The cycling world has been busy with plenty of launches recently and this week has been no exception. We've had news of a new Canyon Grand Canyon hardtail, which commits to 1x gearing for 2021, super lightweight race-only tyres from Maxxis, and BMC has announced a new Teammachine SLR 01 with the obligatory claims of being faster, lighter and stiffer. Find out what we thought about the new Swiss wonder wagon here.
We've had plenty of reviews on site too, including the OneUp V2 dropper post which received a full-five stars, plus a lovely looking Terra M20-D1x GRX gravel bike from Orbea.
Matthew has also taken another look at what we might expect to see from Shimano's next generation of Dura-Ace and we've been trying to make sense of road tubeless too in the BikeRadar Podcast.
TRP G-Spec TR12 derailleur and shifter
TRP recently joined the 12-speed bandwagon with its trail-ready mech and shifter just weeks before SRAM announced an increase to its 12-speed Eagle cassette range from 50 teeth to 52.
The TR12 mech and shifter combo has some unique features that, TRP claims, should improve shifting performance, reduce chain slap and make set-up easier.
The main bit of tech that separates it from SRAM and Shimano's offerings is the Hall Lock. The Hall lock stops the B-knuckle from rotating around the mounting bolt when it's closed. This, TRP claims, increases the mech's stability, reduces noise and improves shifting performance.
The Hall Lock should also be disengaged when taking the wheel off to allow the mech to rotate and has similar effects to SRAM's cage lock or turning off the clutch on Shimano mechs.
It's also possible to adjust the Hall Lock to allow the mech to rotate if you so wish.
The ratchet clutch – attaching the mech's parallelogram and cage to each other – is also adjustable. If you believe the clutch is interfering with your suspension's action, it's possible to dial down how stiff it is to allow the cage to pivot forwards as the chain length grows when the suspension compresses.
It's got a chain length indicator and a B-tension marker, too.
The shifter's been designed using input from Aaron Gwin, TRP sponsored World Cup downhill winner, to help shape its ergonomics.
It has a linear cable release lever (the one to make it shift into a higher gear), a position-adjustable low gear lever and tool-free cable changing. Its upper housing is made from carbon fibre, too.
- Weight: Derailleur 292g / shifter and bar clamp 126g
- Price: £310 / €299 (derailleur and shifter) / derailleur only £220 / shifter only £110
SR Suntour Durolux36 Boost EQ R2C2 PCS forks
At a time when Fox and RockShox seem to be on fire releasing their new enduro-specific 38mm chassis Fox 38 and RockShox ZEB forks, it's easy to overlook genuine competition.
Although the big brand offerings might top-trump the Durolux's stanchion size, the 36mm stanchioned R2C2 fork from SR Suntour has high- and low-speed external compression and rebound adjustment, on par with Fox's top-of-the-line Factory GRIP2 38.
The Suntour also sports plenty of in-house tech such as a Piston Compensator System that's claimed to reduce oil cavitation in the damper.
The air spring has Suntour's EQ Equalizer System that's claimed to "perfectly equalize" the fork's spring curve to the rider's weight, helping to improve support.
According to Suntour, the Durolux36's air spring should feel similar to a coil-sprung fork.
It's available in 27.5in and 29in wheel versions with travel from 150mm to 180mm depending on wheel size.
- Weight: 2,150g (180mm travel, 44mm offset, 650b wheel, uncut 271mm steerer)
- Price: €759
TRP DH-R Evo brakes
TRP's clearly on a roll at the moment, launching new products left, right and centre. The DH-R Evo is claimed to have World Cup level performance thanks to a complete redesign.
The latest iteration of the DH-R has got a redesigned lever blade that's been ergonomically-enhanced that plunges a 9mm lever piston with a new hydraulic ratio – which is the amount of piston movement corresponding to lever pull.
TRP also worked on brake pad compounds to help improve stopping power and increased the hoses to 5mm. It's also specced 2.3mm thick rotors and changed the oil flow inside the calipers.
In short, the Evo is an entirely new generation of DH-R brake.
- Weight: 332g (lever, caliper and 190cm hose including oil)
- Price: $229
Park Tool DS-1 digital scales
It's important to know how much your bike weighs, right?
There are a few reasons to know its mass; in a top trumps contest it gives you the knowledge required to win (or lose); if you're going abroad on a plane and are worried about baggage allowances; or if you're just a bike geek.
Thanks to the DS-1 scales being accurate to within 20g, they're suitable for not only weighing bikes and frames but bulky items that won't fit on the kitchen scales, and should be a doddle to hook on to the silicone-coated hooks.
The scales can measure in both pounds and kilograms and run off three AAA batteries.
- Price: £59.99
