliable alternative” to Shimano and SRAM.

Wheeltop’s shifting technology meets Rotor’s components

Last year, Chinese manufacturer Lanxi Wheeltop Cycle Industries LTD acquired a majority stake in Rotor. 

Now, the new Uno groupset combines Rotor’s expertise in power meters and brakes with the electronic shifting technology from Wheeltop’s EDS groupsets. 

Rotor says the main advantage of the Uno groupset is its “versatility and modularity”. 

The Spanish brand says that the groupset’s components are interchangeable, allowing riders to build the drivetrain they require to meet their needs and budget.

The shifter and derailleur can also be programmed to work with any 10, 11, 12, or 13-speed cassettes. 

15,000 shifts per charge

The Uno groupset’s electronic system is controlled by a microprocessor powered by an internal 600mAh battery. Rotor says this guarantees 15,000 shifts before needing recharging. 

The shifting speed is claimed to be 150 milliseconds, and the shifter and mech are connected by Bluetooth and ANT+.

MTB derailleur and shifter

Rotor claims the MTB rear derailleur and MTB shifter will weigh in at under 453g, with the batteries.

As the rear derailleur is configurable for compatibility with 10 to 13-speed cassettes, this offers myriad opportunities for using different manufacturers’ cassettes and chains.

Using a 12t pulley and 93mm-long aluminium cage, the mech can accommodate cassettes with up to 52 teeth, like the largest SRAM cassettes.

The mech is constructed from aluminium and fibreglass-reinforced nylon, featuring a parallelogram designed to optimise, Rotor says, the stiffness-to-weight ratio.

The shifter is powered by a CR2032 battery, is IP67 waterproof-rated and has what Rotor describes as a ‘non-slip’ finish, with an indicator light to note activity.

Rotor intriguingly hints that the CPU (central processing unit) is in the mech, so the system will be “expandable to new and future additions of components and peripherals”.

Anyone buying the mountain bike groupset will have to add brakes from elsewhere. Rotor says it’s “leaving this choice up to the user” because of the wide range of mountain bike brakes available. This also means you can choose your brakes depending on your riding discipline. 

Hydraulic brakes, but only with the gravel groupset

The gravel-specific Uno will come with hydraulic disc brakes included.

The brakes use carbon lever blades and titanium clamps. They use mineral oil and are actuated by a horizontal brake master cylinder. Lever travel can be adjusted up to 26mm. 

The 160mm brake rotors are available in either centrelock or 6-bolt configuration. The flat-mount calipers have ceramic pistons for improved heat dissipation, according to Rotor. They use Shimano BH90 hoses and Shimano-compatible brake pads, allowing you to choose a brake compound that suits your needs.

The gravel groupset uses the same electronic rear derailleur body as the MTB version, but with a shorter cage, and it can accommodate cassettes with up to 46 teeth.

Rotor claims that the system, comprising rear derailleur, levers, brakes and cables, is similar in weight to competitor offerings. However, Rotor says if you add its own 12-speed, 11-46t cassette (with a claimed weight of 294g), that could make the whole package one of the lightest available.

The gravel version of the Uno system is also designed to be used with Rotor’s Aldhu carbon crankset, (which Rotor claims is the lightest on the market), along with the brand’s INspider chainrings and power meter.

Rotor Uno app

Rotor’s Uno groupset will be programmable with an app – for example, to establish whether it’s running as a 10, 11, 12 or 13-speed drivetrain. The Rotor Uno app will be available for both iOS and Android devices.

Users will be able to view the battery level of each component in the app. Metrics and graphs from Rotor’s Power app (used for the brand’s power meters) will not be integrated into the initial version of the app but will be included in future updates.

Any software updates to components will be managed through the app using OTA (Over The Air) updates.

Electronic challengers

The groupset market is dominated by Shimano and SRAM, but there are now several manufacturers setting out their stall as challengers, with Rotor back in the mix.

Some of the front-runners include TRP Vistar Powershift, Microshift’s new (and currently prototype) groupset, L-Twoo eGR, Magene’s QES and PED groupsets, and the Wheeltop EDS groupsets.

Rotor is positive that there is a place for its new Uno groupset in this growing market.

“In terms of weight, reliability and price, [this groupset] will be among the most competitive on the market, so we are confident that we will be a reliable alternative in the field of groupsets,” Rotor told BikeRadar. 

Pricing

Rotor says the retail price for the MTB upgrade kit (derailleur and shifter) will be under €700, while the gravel kit (derailleur, levers, and brake calipers) is expected to be around €800.

Strava is prepping for a US initial public offering (IPO), with the fitness platform said to have invited banks including Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley to pitch for roles, according to reports. 

Reuters reported that the listing could happen as soon as early 2026, depending on market conditions, and that Strava has yet to finalise how much it plans to raise or the valuation it will target. 

The potential IPO follows the San Francisco-based company closing a fundraising round valuing it at $2.2 billion back in May 2025.

The valuation followed a series of acquisitions made by Strava. In April, it acquired Runna, a UK-based run training app. Then, in May, it bought The Breakaway, a cycling training app. 

The rumours follow two leadership appointments. In August, Strava announced Matt Anderson as its new chief financial officer and Louisa Wee as chief marketing officer. 

Anderson joined Strava from Nextdoor, a social network for neighbourhood communities, where he served as chief financial officer and guided the company through its public listing. 

Strava says the platform saw more than 50 per cent growth in new users last year, with Gen Z turning to the platform. The fitness training app now has more than 150 million users in over 185 countries. 

Strava has not responded to a request for comment. 

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With a raft of mounts, more tyre clearance and geometry inspired by mountain bikes, the new Marin Headlands V2 looks set to be one of 2026’s most exciting and affordable new gravel bikes.

The original Headlands combined a lightweight carbon construction with heavily MTB-influenced geometry.

The Headlands’ combination of impressive handling and great value made it a very popular option for trail-seeking gravel riders, and the inclusion of rack and mudguard fittings made it popular with bikepackers, too.

The new Headlands V2 will certainly keep both parties happy; the raft of updates and design changes seem set to enhance the experience, making the V2 look like one of this year’s most capable and versatile gravel designs.

• Best gravel bikes in 2025: top-rated carbon, aluminium, titanium and steel gravel bikes reviewed
• I’ve tested hundreds of gravel bikes and you don’t need spend more money to have more fun – here’s why

What’s new?

The new frame keeps the same 1x drivetrain-specific design. It means that, while increasing the tyre clearance to 50mm, Marin has been able to retain short 420mm chainstays.

The front end retains the slackened 70.5-degree head angle, which is combined with a long front centre, deeply sloping top tube and steep (73.5-degree) seat angle.

