Friday. Variously, it's the day that you're in love, the night where everything is popping and when, come 12 o'clock, you'll be rockin' to the beat and feelin' all right*. Here at BikeRadar, it means one thing only and that's our weekly roundup of the tastiest new bikes and bits of kit to have landed at our desks.
So, read on for an aero lid for mountain bikers, a beery bike accessory plus plenty of fancy clothing and some seriously speedy wheels.
New mountain bike gear
Trek Remedy 9.9 Race Shop Limited
Trek’s Remedy has been the mainstay longer travel trail bike of their range for years now, but for 2017 its had a pretty radical overhaul in keeping with the shorter travel 2017 Trek Fuel EX. The Active Braking Pivot suspension system has been boosted in travel up to 150mm at the rear, while this special Race Shop version gets a 160mm fork up-front instead of the standard 150mm item.
Controversially for a bike that we loved in its 29er variant, it now only comes with 27.5” wheels, but as you’d expect from Trek they use the Boost axle standard to help improve stiffness.
The bike gets more aggressive geometry to go with the extra travel too, with a 65 degree head-angle and a 459mm frame reach in the 19.5” framed model we got to mess about on. You can also slacken the bike out half a degree by using the flippable Mino Links into the seatstays.
Talking of seat stays, these are now also made from carbon fibre helping to drop frame weight by a claimed 300g. Extra frame savings have been made by using a straight down tube that’s no longer kinked. That means that in theory the fork crown can contact the downtube and cause damage, but Trek has a cunning system called Knock Block to prevent this happening. It uses a specially keyed spacer in the headset along with compatible stem spacers and stem to ensure that the fork can’t rotate far enough to cause damage, even in a crash.
This tippy-top-end model also gets Trek’s ReAktiv shock technology, which promises to improve pedalling performance while still being able to cope with wild terrain. You also get a RockShox Pike fork with travel adjustable Dual Position Air, a rather trick 12spd SRAM X01 Eagle wide range transmission and a host of finery from Trek's house brand Bontrager. We’re hoping to put all this to the test soon, so check back for a proper review when we’ve thrown it down a few big hills.
£5,600 / $8,000 / AU$TBC
Niner YAWYD top cap
If you want to show your allegiance to your favourite bottle-capped beverage, then you can do little better than Niner’s You Are What You Drink top cap. Fitted in place of your boring old one it not only keeps your headset nice and tight, it allows you to press on the cap of your favourite tipple to remind you of what you're busy earning.
We would have demonstrated this with an actual cap in our picture, but it’s surprisingly hard to a) find a non-alcoholic beverage with a cap b) buy and open a bottle of beer 'as a prop' at work in the mid morning without anyone organising intervention.
£13 / $13 / AU$TBC
Syncros Lighter 8 multitool
This multitool manages to hit the sweet spot of tool-worship by being a dinky and cute version of one of our all-time favourite ‘proper’ tools, namely the ratchet wrench. It takes standard 6mm bits and comes with a selection of the common heads you’re likely to need, but you can obviously mix and match to suit the fasteners on your machine.
The little ratchet tool also allows you to use it as a screwdriver for more fiddly to access areas. It all comes mounted in a fold-out section in a neat case, which has a silicone seal to help keep dust and dirt out.
£TBC / $TBC / AU$TBC
Scott Centric Plus helmet
While ‘aero’ might be the watchword of the road cycling scene, it’s still a pretty novel concept in the down and dirty world of mountain biking. Not for long though, getting extra speed for no effort is starting to catch on – especially in cross country racing where there are no fashion-based regulations.
Scott has a particular interest in making racers go faster because their athlete Nino Schurter guns for glory in Rio this year. They’ve already made him a brand new Spark bike to ride but have also created this super aero lid, based on their roady Cadence Plus. It shares the same slippery shape, but has extra ventilation ports to keep cool.
It’s so cool that they claim that wind tunnel testing has proven it to be cooler than wearing no helmet, thanks to the way it channels airflow across your head. It’s also safe thanks to the MIPS liner system, which helps prevent your brain rotating inside your skull during a crash. They've also worked with MIPS to create an exclusive perforated liner to help increase airflow, which they’re calling 'Scott Air'.
At 260g the lid is a respectable weight too. We’re busy dusting off the skinsuit and shaving absolutely everything to see how much faster we’ll go when wearing it.
£TBC / $TBC / AU$TBC
Renthal Traction grip
Reinventing the grip is no easy job – many have tried and failed – but Renthal has put some serious thought into its latest offering. While they might look pretty standard, with no weird bumps and bulges, each feature has been carefully designed to maximise grip and comfort. That means that each grip is directional and needs to be attached on the correct side and the right way up to make the most of the features.
