Friday, 21 March 2014

Friday Five-a-side: This week's best new bike gear

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Another Friday in the BikeRadar office, another round-up of the best new bike kit we’ve gotten our hands on this week. Here’s most exciting mountain bike and road cycling gear that we’ve received in the last seven days.


New road bike gear


Cinelli Zydeco


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Cinelli seems incapable of producing a dull paintjob, and the Zydeco is no exception. It’s a thoroughly modern aluminium cyclocross machine that even has guard and rack mounts. It has a tapered head tube, 105 shifters and discs. We’re looking forward to putting this one through its paces; look out for a review soon.


£1599.99 / US$2199.99


www.cinelli.it


RST Cycle Division kit


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RST might be a more familiar name in the world of motorcycles, but their Cycle Division now makes a range of roadie kit to suit all weathers. It’s fairly utilitarian stuff at very competitive prices. We thought the Roubaix-lined arm and leg warmers were particularly good value; the latter even have lower leg zippers.


Arm warmers £9.99 / US$N/A


Leg warmers £12 / US$N/A


http://ift.tt/1fwuP58


Rapha Club jersey


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Always popular at the café, this year’s Club jersey is as nice, and expensive, as ever. It’s made from a medium weight material that’s great on cooler summer days and also works well as a mid-layer. It’s also distinctly family-friendly, as unlike pure lycra, Sportwool remains stink-free even in the face of aggressive MAMIL body odour.


£110 / US$175


www.rapha.cc


FSA K-Force Light finishing kit


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We know you love carbon, so here’s some carbon. FSA’s latest finishing kit comes in their familiar red/white/black colourscheme or the far nicer matte black finish pictured. There’s a choice of ergo or compact bars, three different seatpost setbacks (32/25/0mm), and the stem is both 1 1/4in and 1 1/8in compatible. The 31.6mm version of the seatpost has an aluminium insert to take an internal Di2 battery, and weights are within a few grams either way of catalogue spec (200/170/218g measured for 44cm bars / 110mm stem / 31.6, 32mm SB post).


Bars £254.99 / US$TBC


Stem £249.99 / US$TBC


Seatpost £149.99 / US$219


http://ift.tt/12DklPm


Tannus solid tyres


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There are always mad scientists out there intent on reinventing things that work, and every few years we see a new variation on the solid tyre theme. Tannus’ version looks more promising than most, featuring an ingenious system of plastic locking pins to mount the tyres to any standard clincher rim. We remain sceptical, but could envisage them being useful for hire bike schemes where their invulnerability to punctures might outweigh any loss in ride quality.


Pricing £TBC


www.tannus.com


New mountain bike gear


Giro Cipher helmet


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The Cipher is an all-new design aimed at freeride and enduro from helmet giant Giro. It has some nice touches to it. There’s a built-in POV camera mount, compatibility for Giro’s TuneUps speaker system, as well as vents positioned along the browline, or ‘bro-line’, as we prefer to call it. We’ll report on its performance in the field once we’ve headbutted a few trees in it.


£149.99 / US$200


www.giro.com


Rokform Mountable smartphone case


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If you’re as accident-prone as we are, you’ll want some form of protection for your smartphone. Rokform offers tough polycarbonate cases for Apple iPhones and Samsung Galaxy units – the cases include Rokform’s RokLock mounting system. The basic Rokbed case includes a self-adhesive dashboard mount. A bar mount, and one that replaces your headset top cap are also available, but we’re not sure about putting a phone in such a vulnerable location - at least not off-road.


Rokbed £29.99 / US$39


Case w/bar mount £49.99 / US$49


Pro Case w/headset mount £TBC / US$69


www.rokform.com / www.rokformuk.com


RaceFace Stage gloves


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Minimal padding gives these gloves great bar-feel, and mesh backing helps keep them cool. The touch screen-compatible fabric on the middle finger works, and should save some trail-side faff when you’re calling mountain rescue about that severed artery.


£29.95 / US$36


www.raceface.com


Spada Rapido 29er wheels


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Demand for tubeless-ready wheels is ever-increasing and Spada has answered the call with these lightweight (721g front, 857g rear) 29er wheels. Standard J-bend spokes will makes sourcing spares easy, and there are 26in and 27.5in versions if you prefer.


£695 pair / US$N/A


www.lead-out.co.uk


Fox Attack Q4 shorts


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Want no-nonsense lightweight shorts with a removable padded liner? Fox has you covered. The Attack Q4 shorts have got inner thigh and hip vents, an adjustable waistband and handy zippered side pockets. Best of all, they’re available in really bright orange.


£75 / US$119.95


www.foxhead.com






via BikeRadar.com http://ift.tt/1r4FImy

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