That's the difference: Differences between professional and production road bikes

Professional and production road bike: frame comparison

The frames of the racers in the Tour de France and other races correspond technically in most cases to the commercially available products. Depending on the bike sponsor, some riders have a choice of two models. The comfort or endurance models popular with hobby and long-distance cyclists, on the other hand, are not available. It is rare for frames to be made especially for athletes, but for some top riders, particularly high-quality carbon is used to build lighter individual pieces - this can save up to 200 grams. Particularly stiff frames are occasionally built for strong sprinters.

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The bikes are painted uniformly in the team design, with special paint jobs for stars and those wearing a classification jersey. Many professionals ride frame heights that would be considered one or two sizes too small in amateur sport. The reason: in order to sit very aerodynamically, the handlebars should be as low as possible. The missing length of the small frames is compensated for by the add-on parts.

Handlebars and stem

The stem and handlebars are usually made from a single piece of laminated carbon fibre. This causes problems because professional riders want different seating positions to amateur riders: the position should usually be longer and lower. If you are prominent enough, you can get a handlebar unit laminated to measure. Otherwise you have to make do with classic stems and clamped handlebars. You can find stems up to 150 millimetres long (usually 100-120 millimetres) with large negative angles to compensate for the lack of length. The handlebar shapes also differ: while compact handlebars are usually found on standard bikes, some pros ride round bends with low lower bars, as this also makes the riding position a little more elongated.

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Wheels from professional and production racing bikes

The wheels are the parts of the bike that are changed most frequently. Instead of one wheelset for all occasions, a Tour pro has access to at least three models with rim heights between 30 and around 60 millimetres, the use and combination of which is determined by the stage profile and wind conditions. On flat stages with little wind, many cyclists opt for time trial rims; the more metres in altitude a stage covers, the flatter the rims.

Rims around 50 millimetres high have established themselves as the best all-rounders. All rims are made of carbon and are usually designed for tubeless tyres; only very rarely are rims for glued tubular tyres used. Some teams replace the original hub bearings with smooth-running ceramic bearings.

Professional road bike vs. standard road bike: gears & brakes

The gears and brakes are standard equipment and all come from the manufacturers' top groupsets. Shimano is represented at the Tour de France with the Dura-Ace and SRAM with the Red AXS. Cranks from other manufacturers rarely play a role. In contrast to standard bikes, professionals ride larger chainrings, for example Shimano 54/40 instead of the 52/36 that is usual on standard bikes.

Some riders use even larger blades (up to 60 teeth) on flat or undulating stages. The Visma | Lease a Bike team also experiments with single-speed drivetrains when the terrain is not too difficult. The rear sprockets are adjusted almost daily and range between a maximum of 28 teeth on flat stages and up to 34 in the mountains. All riders use a power measurement system, which is rarely supplied with standard bikes.

Tyres in comparison

Tubeless tyres, which are common on high-quality production bikes, have become almost universally accepted in the peloton. 28 millimetre wide tyres are the rule. Occasionally, teams use the slightly lighter system of clincher tyres and TPU tubes because the rolling resistance is comparably low.

Buy used professional racing bikes

The racing bikes of the cycling pros are also available for everyone. Visually, they are of course an eye-catcher, but from a technical point of view they are not always a recommendable investment. We at TOUR have analysed the advantages and disadvantages of buying a professional racing bike. analysed in detail and also compiled the most important sources of supply for the purchase of such high-performance racers.