Friday has arrived and a weekend of riding beckons for many of us here in the BikeRadar offices. But before we head for the hills we've got another feast of cycling kit to share with you lovely people.
- Best GoPro and other action cameras
- Hex keys: everything you need to know
- Best bike lights for road cycling
New mountain bike gear
Park Tool HXS-3 Allen key set
We know that plenty of Park Tool branded Allen keys are actually produced by American firm Bondhus, and although this particular set doesn’t say so, the design and finish does match sets we’ve purchased from Bondhus direct.
That’s no bad thing, especially when you consider that Park Tool branded Bondhus keys neared the top when it came to accuracy in BikeRadar’s vast and detailed Allen key test.
In fact, the Park Tool keys were only bettered in terms of accuracy by items from Bondhus itself.
In this set, Park Tool has chosen to include seven small but commonly used ball-ended, L-shaped keys ranging from a grub screw nipping 1.5mm through to the 6mm favoured by chainring bolts.
All but the smallest two keys are engraved with their size and the Park Tool logo too, so if they ever go missing you’ve got a good chance of finding the thief.
- £14.99 / $14.95 / AU$TBC
Dynaplug Racer tubeless repair kit
American firm Dynaplug already offers various tubeless tyre repair tools, but this is its latest and greatest offering that’s specifically for racers.
Tubeless plugs are more commonly used in the repair of tubeless car and motorcycle tyres. The process involves injecting one or sometimes multiple rubber plugs directly through a tubeless puncture, the aim being a rapid airtight repair without removing the affected wheel.
The Dynaplug Racer feels really nicely made, its purple anodised finish makes it look like it’s been around for a couple of decades already.
We’ve handed it over to BikeRadar’s Joe Norledge, who will certainly find good use for this little puncture pal and will review it accordingly.
- $43.99 (international shipping available)
For Goodness Shakes Protein & Oats drink
For Goodness Shakes has dropped a new high protein version of its popular milkshakes.
Sold in 475ml bottles, the bottle lists 25g of protein in each, along with 20g of finely ground oats.
It’s happy in or out of the fridge and can serve as a quick protein top-up or post ride recovery option.
There’s a choice between original or banana and golden syrup flavours.
- £2.25
Porcelain Rocket Charlene saddle pack
While far less voluminous than Porcelain Rocket's larger bikepacking oriented bags, such as the Albert and Mr Fusion, we think the more compact Tess, which was recently sent to us by the Albertan brand, will be the ideal solution for storing unwanted layers in changing weather.
The Tess is capable of storing between five and nine litres of kit and is reinforced with a semi-rigid HDPE frame to stop your load from swinging about when attached to a bike.
While equally at home on the trail as the road, this particular bag is going to spend its life hanging from the back of, once again, Jack’s Velo Orange Pass Hunter.
When matched with his BigXTop rando’ bag, we reckon this may even be just enough storage for an ultra-light, overnight trip. Watch this space.
- £105
Sony FDR-X3000R
It may be a mouthful of a name, but the Sony FDR-X3000R has a neat little party trick. Not only does it rock optical image stabilisation — a rarity for action cameras — but it can be paired with a wrist-based remote screen for framing your shot, controlling the zoom and more.
If your mind isn’t blown by this feature, you clearly didn’t watch enough kids’ TV during the mid-1980s.
The rest of the spec list is familiar stuff: 4K footage at 30 frames per second or slow-motion 1080p footage at 120fps; a GPS chip lets you add your speed and location onto your video edits; the camera’s splashproof and freezeproof out of the box and once safely inside its protective housing is waterproof down to 60m.
Expect a review in the coming weeks.
- £500 / $549 / AU$899
Fairbairn Fabrications 14mm CX studs
Here at BikeRadar we love small brands that go out of their way to create interesting goodies and they don’t get much smaller than Fairbairn Fabrications.
Spotting a gap in the market owing to the patchy availability of Horst toe spikes in the UK, Scottish ‘cross scene socialite and engineer Paul Fairbairn has started producing his own stainless steel spikes for the UK market.
Fairbairn is producing 14mm studs as standard and you can get your hands on a set for £20 posted. However, if you’re looking for something more specific, Fairbairn is more than happy to accommodate.
Fairbairn is also producing groovy coffee tampers made from recycled hubs, which we love the look of — why not pull out that old Hope Ti’ hub and earn some serious hipster points?