The Headlands is designed to be run with a very short stem (60mm on the first four sizes, 70mm on the two largest). From these numbers, it’s apparent the Headlands still wears its mountain bike inspiration boldly.

The rear dropout is now UDH-compatible, bringing the frame bang up to date. There are further practical additions, such as the ‘Bear Box’ down tube storage, as seen on the Alpine Trail XR mountain bike, and internal cable routing that enters at the fork crown and down tube rather than being fully internally routed.

A full raft of mounts on the frame complete the details, with triple fork mounts, top tube mounts and bottle bosses, along with traditional rack mounts and mounts for full mudguards (fenders).

Marin Headlands V2 range details

The Headlands V2 range consists of three models, starting with the Headlands 1, which combines the unidirectional carbon frame with a Shimano GRX610 1×12 drivetrain and GRX610 hydraulic brakes.

The Headlands 1 is priced at £2,499 / CAD$3,499 / €2,849.

Next is the Headlands 2 with Shimano’s GRX RX820 1×12 drivetrain, an integrated dropper lever, GRX RX820 hydraulic brakes and a long-travel dropper post.

The Headlands 2 is priced at £2,899 / CAD$3,999 / €3,295.

The range is topped by the Headlands 3, which comes with SRAM’s latest Rival XPLR AXS 1×13 drivetrain, SRAM Rival XPLR hydraulic brakes, Novatec G24 carbon gravel wheels and a long-travel dropper post.

The Headlands 3 is priced at £3,799 / CAD$5,399 / €4,499.

If you’d rather build your own, the Headlands V2 is available as a frameset-only option for £1,699 / CAD$2,499 / €1,999.

This week. the first round of Zwift Racing League 2025/26 kicked off with a team time trial on Watopia’s new Southern Coast Cruise route. I knew the rolling roads would present a challenge, and I was also riding with a new squad. Read on to learn how our race unfolded!

On Joining a New Team

Before getting into the story of the race, I want to unpack my experience moving to a new team for this season of ZRL, as there are useful takeaways here for both Zwift HQ and the Zwift community.

I’ve ridden with DIRT since the beginning of ZRL back in October 2020, and this season I was just looking for something… different. Nothing against DIRT, of course. They’re a huge team full of great people who will always have the best acronym-based team name (Dads Inside Riding Trainers). I was just looking to ride with a fresh bunch of folks and experience how other teams work.

Finding a Team

So I put my name out there on the WTRL Zwift Racing League Facebook page, and lots of teams reached out. (Apparently, mid-cat B riders who can’t climb are in high demand these days!) I ended up going with The Coalition because I already knew lots of folks on the team, I like their ethos of fair racing, and they seem very well-organized.

As instructed by their helpful website, I joined the Coalition Discord server and started working through the steps to fully join the team. Honestly, it was a bit overwhelming. There are several things that need to happen in order to get the team kit, join a ZRL team, and actually get to race. But their website and team leaders were very helpful and on the ball, and soon enough I’d submitted my weigh-in and height verification videos, been assigned to a ZRL team, and unlocked the kit.

Development Division

My new ZRL team is Coalition Delusion, and we’re racing in the Lime B1 Open Development league. The “development” divisions are a new feature introduced this round with a lower zFTP cap enforced within each category (e.g., B category zFTP max = 3.79 W/kg). According to WTRL “This ensures a fairer and more supportive racing environment for improving athletes.” But in practice, I think it really means low and mid-cat B riders have a place in ZRL where they can enjoy team racing again, instead of going into the meatgrinder that is B1! (I’ve talked about this at length before, so I’ll spare you the details.)

This Could Be Better

Props to Coalition for running a tight yet welcoming ship. But let’s be clear: Coalition, and all other Zwift teams, are forced to do the work because there’s no other alternative. And that’s just silly, given that Zwift is almost 11 years old, and we’re in our 16th ZRL round.

Zwift should have built teams into the platform from day one, making it easy to connect with others and enabling native team functionality in races. It would have removed barriers to entry and made team organizing and racing even cooler. (And it still would.)

And after 15 rounds of racing, there should be an easy way to find a ZRL team that doesn’t involve posting a message on a Facebook group. That just doesn’t scale when you’re dealing with thousands of riders, and it’s not a user-friendly experience for new riders.

With that vent finished, let’s get on with the race.

Planning + Warmup

While I’ll occasionally skimp on completing a full warmup before a one-off scratch race, I’m always careful to warm up thoroughly before important races like ZRL.

I was already one dirty chai and a few pieces of Neuro caffeine gum into my day by the time I got on the bike at 9:30am, so I was nicely caffeinated. I’d also applied some PR Lotion to my legs (don’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it), then I rode a 30-minute warmup, keeping the effort mostly zone 2, with a few spinups to get my heart rate up in zone 4.

As often happens in TTTs, a teammate had to drop out at the last minute, which meant we scrambled to find a sub. We finally found Adrian, captain of another Coalition team, who was kind (and crazy) enough to join us even though he’d be racing with another team earlier that day.

Teammate Chris M wasn’t able to race, so he volunteered to DS for this TTT. It’s always nice having a DS on Discord who isn’t riding in the race, as they can calmly direct the team, leaving the riders to focus on their efforts.

While warming up, I looked at our team’s final “pull sheet.” This document, put together by our Captain Neil, listed the order we would take our pulls, plus our target pull length and wattage. I noted I was the last rider in the list, so I added a “6” at the start of my name in game. I’d be targeting 350W 60-second pulls, and the wheel I’d be sitting on otherwise was Andrew’s. Simple enough.

After signing into Discord and getting my OBS recording started, it was time to enter the pens. Let’s race!

The Race

This being our first-ever TTT together, I think we were all curious about how well we’d work together. TTTs can get messy real quick if you aren’t organized beforehand or have just one or two inexperienced riders.

But we fell into order quickly right out of the gate, sliding into that uber-efficient single-file formation that TTT riders strive for. Our line looked so good, in fact, that I tried to snap some good pics. Problem was, every time I changed to the drone camera, I would get out of position myself! (Sorry, guys…)

We cycled through our turns on the front, calling out our target time when we hit the front “Eric on until 12:30” and calling out when we had 10 then 5 seconds left on our pulls.

The team was working well together, and Chris was doing a great of DSing, but there were two things I was seeing:

• Our gap to the team ahead (BZR) was over a minute, meaning they were faster so far
• Adrian, our last-minute sub, was struggling to take pulls

You can’t panic in a TTT, though. Plan your race, then race your plan. We had known Adrian might struggle in his second race of the day, so when he decided to drop off around the LAX roundabout, we smoothly transitioned into rotating as a unit of 5.

