Nothing of note has happened this week so we're feeling pretty chilled in the BikeRadar office, just tweaking our Christmas lists and doing the occasional pumpkin-spice fart to pass the time. The working week is nearly at an end so to get you through those final, gaseous hours, here are 11 bits of bikery for your perusal. It's 11spd, folks...
- Best mountain bike: how to choose the right one for you
- Best women's road bike: a guide to help you get the right bike for you
- How to get your road bike winter-ready
New mountain bikes and gear
Merida Big Nine Team 2017
This is the latest Big Nine Team from Merida, an out and out race bike from a company that is particularly good at making those. Owing a little over 8.6 kg (18.95lbs) to our scales, it’s road bike light without Merida resulting to using fragile, race-only parts.The whole package has been thoroughly reworked from the last generation bike. There's an all-new carbon frame that's longer and lighter than ever before. Gone are the aluminium inserts and front derailleur mount you'd find on the previous model, saving quite a bit of weight in the process. Straying away from the upside-down Rockshox RS-1 fork that was everywhere last season, this year's Big Nine Team sports the latest generation SID World Cup instead.
A wider bar plus a shift to SRAM’s top-drawer XX1 Eagle 12-speed drivetrain combined with the ability to take on a dropper post reflect the progressively gnarly path that cross-country racing finds itself on.
We’ve already handed it across to our lean, mean cross-country machine Joe ‘mountain goat’ Norledge, who will keep you updated.
£5,500 / €5,699
Mudhugger The Left One front mudguard for Lefty forks
Owners of bikes with Cannondale’s Lefty forks may have previously been disappointed by the amount of dedicated front mudguards available, but now, thanks to a new offering from UK brand Mudhugger, there’s some good news.Yes, the Cyclops of the suspension world has been granted its own dedicated version of the Mudhugger front guard, a product that we’ve tested in the past with much success.
To fit the guard it’s necessary to fit a starnut to the bottom of the fork’s steerer, along with a spacer, washer and bolt. Installation is a faff that is made endlessly easier by the fact this additional hardware comes pre-packaged with each Lefty Mudhugger. A useful YouTube tutorial vid has been made for anyone looking to take this task on. The complete kit tipped our scales at exactly 135g.
£35 / international pricing TBC (international shipping available)
Scicon Race Rain kit bag
Always pulling out single gloves and misplacing your favourite kit? Then perhaps it’s time you had a look at this kit bag from Scicon.Okay, so it's not strictly mountain bike kit, in fact it's designed primarily for roadies, but we reckon this bag is ideal for those who race 'cross and there's no reason why it wouldn't be useful for cross-country riders either.
Split into separate labeled sections, there are dedicated compartments for your jersey and shorts, jackets and vests plus shoes, gloves and any warmers you may be carrying too. The central shoe section is large enough to easily swallow a pair of UK size 12s and there’s a zipped side pocket for any additional items you may want to carry.
Two carry handles mean you can lug it around in a few different ways but some will probably be disappointed by the lack of shoulder strap. Usefully, when empty, the Race Rain Bag packs down totally flat. Although sold with the roadie in mind, we think it’s a good pick for ‘cross riders too.
Oh, and don’t worry, you don’t have to be a Brit called O. Woodman either, Scicon will customise the bag with your name and national flag at no extra cost. Limited edition versions are available from teams such as Etixx Quick-Step, Wiggle High5 and Tinkoff.
£95 / US$140 / €120 / AU$TBC
Maxxis Minion DHR II Wide Trail tyre
The Minion DHR II has already been around a while and is known best for its tenacious hold during cornering and braking. However, the world of tyres and rims is one that rarely stands still, and the shift towards wider rims calls for differences in rubber — hence the extra two letters on the name of this tyre.Yep, WT stands for Wide Trail, a different casing option from Maxxis that’s optimised around rims with an inner width of 35mm. Differences in the construction combined with an altered tread spacing mean that rubber ends up where it’s supposed to work best, and to us that can only be a good thing.
These are also tubeless ready (TR) and use the firm’s 3C Maxx Terra and feature Maxxis’ EXO protection sidewalls, meaning boosted abrasion and cut resistance comes as standard. Currently they’re available for 26in, 650b and 29in wheels in a choice of two compounds. We've passed them over to MBUK for a good hard thrashing.
£60 / US$79 / AU$TBC
FitBark Dog Activity Monitor
We’re now living in the era of the quantified human being, with gadgets and sensors that let us know how much exercise we’re getting, how well we’re sleeping and so forth. With that in mind, it makes perfect sense that man's (and woman's) best friend should get in on the action. Enter the FitBark, which uses a neat sensor that you mount to the collar of your furry mate. Using the same sensor trickery as a human activity monitor, but with algorithms designed especially for canine companions, it monitors both exercise and rest. Using a phone based app you input the weight, age and breed of your furry beast and then it gives you suggested activity targets to ensure a healthy hound. Seeing as dogs are notoriously poor at small talk, it also monitors the quality of their sleep and rest time, which FitBark says can give you a heads up with any health issues that might be troubling your dog. The app also allows you to compare your dog’s vital statistics to similar hounds the world over. Strava for dogs? We’ll see.
