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Road-bike innovation comes down to one simple pursuit: speed. A lighter bike moves faster. Mechanically efficient components-faster. Less futzing in the saddle-faster still (and safer). Add any of these six new pieces of Tour-ready, time-trimming equipment to your pedaling setup, and you’ll move to the front of the pack, whether you’re climbing the Pyrenees or zipping around the local park.
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ROTOR ÁGILIS CRANKSET
Squeeze more power out of your pedal stroke with elliptical chainrings that let you fine tune their position relative to the crank arm. $645 rotorcranksusa.com
PEARL IZUMI VERTEX MP3 BIB
Don’t fumble with your iPod at 30 mph. Sporting a built-in 512-megabyte MP3 player, these shorts have controls embedded in the leg fabric. $500 pearlizumi.com
ZIPP ZED6 WHEELS
Dimples equal better aerodynamics (think golf balls). Zipp’s Zed6 wheels are the first to dimple everything: rims, hubs and the tires’ sidewalls. $2,700/set zipp.com
OAKLEY RADAR GLASSES
With chemically bonded coatings that repel water, dust and grease, these specs stay clean even after repeated wipings with your sweaty jersey. From $250 oakley.com
SPEEDPLAY LIGHT ACTION PEDALS
By moving the binding from the pedal to the shoe’s cleat, Speedplay created a larger, easier-to-target contact point for clipping in. $115 speedplay.com
LEMOND TÊTE DE COURSE
Nine hundred grams–1.98 pounds–has long been a mythical barrier for bike-frame builders. Lemond Racing Cycles shatters it with the 1.87-pound Tete de Course, which has carbon-fiber body tubes molded at key points into a new shape–flat and wide, like a toothpaste tube–to get maximum strength from a minimum of materials. ** $7,700 lemondbikes.com**
