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Marianne Vos employed a Gravaa tire pressure regulator to devastating effect Saturday when she outsprinted Lotte Kopecky for the gravel world title.
It could have been a sign of things to come.
A new partnership between Gravaa and the Visma-Lease a Bike “super team” of Vos, Wout van Aert, and Matteo Jorgenson hints that tires might be remotely inflating and deflating through the filth of the northern spring as soon as 2025.
Gravaa’s tire pressure regulation system first blasted into the world’s eye last year when Visma-Lease a Bike trialed it at Paris-Roubaix.
It allowed Christophe Laporte, Edoardo Affini, and Dylan Van Baarle to deflate their tires so they could roll smooth over the bone-jarring pavé. A touch of a button and speedy reinflation later, and they were pushing firm rubber to top speed over the tarmac.
After months of tweaking, development, and testing, Gravaa came back this weekend with a product it believes to be better than ever.
Vos’ ride Saturday made the ultimate launch party for the system’s mass-market release.
And who knows? Her gravel-conquering ride might help make their full-time introduction to the very top of elite road cycling.
Riding into rainbows on self-inflating tires
Vos raced the UCI gravel worlds this weekend with a Gravaa unit rigged into her Reserve rims.
The Gravaa gadget allowed “The GOAT” to remotely inflate and deflate her Vitorria Dugast CX tires to suit every segment of the multi-surface course.
Wielerflits reported Vos even used the Gravaa unit to reinflate a flat tire on the fly.
“I heard it all the time during the race,” Kopecky said Saturday of Vos’ race-changing gadget. “Pssst, pssst, pssst.”
“‘Argh. Now I’m pushing 20 watts more, I thought,’” Kopecky joked to Het Nieuwsblad. “It didn’t bother me, I actually thought it was funny.”
Gravaa gets its gravel launch
Gravaa officially launched its newly redeveloped system this weekend and is now taking pre-orders for its Reserve 40|44 GR and DT Swiss GRC500 wheelsets.
“With Gravaa, riders can worry less about tire pressure,” read a press note.
“Our technology functions as an integrated performance coach and in-tire suspension system, always ready to deliver optimal performance. Gravaa offers more speed, more comfort, fewer punctures, and less wear and tear on gear and body.”
Gravaa claims a touch of its wireless shifters can increase pressure by 1 bar/14 psi per kilometer with a 40mm tire. The system can also deflate the tire by 0.5 bar/7 psi per second.
Real-time pressures are beamed across to a paired Garmin or Wahoo headunit.
The system uses a kinetic pump driven by the rotation of the wheel, allowing multiple pressure changes per ride. All the gadgetry fits inside the wheel hub, and no charging or external gas canisters are required.
The whole set-up is claimed to weigh 450g.
Visma-Lease a Bike has been working with Gravaa in the development of its system for some time.
Team DSM is also tinkering with similar technology.
The team trialed Scope’s “Atmoz” system at the “Hell of the North” in 2023. The Atmoz set-up controls tire pressure with mechanical valves that regulate airflow between an air reservoir and the tire.
From UCI gravel to Roubaix pavé?
Visma-Lease a Bike and DSM didn’t use tire pressure regulators this spring. Both teams chose to wait for the launch of fully race-ready rigs.
Will Vos’ proof-in-concept ride into the gravel world title help launch these systems into the F1 frenzy of the WorldTour?
Reliability, compatibility, and usability will be key.
Gravaa claims its system is more robust and failsafe than ever. In theory, it should be able to withstand six hours of suffering on the sterrato of Strade Bianche or the stones of Flanders and Roubaix.
A 450g weight penalty would be small change if it could help Van Aert avoid the type of flats that deflated his chances against Mathieu van der Poel on the final sector of the 2023 edition of the “Hell of the North.”
It will be intriguing to see if Gravaa reemerges for the 2025 cobblestone spring. Visma-Lease a Bike will no doubt be interrogating Vos for every bit of feedback this off-season.
Meanwhile, Velo’s roving tech reporter Dave “Shoddy” Everett was on the ground at gravel worlds this weekend and got a closer look at the Gravaa system. Stay tuned for his video review soon.
