In fact, Ridley have considered the Noah SL’s place in the peloton by switching the front wheel thru-axle release to the left-hand side of the bike, so it is easier for mechanics to change the axle when addressing the Noah from the front.

The Noah SL Disc has reportedly been in development for 18 months and Ridley say they went through 15 iterations of the frame before arriving at this final design, focusing specifically on the fork and rear triangle to cope with the extra load created by disc brakes and thru-axles (12mm front and rear thru-axles for both the Noah SL Disc and Fenix SL Disc).

Ridley have adopted Shimano’s flat mount system, while the hydraulic hoses are routed through the Noah SL Disc’s fork and frame to keep everything clean and aerodynamic – key to a bike designed to cut through the wind.

Ridley Fenix SL Disc enters the fray

While the Noah is Ridley’s aero road bike, the Fenix is the Belgian’s endurance bike, partly developed for use by Lotto-Soudal at the Classics. Again, it shares many of the characteristics of the rim brake Fenix SL, but Ridley have been able to drop the seatstays, which now meet the seattube much lower, thanks to the absence of a traditional brake bridge, and this is said to improve comfort.

There’s also room for wider tyres – 30mm on the Fenix SL Disc compared to a recommended maximum of 28mm on the regular Fenix SL – and, like the Noah SL Disc, there are thru-axles at the front and rear. Once again, Ridley say the use of disc brakes offers a 15 per cent boost in stopping power. Expect to see the Fenix SL Disc in shops from February 2017 and while specs are to be confirmed, the machine we saw in Germany was equipped with SRAM’s new Red eTap groupset with hydraulic disc brakes.

Ridley Helium SLX breaks cover

As for the Helium SLX, that’s the successor to the Helium SL, the lightweight frame used by Lotto-Soudal’s climbers and part of the Ridley range since 2013. The SL is already a super-light frame (that’s where the SL suffix comes from, if you hadn’t guessed) and claimed weight for the Helium SLX actually remains the same at a claimed 750g – the key, however, is that Ridley say the frame is 15 per cent stiffer.

While undoubtedly one of the lightest frames out there, it was the Helium SL’s potent combination of low weight, ride quality and handling which made it such an excellent frame, and Ridley didn’t want to disrupt that by focusing solely on low weight when developing the SLX. Stiffness-to-weight became the goal, without affecting the Helium’s ride.

Aesthetically, the SLX looks very similar to the SL, but Ridley have been to work on the frame’s carbon layup in order to improve that stiffness-to-weight ratio. The fork has also been slimmed down and is straighter than its predecessor.