Cadex, Giant’s premium in-house brand, looks set to launch a new high-end race tyre.
An updated Cadex Aero tubeless tyre popped up on the Giant Propel bikes of Jayco AlUla at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.
While Giant is yet to provide details on the new tyre, the sidewalls were handily badged up with some useful information.
Firstly, the name ‘Cadex Aero’ suggests Giant may have designed these tyres to be aerodynamically optimised for Cadex’s rims.
The original Cadex Aero tyre featured, according to Giant, taller sidewalls to help create an oval shape that “integrate[s] seamlessly” with the Cadex rims.
It appears it also might have worked some form of trip layer into the tread, as Continental did with its Aero 111 tyre (which was developed in partnership with DT Swiss).
On close inspection, this takes the form of a channel incorporated into the shoulder of the rubber compound. Whether this has been developed from the previous model is unclear.
What we can easily decipher, though, is that the casing uses a 320-threads-per-inch (TPI) construction. This is up from the 170 TPI construction of the outgoing model.
While unconfirmed, this casing could use a similar construction method to Vittoria’s Corsa Pro, where a lining is placed on the inside of the casing to make it airtight. When sealant is added, the system becomes sealed.
The Cadex Aero is also marked up as being compatible with hookless rims. This is unsurprising, given Cadex’s C50 Tubeless wheels feature a hookless design.
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad is seen by many as the opening of the European road-racing season and the start of the spring classics.
In an attempt to tame the race’s cobblestone sectors, the Jayco team was using 30mm tyre widths across the board. However, races such as Paris-Roubaix feature even rougher cobbles and riders often reach for 32mm tyres for extra comfort.
Whether the new Cadex Aero tyre is available in wider 32mm or narrower 28mm sizes remains to be seen. But given the old model came only in 25mm width, the range could be limited.
