Ah Friday. Or indeed Fri-Yay, as all the cool kids say these days. The day when you can finally let yourself dream about those long weekend hours on the bike (unless you work weekends). To get you in the right mood for a little quality bike time, we bring you a selection of the finest quality bike produce we've seen lately.
- 5 exercises to roll out tight muscles
- 10 bike maintenance misconceptions that could cost you time and money
- 6 flawed but brilliant mountain bikes
Mountain bike products
Rockshox SID World Cup fork
The new Rockshox SID is 100mm of race-proven, medal-winning, cross-country suspension designed to take 29er wheels. The 100mm Solo Air spring provides tuning opportunities aplenty and the forks also feature the Rockshox Dig Valve, which provides mid-stroke support and is the company's highest performance damper.
Magnesium dropouts help save weight, bringing it down to a respectable 1,518g and it takes a 15x100mm hub and has a 46mm offset. It's also compatible with the OneLoc remote system. Phew! That's a lot of features for 1,518g.
US$1,150 to US$1,225 (UK and Aus pricing to be confirmed).
7Mesh Revo waterproof MTB shorts
Canadian company 7Mesh was, formed by a group of cyclist friends who were "unsatisfied with the apparel available for our sport" and so quit their jobs – handily jobs that involved making other technical clothing – to sort that situation out. New for 2017 are these waterproof Revo Shorts, a partner to the Revelation waterproof jacket.
The shorts are constructed from a Gore-Tex fabric for waterproofing and breathability, and will be available from mid- to late-September 2016.
£150 / US$225 / AU$NA
The Primal Pantry palaeo protein bars
If you're a fan of the clean eating movement, or follow a paleo diet (aka caveman diet), then these new Primal Pantry Paleo Protein Bars will pique your interest. As well as sounding like a tongue-twister, they are cold pressed and contain no artificial colourings, flavourings or preservatives.
There's 10g of protein in the cocoa orange bar and 12g in the mixed berries bar. We may have had a wee taste of both of them, and the flavour and texture is impressive.
£1.49, not available in the US and Australia
Huck Norris anti-pinch-flat system
Huck Norris is essentially a strip of foam that slots inside your (tubeless) tyre and is claimed to reduce the chances of puncturing. In the case of a harsh impact that would otherwise press and puncture the tyre against the rim, it forms a cushion that in theory will protect both from damage.
If this sounds a little like Schwalbe’s Procore, it does appear to have some advantages that make it worth a look. It’s lighter, at 78g per wheel vs. 222g; and it’s cheaper too, at €69 rather than €195 per pair. It’s also easier to install and doesn’t compress the rim, and weaken the wheel as Procore can. It won’t protect against burping though, and may not provide as much protection.
Before you take your safety scissors to your nearest camping mat, there’s more to it than just a strip of foam. The material has been designed to be hard enough to resist the force of an impact that would otherwise pierce a mid-weight tyre (think Schwalbe’s Snakeskin or Maxxis’ Exo casings), and soft enough to absorb as much of the energy from this kind of impact as possible. It's claimed the material damps three times the impact energy of anything else commercially available.
It’s also cut in a sawtooth pattern in order to minimise the area in contact with the tyre and reduce rolling resistance. The maker claims Huck Norris has no significant impact on rolling drag.
Weight is 78g for the 29in version, which fits rims of 21-30mm internal width. There are also versions for wider rims in the pipeline, and all can be cut to fit 27.5in wheels. It’s also possible to cut it down to 26in, for those still resisting the bike industry overlords and their satanic drive towards marginal gains.
We’ve already been testing it, and so far so good. It’s easy to install and we haven’t punctured using the system so far. Keep an eye out for a full review soon.
