TUDOR Pelagos FXD Chrono “Cycling Edition”

Tudor has announced the release of a special FXD chronograph. The Tudor Pelagos FXD Chrono Tudor Pro Cycling Team Edition commemorates the brand’s relationship with the Tudor Pro Cycling Team (a Swiss professional development road bicycle racing team that participates in the UCI Europe Tour). It should come as no surprise if this latest release from Tudor is giving you déjà vu. My mind first went to the Tudor Pelagos FXD Chronograph Alinghi Red Bull edition released last year.

It looks like (thus far) Tudor is utilizing the FXD chronograph platform to highlight the brand’s relationship with various sporting endeavors. From a design point, this makes sense. Tudor emphasizing its burly 43mm chronograph for various sports fits into the brand’s broader appeal.

The Tudor Pelagos FXD Chrono Pro Cycling Edition

Today’s release builds upon that initial platform. This time, Tudor is celebrating its relationship with the Tudor Pro Cycling team in Switzerland. From this year, Tudor Pro Cycling will partake in the Giro d’Italia, one of the world’s great cycling races. Now, let’s look at the watch: In the Pelagos FXD Chrono Tudor Pro Cycling Team Edition, we have the same 43mm case size, with a carbon composite case and fixed strap bars. A fixed bezel with a 60-minute elapsed time marker scale. It comes with 100 meters of water resistance should you ever find yourself cycling under the ocean (the Red Bull iteration had 200m). Jokes aside, its primary purpose in mind, the water resistance provided makes sense. However, it’s still odd that a watch bearing the Pelagos name falls short on water resistance. Especially given its Alinghi-branded predecessor’s 200m rating.

A matte black dial with plenty of ceramic composite luminescent markers. The luminescent material is grade X1 Super-Luminova. And inside is the Tudor MT5813 caliber, a certified chronometer.  This caliber comes with a silicon hairspring and a 70-hour power reserve. Speaking of COSC certification, like many other modern Tudors, the movement actually exceeds COSC parameters. This particular caliber has been adjusted to within -2 and +4 seconds’ variation per day, tested on every fully assembled chronograph. This FXD Chronograph comes on a nice single-piece black fabric strap from the St. Etienne-based Julien Faure, who have been producing fabric straps for Tudor since 2010 using 19th-century Jacquard looms.

A Tudor designed for cycling

The Tudor Pelagos FXD Chrono Tudor Pro Cycling Team Edition has some really clever design tweaks. For decades, tachymeter scales were designed for speeds in automotive racing. This led to iconic watch designs emerging out of the fierce competition of the golden era of motorsport in the 1950s right through to the 1970s.

But today’s Tudor is different: Part of the tachymeter function has been specifically designed for cycling speeds. This scale is neatly encased along the edge of the dial, providing a nice visual balance and straightforward readability for a cyclist operating at speed. The tachymeter text is printed on the watch’s 45°-angled rehaut, which will probably aid legibility. Three different concentric rings of red with white numerals provide this information. The red text ‘units per hour’ really does provide some additional racing flavor. For cyclists, it is the inner ring that focuses on cycling speeds.

Initial impressions of the Pelagos FXD Chrono Pro Cycling Edition

The use of a matte black background with stark white markers and elements of red creates what will surely be a very legible design. And this isn’t the first time the brand has used such a daring trio of colors. The Tudor Black Shield Fastrider chronograph comes to mind in an era for the brand that preceded the runaway success of the Black Bay line.

Initial impression? I find this release far more appealing than the previous Red Bull iteration. This is for a multitude of reasons. First, the branding is far more subtle here, emphasizing practical design changes to suit a cycling team. Second, the color scheme of this watch is bold and has a strong mil-spec vibe, thanks to the black case with just enough red to spice things up a bit. Finally, the design has a timeless appeal, which means it should look just as good in the coming decades.

Closing thoughts

The Tudor Pelagos FXD Chrono Cycling Edition is a special but not-limited edition. Getting your hands on one will set you back €5,390 (the exact price of the Alinghi Red Bull Racing FXD chronograph). I honestly really like this release from Tudor. It would land high on my list if I were in the market for a lightweight, sports-friendly chronograph. Apart from the backstory, which is cool, it’s a solid design that seems honest to the brand’s tool watch roots with a subtle and function-focused cycling twist. If you want to know more about it, visit the Tudor website.

Those are my thoughts, Fratelli. I would love to hear your opinions on this Pelagos FXD Chrono Tudor Pro Cycling Team Edition. I do find that Tudor’s decision to make design elements reflect the watch’s use in cycling to be pretty cool. Let me know what you think in the comments.