Chinese X-Lab bikes enter the WorldTour as XDS Astana reveals the new AD9 race bike
Team begin a ne🐬w chapter in 2025 swapping Wilier for X-Lab bikes
After months of speculation, XDS Astana has revealed its new look and new X-Lab race bike for the 2025 season, marking the arrival of a Chinese brand inꦕ the men's WorldTour.
The Astana team has secured major 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:investment from the Chinese brand XDS Carbon Tech, who have traditionally produced cꦡarbon frames and components for other brands and focused on the Chinese market. in the 2025 XDS will go global and the XDS Astana team will 𒈔race on the brand's X-Lab bikes.
We got a first idea about what the new bikes would look like back in early November after seeing some 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:promotional material online, but the exact frame, component and even colour 🌳of the team bikes have bꦆeen unknown until now.
A video was pౠosted of the new team bike on the team's Instagram page as well a🥂s a news item on the Astana website after an official presentation of the deal and the team's new identity and jersey in Shenzhen, China.
Alongside the new X-Lab bike, the team is retaining the majori💦ty of its existing equipment partners and light blue colours.
The X-Lab frame in the team vid✨eo is fitted with Shimano Dura-Ace groupsets, Vision Metron wheels, Continental tyres and Vision-integrated handlebars. This should mean the team's riders won't have to get used to too many equipment changes all at once.&﷽nbsp;
A photo posted by on
The X-Lab AD9
We don't know too much about the X-Lab AD9𒆙 bike for now. There are no aero testing claims, no carbon fibre grade and on information on how to buy one.
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The displays t💃he AD road range, but only up to the AD7 series model, no AD9 is currently listed. (that we can find) Perhaps the AD9🃏 is a brand-new model for the team.
We also wonder if the AD9 frame is set to become the most affordable bike in the WorldTour, the listed on the XDS website has a list price of ¥22980 or £2,498.87 / $3,156.81. That is for what appears to be a carbon fibre frame, wheels and Sram Rival AXS. We will include AD9 frame pricing as soon as we receive it.&ꦚnbsp;
Another model also features in the team's press release image which looks like more💞 of a standard non-aero road frame. This may be an option for team riders, but we assume they will race for the most part on the aero AD9.
The frame silhouette looks unsurprising and🌼 has several familiar design features. Dropped seat stays, aero fork legs, a deep and aero head and down tube, an aero seatpost, a seat tube 🗹cutout and a skinnier top tube all feature. This means the AD9 should look right at home next to its other WorldTour counterparts.
It has been reported that the team's new performance engineer Alex Dowsett has tested the new bike at the Silverstone Sports Engineering Wind Tunnel. The same place we conducted our 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:World Superbike aero test.
Cyclingews has contacted XDS for more info♛rmation on the X-Lab range.
Tom joined the Cyclingnews team in late 2022 as a tech writer. Despite having a degree in English Literature he has spent his entire working life in the cycling industry in one form or another. He has over 10 years of experience as a qualified mechanic, with the last five years before joining Cyclingnews being spent running an independent workshop. This means he is just as happy tinkering away in the garage as he is out on the road bike, and he isn’t afraid to pull a bike apart or get hands-on with it whe🦋n testing to really see what it’s made of.
He has ridden and raced bikes from an early age up to a national level on the road and track, and has ridden and competed in most disciplines. He has a keen eye for pro-team tech and enjoys spotting new or interesting components in the wild. During his time at Cyclingnews, Tom has already interviewed some of the sport's biggest names including Mathieu van der Poel, Tadej Pogačar and Alberto Contador. He's also covered various launches from brands such as Pinarello, Ridley, Specialized and more, tackled the Roubaix Challenge sportive aboard his own rim-brake Cannondale SuperSix Evo, tested over 20 aero helmets in the wind tunnel, and has created helpful in-depth buying advice relating to countless categories from torque wrenches to winter clothing.