New Ridley Noah coming soon

As always, the races previous to the Tour de France usually serve as the last testing ground to validate the performance of new bike models that will be presented more or less officially during the French race. The last prototype that caught our attention was the unknown Ridley used by Lotto-Dstny rider Maxim Van Gils during the Dauphiné.

Ridley prototype in sight

The Belgian firm Ridley is working on a new bike model as demonstrated by the fact that Lotto-Dstny rider Maxim Van Gils used during the last Critérium du Dauphiné a bike completely different from the super-erodynamic Noah, the Helium climber or the brand's gran fondo, the Fenix.

The unknown bike used by Van Gils had a more classic and cleaner cut frame and, certainly, quite profiled tubes with the saddle tube slightly fairing the rear wheel by means of a small curve following the contour of it.

The combination of aerodynamic features with slimmer tubes may perhaps indicate a shift of the Noah model towards a more multi-purpose concept as other brands have been doing with this style of bike. In fact, if we look at the general lines, this new bike seems to be a sort of mix between the current Helium and Noah.

The fork head, seamlessly integrated into the line of the frame, also appears to be more streamlined than the one used on the Noah. However, the cockpit used by Van Gils was the same integrated handlebar/stem assembly that the Belgian team's riders ride on the aerodynamic model, as was the rest of the set-up, which is identical to that of the team's bikes. We'll have to stay tuned to see what Ridley surprises us with.