I wasn’t sure how 1-minute pulls would feel, as I’d always been the guy doing 30-second pulls in the past, usually on teams where most of the riders were stronger than me! But I was feeling good as we kept chugging along. Captain Neil and I were probably the worst offenders when it came to overlapping wheels. I blame it on my lack of recent TTT experience. And I’ll let Neil make up his own excuse…

With 10.9km to go, teammate Rob fell off the back – I’m still not sure what happened, but it sounded on Discord like he said he had to hop off the bike! He went to zero watts for 15 seconds, which would normally be a death sentence in a Zwift race. But he had hopped off on the downhill heading into the Woodside Sprint, which kept his avatar moving faster than if he’d hopped off on a flat or climb.

We eased a bit, and he pushed hard, and we were back together just 40 seconds later. These kinds of events happen often in TTTs and can really slow a team if handled incorrectly. So kudos to Rob for the impressive push to rejoin, and good job to the team overall for easing without easing too much.

We exited the Summit City Velodrome turnaround with 2.7km to go, and up the road I saw we were in a dead heat with the BZR squad, having brought back a few seconds in the last few minutes. This was going to be close!

We held formation until there were just 800 meters to go. Then I decided to power up and go all-in for the final 30-45 seconds, since I had more gas in the tank and could lend a helpful draft to anyone behind. All in to the line!

I averaged 470W for the final 60 seconds, finishing just behind Andrew as the second rider in my team. Our final time, taken off our fourth rider, would be 36:07.609.

See my ride on Strava >

Watch the Video

Results and Takeaways

If you’ve ever raced in ZRL, you know what comes next after crossing the finish line: the agonizing wait for the results to show up on the WTRL website!

Usually they show up within 15-30 minutes, but for this, the first race of Round 1, we kept waiting… and waiting…

It wasn’t until Thursday morning, almost 48 hours after our race, that the results table was populated. Apparently WTRL and Zwift were making lots of changes to backend systems and websites in the past few weeks, and those changes, coupled with lots of last-minute team registrations and changes, meant WTRL was scrambling to get results processed and displayed quickly. In fact, some teams got their race passes late, and weren’t even able to race. Ouch.

Read more in this Facebook post from WTRL >

I feel bad for Martin and his team at WTRL, who have been putting in long hours to get ZRL Round 1 launched. I know they’ve been working crazy hard.

But at the same time, it has to be said: this is the 16th round of Zwift’s flagship team race series. The experience should be better. Zwift and WTRL can do better.

Here are the results from our race:

A bit confusing, right? So, Team Ukraine Mariupol turned in the fastest time on the day, and my team (Coalition Delusion) was second-fastest. But (and this is important) one rider on Team Ukraine received a Code 7.

What is a code 7? Well, I searched WTRL’s rulebook and website for a definition, and couldn’t find one. But I did find this in the rulebook:

5.2.7: Racers found to be exceeding the limits in any race and receive a Code 7 or 8 disqualification will be removed from that team and will not be permitted to race with that team for the remainder of the Round. Racers receiving a Code 7 or 8 are encouraged to consider riding for a team in a higher division or category.

Poking around various forum and Facebook comments, Code 7 seems to be defined as “Rider has exceeded Division Power Limits”. Makes sense, as the rider in question averaged 4.681 W/kg for the race, when the zFTP limit for B Development divisions is 3.79 W/kg!

Receiving a Code 7 in a TTT is especially problematic, because in theory, an overpowered rider could tow his team to the line. How can that situation be handled fairly? WTRL’s rulebook says:

4.3.3 C: If a team fields an ineligible racer in a Team Time Trial, the team will be awarded 50% of the League points they would otherwise have earned.

So it seems we both won and lost our TTT. Team Ukraine was faster, but their points were cut in half (and rounded up?) due to the Code 7. In the end, since we received the highest number of points. I’ll consider it a win.

On a pacing note, I think my team did a great job of not going too hard out of the gate, so we had gas in the tank to finish strong. We probably started a bit too slowly, in fact, but this sort of “negative split” pacing seems to be really effective in team time trialing. Well done all, and kudos to Captain Neil, DS Chris M, and Andrew, Chris F, Rob, and Adrian for strong planning and execution.

Personally, this was one of the easier TTTs I’ve raced. That’s not to say it was easy, of course: I was bang on my best power for 2025 in the 32-35 minutes window. But I wasn’t struggling to hold on, and I had a bit more punch left at the end than most TTTs I’ve endured. So that was nice.

At the end of the race, as Adrian was finishing up his ride, we took a Discord snapshot:

See you all next week!

Your Thoughts

How did your first race of round 1 go? Share below…

Trek has launched the Checkpoint+, adding a motor to its gravel adventure bike.

As with the Domane+ SLR road bike, launched in 2022, Trek has chosen a TQ harmonic pin ring motor, but for the Checkpoint+, it’s the upgraded HPR60 that’s also trickling into the electric mountain bike market.

The motor kicks out 60Nm of torque, up from 50Nm on the HPR50, along with 350W peak power rather than 300W. Trek says the TQ HPR60 is both lighter and quieter than the HPR50.

Like the Domane+, the Checkpoint+ is a Category 3 electric bike in the US and can provide assistance up to 28mph, although riders elsewhere are limited to 25km/h.

• Electric bikes and the law – everything you need to know about ebike regulations
• Best electric gravel bikes: 9 gravel ebikes rated and reviewed

50-mile range

The in-frame 360Wh battery offers a 50-mile/97km claimed range in Eco mode, with a full recharge time of 3 hours 45 minutes.

There’s the option to add a bottle-cage mounted 160Wh external range extender, increasing the range by up to 44 per cent.

As with the Domane+, Trek puts tiny buttons on the bar to enable you to change modes, placing them below the brake hoods, so you don’t have to release your grip to use them.

There’s an LED display built into the top tube, providing data on battery level, range and more. On the top-spec SL 7 AXS bike, the display is colour; it’s monochrome for the lower-spec bikes.

50mm tyre clearance

Trek applies its gravel endurance geometry, also seen in the current-generation non-assisted Checkpoint, to the Checkpoint+’s 500 Series OCLV carbon frame, including its rear IsoSpeed ride-smoothing tech.

The Checkpoint+’s geometry has a shorter reach and higher stack than Trek’s previous-generation gravel bikes, matching that of the non-assisted Checkpoint.

Gravel bike tyre clearance has increased significantly, with a host of gravel bikes, including the non-assisted Checkpoint and the just-launched fourth-generation Specialized Diverge, now offering 50mm clearance. The Checkpoint+ joins that list.

The Checkpoint+ SL 7 AXS includes a 40mm-travel RockShox Rudy XPLR suspension fork, while the lower-spec SL 5 and SL 6 have rigid forks. You can fit a gravel suspension fork aftermarket to all frame sizes except XS and add a dropper post to all sizes.

