11spd: This week’s best new bike gear
Goodness from Smith Optics, CatEye and Giro… and a colouring book
The weekend has nearly arrived and it’s time to continue working off those Easter chocolate pounds. To help get you on your bike, we’ve got 11 new products that’ll make you keen to wear out and use up that old stuff. Enjoy.
New road bike gear
Cuore Silver custom kit – BikeRadar issue
As mentioned in a review of a comfy skinsuit, we recently selected the Swiss custom clothing brand Cuore for our own stuff. While the pros – such as the IAM Cycling team – would use Cuore’s ‘Gold’ level kit, we’ve kept ours a little more modest with the next-tier-down Silver offering.
For now we just have summer kits, and with that the short-sleeve jersey is a lightweight and race-cut garment. Previous testing has proven this kit to be extremely comfortable for long rides and perfectly up to the task of scorching summers.
Perhaps the best part of this new kit, being able to represent this great charity
While Cuore lets you fully customize multiple aspects of the jersey, we’ve kept ours rather minimal. Three reinforced pockets at rear accompany plenty of reflective strips.
The bibs are a bit of a hybrid, with ours featuring the ‘Gold’ level chamois and ‘leg tape’ grippers for plenty of comfort when we’re not seated in our office chairs. We wouldn’t slap our brand on any kit, this stuff is the real deal.
Currently this kit isn’t something we have for sale. Like us, you can have your own custom kit made, with pricing varying based on quantity bought. Check out Cuore’s website for exact details.
Suplest Edge/3 shoes
Another Swiss brand, Suplest is a small company you’ll likely start to see more of. The fresh top-tier Edge/3 packs an extremely long list of features for a pair of carbon 556g-road race shoes (EU42.5).
The microfibre upper reminds us of the Shimano R321 shoes’ ‘Surround’ upper. The one-piece design on the inside promotes the upper being pulled over the foot for greater support, while the outer part of the upper wraps underneath, continuing on to double as the shoe’s tongue.
Carbon top and bottom
Boa dials handle retention, with the lower looping twice to replace the need for a Velcro strap. Beneath this sits a ‘carbon shield’, designed to help distribute the loads from the wires without stress.
There’s an ultra grippy heel cup, and the heel tread beneath is replaceable too. Despite being a race shoe, reflectivity has not been ignored either.
Suplest uses Solestar footbeds – popular (and pricey) items by themselves. These were the original premium aftermarket cycling specific inner sole, and remain a frequent choice amongst the pro peloton today.
We’re yet to hit the road with these the new kicks, but first impressions show these could be a dark horse in the competitive race shoe market.
$TBC / £TBC / AU$495
www.suplest.com / www.suplest.com.au (Australia)
CatEye Volt 800 and Volt 80 front lights
CatEye is strongly trying to reclaim lost ground in the lighting market. For 2016, it has a light that packs a whopping 6000 lumens; while that’s sure to blind a cat, there are plenty of more sensible options too.
Offering enough light to see the road ahead, the Volt 800 will last two hours at its 800 lumen peak output and four times that at a reduced 200 lumen setting. A compact shape and 140g weight makes it ideal for fast training rides, and we particularly like the well-sealed plug that covers the USB charging port.
Costing far less and with a number of models between the two, the Volt 80 opens the range of rechargeable Volt lamps. Despite its tiny size and 43g weight, this light will keep you seen for five hours with an 80-lumen output. It features its own USB stick and so will plug directly into a computer or wall socket without the need for a cable. The elastic-band type mount is far simpler than the more secure mount of the 800s, but also quicker to remove.
- Volt 800: $TBC / £TBC / AU$200
- Volt 80: $TBC / £TBC / AU$45
www.cateye.com / www.sheppardcycles.com.au (Australia)
Giro Chrono Expert jersey and bibs
Available in men’s and women’s options, the new Giro Chrono collection expands over three price point tiers. Sitting in the middle, the Expert range seems to offer both performance and style at a reasonable price.
Offered in a range of attractive yet simple designs, the Chrono Expert jersey offers a race fit without being offensively snug. A thin polyster is used for a light feel, with mesh side panels for additional breathability. Out back, a classic three pocket arrangement is accompanied by a fourth, centrally placed zippered pocket sized to fit most smartphones.
Bib pockets are something we don’t see often – but we love it when we do
The bibs bring in Italian fabrics and a familiar, yet proven chamois. Most unique are the three stretchy pockets that sit over the lower back (women’s version has one pocket), making these bibs just as suitable for use under mountain bike baggies as they are for long adventures on the tarmac.
Mesh bib straps should aid on cool days and keep those pocketed items from bouncing, while the silver stitch leg grippers help complete this cleverly thought-out garment. Both jersey and bibs feature reflective logos.
