Aerodynamics aside, the rate of innovation in the road bike market has increased markedly over the last few years, with many of the developments in mountain biking and cyclocross, filtering into the road bike arena. The most obvious of these is the use of disc brakes. Widely used on mountain bikes for decades, the UCI’s legalisation of their use in cyclocross racing resulted in the development of shift-lever designs that accommodated hydraulic reservoirs in road bike lever setups.
Aother trend in recent years has been the move to the use of wider rims and more recently, wider tyres. The former assisting with aerodynamics and the latter, a result in part of the former, offering greater comfort and lower rolling resistance with no real downside when correctly utilised - the lack of consumer education with regards to the correct application of tyre / rim width and inflation pressure being the only area that has been lacking.
Further to the previous and again, having its genesis in mountain biking and being used to great effect in cyclocross, is the use of 1x transmission setups. While not at all common on road bikes, the apparent lack of necessity among the pro ranks of an inner chainring has had road cycling commentators mooting the option of 1x drivetrains as things move forward.
While all of the above changes offer clear benefits to the rider, there has been no real joined-up approach to their application and delivery to the market.
Disc brakes are a perfect example. It was inevitable that the technology would filter down into the road bike market as companies tried to recoup their costs from R&D carried out for use in cyclocross. As they vied to be the first to market, companies hurriedly bolted them onto older, tweaked frame designs with little consideration of overall integration and optimisation. It took the industry years to develop specific mounting and routing for disc brakes just as it did to accommodate wider tyres – before wider rims became the norm it was difficult to fit them in many frames, let alone a wider tyre!
The scramble to deliver the newest innovations to an expectant market (we all love new toys) often results in compromised designs that don’t deliver fully on the potential of each individual area.
Enter the 3T Strada.
Designed by Gerard Vroomen of Cervelo fame, the 3T Strada is the first truly focused approach that brings together all the modern key innovations cohesively, to offer you the benefits of each with compromise in none.
The 3T Strada is primarily an aerodynamic road bike: but it is more than just that.
Aerodynamics have been a key focus in road bike design for a decade (you have Jim Felt and Magnus Backstedt to thank for that) but few frame designs actually account for wider tyres in a meaningful way. If you put almost any modern road bike in a wind tunnel and fit wider tyres, the aerodynamic advantages fall away.
Unlike most however, the 3T Strada is a dedicated aerodynamic bike for the modern era. It is a ground-up design that was conceived to perfectly integrate aerodynamics with the disc brake technology and wider tyres and that would yield aerodynamic advantage while maximising the benefits of them.
The 3T Strada is a striking looking bike with some obvious visual differences from most aero road bikes. The frame shapes are designed as a series of arcs (Arcfoil) to harness the natural airflow over the frame and the frame is optimised for use with tyres from 25mm to 28mm (30mm with some manufacturers) and solely for use with flat-mount disc brakes. Indeed, the aerodynamic integration of the disc brakes is so effective that 3T have had to insert a heat-sink into the front fork leg to assist with cooling.
One of the biggest aerodynamic advances however comes, not from the presence of something new but rather the absence of the front derailleur. The Strada is designed around the explicit use of a 1x transmission for primarily aerodynamic gain. The removal of the front derailleur – and more importantly, any drillings or mountings for one – dramatically improves airflow around this critical area, helping to reduce drag.
The use of a 1x transmission may seem a drastic leap in the hunt for aerodynamic gain but it has inherent benefits. 1x transmission completely eliminates gear duplication and improves chain line. These should not be surprising reasons to travel down this path, since they are the same as those that drove the move from triple chainsets to compact doubles that have been universally embraced.
3T believe that the rise of 1x groupsets in both mountain biking and cyclocross, along with wide range cassettes, means that it is possible to eliminate the need for multiple chainrings. The Strada will accept a chainring up to 50t and combined with standard cassettes from 11-36t and beyond, it is possible to have a setup that will suit most riders on the road.
To further develop the 1x design approach 3T have also created 2 proprietary cassettes for use on SRAM’s XD / XD-R freehub drivers.
3T offer both cassettes in 9-32t but with differing ratios. OVERDRIVE and BAILOUT.
The overdrive cassette is designed to offer a broad spread of gears for the average rider and gives you 9-11-12-13-15-17-19-22-25-28-32 cogs, so you get the big gear at one end followed by a moderate jump, and then a series of tightly spaced middle gears.
The Bailout takes the opposite approach and is designed for racers and more competitive cyclists, with 9-10-11-12-13-15-17-19-22-26-32 cogs offering more tightly spaced hard gears, followed by a big jump to the low end, hence the name.
Your final gearing will of course depend on your choice of chainring size but each cassette can be tailored to offer different styles of rider the gearing they need. 3T recommend using 36t, 40t or 44t chainrings which used with their cassettes, give similar ratios to those currently available on standard 2x setups.
A 36t ring offers a similar range to a 48/32 chainset and 12-30 cassette, ideal for the climbers. Perfect for most of us, a 40t ring yields a similar range to a 50/36 chianset and an 11-29 cassette. For the racers or triathletes, a 44t chainring would be equivalent to a 54/39 and 11-28 setup, giving a huge158in gear on 25mm tyres. There's versatility with setup as well and you can borrow from the MTB arena and fit an XTR rear derailleur that will handle a 40t cassette, mount a 48t chainring and you have ratios similar to a 52/36 x 11-28 standard setup - perfect for most of us. Ultimately there is something for everyone.
All in all the 3T Strada represents the culmination of a joined-up, considered approach to harnessing the many different emerging technologies in the road bike market and brings them together in a tidy aero package.
The complete build for the STRADA features the leading innovations from companies like SRAM, Quarq, Continental, fi’zi:k, and of course 3T's own cockpit parts and 700c Discus Aero Road wheels.
SRAM Force 1x shifting, braking and drivetrain is an obvious choice. The latest technology in 1x drivetrains gives you everything you need and nothing you don’t. Innovative, responsive, & race ready.
Fi’zi:k provides the platform for pedaling with their Antares Versus 7mm padded saddle with Pressure Relief Channel while Continental offers a high performance tyre with their GP 4000S II in their 28mm width. 3T's Aeronova handlebar is coupled with their ARX II stem. The roomy 104mm reach on the bars helps maintain an aero posture with a perfectly executed design for the aero themed build. The Corius Team handlebar tape delivers a tacky grip and the perfect amount of cushion. The Discus Team wheels boast 18mm internal rim width and use convertible thru axle centerlock hubs outfitted with adjustable sealed cartridge bearings.