Typically of gravel bikes, there are numerous mounting points, enabling you to fit mudguards, a rack and an array of bikepacking bags. You can add Trek’s clip-on bar extensions, too. With the battery in the down tube, there’s no in-frame storage, though.

Trek Checkpoint+ model range and prices

There are three spec levels on offer, all with 1x drivetrains, with two SRAM AXS 12-speed mullet builds and a Shimano GRX option. All are tubeless-ready and come with the valves and sealant necessary to set up tubeless.

While the SL 5 and SL6 specs are available in sizes from XS to XL, the SL 7 is only available from S to XL, due to its suspension fork.

We’ve quoted Euro prices for the Netherlands and Belgium, although they vary by country.

Trek Checkpoint+ SL 7 AXS

• Frame: Checkpoint+ Series 500 OCLV carbon
• Fork: RockShox Rudy, 40mm travel
• Groupset: SRAM XO Eagle Transmission, Force levers, Praxis cranks
• Wheels: Bontrager Aeolus Elite 35V, carbon
• Tyres: Bontrager Girona Pro
• Price: £6,500 / $7,999.99 / €7,499.99 / AU$12,999.76

Trek Checkpoint+ SL 6 AXS

• Frame: Checkpoint+ Series 500 OCLV carbon
• Fork: Checkpoint+ carbon
• Groupset: SRAM GX Eagle Transmission, Rival levers, Praxis cranks
• Wheels: Bontrager Paradigm Comp 25, alloy
• Tyres: Bontrager Girona Pro
• Price: £5,000 / $6,599.99 / €5,999.99 / AU$ N/A

Trek Checkpoint+ SL 5

• Frame: Checkpoint+ Series 500 OCLV carbon
• Fork: Checkpoint+ carbon
• Groupset: Shimano GRX 12-speed mechanical, Praxis cranks
• Wheels: Bontrager Paradigm Comp 25, alloy
• Tyres: Bontrager Girona Pro
• Price: £4,500 / $5,999.99 / €4,999.99 / AU$8,999.76

Orbea has launched new components as part of its RS concept, consisting of the HMI handlebar control for ebikes and its own wired electronic MC10-RS smart dropper. Both run off an ebike’s battery.

The new dropper post runs off the ebike battery and is programmable for custom drops.

Orbea claims the new RS dropper is the lightest 240mm dropper post available, including all mechanical and electric posts.

The Basque brand has also shared details of its new Rise eMTB range, with a full launch slated for 23 September. The new tech will feature as standard on those bikes.

• Read more: 16 of the best dropper posts in 2025, and our buyer’s guide

A control ecosystem

Orbea calls the new RS concept products “The future of control”. It’s a new communication ecosystem linking an ebike’s motor, dropper and display, which Orbea is confident will set the standard for the future.

The Basque brand is keen to stress it isn’t launching simply a remote or a dropper. The brand claims it is reimagining the whole system, by both replacing the Shimano EMC100 remote (used on the current Orbea Rise) with a more ergonomic and integrated ebike remote, and integrating a dropper post lever.

Aware that many ebikes have five or more batteries, Orbea set out to design a system around one central ebike battery, with one auxiliary control on the handlebar.

The resulting RS Control System links the motor, dropper, display and handlebar control.

Orbea MC10-RS dropper post

Orbea boasts the new dropper is around 100g lighter than a typical cable-actuated dropper post.

The MC10-RS is said to be the world’s first ‘smart’ dropper, meaning the button can be programmed to perform different functions, such as a partial drop, which could be useful on technical climbs.

The post is available with 180, 210 or 240mm of travel, and each can be adjusted by 25mm in intervals of 5mm.

Orbea claims this is the lightest dropper post in its category: as light as an XC dropper, but with the performance of enduro droppers.

Orbea says using the CAN BUS technology means there’s no need for a separate battery or cable: it runs on the main ebike control cable. No additional batteries are required for the dropper or remote because both run off the ebike battery.

Orbea explains its Time Of Flight sensor unlocks the smart features programmable in the Orbea RS app.

The dropper button on the Human Machine Interface (HMI) can be used as a traditional dropper by pressing and holding.

It can also be programmed with smart features. These include using a double-press to activate a 20% drop, which could be useful for technical climbs (the percentage drop is programmable through the app). This tech could have significant real-world implications, changing the way we use dropper posts.

The new design means fewer cables hanging out of the front of the bar than a mechanical dropper. The cable for the ebike remote (with integrated dropper lever) goes from the grip through the handlebar and into the frame. The cable is plug-and-play, with connectors inside the bike linking the dropper and drive unit with the same cable.

Due to not including the weight of the cable or the battery, Orbea is claiming some impressive weights for the post. It says the 180mm MC10-RS (564g) is lighter than a cross-country dropper, such as the Fox Transfer SL 150 (560g).

Orbea claims the MC10-RS is 140g lighter than wireless droppers, with the 240mm post claimed at 646g. Fox’s Transfer Neo in 200mm (with remote and battery) is said to weigh 786g and the RockShox Reverb AXS in 225mm weighs a claimed 815g for the system.

Orbea also compares the MC10-RS with mechanical dropper posts, stating it’s the lightest 240mm dropper on the market. It claims the MC10-RS is lighter than the mechanical Fox Transfer setup in 240mm size, which it says weighs 862g, and OneUp’s V3 in 240mm, which is said to weigh 733g.

Orbea RS HMI handlebar control

Orbea’s Human Machine Interface (HMI) handlebar control is designed to be integrated and ergonomic, and function as a control for both the ebike and the dropper post.

The HMI has larger buttons with replaceable touch points and a minimal display. It has a graduated light on the front and five LEDs on top.

This doesn’t look to be particularly intuitive and riders will need to learn what the different colours and lights mean.

Shimano symbiosis

Orbea’s RS concept is: “More bike and less E, with a seamless connection between bike and rider”.

To enable this, Orbea developed its own firmware and battery to work in conjunction with the Shimano motor and handlebar control.

New Orbea Rise coming soon

This tech will be included as standard on the new Orbea Rise eMTB, with four models launching on 23 September.

These are the LT version in M10 and M-Team specs, and the SL version in M10 and M-Ltd specs.

The bikes will include Shimano Di2, with the shifting powered from the main ebike battery, and use Shimano’s Free Shift technology.

There are two battery sizes on offer: 420Wh and 630Wh. These can be chosen on the Orbea configurator. Both carbon and alloy Rise models will have these options.

Riders can switch between two profiles: RS mode, offering 54Nm, which Orbea says brings a more natural feel, and RS+ mode, unleashing the full 85Nm for maximum power.

Orbea hinted that this may not be the peak power of the drive unit, but declined to reveal any figures.

Orbea estimates using the dropper post and shifting while on a ride will equate to “less than 1% of the main battery’s capacity”.

