Tudor has released a new watch in their growing Pelagos FXD collection with the Pelagos FXD Chrono “Cycling Edition.” The new watch borrows a formula from last year’s FXD releases tied to the Alinghi Red Bull Racing, but this time the focus is on Tudor’s own cycling team, which makes their debut in the Giro d’Italia this weekend. The Giro d’Italia is one of the most important cycling races on the competitive calendar, and this new chronograph has a handful of little touches that might make it particularly appealing to fans of the sport. It strikes many of the same chords, though, as last year’s Alinghi releases, and could point to a new and developing strategy within Tudor in how they work with athletic partners.
At a high level, this is essentially the same watch as the Alinghi FXD chronograph. They share the same 43mm black carbon composite case and run on the same MT5813 chronometer certified movement. The differences, of course, come in the details. The new Cycling Edition watch features a black dial with plenty of red accents, a nod to the colors of the Tudor cycling team. And rather than a rotating dive bezel like the one on last year’s chrono, here we get a fixed 60 minute bezel.
The most interesting change, and I think the one that will have hardcore cyclists most excited, is a tachymeter scale that has been designed with cycling specific intervals in mind. Virtually every other tachymeter scale on modern sports watches is designed to measure the speed of a car. Bikes are obviously very different vehicles with different timing needs, and it’s genuinely a cool thing that Tudor has gone to the effort of making this specific change.
The Pelagos FXD Chrono feels like the most appropriate watch to make the cycling connection as it’s almost certainly the most purely sport driven watch in Tudor’s large collection. The lightweight and durable carbon material of the case makes a lot of sense, as does the complication, and the FXD platform in general feels at home in this lane. It’s interesting how changing the case material takes the watch from being a dyed-in-the-wool tool-diver to being something so clearly aimed at athletic pursuits. Tudor has been making a concerted effort in recent years to partner with various entities (individuals and organizations) in the sports world, and the carbon cased FXDs now feel like they could play a large role in that strategy going forward.
The new Pelagos FXD Chrono “Cycling Edition” is available now through Tudor authorized channels. The retail price is $5,275 and it is not a limited edition. Tudor
