For many different reasons, yesterday's victory at Paris-Roubaix was very special to Wout Van Aert. The Team Visma | Lease a Bike rider long looked to win the third monument of the spring, and did so in a day where drama was constant throughout the final hours of racing. The Belgian had his mishaps...

With several Alpecin - Premier Tech riders using prototype Shimano pedals, Van der Poel was left without a bike at a crucial point

UAE Team Emirates - XRG helped Tadej Pogacar to victory on the first two monuments of the season but couldn't pull it off at Paris-Roubaix. The Hell of the North is a race that usually throws riders' plans out the window in its chaos, and that's exactly what the Emirati team had to endure. The resu...

O Gran Camio 2026 will take place from the 14th to 18th of April, cementing its calendar slot with five days across some of Galicias most emblematic landscapes. The race will once again blend heritage, coast, mountains, and cycling identity in a varied, demanding route. We take a look at its start...

Schwalbe just dropped a versatile new mountain bike tire named Romy, which could become a new favorite for everyone from regular trail riders to enduro racers. But their 2026 MTB tire shake-up is a lot more than a fast-rolling, but grippy new tread design. Instead, Schwalbe is relabeling and clarifying their entire mountain bike tire line. Trying to make it easier to pick the best type of tire for your type of riding, then letting you think about tread patterns, casing, rubber compound, and mixing & matching.(All photos/Cory Benson) 2026 Shredda R, Shredda F, Tacky Chan Radial, Tacky Chan, Magic Mary, Eddy Current, Albert & Romy (l-r) Plus, theres also a new Tacky Chan tread reshaped for radial flex. Theres a smoothed-off Magic Mary, a repositioning of Eddy Current as an indestructible radial, and stickier Ultra Soft rubber. Importantly, the Gravity Pro Radial construction gets more supportive. And 3 classic treads axed from the Schwalbe catalog! Theres a lot going on hereSchwalbe Romy: an in-betweener, all-rounder MTB trail tireSchwalbe describes their new Romy as maximum fun with more grip and control. The new Romy slots in nicely between the more tightly spaced knobs of the recent Albert and the long-running open, knobby Magic Mary. The result is that this new Romy tread design promises plenty of grip in soft terrain, while still rolling relatively quickly on hardpack. Romys aggressive tread design is a pretty clear mash-up of the Magic Mary & Albert. 2 of 3 of its large, supportive shoulder knobs take a capital-R shape adopted from Albert. While the 3rd is a big siped rectangle from Mary. Schwalbe again imports center knobs from Albert, with an extra pair of knobs added in. And all of that center tread is a tiny bit shorter to roll faster with less effort. Plus, everything gets spaced out a bit more than Albert for better grip in soft conditions.Created as an all-rounder, it officially replaces the Hans Dampf, as well as the Nobby Nic on most modern trail bikes. When you dont want to worry about which trail tire to pick, Schwalbe figures the new Romy will be your safe bet.Schwalbe Mountain bike tires relabeledSure, Romy is new, but the first thing youll notice is that the tread name doesnt stand out on the new Schwalbe sidewall label. In revamping their mountain bike line-up (and trimming some fat), Schwalbe is now simplifying labeling on all new tires.The first thing you see after the Schwalbe name is the construction. Because Schwalbe first wants to make sure you get the tire feel thats appropriate for your terrain, your riding style, and your bike. Gravity for those shredders amongst you who need the most support and protection. Trail for the regular mountain bike riders looking to balance protection with the ability to pedal up the hill. And Race for riders looking to prioritize speed and low weight. Then, Schwalbe offers Pro-line for the top-tier performance with all the latest tech (previously called Evolution). Or you get the standard Schwalbe-line that doesnt say anything else, while still offering the latest treads and tubeless construction, but typically just a single appropriate rubber compound. Only then in small print will you see the tread name letting you mix-and-match front and rear while keeping the same hot patch look. Under that, you see the rubber compound. Plus, labels if it is TLR tubeless, what size it is, and youll only see a note if it is a Radial construction (standard diagonal casings are unlabeled).Pro line in Radial or Diagonal casing, including new Gravity Pro Radialsconventional bias-ply (l) vs. more radial (r)Only the top Pro tires get the ground-breaking Radial construction. But interestingly, the Pro tires also offer many options for conventional bias-ply Diagonal casings, too. Because, while many riders (like myself) prefer the extra grip of Schwalbes Radials, they do add more rolling resistance. And many riders like to mix and match especially like pairing a Diagonal rear tire for faster rolling to a Radial front tire for extra grip.Plus, a lot of crazy fast, super hard-charging Enduro, Freeride & DH riders didnt think that the first round of Gravity Radials offered enough support in high-speed cornering. And riders needed to increase pressure to get enough support, limiting the grip control you got with the Radial introduction. It turns out, though, that was a lot because when Schwalbe tried to simplify their construction offerings a couple of years back, they pared