Check out the Fairbairn Fabrications Facebook page for more updates on Fairbain’s exploits and to buy the coveted spikes.
- £20 / $N/A / AUS$N/A
New road bike gear
Exposure REVO
For many cycle tourists and audax/randonneur riders, a dynamo light is the perfect solution for adventuring uninhibited by the faff of remembering to charge up lights before you head out on a horizon chasing adventure.
We’ve been interested in trying out a modern dynamo set up for some time now and UK based brand Exposure recently sent us through its Revo dynamo light for test.
When connected to a 6V/3W hub, the Revo provides up to 800 lumens of power once you get up to about 15mph.
The Revo also features a nifty stand light that will keep its four LEDs shining at half power for up to 10 minutes after you stop riding.
The light also features a ‘Smart Port’ output that allows you to either run a matching Red Eye rear light or charge devices via a USB adaptor.
With the 31.8mm QR clamp, our light weighs in a 115g.
This light will be spending its time hung below the Velo Orange randonneur rack on Jack’s long term test bike. So keep your eyes peeled for a review in the coming months.
- £236.20 / $258.99 / AU$338.99
Shimano XT DH-T8000 dynamo hub
Of course, getting a dynamo light in for test is very well and all, but you also need something to power the thing.
Exposure does make its own highly regarded dynamo hub, but we wanted to try something a little different and have opted to test Shimano's XT-level, DH-T8000 dynamo hub on Jack’s aforementioned bike.
Spinning on Shimano's legendary cup and cone bearings, the hub has an output of 6V/3W which is enough to power even the most powerful of dynamo lights on the market.
Unsurprisingly, packing a bunch of magnets and copper wire into a hub greatly increases its heft and the DH-T8000 hub weighs in at a rather portly 516g. However, we’re willing to swallow this extra weight in exchange for hassle free, reliable lighting.
The hub — and its matching XT M8000 rear hub — will be laced to a pair of Velocity Ailreon rims shod in the Compass Bon Jon Pass tyres we featured previously. Look out for a review in a few months time.
- £124.99 / $TBC / AU$TBC
Mamnick Foul-Weather wallet
UK brand Mamnick has updated its Foul Weather Wallet for 2017, making it slightly larger and adding a small velcro pouch inside.
This means you have space for that huge smartphone (hello, Instagram!), keys and spare change for the cafe stop.
Handmade in Yorkshire, it features waterproof Cordura fabric and zip to keep out the elements when the weather turns biblical.
Available in either a delightful bright pink or a more subdued black.
- £30 / $NA / AU$N/A
Adidas Zonyk Aero Pro sunglasses
Adidas recently sent us through its new Zonyk Aero Pro shades, which will be debuting during this year's race season upon the chiseled face of everyone's favourite Colombian climber Nairo Quintana.
Working under the assumption that we won’t be spending massive amounts of time riding in brilliant sunshine during the last few months of winter, we opted to test out the ice-white frames with Adidas’ own photochromic LST Vario lenses.
The glasses also feature a detachable sweat bar, which will be welcome come warmer weather, but for the time being we’ll be removing it as the only thing that’s got us sweating at the moment is the idea of heading out into frigid February temperatures in our stretchy go-fast clothes.
The Zonyk Aero Pro sunglasses do have a slightly ‘1970’s squash club champion’ vibe about them, but having wore them around the BikeRadar office for the better part of a day, we’re quickly growing to appreciate the old-school styling.
The glasses will be available from March with pricing TBC. Expect to see these as part of our round up of the best cycling glasses in the next few months.
OrNot Icy Hot kit
Continuing with the neo-retro theme of this week’s edition of 11spd is this incredibly cool kit from California based brand OrNot.
Said to pay homage to ice, “the magic balm of mysterious ingredients that soothes and cools our tired muscles through the magic of chemicals”, we’re smitten with the classy yet fun look of this kit.
All of OrNot's kit is cut and sewn in the US and this race kit is undoubtedly on the tighter end of the fit spectrum.
However, the lovely feeling soft and stretchy fabric that it is made of has managed to accommodate even the most off-season of bellies so far.
If you can’t handle the (ice) burn of the Ice Hot kit, there’s bound to be something else to tickle your fancy in OrNot’s extensive collection.
OrNot doesn’t offer international pricing, but will ship internationally.
- Jersey: $140 / Socks: $15.00 / Bib shorts: $165.00
