Giro d'Italia 2015 teaser video

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RCS to announce full route on Monday

















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PRO Mega bike bag review

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The PRO Mega might not be the cheapest bike bag out there, but it’s one of the best thought out travel cases we’ve tried. The highlight is the removable frame that’s Velcroed inside. This has sliding resin brackets that attach to the front and rear axles, suspending the bike above the bottom of the bag. Extra protection is provided by padded blocks that can be Velcroed in place.

Packing a bike up safely takes less than 20 minutes – just drop the saddle and remove the bar and stem. The wheel compartments accommodate 29er hoops easily, though it’s best to remove the rotors. Be careful with the zips though – one of ours was faulty.

Full packdown takes just 20 mins by our watches

The four caster style wheels on the bottom of the bag rotate and turn independently. They’re fine on smooth airport floors but on uneven surfaces they can wander off course, which makes controlling the bag harder than with a traditional twin rear wheel arrangement. Still though, after thousands of air miles travelled, our bikes have always emerged unscathed at the other end.

This article was originally published in Mountain Biking UK magazine, available on Apple Newsstand and Zinio.

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Gallery: Bianchi opens cafe and brand store in central Milan

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Italian brand brings together bikes, coffee and food

















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Cummings signs for MTN-Qhubeka

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Briton joins up with former teammate Boasson Hagen

















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Kreuziger returns to racing at Milano-Torino

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Czech rider to support Contador

















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Pioneer SGX-CA500 CycloComputer review

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The Pioneer SGX-CA500 was first and foremost introduced to display and receive the huge amount of information given from the electronic-specialist’s Gen-2 Power Meter. But given that it works with ANT+ accessories too, we decided to give it a separate review.

Read our full review of the Pioneer Power Meter Gen 2.

Design: well-thought out but could be more intuitive

As the newer, smaller and cheaper sibling to the colour-screen SGX-CA900 computer, the Pioneer SGX-CA500 head unit consists of a 1.87in black-and-white touchscreen display that’s purpose built to receive the unique directional-force information from the Pioneer meter. With the Pioneer-specific power features aside, it offers GPS tracking, Wi-Fi auto-uploads and ANT+ compatibility.

Sitting slimly out in front of the handlebars with a proprietary mount, the square-shaped SGX-CA500 borrows some design cues from SRM’s well-trusted computers. Where a Garmin or Magellan is placed in a portrait position, the Pioneer sits sideways, with the 160x128 pixel, 40x30mm effective screen size offering marginally more viewing room than a Garmin Edge 500.

The unit is controlled via three large rubber buttons (two on the right, one of the left) and the touchscreen. The buttons provide a tactile feel and an optional audible beep, while the screen offers a softer, optional beep when pressed.

While on the bike, the controls and layout work well, though we didn’t find the multiple setup menus intuitive – it was some time before they felt natural in use.

This screen layout offers a good balance of visibility and data. Some screen options allow up to nine data points – too many and too small for our eyes!

Despite the screen’s small size and occasional difficulty seeing the numerous displayed data fields, simply tapping on a particular data field will enlarge it to full screen. Tap again and it goes back to the page display. It’s a great feature if you want to focus on a single data point, such as power output during an interval.

You can have up to six customizable pages, which you can toggle between by swiping sideways on the screen. Changing the screen layout and categories is simple – you can change categories on the fly by pressing and holding the section you want.

Adjusting screen brightness is straightforward on the go too, by swiping the screen up or down, with 10 levels to choose from.

At first we found the touchscreen sensitivity suffered from similar accidental pressing and frustrations as early smart phones and GPS units did. However, deep within the option menus, we found the solution – a touchscreen calibration feature.

You'll quickly learn that most things can be corrected somewhere among the setting menus

This problem solving process seemed to occur often. The solution to an apparent drawback would be found somewhere among the device's multiple menus, though the rather basic instruction manuals provided little in the way of help.

In use: impressive performance, even paired with third-party equipment

When linked to its matching power meter, the SGX-500 has the ability to offer separate left and right power measurements along with a handful of other features that are likely to leave many drowning in vector-force based data.

The unit doesn’t offer any GPS mapping capability. Instead it uses the GPS to record data points for post-ride analysis and to allow for such features as auto-lapping and speed guidance.

On Pioneer’s own wireless protocol, we found power pick-up to be lightning fast and reliable. While we at first had significant ANT+ data delays and inconsistencies when used with a Stages power meter, the latest firmware version has brought the speed and reliability in line with our benchmark Garmin.

The use of an ANT+ heart rate strap and speed/cadence unit confirmed the data collection happening exactly in line and in time with our Garmin unit. This is a super positive note on a unit that's obviously designed with Pioneer's Power Meter in mind.

Pioneer's Cyclo-Sphere offers an incredible level of data analysis, all saved online

A big feature is the Wi-Fi sync with Pioneer’s own data-analysis software – Cyclo-Sphere. The wireless sync works exactly as advertised, uploading when in reach of your network, and you can even elect to forward the data directly to Strava if you choose.

For initial setup, entering your Wi-Fi and Cyclo-Sphere details into the head unit is time consuming, but simple. We created a Cyclo-Sphere account and synced the head unit with our Wi-Fi network and account in about 15 minutes.

While most will elect for the automatic Strava forwarding, Cyclo-Sphere is a decent analysis option in its own-right, offering a staggering level of detail. As Cyclo-Sphere is an online service, it works perfectly with PCs, Macs and many tablets too.