DT Swiss has released the DEG DF, an anti-pedal kickback system that can be fitted to all Ratchet DEG-equipped hubs.

The system works by enabling the freehub to rotate within a certain range before engaging, enabling the chain to grow and reducing pedal kickback.

The German brand says it’s easily adjustable, with three setup options: 0º, 10º and 20º, and adds no extra weight to your hubs.

There is also a DEG DF Hybrid option designed to work with the higher torque provided on electric mountain bikes. However, this is limited to 0º and 10º of rotation before the freehub engages.

Both upgrade kits are priced at $176.20 / €129.90, including the tool required to change the rings within the hub.

Smoother suspension

There’s always been a battle to minimise pedal kickback on mountain bikes, with high-pivot designs a popular option for frame designers.

However, in recent years, there’s been a shift toward components to combat the issue, with Ochain and e*thirteen’s Sidekick Hub already offering solutions.

DT Swiss DEG DF offers a simplified solution, needing only the threaded ring and two ratchets to be replaced in an existing Ratchet DEG hub to achieve up to 20º of dead space before the freehub engages.

The brand says there’s no need for extra components, with the wheels’ rotation during freewheeling and the drag from the pressure of the springs on the ratchets forcing the system backwards to reset or disengaged mode.

DT Swiss says the 0º degree option is best for cross-country, the 10º option for all-mountain riding, and the 20º option for enduro and downhill applications.

The system comes with a new 90t ratchet for the DEG DF that has a 4º engagement angle, and a 60t ratchet on the DEG DF Hybrid that has a 6º engagement angle.

The brand says it’s easy to set up the system and replace the ratchets for tuning.

What is pedal kickback?

Most full-suspension bikes are designed with anti-squat in their suspension design to give better climbing efficiency, but this causes chain growth when the bike is compressed, and the cassette and chainring move away from each other.

If the cassette can’t rotate forwards because the rear wheel is locked up, the crank will be forced to rotate backwards – hence the term, pedal kickback.

Not only is this unsettling to the ride, but it can also cause the suspension to become harsh and lose sensitivity, meaning there’s less grip on offer.

Zwift Camp: Baseline is now underway, with several thousand Zwifters participating so far in this assessment-oriented training program.

I’m one of those Zwifters, and plan to share my experience in four posts – one for each workout in the program:

• 5-second power (Zone 6+)
• 1-minute power (Zone 6)
• 5-minute power (Zone 5)
• 20-minute power (Zone 4)

Red Zone Repeats

The first workout of Zwift Camp: Baseline is all about sprinting. It’s 40 minutes long and consists of a warmup punctuated by 5x 10-second primer efforts, followed by 3x maximal 10-second sprints, followed by a cooldown. In between the important bits you’ve got zone 1 and free riding blocks to keep your legs moving and give you time to ramp up your effort into a maximal sprint.

I did this first workout as a group ride, just to see what that experience was like and how Zwift had set up the events. (You can also do the workouts as an on-demand activity on your own, whenever you’d like.)

53 riders were in the event, and I was on my Cadex TT bike because I’m still working on upgrading it to its max level. I was surprised to see that the event didn’t have rubberbanding enabled like you typically see in group workouts, so the group sort of split apart, although people were still blobbed together for the most part thanks to the magic of drafting:

Since most of the ride is in ERG mode, you can’t really push harder to change your position in the group or bridge up to the next pack. Being on a TT right, my avatar didn’t draft, so for most of the ride I found myself on the front of a small group, pulling them along as we worked our way through the various intervals.

Overall, I found the workout to be pretty easy – which was a good thing, since my legs were tired from two hard rides the day before. (I can do a few maximal 10-second efforts on tired legs, but I definitely don’t want to do the 5 or 20-minute efforts later in this program unless my legs are fresh!)

One callout worth mentioning is that Zwift has put a 30-second free-ride block before each of the 10-second sprint blocks. This allows you to ramp up your speed and gearing so you can hit your sprint section in a high gear, ready to put out maximum power. (This is especially important for anyone using Zwift’s virtual shifting, since it reverts to gear 8 at the start of a free ride section, and you wouldn’t want to be working your way to the right gear during a short, 10-second sprint effort.)

For me, that meant shifting into gear 18 when doing out-of-the-saddle sprints, while gear 16 felt good for my one seated sprint attempt. Gearing is extremely important when sprinting, as you need to find just the right mix of torque and cadence to achieve maximum power!

Watch My Video

Results

I completed the Red Zone Repeats route during the cooldown portion of the workout, but it wasn’t until I clicked to end the ride that I was greeted with a few achievement banners:

I received an email from Zwift, subject line “Power Check Complete ”, as soon as the workout was finished. It included a link to my Zwift Camp Dashboard, which now looked like this:

The dashboard compares your power numbers in the Zwift Camp workouts to your 90-day best numbers. Zwift computed my best 5-second power in the workout as 1032W, which I’m happy with even though their critical power curve for the workout showed 1040W:

In fact, I set new power bests for 1-10 seconds for 2025 in this workout, according to my Strava power curve. I’ll take it!

Wrapping It Up

If you’re looking for a sprint workout, this really isn’t it. Sure, you get a few sprints in, but this is more of a sprint test. The training will come in future Zwift Camps, but for Baseline the goal is for riders to test and establish their power bests. To set baselines.

Overall, my experience with this first workout was fine, and I appreciate having quick access to my dashboard via the email link and Zwift Companion. There are a few things that would have made the workout itself a bit better, though. Here’s my list:

• Show me my 5-second power after each sprint effort. Tell me how I’m doing, and give me something to shoot for.
• Have my result match the critical power curve in the Ride Report screen.
• Don’t drop me down to virtual gear 8 every. Single. Time. Just return me to whatever my last virtual gear was.
• The power required at the start of the cooldown ramp should match the power I’m already doing. It always feels like a low blow when I’m spinning easy near the end of a workout, then the cooldown ramp kicks in and asks me to go harder. (For whatever reason, this is a common thing you see on Zwift workouts.)

Your Thoughts

Have you done this workout yet? How did it go for you? Share your experience below!

Oakley has revealed its Meta Vanguard glasses, a new line of eyewear that uses artificial intelligence to bring you “real-time personalised performance insights”. 

For those who don’t know, Oakley is owned by the vision and eyewear company EssilorLuxottica, which also owns Ray-Ban. The new Oakley ‘smart glasses’ are described as the next step in EssilorLuxottica’s partnership with Meta Platforms, which has already brought us the Ray-Ban Meta sunglasses. 

The Oakley Meta Vanguards were showcased at the Meta Connect keynote on Wednesday, alongside several other new collaborations between Meta and Ray-Ban. 

Oakley Meta Vanguard details

Oaley’s new ‘smart glasses’ feature the brand’s signature Prizm lenses with a 12MP ultra-wide camera that has a 122-degree field of view. 

