Specialized launched its brand new Cotton TLR race tyres this week, putting months of speculation to an end regarding what the new tyres might be, after we initially spotted them at the Dauphiné last year. Several teams also used the tyres at Opening Weekend, which created a fresh wave of curiosity and speculation on the new rubber.
In a nutshell, the new tyres bring the brand's cotton tyre performance to a tubeless-friendly version and in new, larger 30 and 32mm sizes.
Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe were one of the teams using the tyres at Opening Weekend, along with Soudal-QuickStep and FDJ United-Suez. In the attached press material for the new tyres, there was a mention of the team having the original six pairs of tyres and refusing to give them back.
Whilst this could be a nice marketing line, we followed it up and got in touch with Dan Bigham, the team's Head of Engineering, to go beyond the press release and to try and learn more about the tyre's backstory and Opening Weekend use.
After speaking with Bigham, it sounds like the team and Specialized are putting lots of effort into tyre development, as Bigham explained.
"We're working very closely with Specialized on tyre research, and then by extension of that, tyre development," he said.
"Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe are very aligned with this approach, and alongside the Specialized tyre team and factory, we've been focusing in on truly understanding tyres. I know that sounds like a funny thing to say, but tyres are a complex component that, in general, are poorly understood."
Specialized has a tyre production factory in Germany, which is the facility Bigham referred to. Small batches of tyres can be made for teams, which could help speed up testing and prototyping.
"Our testing is multifaceted, with testing across different rigs and environments, with the end goal of fully characterising a tyre to feed that information into our simulation tools to assess the performance impacts. This enables us to objectively assess the different performance impacts of a tyre," he explained.
This quote is interesting and perhaps points to Bigham and his team working to build out a collection of data on when certain tyres may be most suitable to particular racing conditions.
Bigham went on to explain the reasoning for the team holding onto the original six pairs of tyres they were given.
"The latest Turbo Cotton TLR tyres are an early part of this project together, and we're very pleased with the steps forward we've made. With every prototype tyre, there is a very small batch produced and distributed to teams for testing.
"In this case, we received just six, so once we had the data showing how awesome they are, we had to manage those few tyres carefully. This is just the beginning."
Whilst happy to share information on the tyre development, Bigham wouldn't expand on the external sidewall sealant I noticed on some of the team tyres at Opening Weekend.
The team mechanic I asked at the race told me it was for protection, a plausible move given the racy cotton sidewalls and the race's cobblestones. But could it also have been to minimise any sealant leakage that can plague lighter-weight, cotton tubeless tyres?
To move further into pure tech speculation, it could also have been an attempt to smooth out the transition between the tyre's tread and sidewall to provide an aerodynamic improvement.
We also saw some other tyres that appeared to have external sealant applied, such as the Visma-Lease a Bike Vittoria Corsa Pro tyres featured in our Opening Weekend tech gallery. We also saw that team using tubular glue on tubeless tyres to provide some extra insurance at last year's Paris Roubaix.
Time will tell, but it sounds as if tyre development, gains and 'truly understanding tyres' could be a key area of work for Specialized, Bigham and his team.
