Over the past year, I've championed both 1x for the road and larger 30mm+ tyres. So, it was great to see this year’s Paris–Roubaix being dominated by these pieces of tech.
The romance of the classics, and especially Paris–Roubaix, is more relatable than the super-human efforts of the major tours and their massive climbs at incredible speeds.
Whereas very few of us believe we could compete with the pros in the Alps, somehow the flatter roads of the classics look more ‘achievable’, even if I couldn’t get anywhere near the 30mph+ average of the winner of the men’s race, Wout van Aert. Most of us could manage the distance and topography of the Hell of the North, albeit at a much slower pace.
The tech on show at the race is of more interest to amateur riders, too. I am much more interested in the tyres and wheels that survived Paris-Roubaix than the featherlight and exclusive carbon hoops used in the Tour de France, or adopting time trial tyres for glass-smooth roads prepared and repaired especially for the race.
Big tyres are going to be the norm
I’ve championed larger tyres recently, and also alluded to the pitfalls of wanting to switch up tyre volume on older bikes.
When it comes to new bikes, however, tyre clearance is high on the requirement list I’d be looking for. The benefits of smoother riding, thanks to lower pressures, improved grip and far superior comfort are more important to me than saving a watt or two from some aero doo-dads and integrated what-nots.
1x setups have become pretty much ubiquitous in the classics. Even so, 1x has yet to light up the general road bike sales world, as much as I’d like it to.
Alongside wider tyres, 1x drivetrains have become pretty much ubiquitous in the classics.
These simplified setups aren't a panacea for all road riding, but if like me you don’t live and ride predominantly in the mountains, that little ring and front derailleur will be massively underused.
I’d go so far as to call them pretty much dead weight. A 1x drivetrain, mixing a 50- or 52-tooth chainring with a 10-44 cassette, will provide all the range I need, and with much less complication. Add in the better chainline for bigger tyres and it’s a done deal.
The problem is we’re still thin on the ground options-wise, especially at the affordable end of the market.
1x road options
1x road bikes are still an outlier, although the number of options is improving steadily.
Wout van Aert’s race-winning Cervélo S5 had 32mm tyres and SRAM’s Red XPLR groupset. That may sound outlandish, but it's pretty much a standard model that’s available to buy, even if the Belgian’s bike had wider tyres than the stock 29mm spec on the consumer model. He also had a 56-tooth chainring (the off-the-peg bike gets a 50T). It's yours for £12,250.
That’s an expensive way to get into road 1x, just as the Cannondale Synapse Lab71 is at £13,000. Trek offers a 1x Madone SLR 9 for £10,000.
Cannondale’s new 'affordable' CAAD14 has got a premium limited option built around 1x13 Force AXS XPLR, but it can't really be described as affordable at £7,500. I wish Cannondale offered, perhaps, a 1x Rival AXS XPLR option at half that price – that would get me super-excited.
Thankfully, Specialized has put together a 1x Roubaix Sport at the much more affordable price of £3,250.
You can, of course, get the 1x simplicity advantage with 2x range by opting for one of the few Classified two-speed wireless-hub equipped bikes. Ridley offers options with the hub, as does Handsling, as well as Merida with the aero-race Reacto One.
Come on, Shimano
SRAM dominates the 1x road drivetrain market because the AXS ecosystem adapts easily to road and gravel. SRAM also made the smart choice to introduce single-ring aero cranksets for time trial and triathlon.
Campagnolo’s 1x13 Super Record (gravel) looks road-ready, too, but it’s another premium only-option.
For 1x to achieve true mainstream acceptance, it will take Shimano to produce a similar product for its Di2 ecosystem, not to mention mechanical options that are available with ratios more suited to road than gravel.
In fact, plenty of teams at the 2026 edition of Paris–Roubaix were hacking their Shimano components to enable them to run 1x drivetrains.
I might not be able to keep up with the pros, but we’re clearly united on what we want to see from the world’s biggest groupset brand.
