Ridley has launched a new bike in the shape of the Falcn RS. Pronounced ‘falcon’, the new bike is billed as an all-round performance bike, which Ridley says can handle any kind of road racing and aims to blend a lighter weight package with aero benefits.
We can now confirm the prototype Ridley we spotted Caleb Ewan riding at the Tour de France was indeed this.
Ridley says ‘aero to weight’ has been a key consideration in the design of the Falcn, aiming to make the bike as aerodynamic as possible but without adding too much weight from excess material or wild tube shapes. The brand says aero performance is on par with the Noah aero bike, but the Falcn has a weight that is comparable to the Helium climbing machine. It’s not quite as extreme but this draws comparisons to the Venge / Tarmac transition of 2020.
The Falcn RS is claimed to tip the scales at just over 100grams more than the Helium. Meaning a Medium frame will weigh around 825 grams and the fork coming in at 380grams. This makes for a claimed 7.4kg overall bike weight roughly.
As well as saving grams it’s also on trend with the bicycle industry’s obsession with removing vowels from product names.
Though it has been designed around 28mm tyres, the frame is capable of accommodating up to 34mm, which Ridley says should allow it to be at home on the cobbles of Roubaix as well as faster, smoother tarmac.
Ridley says it carried out extensive CFD (computational fluid dynamics) and wind tunnel testing at its own wind tunnel to optimise the Falcn aerodynamics.
The front end of the bike, specifically the deeper head tube and fork crown area, has received the most aerodynamic considerations whilst the rest of the bike has been developed to be as aero as possible whilst keeping things lightweight. Ridley says despite its heavier weight the Falcn will be faster than the Helium, as aerodynamic drag still features even when riding uphill.
According to the brand, the front fork crown acts as a diffuser, which aims to introduce turbulence to the flow of air passing over the bike before it hits the downtube, making for easier airflow.
Ridley claims this produces 10% less drag at 50 kilometres per hour compared to the original Falcn fork design.
Ridley has…
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