VN tech ticker: Ridley Bikes renews partnership with Lotto-Soudal, Strava adds more control to feed and tracks Local Legends in Zwift segments
Here's the cycling tech news making headlines for Tuesday, October 19.
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Ridley Bikes renews partnership with Lotto-Soudal
Belgian manufacturer Ridley Bikes has renewed its contract with WorldTour team Lotto-Soudal through 2026.
The partnership with the squad dates back to 2005 (when the team was racing as Davitamon-Lotto) and had been set to expire following the 2022 season.
“I am extremely proud that we will continue to work with Ridley in the coming years. As a Belgian company that focuses on innovation, quality, and performance, it is a perfect match with what Lotto Soudal stands for. Just like us, Ridley has the passion to take Belgian cycling to an even higher level. This has already been expressed in the many successes that we have achieved in a partnership of almost fifteen years,” said Lotto-Soudal general manager John Lelangue.
For the 2022 season, Lotto Soudal will race on the Noah Fast Disc, the Helium SLX Disc, and the new Dean Fast Disc time trial bike. Equipment partners Selle Italia, Deda, Lizard Skins, Look, and Vittoria will remain on board next, year, however, effective immediately, team issue bikes will be built with DT Swiss wheels, KMC chains, and Shimano Dura-Ace groups with CEMA bearings.
Lotto-Soudal sprint ace Caleb Ewan expressed enthusiasm about the partnership extension.
“For three seasons, my Ridley Noah Fast Disc and I took part in the most important competitions in the world. And I can safely say that it has been a winning combination. And why tinker with a winning team?” Ewan said. “That’s why I’m very happy that we will continue to work with Ridley in the coming seasons. It’s amazing to be able to rely on their extensive expertise.
“I can’t wait to see what the next few years will bring. I am sure we will create many more great memories together,” Ewan added.
Strava adds more control to feed and tracks Local Legends in Zwift segments
Strava pushed new updates for users Tuesday which makes for an uncluttered activity feed, and also more fun for competing for Local Legends in Zwift.
All athletes using mobile app version 220 or later can now mute activities so that the individual Strava records will count towards challenges, or Local Legends on segments, without a specific activity appearing in friends’ or clubs’ feeds. So a commute, for example, will still check the box for a Local Legend on a specific segment, but now show up in the scrolling list of activities that all followers can view.
Another update Strava made is adding Local Legends to select Zwift segments. Local Legends for specific segments are refreshed on a rolling 90-day period. Zwift already supports speed-ranked achievements (e.g., KOMs and QOMs) and with the addition of Local Legends for more than 20 segments across its virtual worlds, users can find new and different ways to compete virtually with each other.