The $499 / €549 glasses also feature high-decibel open-ear speakers with advanced wind noise reduction, which Oakley says is “perfect for running down a noisy road or biking through 30mph winds”. 

Oakley says the glasses are also optimised for comfort during long workouts and they’re compatible with cycling helmets. 

What is probably most remarkable about the new Oakley sunglasses is they can integrate with Strava and Garmin to provide you with real-time personalised performance insights, with up to nine hours of battery life to get you through “your entire marathon or century ride”. 

However, details on what this will look like or how it will function are currently thin.

In its own press release, Strava says you’ll be able to use the glasses to graphically overlay performance metrics – such as distance, average pace and elevation gain – from your Strava activity onto videos and photos captured by the glasses. 

As with many of the best Oakley sunglasses, you can switch the Prizm lens on the Meta Vanguards to customise your look and optimise the glasses for different conditions. 

Two new Meta Ray-Ban glasses

Also revealed at Meta Connect were the new Meta Ray-Ban Display and second-generation Ray-Ban Meta glasses.

The Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses have an integrated display for the first time. The fully-colour visual display in the right lens is said to show weather, incoming messages, video calls and AI information such as step-by-step instructions, and more. 

 You can order the glasses with your own lens prescription, and they come with a Metal Neural Band, a wristband to control the glasses. 

Costing $799, the glasses will be available in the US at the end of the month and in Canada, France, Italy and the UK next year. 

The second-generation Ray-Ban Meta glasses have an extended battery life of up to eight hours, an ultra-wide 12MP camera that captures 3K ultra-HD videos, and a range of new styles and colours. The glasses are available now for $379 / €419.

Meta also revealed Conversion Focus at the Meta Connect keynote. Said to be coming soon, this new feature uses AI glasses’ open-ear speakers to amplify the voice of the person you’re talking to and distinguish it from other background noise. 

The new Factor Aluto gravel bike is billed as an endurance-focused alternative to the brand’s race-ready Ostro Gravel.

David Millar, brand director at Factor, says: “Gravel has evolved at an incredible pace. What used to be one discipline has now split into countless styles of racing and riding.

“The Aluto is our answer to that evolution. It’s a true high-performance all-rounder: sharp, agile, and versatile enough to excel across every scenario.”

As a result, Factor says its latest gravel bike targets the “all-rounder space”, bringing the speed of the Ostro Gravel but with a host of practical design decisions and a geometry that ‘dials in’ long-distance comfort. 

The bike has been optimised around 45mm gravel tyres, although it can fit a maximum width of 47mm at the rear and 52mm at the front.

Tweaked geometry

Compared to the Factor Ostro Gravel, the Aluto has a steeper head tube angle and “equally short chainstays” to maintain a shorter wheelbase and aid agility.

Factor says the lower bottom bracket shifts the centre of gravity downwards to stabilise the ride and to strike a balance with the shorter wheelbase. 

With a higher stack than the Ostro Gravel, Factor says the Aluto allows a more adaptable fit for a wider range of riders “without compromising a race-ready position”.

“Utilitarian integration”

The Aluto’s emphasis on long-distance racing, training and exploring means it has “high-performance design cues” and “utilitarian integration”.

The bike has down tube storage, where you can stash your tools and any other essentials. We’re beginning to see more gravel – and road – bikes with down tube storage and it’s a feature that BikeRadar’s Warren Rossiter says should replace saddle packs.

While internal cable routing is often seen as a maintenance burden and far from utilitarian, Factor says the Aluto’s hidden cables have been designed to be “mechanic-friendly”. 

Elsewhere, the bike is compatible with 1x or 2x drivetrains, so you can set the Aluto up with your groupset of choice. 

Black Inc HB05 Barstem 

The Aluto comes with a new Black Inc HB05 Barstem, which is said to complement the “lively nature and geometry” of the bike. 

Factor says the cockpit has a short reach to offset the increased reach of modern groupset shifter hoods, while the shallow drop and flare are said to aid stability over rough terrain. 

Moulded cable entry ports are said to reduce machining complexities and facilitate easy cable routing. 

Inspired by the Dakar Rally 

Factor says the Aluto is available in two colour schemes, Raptor Blue and Quattro Grey, which are inspired by the Dakar Rally, the “world’s most extreme off-road proving ground”. 

“Just as Dakar cars are engineered to endure vast distances, brutal terrain, and the sharpest edges of performance, the Aluto is built to bring that same spirit of resilience, versatility and precision to gravel cycling,” says Factor. 

How much does the Factor Aluto cost?

Factor has only revealed two builds for the Aluto at launch, with either SRAM Force XPLR for £6,999 / $6,999 / €8,399 or SRAM Red XPLR for £8,699 / $8,699 / €10,499. Both builds come with a power meter. 

Zwift Racing League (ZRL) is the most popular race series on Zwift, with over 30,000 riders participating in each of the past two seasons! Many new riders join each round. Maybe that’s you?

If so, you may be confused by how Points Races work in ZRL. (Don’t feel bad, we all were when we started!) Here’s a complete answer.

Intermediate Segment Points (FAL and FTS)

Certain sprint and KOM sections on the course are designated as “intermediate” segments in ZRL points races. There are two ways to earn points on these intermediates: First-Across-the-Line (FAL) and Fastest-Through-Segment (FTS).

First-Across-the-Line (FAL)

FAL points are given to everyone who crosses the segment’s finish line each time that segment is attempted, with points based on the number of riders in the race and your position across the line. The first rider across the line gets points equal to the number of riders (eg, 60 riders=60 points) in the race. Using that 60-rider race example, 2nd would get 59 points, 3rd 58 points, etc.

N=number of riders in the race

Fastest-Through Segment (FTS)

FTS points are given to the top 5 fastest times through a segment over the course of the entire race. If a segment is designated multiple times in a race, a single rider could potentially have multiple top-5 FTS times. For example (see table below) a rider who got 1st in FTS on the first lap and 4th on the next lap would earn 10 + 4 = 14 FTS points for the race. In a 5-lap race, a strong rider could (theoretically) grab all 5 FTS spots!

Simply put, the highest FAL points go to whoever is at the front of the race on designated segments. FTS points, on the other hand, are given to the fastest times on given segments, and your overall position across the segment finish line is of no consequence.

Finish Line Points (FIN and PBP)

Along with intermediate segment points, riders earn points based on their position across the finish line. Known as FIN points in the world of ZRL, these are computed just like FAL points above:

Along with FIN points, additional Podium Bonus Points (PBP) are given to the top 5 finishers:

Race Example

This week, A/B riders in ZRL are racing four laps of Makuri Islands’ Fine and Sandy route. This route has two intermediate segments which will be awarding both FTS and FAL points:

• Boardwalk Sprint
• Tidepool Sprint

On the first Boardwalk Sprint, every rider earns FAL points. The first rider across the line earns points equal to the total number of riders in the race (60 riders means 1st place earns 60 points), 2nd rider across the line earns 59, all the way down to the last-placed rider earning just 1 point. Everyone earns FAL points each time they pass through the arch.

