Thank fork it's nearly Christmas
Yep, it’s your weekly sneak peak through the portcullis of castle MBR to drool at the exciting new products that have been catapulted over the ramparts.
With only a few short shopping days before the wondrous holiday that is Christmas let Arrivals be your last-minute pressie inspiration. There’s still plenty of cool kit coming through the doors, especially loads of ‘stocking filler’ type stuff.
For those of you who can’t wait until the reviews come out in the magazine or go up online, here’s another in our new series of pre-emptive peeks into recent test product arrivals.
Here’s last week’s Arrivals for those who missed it.
Rockshox SID World Cup 29
Price: £1022
From: SRAM
Say hello to SID. Probably the most recognised XC suspension fork in the world, it’s been through a lot of changes over the years. This latest World Cup version features a one piece carbon fibre steerer and crown to keep weight to a minimum and stiffness to the max. Being a cross country oriented fork travel is a paltry 100mm, but what travel there is benefits from the latest Charger 2 damper technology. So just like the latest Pike forks it provides buttery smooth small bump sensitivity and the ability to adjust the compression levels to tune it to your needs. If you want it to be a mega stiff race fork or supple trail killer, it’ll do both happily. Available in all the best flavours, BOOST, non-BOOST and both 27.5″ and 29er wheel sizes.
SID!!!!
That’s the same Charger 2 damper as in the Pike.
The steerer and crown is a one piece carbon construction.
E-13 TRS Race cassette
Price: £299.99
From: Silverfish
Taking cues from Spinal Tap, E-13 take it up to 11. Or in this case, 511%. Going a little better than a certain raptor based drivetrain range, the TRS Race cassette promises to deliver this vast range out of just eleven cogs making it compatible with a much bigger user group. The spread goes from a tiny 9 tooth cog right through to a low gear of 46 teeth. Ok, it might not have the low end range of SRAM’s Eagle, but the 9 tooth should allow you to drop a chainring size at the front; effectively keeping the gear ratio similar to that provided by Eagle’s 10-50 cassette.
The three largest cogs are made from aluminium but most are machined from steel for hopefully a long life. The only slight sticking point for most 11 speed users is the TRS Race does require the use of an XD driver due to the dinky 9 tooth cog.
Danny MacAskill: At The Edge autobiography
Price: £9.99
From: all good bookshops
Coming in time to make a perfect stocking filler for your favourite cyclist. This is the story of how Danny went from an unknown rider stuck on a Scottish island to one of the most recognised riders in the world. all told by Danny himself, it should be enough to get even the most casual rider wanting to hop around on the garage roof.
Check out Danny’s latest edit ‘Lederbrosen’ here!
Wahoo ELEMNT Mini
Price: £79.99
From: Wahoo
The compact and bijou Wahoo ELEMNT Mini packs a big punch if ride data is your thing. Working with the included Wahoo speed sensor, the ELEMNT Mini pairs with your smartphone. Providing info on speed, distance, power and all the other exciting nuggets of data we feverishly upload to Strava. It even offers the facility for loved ones to track you while you are out. So they know which pub to pick you up from at the end of a ‘ride’. The best thing about the ELEMNT Mini is the compact size meaning you can shove it on the stubbiest of stems without it getting in the way. Wahoo currently have the ELEMNT Mini on offer at just £54.99 if you are looking for a bit of a bargain.
Should Strava have a MTB category?
Moon Meteor Storm Lite front light
Price: £85.99
From: Raleigh
Self contained, the Meteor Storm Lite can pump out up to 1100 lumens in a relatively lightweight package, perfect as either handlebar or helmet light. The good news, both types of mount come supplied in the box, so you can play around with what best suits. Eleven modes enable you to conserve or use the power however you please and when the juice is used up a USB recharging facility allows you to charge it in super quick time.
Endura FS-260 Pro Nemo glove
Price: £29.99
From: Endura
Surfers have known for years how good neoprene is for keeping you warm in wet conditions. These new Pro Nemo gloves are perfect for wet and mild riding conditions. Neoprene works by trapping a thin layer of water next to the skin. Relying on body heat to warm it, providing enough insulation to keep your digits in perfect working order. A long cuff and soft, wicking Terry lining helps keep things comfy. Endura stick loads of grippy silicon dots over the palm and fingers to help keep grip levels as high as possible. The blue and orange colour scheme is a bit different to the normal black, which is also available, as well as a fetching bright green version.
Rockguardz
Price: from £35.00
From: Rockguardz
UK company Rockguardz manufacture made-to-measure carbon fibre downtube protectors designed to protect the vulnerable areas of a MTB frame. Although it’s getting more and more common to find this form of protection provided on new frames, the majority of existing bikes have minimal impact protection. Rockguardz are designed to wrap closely around the bottom bracket and downtube of your pride and joy. Helping to deflect those nasty rock strikes that could potentially cause catastrophic damage. Currently available for a wide range of brands and models, more are being added regularly.
British carbon…
Flare Clothing Co. Kids T-Shirt
Price: £15.99
From: Flare Clothing Co.
,It’s always nice when you can dress your mini-me in matching MTB kit. Flare might not have a full range of MTB clothing for kids yet but, as a starting point they have these cool t-shirts. There are five sizes available for kids from the age of three up to 12 years of age. As well as this red Limitless print, Flare has a cool blue version.
And that’s it for 2017. We’re having a week off Arrivals next week but we’ll be back raring to go in 2018. Enjoy the holidays!!!