Hello and welcome to another ludicrously generous serving of cycling news, reviews and tech highlights as this week's First Look Friday lands on your digital doormat.
Leith's favourite son, Jack Luke, has returned to the motherland on his latest Scottish tandem tour. That means it's your ever-dutiful managing editor, Gary, here to bring you up to speed on another busy week of breaking news on BikeRadar. Salutations!
No doubt sunning his pasty leggy pegs in unseasonably balmy weather north of the border, our beloved deputy editor missed out on Monday's unveiling of Team GB's track bike for the 2024 Olympics.
As starstruck locals lined the Hebridean roads to salute their returning hero, midweek witnessed a plethora of gravel bike launches. First came Cervélo's Áspero, with Warren Rossiter delivering an in-depth review. Next up was the Colnago G4-X – Liam Cahill filed his dispatches from an uncharacteristically dank Girona.
BikeRadar continued to thrum busily with off-road releases on Thursday, like the Ceefax news page back in my day. Ridley introduced the Grifn RS, Propain unveiled its first gravel bike, the Terrel CF, and Hutchinson showed off what it claims to be the fastest gravel tyre on the market – the Caracal Race.
In other news, Formula released its new Nebbia air shock and Bianchi told us of an update to its Infinito endurance bike, while Nick Clark reported on all the hottest tech at the Fort William World Cup.
Take a moment to let that all-you-can-eat news buffet digest, then chow down on Jack's fresh selection of sumptuous cycling swag.
Cleverhood Rover poncho/rain cape
This wonderful job has afforded me many tremendous highs, but few have matched being marked out as a poncho influencer by Cleverhood.
Following a daft Instagram Reel extolling the virtues of be-poncho’d life, Cleverhood slipped into my DMs and offered to send through the Rover – its most popular rain cape – for testing.
Unsolicited DMs plague my massively popular personal Instagram account, but Cleverhood’s tactical ego massaging cut through.
The unisex cape is available in three sizes and six colours.
The Ranger’s polyester shell fabric is very lightweight, scrunching up into a neat bag that’s included with the cape.
Though marketed as breathable, this isn’t terribly important with a poncho – the tenting effect of air billowing into the bottom of the poncho while riding ensures you arrive dry inside and out.
The cape isn’t as voluminous as my beloved Carradice Duxback, but it will fit comfortably over bars in a relatively upright position.
- $99 (international pricing N/A)
Tubolito X-Tubo City/Tour TPU inner tubes
TPU inner tubes are lauded for their low weight and rolling resistance compared to standard butyl tubes. Less frequently discussed is their improved puncture resistance.
TPU tubes are generally tougher than butyl tubes, with better resistance to pinch punctures and damage from glass or thorns.
I’ve (we’ve?) been running a Schwalbe Aerothan TPU tube on the rear of our tandem for around 1,800km.
This has performed well, with only one puncture due to a shard of glass, but the composite valve has distorted from fitting and removing a pressure sensor, so it no longer seals.
In Schwalbe’s defence, its Aerothan tubes are not at all designed for this type of riding – as with many of its competitors, it favours lightness and low rolling resistance over toughness.
Tubolito’s X-Tubo TPU tubes are designed explicitly for the rigours of commuting and touring.
In fact, Tubolito is so confident in the imperviability of its City/Tour X-Tubo inner tubes that it backs each with a one-year warranty covering all punctures during “normal use”.
Whether running these on a fully loaded touring tandem constitutes normal use is debatable, but hopefully, I won’t need to find out.
Tubolito does not state the thickness of the tube walls but, in the hand, they are noticeably heftier than a gravel TPU tube in an equivalent size.
I write this just days before we set off on a two-week tour around the inner Hebrides, where the tubes will be put to the test. Please wish us many puncture-free miles!
- €29.95, international shipping available
Madison Roam Men's Lightweight Windproof Packable Jacket
Madison revamped its clothing line with a range of smartly cut mountain bike kit last year.
The UK’s largest cycling distributor followed up with its refreshed Roam gravel cycling kit at IceBike*, its in-house trade show.
The Roam Lightweight Windproof Packable Jacket is my highlight of the range.
A casual cut and khaki colourway mark it out as fashionably gravel-specific, while the lightweight windproof shell is stretchy enough to provide a comfy fit in all riding positions.
The DWR coating will help in light rain, but this isn’t intended for extended downpours – I expect the jacket will be most useful for chilly, windy and dry days that don’t require a full-blown waterproof.
The jacket is also available in a handsome slate-like colour option and a women’s cut.
- £79.99
Santini Ombra Eco Micro jersey
As a tediously predictable millennial, I am as drawn to pastel-shaded cycling kit as I am £6 loaves of house-deposit eroding sourdough – which is to say uncontrollably.
Santini’s new unisex Ombra range really hits the mark, pairing groovy throwback tones with a racey cut.
I’m a real stickler for excessively short or baggy sleeves. I’m pleased to report the jersey hugs my weedy arms and is long enough to guarantee awkward tan lines.
The jersey is available in a commendably wide range of eight sizes from XXS through to XXL. Santini’s size guide is also unusually comprehensive.
There’s no question brands have got better at providing detailed sizing information but Santini’s efforts are admirably thorough.
- £90, international pricing TBC
Vittoria RideArmor tyres
Sticking with the puncture-free theme, Vittoria’s RideArmor tyres are billed as a competitor to the Continental GP 4 Season – a popular hardy tyre for winter riding, training, audax riding and commuting.
A bead-to-bead puncture protection layer sits beneath the RideArmor’s Graphene Silica tread.
Vittoria says this compound, introduced with the Corsa Pro and Corsa N.Ext, perform consistently in wet and dry conditions. This is layered atop a 100 TPI nylon casing.
The sidewalls have a copper-coloured snakeskin-like polyamide protective layer. Vittoria says, with gusto, that this will “protect you from your most hateful enemy: punctures”. Heady stuff.
The tyre is available in tubeless and clincher options, in sizes 28mm through 38mm.
- £59.99 / $79.99 / €59.95
