Trends in road bikes we will see in 2024

After an intense 2023 full of bike renewals and other launches, it's difficult to predict where the road bike market will head with a material that has been at a very high level for years. Yet, brands are always active to surprise us with new products. This is what we can expect in 2024.

The innovations that should arrive in 2024

In the world of road cycling, it's often easy to think that everything has been invented and that manufacturers can't surprise us with new products. However, all you have to do is look back to see how much bikes from 10 years ago differ from today's even though the philosophy remains the same.

Looking ahead to next year, we can expect the consolidation of trends such as the search for the weight parameter by brands. An aspect that had been set aside with the rise of aerodynamics as a means to achieve more efficient bikes and that was clearly affected by the implementation of disc brakes and fully internal cabling.

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If in 2023 we already saw renewals of iconic bikes that fully bet on lightness while maintaining aerodynamics to the maximum, it is likely that this trend will intensify in the bikes that will be launched during 2024. One of these reference bikes should be the Trek Émonda, images of whose prototype were leaked a few days ago during the Lidl-Trek winter concentration.

Another trend that has been settling in road cycling is the use of increasingly wider tires. From 700x23c we very progressively moved to 25 tires and, this last season, almost all teams have been competing with 700x28c tires, a size that, not so long ago, was reserved for races like the Paris-Roubaix. This trend, obviously, is transferred to the series assemblies that also opt for this tire size. Of course, with the increasing implementation of the tubeless system that, despite everything, continues to raise suspicions among the common cyclists.

The increase in tire width has come hand in hand with an increase in the internal width of the rims to properly support the wider tires. Wider rims, normalization of tubeless, larger balloons and, therefore, the use of lower pressures will also make it possible for hookless wheel models to gradually become more common.

SRAM's turn

In January 2019, 5 years ago, SRAM launched its Red AXS which would be the basis on which it would extend its wireless shifting technology to the rest of its range, with its mechanical groups playing a residual role in its catalog.

However, in these years both Shimano and Campagnolo have updated, among others, their respective flagship groups Dura-Ace and Super Record. Although the SRAM Red AXS continues to be a current group, fully valid and with exquisite operation, the market maxim of "renew or die" makes it time to review it to maintain or continue increasing a prominence that in recent years has been growing in the ranges and in competition, where this year it will be present in 4 teams: Movistar Team, Lidl-Trek, Visma-Lease a Bike and the recent addition of BORA-Hansgrohe.

From what we have been able to intuit about what we can expect from the new SRAM Red AXS, it is expected that SRAM will equip it with much less bulky levers than the current ones and with improved ergonomics, especially considering the versatility that the Red had and that covered both road and gravel use. Weight reduction should also be one of SRAM's objectives, especially when bike brands have reconsidered this parameter as a goal.

Finally, there is the question of whether SRAM will dare to introduce its UHD direct rear derailleur mounting system, similar to the one they have introduced in their mountain bike groups. A change that would undoubtedly be disruptive by forcing manufacturers to choose between the traditional derailleur hanger system or this direct mounting system. In mountain biking they have already managed to get many firms to join their system, will they achieve the same impact on the road?