We showed you some of the latest kit from Shimano offshoot PRO last month, and now a big box of products has landed in the office ready for testing.
Atherton Star Series
In addition to the Athertons' signature bars and grips that we featured in September, downhilling's most famous family now have their own saddle, seatpost and stems.
Their Star Series saddle is a slimline medium-sized perch, with a perforated synthetic cover decorated with PRO and Atherton logos, and Kevlar scuff guards on the nose and wings. Weight is kept down to 218g – 7g less than claimed – by titanium rails. RRP is £54.99.
The £49.99 seatpost is an ultra-short 250mm long and comes in 27.2mm and 31.6mm diameters. Made of 7075 alloy with a CNC-machined head, it boasts a one-bolt clamping system. Claimed weight is 225g but our sample was 246g.
A direct mount stem is available that will fit RockShox Boxxer and newer Fox 40 forks, but we haven't managed to get our grubby hands on one yet. Instead, here's the standard version, machined from 7050 alloy and available in 35mm, 50mm and 65mm lengths. Claimed weight for the short version is 160g – our 65mm model was 191g. RRP is £79.99.
Vanderham Star Series
King of the moto whip Thomas Vanderham also gets a signature saddle, stem and seatpost, in addition to the bars and grips we showed you last month, with a more stealthy look than the Athertons' flashy race kit.
The seatpost is a similar design to the Atherton model, but at 350mm long will suit a much wider range of bikes and riders. It's available in 30.9mm and 31.6mm diameters. Claimed weight for the 31.6mm version is 285g but ours was a slightly lighter 278g. RRP is £54.99.
The £49.99 saddle is a little chunkier and gets extra padding on the nose, plus a textured surface based on Vanderham's 'fingerprint' logo. Ours was nearly bang-on the claimed weight of 240g.
The stem is again similar to the Atherton model, but made with more of a focus on strength rather than light weight. It's not far off its claimed weight of 195g at 202g. RRP is £79.99.
FRS
Our box from UK distributors Madison also contained a bar and stem from PRO's great value FRS all-mountain line. The oversize (31.8mm) stem is made from 3D forged 6061 T6 alloy and, as you would expect, is slightly lighter than the signature downhill and freeride gear at 135g. It has a five-degree rise and is available in 50mm and 70mm lengths.
The FRS OS Downhill bar is made of thick-wall 2014 T6 alloy and comes in a 700mm (27.6in) width with a 40mm rise. Our sample weighed 313g. RRP for both products is £29.99 (per item, not for the pair).
Multi-tool
Hiding away at the bottom of the box was this tiny Minitool 1.1, with 11 tools encased in a sleek alloy body – 2, 2.5, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8mm Allen keys, normal and Philips screwdrivers, and a Torx T25 driver. Weighing in at just 98g it's a worthy addition to any riding pack. RRP £19.99.
There'll be reviews of all this kit in a future issue of Mountain Biking UK.
