It's that time again, where we introduce the latest bikes and bits to ruffle our feathers at the BikeRadar HQ.
This week we’ve got our hands on an astonishingly light disc-brake road bike from Canyon, a new three bike rack that should play nice for those with cars that have fancy spoilers, plus a powerful light for mountain bikers. Oh, and a delightfully ridiculous collectable from Campagnolo.
Recapping on another tech-heavy week, BikeRadar’s most attentive readers will likely have seen Hunt’s new £479 alloy wheelset claimed to be faster than Zipp's £2,678 NSW 202.
Jack Luke also took a stab at the road bike tech he thinks might make it to the road bikes of the future and we also picked out five decisive climbs from the final two weeks of the Tour de France.
The first reviews from Seb’s typically detailed fork test have started rolling through to the homepage, including the superb Fox 36 Factory GRIP2, which narrowly avoided scoring a full five-star rating.
Canyon Ultimate CF EVO Disc 10.0 LTD
Making the headlines a couple of weeks back, as the lightest ever disc-equipped bike from Canyon, was this flagship version of the popular Ultimate CF.
Despite its disc brakes, 12-speed transmission and 25mm clincher tyres, the Ultimate CF EVO claimed to nip under the 6kg mark by a single gram.
Since then, BikeRadar’s Jack Luke has got his greasy mitts on a size medium example of this £9,099 superbike.
BikeRadar’s scales of justice saw this size medium example shown here weigh in at 6.04kg without pedals. The impressive part about this build is that its spec sheet doesn’t stray into the realms of unusual custom parts or even components with serious compromises.
The result is a bike that could conceivably be ridden each day, and one that should dodge the pitfalls of some ultra-lightweight specials. For a more intimate look at this bike take a look at Jack’s first look video below.
- £9,099 /€10,000 / $12,000
- Buy the Canyon Ultimate CF EVO Disc 10.0 LTD from Canyon
Saris Bones EX bike rack
Saris claims its Bones EX boasts the largest compatibility of any boot (or trunk) rack on the market. The impressive compatibility is thanks in part to a clever arc design that allows the rack to fit over most car spoilers, which can traditionally hamper the use of such racks.
Does your car fit the Saris Bones EX? Check the Saris fitment guide to find out.
The Bones EX is rated for three bikes at 35lbs each, so could potentially take three burly enduro bikes to the trails and back. Aside from the splined central shaft, it’s mostly made from injection-moulded plastic, which means the rack itself weighs just 5kg / 11lbs.
The rack adjusts relatively quickly and without tools thanks to simple wind-down fasteners and plastic ratchet straps. The integrated strap management system is also a neat touch.
- £179.99 / $229.95
Lumicycle Apogee front light
The Apogee, from UK firm Lumicycle, is a front light designed primarily for off-road use. In its most powerful setting it’s capable of pumping out a staggering 4,500 lumens.
The aluminium body of the light can be mounted above, below or horizontally about its quick-release mounting while the anti-glare eyelid of the light can then be rotated accordingly to optimise the optics.
These lights are sold separately from their battery packs but the system is fully modular, so if you’ve already invested in a Lumicycle battery pack or accessories, then your hard-earned cash won’t be wasted.
To give an idea of run times, the Apogee in its mid/720-lumen setting with the recommended 6.8Ah extender battery pack (£120.00) will run for a claimed 38.5 hours. This reduces to 8.8 hours of claimed output in its high/1,860-lumen setting.
This one’s in as part of a massive lights grouptest that’s being conducted by Alex Evans, so stay tuned for more impressive illuminators.
Campagnolo Big the Corkscrew
In 1966 Campagnolo founder Tullio Campagnolo hurt his hand while opening a bottle of wine. It was the anger of this moment that spurred the genius Italian into designing a corkscrew of his own, hence the creation of the Campagnolo corkscrew.
Faithful to the original design, the Campy corkscrew claims to never perforate the lower part of a bottle’s cork (so as not to contaminate the wine). Its levers are engineered in a way that eliminates the risk of breaking the glass or shaking the bottle so as not to raise the sediment often found in aged wines.
The name is also rather apt considering this piece is almost a foot in length!
Aside from the obvious branding, the chainring style bolts that pass through the corkscrew’s screws hint at the heritage of this unusual collectable.
If you aren’t laughing already then the price will probably set you off.
- £138.99
