Take a look at the best of our trending stories from this week November 10, about the latest road bikes, tech, pro racing and more in the cycling industry.

PREMIUM 2022 CYCLING SHOES

Cycling shoes are one of the most important touch points for any cyclists on the road. When the time comes to purchase your first pair or upgrade an existing pair of cycling shoes the four options below are some of 2022’s top offerings in terms of performance, durability and of course, aesthetic.

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WHAT YOUR PRESTA VALVE CAPS ARE REALLY FOR

Q: What’s the deal with Presta valve caps, and why don’t most people use them?

 The Presta valve, which is the common valve for road bikes, has a manual valve closure unlike the Schrader valve that is spring-loaded. The Presta valve is slightly simpler in design and only uses one seal with a smaller-diameter hole needed in the rim to fit the 6mm stem. This is why it is more common on road bikes, because a smaller hole is needed in the rim and they are slightly lighter, too (of course, specifically shedding a valve cap to save weight as some have advised is the silliest reason to do so).

Since the valve core of the Presta valve protrudes and can have a sharp edge, the cap is best used to protect itself when the tube is folded up and not in use. It can also prevent tearing a jersey if the tube is carried in your back pocket.

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FUMIYUKI BEPPU RETIRES

Japan’s Fumiyuki Beppu has announced he is retiring from professional cycling after a storied career which saw him become the first Japanese rider to earn a place in the elite-level WorldTour. Now 38 and in his final season with American outfit EF Education-Nippo, Beppu described his struggle to break into the European scene as a “thrilling” period of his life. One of his best achievements was becoming, alongside Yukiya Arashiro in 2009, the first Japanese rider to finish a Tour de France, although he also raced the Giro d’Italia four times and the Vuelta a Espana once. He also took part in the five major one-day Monuments — Milan-San Remo, Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Il Lombardia, and rode at the Beijing and London Olympics.

“I spent my youth on my dreams and it was all I could do. It was a harsh situation, but it wasn’t a pain at all,” he wrote in a statement on his personal website.

“It laid the foundation for what we are today. It was a very thrilling and irreplaceable time.”

Beppu became Japan’s first ever WorldTour rider back in 2005 when he joined the Discovery Channel team alongside Lance Armstrong, which at the time had a Japanese sponsor.

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2022 GIANT REVOLT REVIEW

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WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT SRAM XPLR AXS

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BIKE OF THE WEEK: CUSTOM PEGORETTI DISC

Developed as a natural extension of the Pegoretti design language, the disc options maintain the clean lines and compelling ride characteristics for which the brand is revered while introducing new dropouts and a disc-specific version of the renowned Falz fork.

Built with the flat-mount standard, the Pegoretti disc brake frames feature newly-designed dropouts, a redesigned rear triangle, a mandatory English-standard bottom bracket to provide space to house the rear brake cable and most notably, a new version of the Pegoretti Falz fork that features the same gently curving design as its rim-brake cousin. As Pietro explains, keeping the design of the Falz fork was of utmost importance. “We originally developed the rim brake Falz because there was nothing on the market that was either up to the task, or looked elegant enough to complement our frames. So when designing the disc-brake Falz, we were careful to carry over the same flowing design aesthetic, despite the fact that the blades are reinforced.”

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