The revolutionary low-cost bike is so good that "Pogacar could win the Tour de France" on it

In the 2026 season, Tadej Pogacar will chase a fifth Tour de France. If the Slovenian wins the Grande Boucle again, he will match the all-time record held by Eddy Merckx, Miguel Induráin, Jacques Anquetil, and Bernard Hinault. He will likely do it on a Colnago priced over €10,000. At UAE Team Emirates - XRG they will want the best available. But what if it wasn’t necessary?

In his latest YouTube video, Phil Gaimon went straight to the point: the current state of road bikes and his new partner brands for 2026. What sounded like a simple update turned into a bigger surprise. The former Garmin-Sharp rider won’t be on a Factor this year, but on frames from the US-based State Bicycle Company.

The choice wasn’t for lack of options, as he explained: "I can get bikes from almost any brand." All high-end bikes, he adds, share obvious virtues: they’re fast, good-looking, and highly advanced. Yet he has long felt that the big brands have lost their way.

Beyond performance, Gaimon also takes aim at the current cost of top-tier bikes. He says that, just as he always rejected doping, he’s been reluctant to accept the exorbitant prices that have dominated the market. "The prices of new bikes these days really started to turn me off," he admitted.

This is where State Bicycle Co. comes in. Known for its fixed-gear bikes, Klunker models, bold collaborations, and a value-first approach over prestige, the brand has never really been part of the conversation for elite road bikes. That could change.

The new model Gaimon presents will soon hit the market with electronic shifting for around $2,800, and an SL version near $4,000. And the American doesn’t hesitate to raise the stakes: "I think Tadej could win the Tour de France on this bike."

A natural climber, Gaimon believes the industry has poured its efforts almost exclusively into aerodynamics and wind-tunnel data. That common path, he says, has forced compromises in key areas, especially weight, which he considers far more decisive in real-world riding than marginal aero gains.

He clarifies that he enjoys well-made things and still delivers top-level results, so he believes he deserves a "high-end and very capable" bike. But he made it clear he has no interest in using a bike as a status symbol.

He even recalls that some of his older bikes were faster precisely because they were lighter: "A super-fast sprint bike is useless if you get dropped on the climb 20 kilometers from the finish," he said.

For him, that imbalance explains why so many modern bikes seem out of step with how most people actually ride.