down their old Super Downhill & Super Gravity casings into the new Gravity construction, leaning more towards the lighter Super Gravity end of the spectrum. But with the more supple Radial construction, that wasnt quite enough support for the biggest shredders.So, Schwalbe have listened. And going forward, the new Gravity Pro tires get more structure reminiscent of Super Downhill. That means that the new Gravity Pro construction is now much more supportive, and riders now have the flexibility to change pressure a lot (up & down from what they are used to with conventional diagonal bias-ply tires) to dial in the grip they need.Ultra Soft & other rubber compound updatesUltra Soft Magic Mary, Ultra Soft Albert & Soft Romy (l-r)Another sneaky update that you cant actually see. All new Ultra Soft tires feature an all-new rubber compound that Schwalbe developed with their World Cup DH race teams. The new Ultra Soft rubber offers a claimed 50% increase in damping vs. the previous generation for significantly increased wet grip. But the big trick is that even though it is so much stickier in the wet, Schwalbe claims that the new rubber doesnt break apart like most wildly soft tires. So even though it will wear faster than a Soft tire, the new Ultra Soft is just as durable as the previous iteration.Also, at the faster rolling end of the spectrum, Schwalbe has renamed their red-striped Addix Speed compound as simply Speed, where it will really only target XC tires. And the previously ambiguous blue-stripe Addix SpeedGrip is now just Mid striking the middle ground between XC speed and enduro soft grip.New Tacky Chan Radial This one is a subtle update but important, and makes this tire more interesting for me personally. We knew Tacky Chan for big shoulder knobs and big center knobs, and a lot of space between them. But the way the new radial tires deflect so much locally, having 1/3 of the center knobs tightly butted up against each other didnt let them flex as much as they could. So the new Tacky Chan Radial eliminates those blocks up against each other. And instead, it shifts to two alternating pairs of center knobs, a bit further apart side-to-side to let them flex more with the radial casing.The result is that the new Tacky Chan Radial has a smoother transition from straight-line grip to cornering grip. That should reduce the abrupt cornering feeling I wasnt a huge fan of in the original bias-ply Tacky Chan.Magic Mary gets smoothnew Magic Mary (front) vs. old (back)OK, theres nothing functionally different about the good old Magic Mary, just an updated tire mold. But now the Pro line radial tires get a smooth sidewall to match the rest of the modern Schwalbe MTB line.Eddy Current is now Radial & rear-onlyThe big news for the Eddy Current is that its a Radial construction now. Only now theres no longer Front- & Rear-specific versions just an unlabeled version of the rear tread design. It is still meant to just be the super tough indestructible tire for heavy eMTB use. It features the new, more supportive Gravity Pro Radial construction, and comes in 27.5 or 29 x 2.5 widths.3 classic Schwalbe treads retired(Image/Schwalbe)With that rear-specific shift, Schwalbe axes the Eddy Current Front. And Schwalbe now recommends pairing it with a Magic Mary or Albert front tire, depending what type of conditions you ride your full-power ebike in most. Or, if you want something ultra grippy, pair it with a Shredda F with the new Ultra Soft rubber? Next to bite the dust is the old rear-specific Big Betty. Schwalbe explained that outside of high-powered eMTBs, which wear rear tires down faster, most modern trail & gravity tires can do just as good on the front or the back. So rear-specific treads like the Big Betty make less and less sense. If you are running a Magic Mary up front, now youll probably replace Betty with an Albert or new Tacky Chan Radial, depending on whether you ride more hardpack or loose terrain.Lastly, say goodbye to Hans Dampf. Romy takes its place, as a more versatile trail tire combining plenty of all-conditions grip with faster rolling.Schwalbe Romy Pricing, options & availabilityOK, back to Romy for second, which Schwalbe says is lighter than many enduro tires, yet at the same time extremely robust and durable, making it a great all-rounder. It is also good as both a front & rear tire, of can be combined with a more aggressive front for extra grip.With its versatility, the new Schwalbe Romy tires come in many sizes and options: 27.5 & 29; 2.4 & 2.5 widths; Gravity & Trail; Pro Radial, Pro Diagonal & standard line diagonal; but all TLR tubeless. It is actually the first Schwalbe Radial to come in a slightly narrower 2.4 version, as some trail bikes simply dont have the clearance for a 2.5 tire in the back.new Tacky Chan Gravity Pro Radial (l) & Romy Trail Pro Radial (r)Price-wise, the new Romy is in line with the rest of the Schwalbe MTB family. The most affordable are the high-value standard line tires at 45, available only in Trail casing, Mid rubber, and 2.4 width. Step up to Pro with a conventional diagonal casing for 70 or go Pro Radial for 75, and you get Gravity or Trail choice, more widths, and the option for either Soft or Mid rubber compounds.Pick up any of the new Schwalbe Romy tires, or the rest of the revamped MTB gravity & trail tires, online and through your local shop starting today.Schwalbe.comThe post Schwalbe Romy Adds New All-Rounder MTB Tire As Trail, Gravity & Radial Lines Redefined appeared first on Bikerumor.