Poppy the dog, BikeRadar’s Editor of Chewing Things, Chasing Stuff and Sniffing, has stepped up to the challenge of testing the device, which comes in a number of colours. She’s obviously opted for pink, which matches her delicate, almost flower-like nature. She’ll be passing her feedback to us in due course.
£59.95 / US$69.95 / AU$TBC
New road bikes and kit
Focus Paralane AL 105
Here at BikeRadar we love versatile bikes and the announcement of the Paralane all-roader early this year certainly piqued our interest. We've now got our hands on the aluminium version of this fat-tyred disc road bike, kitted out with Shimano 105 components, RS505 hydraulic levers, and DT Swiss-rimmed alloy clinchers. 28mm tyres and mudguards (fenders!) come as standard, and geometry is very much at the endurance end of the spectrum, with a 165mm head tube on this 54cm bike.The Paralane's frameset is built for compliance with a wide, flattened top tube, similarly-profiled seat stays, and a super skinny 25.4mm seatpost. It sports 12mm thru-axles that use Focus' RAT quick-release design, and at the dropouts it neatly swallows the mudguard stays, securing them with grub screws (there are conventional threaded bosses as well).
As pictured, this bike weighs 10.2kg. If SRAM is your jam, an Apex 1x11 build is available as an alternative.£1,499 / $NA / AU$2,499 (Australia gets SRAM Apex build only at this price point)
Specialized Allez DSW SL Comp
It seems to be an alloy sort of week here, and this machine makes use of metal in a way that's a little bit out of the ordinary. DSW stands for "D'Aluisio Smartweld" and even a cursory glance at this bike will confirm that there's something a bit weird going on. Rather than simply sticking tubes together at their ends in the conventional fashion, DSW relocates the joins to optimise stiffness and weight, indeed Specialized says this is the stiffest alloy bike they've ever tested. (No, we don't know how many bikes they've tested...)
The Allez DSW SL is a full-on racer with geometry to match — this 54cm bike has 533mm of stack and 385mm of reach. With 105 shifting, Praxis Alba cranks and some fairly modest wheels it weighs 8.4kg. There's something pleasingly unapologetic about this thing. The fade paint job is almost offensively old-school and the lumpy welds are fully on show. It just looks like it wants to be thrashed...
£1,300 / $1,700 / AU$2,300 (AU version has different paint job)
Tubus Fly Evo rack
With the best will in the world it's hard to get really excited about a pannier rack, but if you're the type to lose your cool over load-lugging kit then the Tubus Fly Evo will tickle you. Made from the spindliest steel, this minimalist rack weighs just 348g on our scales, plus around 60g of mounting hardware if you opt for the default single-stay arrangement. (Other options are available.) With a load capacity of 20kg and a narrow profile that favours panniers over rack top bags, the Fly Evo looks ideal for commuting, audax or light touring. There's a silver version too, if that matches your bike better.
£70 / $130 / AU$TBC
Silca SuperPista pump
How much did your track pump cost? Probably not as much as this one! Having tested the limits of posh pump frippery with the SuperPista Ultimate, reborn brand Silca has come out with a slightly more affordable offering, albeit one that's still not exactly cheap. We've covered some of the details of the new pump already, but suffice to say it is inflator royalty. No sane person spends this much money on their air supply, but lots of insane people will buy this thing and love it, because it is genuinely lovely.
Sharing much of its DNA with the Ultimate, the SuperPista is built almost entirely from metal and features a gorgeous, high-contrast dial, a machined beech handle, and the signature push-on pump head (with a bleed valve). Its action is absurdly smooth and its components are wonderfully sturdy and tactile.£195 / $235 / AU$TBC
Topeak Smartguage D2
On a related note, #whatpressureyourunning? Your answer can be more precise than ever with this handy little digital pressure gauge from Topeak, and you'll definitely win that CX race once you get things dialed. Definitely. The Smartgauge D2 reads up to 250psi and is usefully small at about 10cm long — you won't notice it taking up space in the glovebox of your car. It has a convenient rotating head and a bleed button for fine tuning. If you're a bit weird and Euro, it'll do Bar and kg/cm2 too, and both Presta and Schrader valves are catered for.
£29.99 / $34.95/ AU$TBC
Rapha Cross long sleeve race jersey
Halt bicyclist! Put your velocipede down! Have you ensured your jersey is cyclocross compatible? Yes, believe it or not, in 2016, even your stretchy go-fast clothing is discipline specific. With a close, race cut and a hard wearing shoulder pad sewn into the right-hand side of the jersey — so that it can “withstand the wear and tear of shouldering the bike” — this is maybe the most Rapha thing that has ever been produced.
You better hope you’re ambidextrous though as there is no left handed option available as of writing. Gravel compatibility has not yet been ascertained but we promise to test this out in due course.
Teasing aside, this high quality jersey is masterfully crafted and as always with Rapha, is backed up by a lifetime of free aftercare. We’re also particularly fond of the cool, geometric pattern which ties in with the rest of the brand's ‘cross kit. Four of BikeRadar’s finest will be rocking the jersey at the upcoming Rapha Prestige at Cannock Chase and we’ll be sure to report back on how we got on soon.
£140 / $195 / AUS$250
