Happy Friday! And welcome to your weekly rundown of the latest cycling gear and round-up of what’s been happening here at BikeRadar.
We started the week by weighing the new Shimano GRX and finding out why the Rate of Perceived Exertion might be the training metric you’ve been missing.
Tuesday saw the launch of the BMC Speedmachine and Warren Rossiter landed an exclusive first ride of the Skarper ebike conversion kit, which may be a death knell to the best electric road bikes. Tom Law brought us news of his sub-400g Garbaruk XC crankset, which he plans to fit to his beloved Transition Spur.
On Wednesday, we published our pick of the best mountain bike suspension forks as well as a buyer’s guide to bar bags and Oscar Huckle sniffed out the Specialized Tarmac SL8.
Yesterday, Trek launched its new Slash enduro bike with more rear-suspension travel and a new high-pivot suspension design and, with the ‘cross season about to commence, we compared gravel and cyclocross bikes. Alice Thomson also brought you her pick of the best women’s cycling jerseys.
DT Swiss ER1400 Dicut 25 alloy wheelset
DT Swiss quietly updated its more budget-friendly alloy wheelsets this summer, covering a host of models across the ER and E (endurance), GR and G (gravel), PR and P (performance), and C (cyclocross) ranges.
The ER1400 Dicut 25 is the highest-spec of the bunch on paper, costing £849.99/€899/$1,121 per set.
For that money, this particular wheelset (along with the other ER and E models) has seen a bump in rim width to 22mm, which theoretically provides more support for tyres ranging from 28mm to 34mm wide.
Featuring a hooked interface to preserve clincher compatibility, the rims are tubeless-ready with tape pre-installed.
Perhaps the most premium upgrade in the ER1400 Dicut 25 wheelset, though, is the move to the brand’s latest 240 Ratchet EXP hub system.
This sees a claimed increase in reliability, plus a reduction in weight thanks to the ratchet and thread ring being combined into a single component.
Meanwhile, DT Swiss claims the Dicut alloy hub body, complete with dual spoke hole outlets, offers good aerodynamic performance compared to standard designs.
For context, you can now find the same hub design in the brand’s ARC 1400 Dicut and ERC 1400 Dicut wheelsets too. Those both cost €2,049/$2,399.
The wheelset is laced together using the brand’s Aerolite spokes at the front, and Aero Comp spokes at the rear – both in a two-cross, 24-spoke layout.
- £849.98/€899/$1,121
Elite Aria indoor training fan
That’s right, indoor training season is right around the corner for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere – I can hear the sonic wave of joyful cheers and despairing groans from here.
For those who do like to take to the likes of Zwift, Wahoo X and TrainerRoad, I’ll be having a breezy look at Elite’s Aria indoor training fan.
First glimpsed at Eurobike 2022, the Aria promises to simulate wind conditions up to 50km/h in response to virtual speed, while – if your software package has the facility – it can adapt to wind direction changes too.
It can also vary the intensity of wind by responding to power output, heart rate and body temperature.
The fan is able to connect via the usual methods (ANT and Bluetooth), rather than simply act as a slave to an Elite smart trainer.
While I’m sure Elite would prefer you to run a native setup, this means it should be possible to enjoy the benefits of the fan without having to shell out for a new trainer.
I’ll be using my own Saris H3 to put this to the test, and also finding out if it’s worth the £200-plus premium compared to my own bog-standard floor fan.
- £279.99/€290
CatEye Sync Core and Kinetic light set
The CatEye Sync Core and Kinetic light set come as a pair, which can be connected via a smartphone app to synchronise functionality.
Once paired through the app via Bluetooth, a single button press on either light switches both on or off.
The app also offers options for customising modes, setting preferred flash patterns, switching on the Sync Kinetic rear light’s brake function, plus monitoring battery levels.
The rear light’s brake function works using an in-built accelerometer, which automatically switches on a static 50-lumen output.
Aside from this, there are five other standard light modes to choose from, including an also 50-lumen HyperFlash for use during the day, and a group ride mode to avoid blinding your ride buddies.
The Sync Core front light packs in 500 lumens – usually enough for commuting at night with the help of ambient street lights – and five modes to choose from.
This includes the unit’s Daytime HyperConstant mode, which, in a similar vein to the rear light’s HyperFlash setting, spools up the flash rate with a static backlight to draw the eye.
The bike lights include mode memories, so they’ll remember the mode they were in last when you switch them off. This is particularly helpful when you have a preferred setting you’d rather not switch from.
Both lights have low-profile brackets, which have so far proved easy to fit and detach as needed.
- £99.99
Specialized S-Works Mondo tyre
In something of a game of marketing one-upmanship, Specialized went all-in with the tubeless S-Works Mondo tyre, declaring ‘normal’ endurance and all-weather performance tyres “dead”.
In fact, the brand reckons that to call the Mondo “just an endurance tyre would be an insult”.
Specialized says the tyre combines racy speed with the puncture protection and tread life of an endurance tyre, implying that it achieves this to a markedly higher level than its competitors.
That might prove to be a little bold – we’ve got the Pirelli P Zero Race 4S TLR and Vittoria Corsa Pro Control on test right now, while the Continental Grand Prix 5000 AS TR has already proved a very good performer.
But the fact that the tyre was used by Peter Sagan in his final Paris-Roubaix means it has a certain degree of racing pedigree on what is commonly considered the toughest one-day race on tyres.
Marry that fact with the eyebrow-raising cost and suddenly the Mondo tyre begins to look relatively good value.
Specialized says it uses its Gripton T2 compound for the centre of the tyre for low rolling resistance, and Gripton T5 on the shoulders for high grip levels.
The shoulders also have a relatively prominent tread pattern to increase cornering grip, although the same can be said (albeit in a lighter form) about the S-Works Turbo 2BR tyre when compared to most rivals.
Under the skin, the brand has used a 120 TPI (thread per inch) casing, and blended a BlackBelt puncture protection breaker down the centre of the tyre with Grid Race sidewall protection.
The latter takes the form of a flexible mesh, which is said to help defend against pinch flats and cuts without compromising the tyre’s overall suppleness.
The tyre is available in three sizes: 700x28, 32 and 35c. We’ve opted for the 32c option, acknowledging the tyre’s all-road potential.
This tips our scales at 366g per tyre.
- £55/$80
