Friday five-a-side: This week’s new bike gear 20/02/15
Featuring kit from Norco, POC, Azonic, Shimano, Juin Tech and more
This week we’ve got a bevy of box-fresh gear from Norco, POC, Azonic, Fizik and Clarks as well as clever kit from Shimano, Lusso, Juin Tech, Compressport and No Such Thing.
New mountain bike gear
POC DH jersey
This downhill jersey from Swedish protection specialist, POC, is designed to be loose enough to fit over body armour and durable enough to resist damage during crashes, while the polyester material is said to remain breathable. It is Polygiene-treated to combat sweaty odours – so if someone buys one for you, try not to take offence!
£70 / US$90 / AU$149 / €80
www.pocsports.com / www.2pure.co.uk
Norco Sight Carbon C 7.2
Canadian brand Norco has designed this 140mm travel all-mountain bike for serious trail shredding. At its heart is a Cane Creek Double Barrel inline shock, offering supreme adjustability and a clever climb switch for efficient pedalling – keep an eye on BikeRadar for more info on that – yet the aggressive Schwalbe Hans Dampf / Magic Mary tyre combination hints at its gravity-orientated bent.
Norco tailors the rear-centre distance to the size of the frame: ranging from 423mm on the size small, to 435mm on this XL model. This is said to help keep the rider’s weight balanced between the axles, whatever their height. Pretty clever, eh?
£3,600 / US$5,465 / AU$6,199 / €4,850
www.norco.com / www.evanscycles.com
Azonic Flow handlebar and The Rock FAT35 stem
Bars have got a lot wider over the last few years. It wasn’t so long ago that 680mm was considered wide. Now that we’ve seen the light, 780mm is pretty conventional, and this increase in width has put more control and confidence in riders’ hands. Despite this reshaping, the 31.8mm clamp diameter has remained the standard. Increasingly, though, bars and stems are designed around a 35mm clamp diameter, promising a higher stiffness / weight ratio for wider bars.
This bar and stem combo from Azonic employs the 35mm standard. The Flow bar measures 785mm wide and weighs 296g. The Rock Stem weighs in at 146g, with a 45mm length and 40mm stack height. With a wide faceplate and aimed at the aggressive all-mountain/enduro/freeride rider, it promises to match the stiffness provided by the bar.
- The Rock FAT35 stem: £80 / €90 / US$TBC / AU$TBC
- Flow handlebar: £50 / €60 / US$TBC / AU$TBC