Welcome to our weekly roundup of all the lovely shiny things distributors and manufacturers have sent for us to poke, prod, squabble over and then give a thorough testing.
Chipps has just returned from the 2011 XTR Launch and he’s come back home with this Limited Edition XTR watch. There’s a mere 1,750 of them in existence and although it’s not particularly light, it does appear to have very smooth shifting.
Here’s a Topeak Mega Morph Pump. Like a bigger version of their bike-guide’s-favourite Mountain Morph, it uses a small fold out food stand to stabilise it when pumping but this one comes with a pressure gauge. The head automatically fits Presta or Schraeder valves and it’s designed to be used as less bulky track pump that’ll live happily in a car boot or mechanic’s rucksack. Colour clashing shoes’n’socks model’s own.
From: Extra UK
Price: £44.99
More pumping action with a Topeak JoeBlow Mountain track pump. It’s got an extra large diameter barrel for pumping up high volume tyres quickly and the base is made from ‘engineering grade composite’ which we like to think means F1 car offcuts or something. A rather nice feature is the air release button if you use science rather than your fingers to get the pressure just right.
From: Extra UK
Price: £44.99
It’s not Christmas but we’ve been sent new AKdrenaline socks from the people over at Alpkit. We thought their last socks were a touch on the thick side so we’ll be interested to see how these new thinner and shorter Coolmax sock with Terry inserts stand up. Stand up? Geddit? Okay, we’ll stop trying now.
From: Alpkit
Price: £10 for two pairs
This Alpina Pheos LE helmet has got a matte rubberised finish that, as well as feeling strangely nice, should prevent it from getting scratched. We’ve had a couple of their more XC-ey helmets through recently but this one is a bit more understated as well as having the all important peak. It uses Alpina’s Swing-Fit system and a carbon monocoque shell for light weight.
From: Merida UK
Price: £129.99
New kids on the block of cheap, replacement disc pads are Uber Bike Components with pads for nearly everyone in sintered or organic, starting for less than a tenner..
From: Uber Bike Components
Price: £7.99 for sintered, £6.49 for organic
Claiming to put other bike lights ‘in the shade’ it’s Liteoption’s stunning new Ray3a light. Made by a genuine Forumula1 boffin it offers 1,000Lumens of lightweight (354g for the lot) LED night-into-day magic with clever remote switch and helmet mounts. It’ll last 4 hours on full power and 20 on the minimum setting..
From: LiteOption
Price: £200
The Fi’zi:k fairy has visited! We’ve got Aliante AM, Pave CX and Vesta saddles….
..a new Fi’zi:k Tundra 2 saddle, nestled on top of the very new Fi’zi:k seatpost…
..and Arione, Antarest and Aliante saddles in the new VS style – with a perineal pressure relief channel to keep your chappy happy.
From: Extra UK
No, it’s okay, Sim hasn’t got into the Euro trance music scene, he’s just modelling some Shimano Euro glasses. Instant cyclocross/Belgian classic appeal. We don’t think Madison import these…
Jon has crossed over to the dark side and moved from Nikon to this Canon EOS 550D. Despite Nikon fans Sim and Benji shunning him, he’s looking forward to playing with the full HD video function at up to 60fps and basking in the warm glow of a DIGIC 4 processor and 18MP AP-C CMOS sensor. It’s got the standard kit 18-55m lens on at the moment, but eBay is being trawled for some wide angle action..
From: High streets and the internet.
Price: Around £689 with 18-55mm lens
Yet more flat pedals have arrived! These Syncros Meathook pedals are covered in fierce looking split studs that scream out septicaemia and serious tissue damage. Should be perfect for gripping to soles and hammering into your shin bone if you mess up. The CNC’d alloy platform runs on two cartridge bearings and a DU bush and the axle is cromoly. We look forward to sitting by the side of the trail and weeping gently as the blood rolls down our legs after we fail to heed the warning that we should only ever use them with shin pads.
From: Jungle Products
Price: £79.99
Here are some Atomlab Pimplite pedals. They’ve got a magnesium body and they’re white, so they are both ‘pimp’ and ‘lite’. They’re nice and wide and run on a steel axle and needle bearings.
From: Upgrade Bikes
Price: £79.99
Doing things a little differently, the MKS DD-force pedals go for a long’n’thin approach. They are covered with nice and long studs and the machined body should clear mud nicely.
From: Zyro
Price: £79.99
Ed has got a selection of pedals in from Wellgo – starting at the top we have the MG1 Magnesium body in XTR grey (£44.99), B144 in Ano green (we don’t have an RRP but they are expected to be similarly priced to the MG1) and the snappily titled LU987B in black (£24.99).
From: Jim Walker (i-ride.co.uk)
Comments (18)
Comments Closed
We look forward to sitting by the side of the trail and weeping gently as the blood rolls down our legs
Which I why I shun flat pedals….
I’m a little ashamed to say this but that watch is very pretty indeed. I don’t normally like marketing tat like that but I’m wondering how I could get my hands on one.
Some great looking flat pedals around these days. Pity every time I try them, I remember that I’ve lived on SPDs since launch day. The bike and I are no longer ‘one’ and either the bike stays firmly on the ground or we both leave the ground at different times 🙁
Why Jonny, why? ;-(
Does that megamorph come with frame mounts, looks like just what I need for 3.7 tyres!
That watch looks like it came out of a cracker.
“it uses a small fold out food stand to stabilise it”
My kind of pump. How many rock cakes do you need for true stability? I think we should be told.
Just bought one of the mountain pumps; it’s ace.
As I don’t ride on road, having the ability to accurately inflate tyres to 35PSI without a magnifying glass is great. Takes a little oomph though.
Liking the synchros pedals.
It only does baked spuds sorry ratadog…
is uber bike components that company that posted a spurious testimonial on the forum?? way to do PR!
Interesting that uber bike components have the same logo, and the same questionable marketing tactics, as superstar
Great, a “review” of a watch that no one can buy. Journo-willy-waving?
“Price: £7.99 for sintered, £6.49 for organic”
They’re the exact same pads that Superstar sell, only a pound more expensive per set, and they charge P&P on top of that which Superstar don’t do, oh, and they don’t offer the discount options that Superstar do either. So that £7.99 pad costs £9 for one compared to £7 from SS, or for 4 costs £33 compared to Superstar’s £23.
I know people don’t like Superstar much but these guys seem to be cut from the same cloth, and you don’t even get the benefits of cheapness.
i would wear those shimano specs!
Uber Bike Components = winner of the sh*ttest company name ever.
“It’s got the standard kit 18-55m lense on at the moment”
i pressume im not the only person who checked the registered uber components address against superstar?
the logo is even similar!
“i pressume im not the only person who checked the registered uber components address against superstar?
the logo is even similar!”
Yep, very similar, but one is Lincoln , the other Sheffield.
Never really understood all the anger against Superstar, I’ve never had any problems with them.
And no, I don’t work for them.