The most important bits are the ramped sections. On the front of the grip, where your fingers curl around the bar, these are angled so that when you heave on the bar they help dig in for extra traction. On the palm section they’re angled in the opposite direction so that the same thing happens when your weight is forced forwards when hitting bumps or braking.
They’ve opted to keep the pattern the same across the width of the grip, so that no matter where your hand is it finds the same consistent feel and grip. However, across the diameter the grip depth is offset with more material on the palm side for comfort and less on the finger side to ensure that the overall diameter is the same.
In common with their existing range of grips, Renthal offers a range of four compounds: from the more affordable soft and medium compounds to the more expensive, grippy, yet long lasting Kevlar and ridiculously sticky Ultra Tacky options. As ever, you get proper aluminium Lock-On collars with integrated end cap and they're 130mm long.
£22-25 / $30-33 / AU$TBC
Laura Trott RD2
Last month we learned that Laura Trott had teamed up with Halfords to create a range of women-specific signature bikes, and now we’ve got one in.
The RD2 sits bang in the middle of the Trott-branded road bike line. Its aluminium frame uses women’s geometry and is available in four sizes. There’s a tapered carbon fork, 20-speed drivetrain with a mix of FSA and Shimano Tiagra components along with Tektro caliper brakes. The wheels and most of the finishing kit are own-brand items with the exception of the Selle Italia Diva women’s saddle. Without its pedals our test bike came in at 9.08kg/20lbs.
£699 / not available in US/AU
Rapha Riviera Pursuit jersey
Paying homage to Geraint Thomas’ thrilling victory at the Paris-Nice stage race in March 2016 is this short sleeve jersey from Rapha. A thrilling descent off the Col d’Èze saw the ‘Welsh Dragon’ pull back a thirty-second deficit and go on to take the win four seconds ahead of Alberto Contador.
Horizontal orange and yellow stripes divide the otherwise blue jersey, while subtle sponsor logos and a Welsh dragon at the neck mark the event and ‘G’ himself. It’s available in XS-XXL sizes.
£75 / US$155 / AU$125
DT Swiss RRC65 DICUT clincher wheelset
DT Swiss RRC65 tubulars have been out for a while now but we were happy to see this new clincher version arrive. When DT Swiss designed this wheelset it had three main goals: great aerodynamics, good performance in a crosswind and effective, safe braking.
Developed in collaboration with the IAM Cycling Swiss WorldTour team, the all-new 65mm deep aerodynamic rim deploys all the latest wind tunnel proven tactics to cheat the air, while a new resin used in the construction process is said to improve heat dissipation compared with previous models.
Other highlights include ceramic bearings in the aero-optimised hubs along with DT’s own fast engaging ratchet system. According to DT Swiss the 18mm inner width of this clincher version is perfectly suited to 25mm tyres. These come in at 1,630g a pair (f:745g) (r:885g) .
£1,999.98 / US$tbc / AU$tbc
iSSi road pedals
These road pedals from iSSi might already look familiar, they’re one of many similar Look Keo-compatible designs out there. Actually, they share the same product code as VP’s popular classic the R73H.
Unlike the VP pedals, these are available in some interesting colours. In the box you’ll also find a pair of two-piece cleats and all the hardware you need to get your cranks turning. They tipped 267g on our scales.
£59.99 / US$100 / AU$tbc
Mars/Snickers protein bars
Good news chocolate fans! Now there’s a chance that your favourite chocolate bar could do something positive for you. That’s because the people behind Mars and Snickers have produced protein bar versions of both the popular chocolate choices. The 57g Mars packs a whole 19g of protein and our very own taste tests (it’s a tough job but someone’s got to do it) have confirmed that the bars are impressively close to the more sugary, less beneficial treats they’re based on.
£2.19 per bar / US/AU n/a
Duke Of The Downs Jersey
If the thought of pro kit turns your stomach and you’re sick of seeing the same old cycling kit then perhaps its time you checked out the work of Brighton firm Duke Of The Downs.
This particular design has been hand-drawn by artist Jack Loudon and, like the other jerseys in the firm’s range, is printed on green Coolmax fabric. The design itself is printed in such a way that it’s said to resist ‘endless washing’.
Overlocked hems and silicone grippers feature alongside a full length zip and three rear pockets, plus an additional zipped valuables pocket. Unfortunately there aren’t any female designs in the range just yet.
£55 / US$n/a / AU$n/a
* extra points for matching those lyrics to the songs in the comments...