Race Face are a little late jumping on the 'intelligent molecules' body armour bandwagon started by SixSixOne, but their new Flank guards add shin protection, without going the full-length route of the likes of POC.
They contain the same d3o material as 661's Evo pads, which is soft to allow easy pedalling but immediately hardens upon impact.
The Flanks are made from 3mm-thick perforated neoprene, with abrasion-resistant 600D nylon over the armoured sections and additional foam padding on the sides. RRP is £89.95.
If you don't want the shin protection, the new £79.95 Ambush pad covers just the knee but still contains the shock-absorbing d3o – the orange goo seen in the picture below.
Six C components
Six C is Race Face's new 'lightweight all-mountain' line. Of particular note are the hollow carbon cranks – Race Face say they're for 6in-travel bikes and riders taking on 6ft drops, but are lighter than Shimano XTR at 760g for a triple chainset.
Made in Canada, they're also available in a double-plus-bashguard configuration (22,32T or 24,36T) and there's a choice of 170mm or 175mm arms. RRP is £549.
The Six C 3/4 riser bar is apparently "the widest carbon bar in the world right now" at 725mm, and weight is none too shabby at a claimed 225g. RRP is £119.
New colours
Much of Race Face's existing kit has had a makeover for 2010, with the Deus cross-country bars (£64.95) now available in seven colours, a new pink option for the Atlas FR cranks (£269) and bar (£64.95), and the Atlas stem (£79.95) now available in blue and red as well as black. There are also two new sets on lock-on grips, named Strafe and Sniper, but they're not cheap at £26.95.
