Ever wondered how your road bike actually compares to the “Formula 1” machines of the professional peloton? We take a deep dive into five key differences that set Tour de France bikes apart, ranging from massive gearing and strict UCI weight limits to the high-maintenance world of ceramic bearings and waxed chains. Watch as we explain why these elite bikes require an army of mechanics to keep them running at peak performance.
Chapters: ⏱️
00:00 – The Formula 1 of Cycling
00:36 – 1. The Gearing
02:07 – 2. The Weight
03:31 – 3. Cleanliness & Maintenance
04:32 – 4. The Drivetrain & Bearings
05:59 – 5. The Secret Spare Bikes
07:27 – Final Thoughts
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Which of these pro-level features would you most want to have on your own bike—the massive gearing, the ceramic bearings, or would you just settle for a team mechanic to wash it for you every single day? Let us know in the comments! 👇
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48 Comments
I also use a giant ring with lots of teeth on my bike. The only difference is that it is in the back.
Got a rather light weight 8,5kg carbon gravel bike after riding a 11kg aluminium bike.
Difference is nice, but in still a terrible performer on a bike
Good content, but PLEASE put in ALERTS so we can mute the blaring "music".
Well mine has one ring up front, one cog in the back, no brakes, and hybrid tires
I've been riding a road bike since I was 11 years old (my first 'ten speed' was a child-sized Peugeot). Currently I ride a 2014 Giant Defy after spending 20 years on a Trek 1200 aluminum frame. I'm not mechanically inclined so I just trust my local shop to take care of me (though I can change a tire and I do try to keep my chain oiled!). I honestly couldn't tell you how many teeth are on the chain ring or what's in the cassette — my devotion to riding has nothing to do with any of that. And when I watch the Tour, I just watch the highlight reels on YouTube (cause who has time for all that?). But the astonishing thing to me is: despite ALL THOSE DIFFERENCES, and knowing that I am on the near opposite end of the spectrum from those riders in terms of ability or commitment, when I am on my own bike, I feel like I might as well be keeping up with the peloton, and when I watch those riders, I can feel in my body what they are doing. Worlds apart, in so many ways, but in some essential way, really just the same.
When the last two inches matters after 150 miles and 6000 feet of climb, I guess you need all that stuff.
Me, I need a traffic light sensor and a dog diverter.
🤔 got to think a moment… expensive ceramic bearings being jet washed every day.
Either the seals are better than we think, or the teams are spending extra replacing those bearings…
My bike is very different from a TdF bike, largely because it is designed for bike touring with rear and sometimes front panniers and a handlebar bag. Double-butted chrome-moly steel, fenders, bar end shifters, 44-32-22 triple crank set and an 11-32 9-speed cassette. Gears for grinding up mountain roads loaded with gear, and coasting down hill. Not fast, but I have traveled many thousands of miles on it and climbed many tens of thousands of meters.
Just imagine what Lance Armstrong could have done with one of these!
Thank you!
0:55
so let me get this straight….the speeds on the average TdF are getting faster…..on slightly heavier bikes (due to disk brakes and tubeless tire setups)….
….faster than the age of Festina and Lance Armstrong….
and you’re gonna tell me there’s no doping in cycling anymore.
SURE.
At 6'5" and 100kg the biggest difference for me is about 40 kilos 😆
the cranks are set to a short length of 160
If you want a clean bike, like in TDF, get a white one. It gets dirty at the slightest thing and forces you to clean it constantly…
I love the way you downplay your achievements of not only riding as a pro, but riding and finishing the Tour de France. Quite a few club riders should take note and realise they aren't an elite cyclist just because they can afford a £15k bike 🤣🤣
They make us believe that the differences are significant, so that we put our last pennies into bicycles instead of sustainable and much more important investments in our own homes.
Easy when you don't have to pay for it yourself and don't have to work for it.
Mine doesn’t have a motor in it, and doesn’t get punctures every 100kms.
My 2003 Sarcen road bike with panniers is a world away but I love it. Saracen don't make road bikes now. The build quality of my road bike is impressive and I still love cycling even after all these decades. I must say that for true professionals as the tour de France they must be unbelievably fit. A downside on UK roads are the silly, often rude bunches of lycra types who are thoughtless, hold up traffic and give cylists a bad name trying to ape the professionals..
Only difference between my race bikes and the TdF race bikes, is I'm no longer paid to ride my race bikes…
Will ye suggest a rear view camera on our best tadej’s bike. Take 2 no doubt 🤣😎🤞👍
is it possible thoose spare bike donated to me to go to work?😁😁😁
i really struglling to buy gas for my motorcycle to the work now, the price is high, and the gas is now a really rare item
i rode a cheap bike to the work as sport teacher for elemtary school
How do they configure the Shimano neutral bikes as gar as pedals and frame sizes? Or is it you get what you get or do they place certain cars closer to specific riders if team cars aren't avaliable?
Mines a mtb. So, your completely correct
Mines 38-53
Mine’s electric, but at least it get’s out and about.
A top ten finisher can probably beat most amatuer riders with a used huffy with 105 drivetrain
I love learning this stuff from someone who's actually ridden the Tour. Super cool, Dan ☺.
So fuck,how cares,ride what U like,whatever weight U like,it's the rider that counts!!
Hang on, you rode for the cervelo test team. This is news!
I love this. Thanks for sharing
I still doing understand why they jet wash the bikes. A normal spray head of normal pressure can surely rinse a bike just as quickly.
I have to say that watching the Tour, I did wonder about the size of the chainrings because they looked HUGE. And now I know they are.
0:47 I actually think road compact cranksets are if anything still bigger than what would best suit most riders. I think something like a 44/28 road double crankset would be very popular among mortals who live in hilly areas. 44/11 at 100 rpm is more than 50 km/h, how many mortals are sustaining that on the flats for more than a minute? While meanwhile a 28/34 or so is a nice really low gear that lets you tackle nearly any paved climb and also opens up possibilities for loaded touring. I feel like Shimano et al have been slow-rolling the arrival of genuinely sane road drivetrains for more than a decade now, and while GRX's 46/30 crankset is definitely a step in the right direction, I just want to see them go full send and sell a really small crankset with a road chainline.
My bike doesn't have a hidden motor, battery, and drive mechanism in it
My bike has mudguards and panniers…….still dead slow
My bike was higher spec that a tdf bike (and every other bike in the club) because l had a 50-40-28, not a 52-39..my fancy bike always got a lot of comments on a clubrun
Which of these pro-level features would you most want to have on your own bike—the massive gearing, the ceramic bearings, or would you just settle for a team mechanic to wash it for you every single day? Let us know in the comments! 👇
161st like a boss!
Difference? Steel is real.
And i dont have a team of mechanics waiting to clean and strip my bike after every ride.
Rules on weight, but not on gear ratio?
It's NOT the bike…..it's THE RIDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am not in a unique position as I have no bike.
Great explanations! Thx a million
nice – cables or bluetooth ?
Hard to believe that wax should be better then oil on the chain. Everybody knows that wax is a lot stiffer than oil at a given temperature.
If they rode it would most amateur riders immediately notice that a TdF bike is much stiffer than a consumer endurance bike?