- Jersey: $TBC / £TBC / AU$140
- Bibs: $TBC / £TBC/ AU$200
Biomaxa Pro & Ultra Ride chamois creams
Biomaxa chamois creams are made with all natural ingredients including lanolin, Manuka oil and Manuka honey. While this all sounds good enough to eat, these New Zealand made products are of course for use where the sun doesn’t shine.
The range is split into two options. The ‘Ultra Ride’ is the simpler of the two and is designed as a skin conditioner and infection preventer. It’s said to last up till the four-hour mark of your ride.
For those doing longer and more regular rides, there’s the slightly more expensive ‘Pro Ride’. The ingredients are much the same, but its thicker consistency means there’s a higher concentration of lanolin.
Biomaxa Pro Ride
- 100ml tub: $N/A / £17.99 / AU$35
- 200ml tub: $N/A / £29.99 / AU$50
Biomaxa Ultra Ride
- 100ml tub: $N/A / £14.99 / AU$26.50
- 200ml tub: $N/A / £22.99 / AU$42.50
www.biomaxa.com / www.swiftsports.com.au (Australia) / www.biomaxa.co.uk (UK)
Reid Granite
Whatever you call them, gravel grinders/all road/groad/adventure bikes are all the rage at the moment, and Australian consumer direct brand Reid has thrown its hat into the dust-covered arena with the all new Granite.
This 11.5kg steed sees a 6061 hydroformed alloy frame and carbon bladed fork, complete with rack and fender mounts. The entry level Shimano Claris eight-speed drivetrain, front and rear quick releases, and mechanical disc brakes all feel premium given the minimal AU$799 price.
Quality rubber for the low price
The Alex MD17 rolling stock comes equipped with file tread 35c Continental Cyclocross Speed tyres, though it appears the frame will allow for wider rubber still.
With a relaxed geometry and long wheelbase we’ll be seeing what the Granite is made of on dusty back roads around the Queensland and New South Wales border.
$899 / £600 / AU$799
www.reidbikes.com / www.reidcycles.com.au (Australia)
New mountain bike gear
AVS Racing Hand Guards
These come used and endorsed by Nico Vouilloz, which alone should be enough detail on these moto-inspired hand guards. At 113g for the pair, these guards are used to help deflect foliage (especially of the spiky variant) and give serve warning on when things are being cut a little fine.
The plastic guards mount to the handlebar with alloy brackets, and there’s a staggering array of colours and decals to choose from. Braaap sounds are optional.
€55 (Approx: $42 / £30 / AU$81)
Feed Zone Table recipe book
This one is equally a road product, but we all know mountain bikers love to eat. Written by Chef Biju Thomas and Dr Allen Lim (founder of Skratch Labs nutrition), this new book covers over 100 family-styled recipes said to ‘nourish life and sport’.
From refreshing drinks, ginger barbecue salmon to pasta with maple carrots and leek, the recipes are neatly divided, clear, concise and beautifully photographed. We’re now hungry.
$25 / £18 / AU$50
SR Suntour Durolux R2C2
This new hard-hitting enduro fork is something we recently covered at its launch, and we’ve since received a sample for longer term testing. Designed for 27.5in wheels only, this 160-180mm travel fork gets a boost to 36mm stanchions while adding a mudguard and quick-service oil ports.
The big news however is the range of damper adjustment available, something truly impressive given its relatively affordable price. Here, the new Durolux offers both high and low speed compression damping and high and low speed rebound.
Of course for the money something has to give, and most obvious is its 2,400g weight (varies based on axle setup and travel/air volume setup) with guard and uncut steerer.
£549 / €649 / $800 / AU$TBC
The Bicycle Colouring Book
Crayons at the ready for a journey to a fantasy landscape filled with riderless bikes. The Bicycle Colouring Book contains 120 imaginative illustrations by Shan Jiang that are just waiting to be filled in with your felt tips.
If the April showers are keeping you from getting out on your bike, why not while away the hours colouring in this book’s flying whales, beautiful bikes and the mystical cat that appears somewhere on every page.
£12.95
Smith Optics PivLock Arena Max
The Pivlock Arena Max is the latest edition of Smith’s frameless performance glasses. The large lens offers miles of coverage and features a hydrophobic coating that should see the water and sweat that typically accumulate on sunglasses bead and roll off the lens.
Thanks to the Pivlock System, lens changes seem to be as simple as rotating the arms up, snapping them onto one of the other included lenses (fire, rose and clear) and swapping the nose piece.
There’s also an adjustable nose pad, slide on temple tips, and all up the glasses tip the scales at a measly 29g. Based on what other big optics brands are charging for their shades, the Pivlock Arena Max are pretty reasonable considering you get three lenses and a pretty fancy hard case.
US$159 / £120 / AU$269