Additionally, on the first Boardwalk Sprint, the top 5 segment times are slotted into the leaderboard for FTS. If the race was to end right now, those 5 riders would each FTS points of 10 for 1st place, 8 for 2nd, down to 2 for 5th.

But the race isn’t over yet. We’ll be going through the Boardwalk Sprint three more times!

Riders will hit the Tidepool Sprint next, and it works just like the Boardwalk Sprint. (Intermediate segments are never related in any way, so whether there is just one intermediate or several, they all act independently, awarding FAL points each time through, and building a top-5 leaderboard across the duration of the event.)

On the next lap, FAL points work just like they did on the first lap. First rider across the line earns points equal to the total number of riders in the race, 2nd rider earns one point less, etc.

But FTS points are awarded to the 5 fastest times through the segment across the duration of the race. Think of it as a leaderboard, why whenever a rider sets a segment time faster than one currently on the leaderboard, that rider’s time gets added to the leaderboard, and the slowest time gets bumped so only the top 5 are ever listed.

On the second lap, a strong rider who set the fastest FTS time on the first lap might better their time and end up with the 1st and 2nd place listings on the invisible FTS leaderboard.

And so it continues, with each lap handing out a pile of FAL points, and new fast FTS times replacing slower ones on the top-5 leaderboard.

Eventually, riders will have finished all the intermediate segments, and only the finish line will be up the road. Riders will jostle for position, go all-in on the final sprint, and when the dust clears, FIN and PBP will be given to riders based on their position across the finish line.

The first rider across will earn FIN points equal to the number of riders in the race plus 10 PBP, the second rider will earn 1 less FIN point and 8 PBP, all the way down to the last-placed rider earning a single FIN point.

Best-Case Scenario

If you understand the explanation above, then you can understand how we get our Points Distribution charts, like this one for this week’s race:

Points Distributions, Fine and Sandy (4 Laps)

This chart shows the maximum points a team of 6 could earn in the race with 60 participants. No team will ever do this well, of course, but it lets you see, at a glance, the importance of segment points vs finishing points for a particular race. Here’s how we calculated the values for this particular chart:

• If a team of 6 crossed the Boardwalk Sprint finish line in front of everyone else every lap, they would grab 60+59+58+57+56+55=345 points each lap, for a total of 4×345=1380 Sprint FAL points
• If a team of 6 crossed the Tidepool Sprint finish line in front of everyone else every lap, they would grab 60+59+58+57+56+55=345 points each lap, for 4×345=1380 additional Sprint FAL points
• If the team set all 5 top FTS times for the Boardwalk Sprint, they would earn 10+8+6+4+2=30 FTS points
• If the team set all 5 top FTS times for the Tidepool Sprint, they would earn 10+8+6+4+2=30 additional FTS points
• If that same team of 6 were the first across the finish line, they would earn 70+67+64+61+58+55=375 FIN+PBP points

That gives us these maximum points for a team of 6:

• Sprint FAL Points: 2760
• Sprint FTS Points: 60
• KOM FAL Points: 0
• KOM FTS Points: 0
• FIN and PBP Points: 375

Segment Points Minutiae

Which Segments?

With the way WTRL sets up ZRL race routes, they don’t have to give segment points on every sprint or KOM segment on a route. They could designate certain segments as FAL only, FTS only, or as not giving points at all! That said, WTRL normally gives FAL and FTS points on all segments on the route, probably for simplicity’s sake.

Tracking FTS On Leaderboards

The leaderboards on the left side of your screen are a great way to see who grabbed FTS points, but that only works if your race has you going through a particular segment only one time. Because leaderboards only display each rider’s fastest time on the segment, in multi-lap races they probably won’t reflect the actual top 5 fastest times, since a single rider may have multiple top 5 fastest times.

I sure would love to see Zwift modify leaderboard functionality for points races, so we could see our team points totals in real time!

Seeing FTS and FAL Results on ZwiftPower

If you want to see who grabbed segment points after your race, head over to ZwiftPower, pull up your event, and then click on “Primes” at the top. Here you can toggle “First over line” and “Fastest time” to see FAL and FTS times, respectively.

Pro tip: you can actually look at these times mid-race. But you may want to leave that job to your DS!

Annulled Results and FAL

If a rider’s result is annulled (perhaps they don’t finish the race, or they get a DQ), any intermediate points they earned are effectively removed from the race. The annulled rider “keeps” those points – they are not passed on to the next-best rider. But they are also not included in the team total.

Your Thoughts

Watch for a followup post discussing strategic tips for maximizing your segment points.

Until then, if you have questions or segment point tips, share below!

The second race of Zwift Racing League 2025/26 Round 1 happens Tuesday, September 23, and we’re in Makuri Islands for multiple laps of the Fine and Sandy route.

We’ve never raced this route in ZRL, and as a points race, it presents a strategic challenge. Do you go hard on the Mech Isle Climb and try to drop riders to improve your chance at points up the road? Or do you save your legs for the sprint segments? And what part will powerups play in your decisions?

There’s much to discuss, including the route’s key sections, powerup details, strategic options, and bike choice. Let’s go!

Looking at the Route

Makuri Islands’ Fine and Sandy route is 10.6km long with 77m of elevation gain and 2 flat intermediate sprint segments per lap. We’ve never raced this route in ZRL, and A/B categories will be completing 4 laps (42.5km) while C/D categories will be racing 3 (32.9km).

Here are the key sections of the route from a points race perspective:

Mech Isle Climb (700 meters, 2.9%): This is the key feature on the route. It’s the only climb of any length, plus it’s dirt, plus you’ll hit it twice per lap! The first ~250 meters of this segment are quite flat, and it’s the final ~450 meters, averaging 4%, where the big efforts must happen.

One tip: push over the top to get yourself up to speed on the dirt descent, because gaps will open up and you can lose contact easily.

Boardwalk Sprint (240 meters @ 0%) FAL+FTS: this short sprint is pan flat and arrow-straight, so there aren’t many tips to offer apart from standard sprinting tips. Riders will be chasing FAL here, and if you want to compete, you’ll need to use your aero powerup just before crossing the start line. I recommend sitting in the draft for at least the first half, then using the draft to slingshot through the pack and across the line before anyone else.

Tidepool Sprint (310 meters @ 0%) FAL+FTS: another pan flat sprint, but this one is a bit longer and curvier than the Boardwalk. The same tips apply as above, although I would wait perhaps 5 seconds before popping my aero powerup.

