Tadej Pogačar and his chief lieutenant at the Tour de France, Isaac del Toro, will be using a new bottom bracket from Spanish brand Bikone throughout the 21 stages of the 2026 Tour de France.
In fact, the whole UAE Team Emirates-XRG team will be using Bikone’s BSA Road Ceramic Aero bottom bracket on their new Colnago TT2 bikes for the stage one team time trial in Barcelona, and again for the stage 16 test on the shores of Lake Geneva.
Here are five things you need to know about Pogačar‘s chosen bottom bracket as he challenges for a fifth Tour de France victory.
1. The ultimate pro-level upgrade
The new Bikone BSA Road Ceramic Aero UAE bottom bracket for Shimano is the lightest bottom bracket Bikone has ever made at only 77g.
“The key achievement is that we have reduced weight while maintaining full-size bearings, without compromising performance or durability," says Bikone product manager Luis Esteve.
It was developed along with UAE Team Emirates-XRG and features hybrid ceramic bearings. As its name suggests, it’s a threaded bottom bracket designed for frames with BSA shells, such as the Colnago TT2 time trial bike and Colnago Y1Rs aero road bike ridden by the team.
There’s a special tool supplied with the bottom bracket that enables the non-driveside bearing to be installed, although it has no external flanges, which helps to smooth airflow around the bottom bracket shell.
Despite the bottom bracket’s low weight, Bikone uses pro-level full-size ceramic bearings. In contrast, low bottom bracket weight is often achieved by reducing the bearing size, increasing friction and wear.
"One of its most distinctive features is the completely smooth external cup, with the installation notches moved to the internal side,” says Esteve. “This creates a cleaner profile and improves aerodynamic integration with the frame.
"The cups are machined from 7075-T6 aerospace-grade aluminium, allowing us to remove unnecessary material while maintaining the strength required for professional racing."
2. Bikone has been making high-performance bottom brackets since 2018
Bikone is a Spanish brand, based in Zaragoza, that specialises in the development and manufacture of high-performance bottom brackets and bearings for bicycles.
It’s part of Fersa, a Spanish multinational that makes bearings for automotive, industrial, energy and other demanding applications.
Bikone was founded in 2018 to bring Fersa’s expertise in high-quality bearing manufacturing to the world of competitive cycling. It started out producing mainly torque- and cadence-sensing bottom brackets for ebikes and began manufacturing high-performance bicycle bottom brackets in 2023.
3. Bikone has supplied UAE Team Emirates-XRG since 2024
UAE initially approached Bikone, looking for an efficient bottom bracket for its riders.
Bikone has been working with Pogačar‘s team for three seasons and the new BSA Road Ceramic Aero UAE bottom bracket is the latest refinement to meet the team’s exacting needs.
“We started discussions around a shared objective: developing the most efficient bottom bracket possible for their racing programme,” says Bikone CBO Javier Salvador.
While many WorldTour teams work with a few major suppliers, UAE Team Emirates-XRG is unusual in seeking out the top suppliers for individual components and even the smallest parts on its bikes.
It switched from Campagnolo to Shimano groupsets in 2023, but rather than use standard Shimano Dura-Ace components, the team fits carbon chainrings, as well as choosing lightweight thru-axles and brake rotors for its ENVE wheels, looking for the best possible component choices for the team’s Colnago bikes.
"UAE wanted a solution specifically developed around their needs,” Salvador adds. “That close collaboration allows us to adapt designs, refine details and help the team make the most of every marginal gain."
4. All-in for yellow
The BSA Road Ceramic Aero UAE bottom bracket comes as standard in blue, but Bikone is making a special-edition yellow version for UAE for the Tour de France.
Look out for the yellow bottom brackets on the team’s time trial bikes for stages one and 16, and on Pogačar and del Toro’s bikes for road stages.
Pogačar will start the Tour hunting for a fifth win in cycling’s greatest race. If he does so, the Slovenian will equal Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain on the most Tour de France victories.
5. There’s a full range of bottom brackets
Bikone makes a full range of high-performance ceramic bottom brackets. Regardless of whether your bike has a Shimano, SRAM or T47 bottom bracket that’s threaded or press-fit, there’s a bottom bracket for you.
Bikone even makes bottom brackets to fit legacy standards such as BBright, BB30 and PF46, and there are steel as well as ceramic bearing choices, so there's a huge range of options available.
"In addition to UAE Team Emirates, we supply professional teams such as Caja Rural–Seguros RGA, Euskaltel-Euskadi and BH Coloma Team. We also work with independent athletes and triathletes around the world who are looking for reliable, high-performance components," says Salvador.
"Teams and riders choose Bikone because of the quality of our products, our technical support and our ability to adapt to different requirements."