€69 per pair (includes branded front mudguard)
Cyclogeography book
Okay, it's not actually mountain bike related (sorry, we're short on goodies because everyone's upped and gone to Eurobike) but it's always interesting to hear about the lives of people who've managed to turn cycling from a passion and hobby into a job, right? That's exactly what Jon Day did, putting pen to paper in this journal of stories and journeys he made while working as a bicycle courier in London. Anecdotes, observations, conversations; it's not just about riding bikes. As the book itself says, it's a reflection on the way 'bicycles connect people with places'.
£14.99
Road cycling products
Paul Smith Track watch
British designer Paul Smith has launched a new watch, 'inspired' by the classic stopwatches used in velodromes in years past and aimed squarely at the style-fixated cyclist.
Paul Smith's interest in cycling is no secret; he's worked with clothing company Rapha in the past, and even launched his own cycle clothing range.
The Track watch is available with either black or brown leather straps or, as pictured above, a steel and black PVD-coated bracelet style strap. The dials come in blue, silver or black, with colour dots to indicate hours, and a three-hand movement which is reminiscent of the aforementioned stopwatches.
“The design of the watch dial is simple and clean, while subtle dots of colour are introduced at every hour index. The addition of a dark red second-hand references the traditional stopwatch design,” state the brand.
£179 / $300
Tadaias men's cycling kit
Born in the rolling hills of Donegal, Ireland, Tadáias is a new road cycling clothing company and the brainchild of one Thomas McLaughlin. McLaughlin hasn't just brought an interest in cycling to bear in the design of the range; he has a background and extensive experience in high-end fashion design, having worked for John Rocha.
In execution, this translates into a range of garments with a style inspired by classic design with a modern edge. The range consists of jerseys, jackets, shorts, bibs and accessories, and there is both a men's and women's line of products.
The clothing itself has been produced with Belgium company Bodhi, and we'll be testing a selection of items on BikeRadar... check back soon to see the results!
Bontrager Ion 100 R / Flare R City lights
A new compact set of lights for your autumn commute comes courtesy of Bontrager. The Ion and Flare are equipped with Cree LEDs, are bright enough to shine out in daylight and are waterproof. They also have integrated sensors that will change the intensity of their output to suit the brightness levels around them. Handy!
Both lights feature a range of settings and have a claimed run time of up to 16 hours for the front and 20 hours for the back light (setting dependent).
£59.99 / US and Australian pricing to be confirmed
Specialized S-Works Women's Prevail II helmet
The popular Prevail road cycling helmet from Specialized gets an update for 2016. The new Prevail II has a sleeker and more aerodynamic profile, with a narrower and lower look that is less 'mushroom-like' than the previous incarnation. The fit systems allows for plenty of adjustment, and includes Specialized's 'hair port' – a wider opening above the micro-dial that's big enough to take a ponytail.
The new S-Works Prevail weighs in at 193g, and is built around an aramid skeleton with multi-density EPS foam to absorb the force of impacts and knocks. It incorporates reflective details and includes a clip-on visor for a little added protection from sun and rain while riding.
£160 / $225 / AU$ prices to be confirmed
Cinelli Nemo TIG
This is the Purple Haze Cinelli Nemo TIG… and just look at that paint job. Zowee!
Of course, there's more to the bike than just the paint – let's start with the TIG-welded steel frame which has a reported weight of 1800g for the medium frame. A lush Italian-centric build features 11-speed Campagnolo Athena, 35mm-section Miche Altur wheels wrapped in 25mm Vittoria Rubino rubber and contact points provided by Cinelli and Selle Italia.
Y-Cam Evo motion activated cloud security camera
Security is a big concern for cyclists. After all, no one wants to wake up in the morning to a glaring gap where your precious bike(s) used to be. For those who want more than chains and ground anchors, there's the world of security cameras. This one from Y-Cam is motion activated and has 'unlimited' cloud recording, with clips stored on a rolling seven-day basis. You can even watch live!
It comes with a stand, wall-mount, USB cable and power adaptor, and you'll need an iPhone , iPad or Android device compatible with Bluetooth 4.1.
£129.99 / $179.99