The Finish: thanks to the twisty final kilometers, the finish line isn’t visible until ~140 meters to go, so you’ll want to watch your distance countdown and mind your pack position. Riders will begin sprinting well before the finish line is available, but it’s the rider with the perfect sense of timing (and perhaps a saved aero powerup) who will win on the day.

Read more about the Fine and Sandy route >

PowerUp Notes

Riders will receive one of two powerups at each arch, and there are two arches per lap, giving us a total of eight powerup possibilities (six for C/D categories). Here are details of the powerups, including the probability that you’ll receive each at an arch:

Aero Boost (75%): makes you more aerodynamic (reduces your CdA by 25%) for 15 seconds.
Use at higher speeds (flats and descents), especially when no draft is available (although it is still useful when drafting.) If you’re chasing sprint points, this is the powerup for you.

Steamroller (25%): reduces Crr for 30 seconds so you roll as fast as a road tire on pavement regardless of wheels or road surface.
This is most effective when used on dirt, which means it will be helpful on the Mech Isle dirt corkscrew climb where the key selections will happen in most races.

You’ll want an aero powerup when contesting the intermediates, as well as for your final sprint to the finish line. The steamroller powerup will prove very helpful on the Mech Isle corkscrew climb, but it’s basically useless anywhere else.

Bike Recommendations

Riders will consider a handful of factors when selecting a bike frame and wheels for this race:

1. All of the race’s available points are on flat intermediate sprints or the flat finish. No KOM points.
2. The short Mech Isle climb will be a key selection point, and if you get dropped from the front, you’ve lost your chance to earn big intermediate points.
3. Which frame have you upgraded? (read more)

Some may ask: Do I need to pick a wheelset that performs well on the Mech Isle Climb, or a more aero wheelset to optimize for the sprints and finish?

Fortunately, the physics make it easy. We tested multiple top wheelsets, and even the Tron bike, on the Mech Isle Climb:

• S-Works Tarmac SL8 with DT Swiss ARC 1100 DICUT 85/Disc
• S-Works Tarmac SL8 with DT Swiss ARC 1100 DICUT 65
• S-Works Tarmac SL8 with ENVE SES 4.5 PRO
• S-Works Tarmac SL8 with ENVE SES 8.9
• Zwift Concept Z1 (Tron)

At 5 W/kg, all these setups turned in the same time on the Strava segment: 1:25. Strava doesn’t do fractional seconds in times, but the consistency of those times tells us one thing: you can optimize your setup for the flat sprints without fear of losing time on the key climb!

So we’re recommending pairing the DT Swiss ARC 1100 DICUT 85/Disc wheels – the most aero wheels in game – with any of the following frames:

• S-Works Tarmac SL8
• Pinarello Dogma F 2024
• Canyon Aeroad 2024
• Cannondale SuperSix EVO LAB71
• Zwift Concept Z1

See Speed Tests: Tron Bike vs Top Performers for more nerd-level detail on frame and wheel performance, and check out Fastest Bike Frames and Wheels at Each Zwift Level to determine the fastest setup available to you.

More Route Recons

Lots of recon events are scheduled on upcoming ZRL routes, led by various teams. See upcoming ZRL recons for this race at zwift.com/events/tag/zrlrecon.

(Coming soon)

Strategic Options

Points Distributions, Fine and Sandy

These charts show the maximum points a team of 6 could earn in a race with 60 participants.

With FAL constituting the vast majority of each race’s total points, the message is clear: the winning team will be the one that puts the most riders near the front of the charging peloton at each sprint arch.

That means you’ll need to keep as many riders in the front group as possible, and those riders will need to contest the sprint segments as much as possible!

Here are some predictions of strategies we’ll see on Tuesday:

• Sprint, Rest, Survive, Repeat: this will be the most common strategy. Rest between timed segments, sprint on the segments, and do the minimum required to stay in the front group over the Mech Isle climb. It’s the smartest approach, unless you have the legs to attack in a meaningful way. You’ll just need to decide which sprints you’re going all-in for, and which ones you’re conserving on.
• Mech Isle Corkscrew Launch to Boardwalk Sprint: the Mech Isle climb ends about ~1.4km before the Boardwalk Sprint arch. Could rider(s) attack on the climb and stay away to grab FAL points on the Boardwalk Sprint? We think so… especially if 2-3 riders work together.
• Big Attacks On the Mech Isle Corkscrew: this punchy dirt climb will stretch out the pack and drop some riders, especially on the first and last attempts of the race. Be ready for near-max ~45-second efforts each lap!
• Bigger Final Mech Isle Corkscrew Attack: riders will save some juice for a final max effort up the key climb. Some who don’t trust their sprint may even try to go long, using the climb as a springboard… but these attempts are usually fatal.

Your Thoughts

Any insights or further thoughts on this race? Share below!

Cycling commentator, sports writer and BikeRadar contributor Ned Boulting is organising a 40-metre hill climb after a mystery sign appeared on a cobbled climb in Lewisham, South London.

The event is billed as the “inaugural (and almost certainly only ever)” hill climb by Never Strays Far (NSF), the podcast hosted by Boulting, David Millar and Peter Kennaugh with honorary guest Lizzie Deignan. 

It will take place on Saturday 18 October on Whitepost Lane, where this summer a ‘mystery person’ erected a sign that named the short cobbled climb ‘Mûr de Ned’. 

• Ned Boulting reacts to the end of ITV’s coverage of the Tour de France

“At NSF, we thought it might [be] good fun to race up it. It’s about 40 metres long, but quite steep. We thought people might like to have a go at the existing Strava record, which stands at 8 seconds,” the NSF team wrote in a post on its website.

Unlike the hill climbs that are a distinct part of the British bike-racing scene, participants will be able to attempt the Mûr de Ned hill climb in three open categories: cycling, running or walking. 

“The fastest recorded time in each category will win a trophy, if we can get round to making one,” wrote NSF. 

“Also, there will be a special prize for the oldest and the youngest contestants, regardless of their time.” 

Any participants choosing cycling won’t be able to bring the kind of customised bikes you see at the British hill climb championships. Instead, all entrants will choose from a selection of bikes prepared for the event by the XO Bikes shop in Lewisham. 

“XO Bikes do amazing work offering ex-offenders a chance to prepare for life on the outside, training up as bike mechanics. We want to raise as much as we can on the day to help them in their activities, and to showcase the amazing work they do,” NSF added. 

While race entry is now sold out, NSF asks that people come along and support the hill climb. After all, it could be the last one. 

• Ned Boulting: The Tour de France is absurd, beautiful and unforgettable – I’ll miss it profoundly

See zwiftinsider.com/tiny for current Tiny Race details.