Even though data upload is made simple, the computer offers an enormous 3GB of useable internal memory. That's easily enough to keep old ride data stored for a long time. Cleverly, once full the unit will automatically overwrite the oldest data.

The SGX-CA500 has an operating time of approximately 12 hours, and a recharging time (via the Mirco USB port) of four hours. The computer seems reliable at keeping its charge when not in use, and never unexpectedly ran out of juice mid-ride during testing. In an unusual but welcome touch, the rechargeable lithium-ion battery has been made user-replaceable in case you see performance degrade over time.

Although it's plastic, the included bracket works a treat

The included 24g plastic bracket offers a secure double lock mechanism to ensure the 74g SGX-CA500 unit is held solidly in place. It fits standard oversized 31.8mm handlebars with a single Allen-head bolt, and never gave any concerns. Mounting the unit to aero bars can be done with an aftermarket adaptor, and the likes of K-Edge are now offering mount options too.

This is a very good computer with a staggering range of features and information when linked to its own power meter – and in this configuration it’s a must-have. However, if you don’t own or plan to own a Pioneer Power Meter, you’ll be buying in to many features you don’t need and missing a few others a Garmin or Magellan will offer for less.

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Vitus Escarpe 290 review

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Vitus’s trail-taming Escarpe is available in two forms – as the 29er you see here or with 650b wheels. While the smaller wheeled Escarpe 275 serves up 140mm (5.5in) of travel at each end, the 290 can only muster 120mm (4.7in) at the rear (though it still has a 140mm fork). How so? Well, it’s tough to build much more travel around the bigger wheel size. Does the Escarpe 290 convince as a versatile big-wheeler?

Frame and equipment: logical selections

Vitus hasn’t reinvented the wheel (or even the frame) with the Escarpe, but the details are well thought out. For example, there are some tidy under-the-top-tube cable guides for running a remote dropper post, as well as ISCG tabs for a chain guide – two features you don’t always see on a big-wheeler, but appropriate on a bike that’s got big-hit aspirations. Continuing that theme, a tapered head tube puts some stiffness back into the front end.

Hydroformed main tubes shapeshift subtly on their way from front to rear, while the seat tube has the obligatory ‘big wheel plus big travel’ kink in it to allow the suspension to do its thing. Vitus calls it's four-bar rear end ‘V-Link’. The chainstay pivots help isolate the suspension from brake and pedal forces, while the shock – in this case, a RockShox Monarch – is driven by a V-shaped rocker. It works and it’s reliable.

Vitus's four-bar V-Link setup and a RockShox Monarch are a confidence-inspiring pairing

Big-wheelers with 140mm forks aren’t that common, so it’s here that the Escarpe 290 breaks from the crowd. The RockShox Sektor ticks all the right boxes on paper, offering simple air spring set-up, a leg-top lockout lever for sprints and climbs, plus the extra security of a 15mm axle to give steering accuracy a nudge in the right direction.

It’s obvious that a bike with big wheels and plenty of travel is likely to end up going pretty fast. It’s a good thing, then, that Vitus have specced the Escarpe 290 with big, grippy boots – Continental’s X-Kings in chunky 2.4in spec – and Shimano’s reliable SLX hydraulic stoppers with long-descent-friendly 180mm rotors.

Big wheels and 140mm of travel make for a speedy experience

The relatively short 60mm stem and mid-width 740mm bar are further hints at this bike’s big-hit intent. As for the transmission, it’s based around Shimano’s ever-reliable SLX groupset, with a low profile, clutched rear derailleur that’ll dodge rocks and keep the chain tight in the rough.

The only spec niggle is the unfathomable choice of 170mm cranks in place of the 175mm norm. You don’t even get any extra ground clearance because the length has been reduced by drilling the hole for the pedal axle further up, not shortening the arms.

Ride and handling: long front end can prove a flexible foe

First impressions of the Escarpe 290 are that it’s a heavy ol’ thing, nudging the scales to well beyond 14kg. Luckily, the extra metal and rubber is less of an issue than you might think once you’re turning the pedals. Thanks to some low gearing and lots of ground-hugging ability from the chunky treads and willing, compliant rear end, the Vitus will chew up bumpy climbs for as long as you feel like putting the power down.

The long wheelbase and a front axle so far in front of the bar you practically need binoculars to locate it also don’t cause any significant problems. Low-speed handling can be a bit wheel-flop prone, but it’s easy enough to correct for – and it makes for a stable high-speed singletrack-destroying machine.

The RockShox Sektor fork in 140mm 29er spec is too flexy to perform well when things get rough

It turns out, then, that the thing that first strikes you about the Escarpe 290 – the weight – isn’t a problem at all. But that 140mm fork is. While the bike’s crying out to be ridden hard and fast through choppy sections of trail, the combination of a big – and therefore inherently more flexible – front wheel and long, skinny fork stanchions will have you fighting to pull it back into line. Vitus has tried hard to stiffen up the fork, speccing a through-axle and tapered steerer, but the Sektor is in over its pay grade with this much travel on a big-wheeler.

In 150mm travel, 650b wheel trim – as on the Rose Granite Chief – the fork is slightly shorter than the Vitus’s 140mm 29er version and noticeably more accurate to steer through tricky sections of trail. The conclusion is obvious – the 140mm 29er version of the Sektor over-reaches the ability of its 32mm stanchions to hold it all together. A 120mm fork would reduce weight and tighten up steering response without hampering the bike’s overall ability. Sometimes, less really is more.

This article was originally published in Mountain Biking UK magazine, available on Apple Newsstand and Zinio.

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