For another quick dose of Green Jersey love, and of Biniam Girmay himself, let’s take a closer look at the unique ERE Research Genus time trial wheels that were fitted to his TT bike for Stage 21’s finishing race against the clock into Nice. Check out that wild stepped profile in the time trial disc you can buy now!
Sure, Biniam is a sprinter who excels at racing the fastest for the last few hundreds of meters, so the 33.7km time trail wasn’t really going to be in his sights. But he still needed to finish to keep the Green Jersey as the leader of the 2024 Tour de France points competition. So, Ere had him and the Intermarché-Wanty covered when it came to going fast solo…
Custom green ERE Research Genus AE00-D & 92-D TT wheels for Biniam Girmay
Ultimately, Biniam was 135th on the 21st day of racing, 9 seconds behind his ‘idol’ Cavendish, and more than 9 minutes back from winner Tadej Pogačar.
But only 141/175 riders made it all the way to the finish in Nice, so that was still a solid accomplishment for the sprinter after 7 mountain stages and 4 hilly days.
Ere Research were happy to share the custom wheelset they made for Biniam… and to give us a good look at his Aerium TT bike setup, as well. These wheels were developed together with the Intermarché-Wanty over the past year, and got a soft rollout earlier this spring.
While the Ere Genus AE92-D is a relatively conventional deep-section front wheel, the Genus AE00-D disc wheel out back features some aerodynamic shaping unlike most everything else we’ve seen in TTs.
Ere partnered with Intermarché-Wanty for this season to supply time trial wheels, developed to shed weight and go faster vs. their regular wheel supplier Newmen (who made the new ultralight aero wheels on Biniam’s aero road bike).
And since Biniam was leading the Tour de France points classification into the closing individual time trial stage, Ere made up some shiny green decals.
Now, admittedly they are not at all the same green as Biniam’s Cube Aerium TT bike. But maybe they are far enough apart and shiny enough to just appreciate a bit of extra color.
ERE Research Genus AE00-D disc time trial rear wheel
The new ERE Genus disc wheel features a unique stepped flat profile that seems to mimic a conventional but extra-deep section rim, except with a closed central profile. ERE Research doesn’t give much background detail on how or why exactly they arrived at this very different shape, but the Intermarché-Wanty team talk about dramatic weight savings and improved stability when racing in variable wind conditions.
With a 21mm internal hooked tubeless bead, the rim quickly curves out to a max 38mm width not far from the tire. Then stays wide to a depth of ~120mm, before stepping back to a narrower width and transitioning to the hub. That’s said to keep the wheel stiff but narrow overall, yet could limit which TT frames would fit a wheel so wide, so close to the tire?
- 21mm internal hooked tubeless rim optimized for 24-28mm tires (32mm max)
- external rim width varies between 28-38mm
- 1150g with a max 130kg rider weight limit
- Centerlock disc and 12mm thru-axle
- Shimano HG or SRAM XDR freehub with 3-pawl internals
- UCI approved
- Lifetime warranty and lifetime crash replacement program
ERE Research AE92-D deep-section time trial front wheel
The Genus AE aero front wheel is much more conventional, but the shaping of the outer rim is quite similar.
Here the 92mm deep rim also gets a 21mm hooked tubeless internal, but grows to a maximum of 33mm wide on its flat sides. The deep time trial and triathlon disc wheel gets laced 2:1 to Ere’s standard Panama SL straight-pull centerlock disc brake hub with 21 Sapim CX-Ray spokes.
- 92mm deep x max 33mm external
- 21mm internal hooked tubeless rim optimized for 24-28mm tires (32mm max)
- 21 straight-pull Sapim CX bladed aero spokes
- 870g with a max 130kg rider weight limit
- Centerlock disc and 12mm thru-axle
- UCI approved
- Lifetime warranty and lifetime crash replacement program
Biniam’s Cube Aerium TT bike
Biniam Girmay’s custom green Cube Aerium TT C:68 shares the same crystalline paint job as his mainstay Cube Litening Aero road bike, just in a bit lighter and brighter green. Component-wise, it sticks with a similar complete Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupset including power meter cranks and a massive 58T big ring!
Since we last featured his TT bike, Biniam has also now opted for Cube’s own integrated aerobar extensiona and a new Prologo T-Gale Pas Nack time trial saddle.
ERE Genus AE00-D & AE92-D TT wheels – Pricing & availability
The parting bit of interesting info on these new Ere Genus time trial wheels is that they are actually available now in limited numbers. And they aren’t more expensive than other less-radical TT wheels.
The disc Genus AE00-D sells for 1700€ and is available now for Shimano builds (SRAM is on backorder). The 92mm deep front wheel is available separately for 900€.
That’s not exactly affordable, but it is the same price as Ere’s previous TT wheels. So at least you get a performance upgrade, without having to pay more than before.