Choose your airline carefully when you plan your trip abroad

What was supposed to be another defining day for Mathieu van der Poel at Paris-Roubaix instead unravelled in a matter of moments inside the Troue dArenberg, and in the aftermath, Alpecins team boss did not shy away from where things went wrong. Speaking after the race to IDL Pro Cycling, Christop...

As a slight change of pace, were pleased to present Kidical Mass, a short video from Pedal Born Pictures that tells the story of the Moss family and how theyre doing their part to help reclaim safe streets for the next generation of bike riders. Watch the uplifting seven-minute video with an introduction from Julia Moss hereThe post Kidical Mass: A Family That Bikes Together (Video) appeared first on BIKEPACKING.com.

As the dust settles on another memorable edition of road cyclings toughest single-day race, Mathieu van der Poel will undoubtedly be rueing his teams decision to run prototype pedals on Jasper Philipsens bike. Following a puncture in the infamous Arenberg trench, van der Poel looked to quickly rejoin the lead group by jumping on the bike of his key lieutenant, Philipsen, only to find himself unable to clip in to the bikes prototype Shimano road pedals. With the team car nowhere in sight, van der Poel despondently returned to his own bike which, in the meantime, had been fixed via a wheel swap from another teammate only to puncture again before the end of the segment and lose yet more time. Although the Dutchman was eventually able to get mechanical service from his team and rejoin the fray, the energy expended during the chase back on naturally cost him dearly in the finale. At face value, then, the pedal problem looked to have ended van der Poels chances of taking a fourth consecutive victory at Paris-Roubaix. According to his team, though, the truth is more complex. Read more Van der Poel's Arenberg disaster confirms Shimano's unreleased pedals use new cleats ParisRoubaix 2026 tech gallery: 1x drivetrains take over as teams move to MTB groupsets and 35mm tyres This is Wout van Aerts Paris-Roubaix winning bike and theres nothing special about it A very stupid decision Van der Poel's team manager understandably regrets the decision to use two pedal systems at Paris-Roubaix, but noted they'd been trialled in previous races without incident. Speaking to IDL Pro Cycling and Sporza in the aftermath of the race (which was won by Visma-Lease a Bikes Wout van Aert), Alpecin-Premier Techs team manager, Christoph Roodhooft, admitted the decision to use two pedal systems was very stupid. When questioned why the team had allowed the situation to occur in such an important race, Roodhooft admitted he simply didnt think about it in advance, because the team has been testing the pedals in and out of competition for a number of months already. You can say that in hindsight. Mathieu also rode with them [the new pedals] briefly at the start of the season. I had promised to use those pedals in competition as well," Roodhooft said. Of course, that all came together at an incredibly bad time. I never would have thought that. Now it comes down to the pedals, but there was a long build-up with other things. Roodhooft also noted that other Shimano-sponsored teams, such as Team PicnicPostNL, are testing the new pedals and every team that uses Shimano pedals will be on the new ones soon. He also hinted that, although the new pedals may be designed for updated SPD-SL cleats, they were also supposed to be backwards-compatible with existing ones, such as those van der Poel was using. We were stood still for over a minute The team car, with van der Poel's spare bike, got held up at the entrance to the Arenberg sector. Etienne Garnier - Pool/Getty Images Its fair to say that, while the pedal-compatibility issue clearly cost van der Poel precious time against his rivals, there were other factors that played a significant role in turning a simple puncture into something disastrous. For a start, Roodhooft noted that van der Poels team car had been held up at the entrance to the Arenberg sector by a crashed rider from another team and the race doctors car. We were stood still for over a minute. Behind us, the peloton came through and was able to pass. So the peloton was back between us and the lead group at that point." Given this, the team car couldnt reach van der Poel to offer him mechanical service as quickly as usual. In contrast, although van der Poels key rivals, Tadej Pogaar and Wout Van Aert, also suffered punctures throughout the race, both were able to receive service from team cars and rejoin the race more quickly. On top of this, Roodhooft said team staff had, for the first time in history, been banned by race organisers from standing with spare wheels by the side of the road in the Arenberg sector. That ban affected all teams, of course, but not everyone was unlucky enough to puncture at that crucial point of the race. What does Shimano have to say for itself? The race organisers banned team staff from standing in the Arenberg sector with spare wheels this year. Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP via Getty Images As Roodhooft rightly points out, Alpecin-Premier Tech is, as a Shimano-sponsored team, obliged to test prototype equipment in race situations. Given this, some blame may lie with the Japanese component brand if it had indicated to the team that the new pedals are backwards-compatible with existing cleats. But thats speculation at this point. Nevertheless, if the pedals are supposed to retain compatibility with existing cleats, Shimano clearly still has work to do before they are released publicly. Unsurprisingly, Shimano didnt reveal anything about the new pedal. Instead, it told us that it is continually developing new products and evaluates the performance of our products based on valuable rider feedback. We do not address rumors, speculation, or unverified information about our products however, regardless of whether they are currently in development or not," Shimano added. Clearly, such a high-profile incident wont be forgotten quickly by riders or fans, and when the new pedals eventually land, cleat compatibility will be the question on everyones mind.