The Uno-X team was spotted early in the 2024 season riding an audacious, unreleased aero road bike. Manufactured by Taiwanese brand Dare, a sponsor of the Uno-X team, this bike bucks the trend of all-round competition bikes and focuses purely on aerodynamics, with little regard for weight.
The team was seen with the new bike up close at their hotel before the first stage of the race in Florence, Italy.
Will this new machine help the Uno-X team secure their first victory in one of the sport’s most prestigious events?
In recent years, we’ve seen major brands abandon pure aero road bikes in favor of models that balance aerodynamics and lightweight, such as Specialized discontinuing the S-Works Venge when it released the S-Works Tarmac SL7 in 2020, or Trek’s recent eighth-generation Madone SLR signaling the end of the Émonda.
Similarly, Giant’s 2022 Propel Advanced SL made the brand’s iconic TCR less popular among riders.
Dare seems to be taking the opposite approach, with its new design resembling other dedicated aero road bikes like the Cervélo S5, Ribble Ultra SLR, and Cannondale SystemSix Hi-Mod.
According to reports, Dare’s new aero bike appears to be called the “Velocity Ace,” as indicated by the name printed on the downtube.
It is likely an upgrade of the brand’s existing aero model, the VSRu, with even more optimization for aerodynamics, featuring more streamlined tube shapes and a frame structure entirely centered around speed.
The headtube is one of the Velocity Ace’s standout features. It incorporates a heavily dropped and truncated aero profile extending from the top tube, meeting the new integrated handlebar stem at the back. At the bottom, integrated fork blades control airflow around the fork crown.
Viewed from the front, the headtube tapers between the upper and lower headset bearings, reducing frontal area for enhanced aerodynamics.
The fork on the VSRu narrows slightly at the bottom, while the new fork employs a very wide aero profile.
The VSRu’s downtube has a small cutout for the front wheel, whereas the Velocity Ace’s downtube is straight with a longer, wider truncated aero profile.
Differing from the new Trek Madone SLR, the Velocity Ace uses standard non-integrated water bottle cages with round bottles. However, the redesigned downtube may offer better airflow management in this area.
At the rear of the frame, the seat tube, seatpost, and rear seatstay exhibit a widened aerodynamic shape. It remains to be seen whether this impacts compliance. However, apart from the lowered seatstay, Dare doesn’t seem to have sacrificed much comfort.
Like some time trial bikes, the seatpost appears to offer a large range of adjustment, allowing users to fine-tune effective seat tube angle, a crucial consideration for an aerodynamic riding position.