As the UK lockdown gradually eases and seemingly every bike in the UK is sold out, the flood of new product announcements has continued unabated.
DT Swiss launched same tasty carbon mountain bike wheels as well as some more affordable alloy ones, RockShox debuted its burly ZEB fork, and Garmin showed us its latest smartwatches.
Meanwhile, Bosch presented its ebike of the future and we did a deep dive on hookless rims, picking through the mess that road tubeless currently finds itself in.
Plus, BikeRadar tech writer Simon Bromley gave us the lowdown on his 2021 Giant TCR long-termer and we told you the things we wish we'd known when we first got into cycling.
Read on for this week's bike and kit highlights.
Rose Pro SL Disc 105
German direct-sales brand Rose has made some of our favourite affordable bikes over the years.
The previous generation Pro SL was one of our top picks in both rim and disc brake variants, a key rival for Canyon’s Endurace.
Rose has updated the Pro SL for 2020 with a new fork, cleaner cable routing, a super-slick integrated seat clamp and new build specs.
The frame retains the carbon-like aesthetics of its predecessor, with nicely tidied welds and an eye-catching paintjob.
The new Pro SL is still available in both rim and disc models, with a choice of Shimano 105 or Ultegra builds.
With a full 105 R7020 hydraulic groupset, DT Swiss P1850 Spline 23 wheels and Ritchey finishing kit, this 55cm Pro SL Disc weighs 9.4kg on our scales.
- €1,599 / £1,451.20
- Buy direct from Rose Bikes
Bontrager Rally WaveCel MTB helmet
Bontrager debuted its new WaveCel safety tech last year to much fanfare, claiming a major advance from conventional helmet design.
WaveCel is a cellular structure that surrounds the wearer’s head. It’s designed to “flex, crumple and glide” as the structure collapses in the event of an impact, dissipating energy more effectively than basic EPS foam.
WaveCel was initially offered only in top-end Bontrager helmets, but the tech has now trickled down to the mid-level, with the Rally WaveCel costing £70 / $150 less than the top-end Blaze WaveCel.
The Rally WaveCel is a trail mountain bike helmet that offers a decent amount of coverage. It features an adjustable visor and there’s a Boa dial at the back of the cradle to adjust the size.
The new Rally has achieved a 5-star rating in Virginia Tech’s helmet testing, although interestingly it actually scored very slightly worse than the MIPS version of the same lid. Make of that what you will – Bontrager is evangelical about WaveCel, but riders have the choice of their preferred technology.
Like other Bontrager helmets, the Rally comes with free crash replacement in the first year of ownership.
The helmet is available in four colours and three sizes. This size large weighs 430g on our scales, bang on its claimed weight.
- £129.99 / $149.99
Portland Design Works Full Metal Fenders
We’re big believers in proper mudguards (fenders) at BikeRadar. If you live somewhere where it rains a lot, they turn riding in the rain from an exercise in soggy-bottomed misery to something bearable and, dare we say it, enjoyable.
They also make you rather more popular on group rides. No one likes a face-full of road muck.
Portland Design Works makes a huge range of accessories but the brand is perhaps best known for its high-zoot mudguards.
The Full Metal Fenders are available in a range of sizes to suit different tyre widths and wheel sizes.
This is the 700×45 version, which is meant for rubber up to 35mm wide, although you can push things a bit here – PDW has some excellent advice on its website to help you choose your 'guards.
The 'guards are made from anodised aluminium and they feature substantial mud flaps and sturdy-looking hardware.
Those pictured here are matt black, but they’re also available in gun-metal and a very stylish polished silver.
Exact weight will vary slightly according to your installation, but claimed weight for these is a reasonable 568g – not excessive given the coverage on offer.
- $120 / £69.99–£99.99
- Buy now from Portland Design Works (USA) / Condor Cycles (UK)
Gaadi double-ended inner tube
We end with what is surely the weirdest inner tube you’ve ever seen.
We should point out that this is not a new product, it’s existed in some form for years, but it only recently came to our attention and it’s too fun not to share.
Gaadi’s inner tubes are double-ended, i.e. not a complete circle. Why? Because that means you can fit one without removing the wheel from your bike.
Now, with most bikes it’s straightforward to remove a wheel with either no tools or very basic ones, but there are those with hub gears, dynamos, or in-wheel electric motors that make things somewhat more complicated and intimidating to the less mechanically-inclined.
There is a caveat: if your bike currently has a conventional tube fitted, you’ll need to cut it out to take advantage of the Gaadi’s unique design. That means including scissors or a small penknife in your repair kit.
For a demo of what fitting a Gaadi tube looks like, watch BikeRadar’s Tech of the Month video below.
Suffice to say, it seems to work, although we’re not sure we’d treat it as a permanent repair.
- Prices vary, but around £8/$10ish
- Buy now from SJS Cycles
