3T STRADA TEAM RED eTAP 1x12s

The 3T Strada is the road bike everyone is talking about; and for good reason! For the Strada  3T threw out the rule book, totally reinventing the aero road bike from scratch. But ‘Aero Road’ doesn’t do it justice, as it’s not just extremely aero but also considerably more comfortable than other aero road bikes on the market. How have 3T managed to engineer a road bike that can be both? The key elements are tyre size optimisation, a lightbulb moment designing new aero profiles and shapes and a totally new approach to the specification of the drivetrain.

The biggest factor in road bike comfort are the tyres, providing more compliance than any other part of the bike. Wider tyres are better at reducing shocks from rough surfaces, cobbles and potholes as well as benefiting from lower rolling resistance. Traditionally wider tyres have heeded poor test results in the wind tunnel, however this has only been the case in instances where they are combined with frames and parts that were originally optimised for narrow tyres. The 3T Strada is the first aero road frame designed specifically around the properties of a wider 28mm tyre with geometry, angles and tube profiles all carefully designed and constructed to blend seamlessly around the profile of a wider tyre.

In the evolution of aero road bike design the performance of the drivetrain has never really been addressed. 3T identified that the bottom bracket area of most aero road frames combined with the frame, crank, chainrings, front derailleur, water bottles and rider’s legs cause the most drag in wind tunnel tests. Speccing a single ring drivetrain eliminates the need for a front derailleur and an additional chainring, significantly reducing frontal area and creating more space for better airflow while freeing up the design of the Strada’s seat tube allowing the designers to further shield the year wheel within the frame. Careful specification of a single chainring and wide-ratio cassette will provide you with all the gears you need so you won’t be spinning out on the downhills or running out of gears on steep hills.