Friday five-a-side: this week's best bike gear

Featuring kit from Spurcycle, Endura, Lightweight and more

Oliver Woodman/Immediate Media

Published: November 7, 2014 at 12:00 pm

It's Friday, and that means we've got 10 tasty new products for you. Pull up a chair folks, it's Five-a-side time.

New road gear

Ridley X-Bow 20 Disc Allroad

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We love a classy commuter, and this urbanised version of the popular X-Bow from Ridley looks the part with matchy-matchy mudguards, Shimano Sora components and Avid disc brakes. Look out for the upcoming review on BikeRadar.£949.99 / US$TBA / AU$TBA

www.ridley-bikes.com

Lightweight Rennbügel bars

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These bars from German weight weenie specialists Lightweight are made from our favourite black material, and goodness, they're light. How light? Well, it says 168g on the box in the world's largest font, so we're going to go with that. £325 / €349 / US$390 / AU$TBA

lightweight.info

Keep on Kovers Z

xxxxxxxxx: - Oliver Woodman/Immediate Media

If you use Speedplay pedals, you'll know how fun it is to walk around on the cleats, how easy it is to foul them with mud, and how annoying it is when you lose a screw. Conventional cleat covers are one solution, but they take up pocket space while you're riding. The Keep on Kovers offer the best of both worlds, because they protect your cleats, but you don't need to remove them to clip into your pedals. We've been using a first generation set for a couple of years with some success – the new Z variant promises greater durability. Look out for the review soon.

£19.99 / US$19.95 / AU$TBA

www.bike-science.com / www.keeponkovers.com

Northwave Extreme Road Winter GTX boots

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Riding through the depths of winter is challenging at the best times, but it's unbearable if you can't keep your feet warm. Thick socks and overshoes are one solution, these fancy boots from Northwave are another. Nice features include ratchet dials of the kind found on high end summer shoes, and a Gore-Tex membrane, which Northwave claims is a first for cycling footwear.

£229.99 / US$TBA / US$TBA

www.i-ride.co.uk / northwave.com

Purple Harry Ultimate Rider Care cleaning products

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Branching out from bike maintenance, Purple Harry has turned their attention to the rider with a new range of creams that promises to reduce chafing, cool your muscles, or warm your muscles, according to your most pressing needs.£9.99 each / US$N/A / AU$N/A

www.purpleharry.co.uk

New mountain bike gear

Vitus Sommet Pro

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Always a contender on value, the new sharp looking Sommet Pro from Vitus is ready to shred with a 160mm travel Rockshox Pike up front, 155mm of rear travel and a mix of SRAM X01 and X1 components. Another fine use of those sexy Mavic wheels too, if we may say so. We're looking forward to trying to break this one.£3,699.99 / US$N/A / AU$N/A

www.vitusbikes.com

Spurcycle bell

Oliver Woodman/Immediate Media

It's hard to say if this should be classed as a mountain bike component, but it's one of the only bells we've come across that actually looks and sounds really good. It doesn't rattle as you go over bumps either, so it's gnar-approved. Rarely does a bell inspire envy in at BikeRadar towers, but this one did – click here to find out more. It's currently only available direct from the US, but Spurcycle expect to have a UK distributor for Spring 2015.

www.spurcycle.com

Hiplok Gold lock

ssssssss: - Oliver Woodman/Immediate Media

It seems our US colleagues have beaten us to it again, but we only just received this extraordinarily robust looking chain lock at BikeRadar UK. As the name suggests, it's designed to be worn around the waist when not in use. Given its weight, the feeble need not apply, but we can see this being a hit with riders in bike theft hotspots. Expected availability is early 2015.£84.99 / US$129 / AU$N/A

hiplok.com

SDG saddles

New SDG saddles - Oliver Woodman/Immediate Media

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Saddle specialist SDG sent us two tempting new perches. The black and white Bel-Air 2.0 draws inspiration from World War I dazzle camouflage and has Ti rails, while the I-Beam mount I-Fly has an amazingly grippy upper. Pricing and availability is to be confirmed. www.silverfish-uk.com / sdgcomponents.com

Endura BaaBaa Merino gift set

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Stuck for inspiration this Christmas? Endura has put together a collection of gift packs to take the effort out of shopping, including this classy lady's merino set. It includes a skull cap, socks and a 'Multitube' (a Buff-style neck thing), all made from the softest, friendliest sheep.

If pink isn't your thing, there's a more muted unisex version, as well as a roadie-oriented FS260 set and a retro themed pack.

  • Women's Baabaa gift pack £34.99 / $N/A
  • Unisex Baabaa gift pack £34.99 / $N/A
  • FS260-Pro gift pack £24.99 / $N/A
  • Retro gift pack £22.99 / $N/A

www.endurasport.com (these aren't available to order online, see you local Endura dealer)

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