Friday has swung round once again, so it’s time to take a look at what’s come through the office door. After last week’s complaints of timeliness – there’s no pleasing some people – we’re once again back to random ‘somewhere around lunchtime’ publication to ensure that your working Friday doesn’t peak too early…
Norco Shinobi 29er
Big wheels are moving everywhere – even into the world of all-mountain. This bike has got 120mm of rear wheel travel from the ART four-bar system and it’s all kept stiff with a 142x12mm axle. Up front there’s a mismatched 140mm of travel from the tapered Rock Shox Revelation with 20mm through axle. A SRAM X.7 drivetrain with FSA crankset (and 29er friendly 32/22T gearing) rounds off the build.
Price: £TBC
From: Evans Cycles
Swoopy hydroformed tubing and braced swingarm offer plenty of mud clearance with 2.2″ WTB Wolverine tyres…
Super dinky headtube keeps the front end low and, in an excellent bit of speccing, the bars are nice and wide at 760mm. Should be a fun one to wrestle down the trails…
Neat two-piece rocker link and the back end uses a simple to set up Post Mount brake mount.
ENVE Twenty6 XC Clincher rim
Yes, they are expensive. Now the obvious has been stated, we’ll move on to the interesting technical bits. At 32mm deep and with a 19mm width, these are the cross country versions of the renowned composite firms’ carbon fibre rims. At a claimed 350g they aren’t exactly lardy but ENVE reckon they’re super stiff relative to other lightweight kit. We’ve got a pair build on Chris King hubs (if you need to ask, etc) and we’re looking forward to giving them a sound thrashing through the grit and mud of winter.
Price: £700
From: Saddleback
They’re available as a clincher in 28H or 32H with tubeless rimstrip system and as a tubular rim in 28H if you like the smell of glue.
RWD Sintered Brake pads
Yorkshire based firm Race Winning Designs have a long history in the automotive world but their two directors also like to get out mountain biking, so their own range of pads seemed like a sensible idea. They’ve been testing the pads on the trails of Swaledale with the Dales Bike Centre and The sintered pads here are designed to have a high initial bite and high friction as well as a long life span. They do pads to fit pretty much every brake out there and they also have a semi-metallic pad in the pipeline. You can check out the difference via their rather snazzy graphs…
Price: £TBC
From: Race Winning Designs
Mountain High: Europe’s greatest cycle climbs
If you like to suffer in meticulously planned style, then this rather nice book could be just the thing for you. It’s a practical and historical guide to 50 of Europe’s hardest and most beautiful road climbs, including Mont Ventoux, Col du Tormalet and the Col du Grand St Bernard, listed in order of height. There’s loads of lovely photography and each climb has details of elevation, height gain, local services as well as the history of the climb and the riders that have tried, and sometimes failed, upon it.
Price: £20
From: Quercus Books
Dialled Bikes Alpine Ti
Dialled Bikes have hooked up with The Bike Chain to produce a pair of super bling titanium versions of their tough Mk2 Alpine hardtails. We’ve got the 18″ version, which has with a 23″ and a bit effective top tube, designed to be run with a 130-140mm fork. It weighs not-a-lot-at-all (about a kilo and a half) and may or may not be put into production, depending on the feedback they get from you lot. We’re looking forward to building it up and having some fun on it over the winter…
Price: around £1,100
From: The Bike Chain/Dialled Bikes
The many standard friendly 44mm ID headtube and ISCG mounts keep your options open…
Muc-Off Expanding Microcell Sponge
If you like to keep your bike nice and shiny then a giant pink sponge is exactly what you need. This one from Muc-off is compressed to one fifth the size and vacuum packed into a tiny bit of packaging, which means they can be transported more efficiently and with a lower carbon footprint. Once you’re finished watching it expand in amazement, you can also use it in the shower or bath.
Price: £2.99
From: Muc-Off
…going, going…
MRP 2X chain device
It’s what a load of people with doublering setups have been waiting for – and large BCD SRAM chainset owners who might have been struggling to find a compatible device in particular. You don’t need an outer bashguard thanks to the removeable lower skid plate, while the twin jockey wheel setup should help prevent the chain coming off the bottom of the rings. The back plate is made from aluminium and has a ‘fin’ to guard against the chain falling on the inside too. You can get it with a BB, ISCG or ISCG05 mount, black or white finish and it’s available in two sizes to fit 42-39T or 36-38T outer rings.
Price: £129.99
From: Ison Distribution
Timbuk2 D-lux Messenger bag
Ooh! Isn’t it nice? Sim has got this classic messenger bag for transporting his laptop and other man-things about town. Made from heavy duty ‘ballistic’ nylon, there’s a super sweet racing stripe to help him off the line at lights and they’ve improved the buckles over previous versions. As well as the conventional entry via the flap you also get a side entry pocket and there’s a well padded and studded ‘love glove’ to keep your laptop safe.
Price: £80
From: Timbuk2
Alma Win Sport + detergent
This soap-free detergent is designed to get all your stinky riding clothes smelling lovely without using chemicals that irritate sensitive skin and without clogging up the membranes of Gore-tex style clothing. It’s also vegan and vegetarian friendly, 100% biodegradable and will work in washes from 20°C upwards. Hopefully it’ll go some way to getting rid of the smell in the office.
Price: £9.90 for 750ml
From: Alma Win
Comments (45)
Comments Closed
Alpine Ti – want.
Get it built and do it quick.
Norco 29er is really quite attractive.
I like the brace on the back end near the pivot.. very neat.
That Alpine looks lovely.
I want one,I want one,I want one,I want one,I want one,I want one,I want one,I want one,I want one,I want one,I want one,I want one,I want one,I want one,I want one,I want one,I want one,I want one,I want one,I want one,I want one,I want one,I want one,I want one,I want one,I want one,I want one,I want one,I want one,.
🙂
and why are these Chain devices costing the earth?
Any chance you couild take a pic of the back of the chain guide? Interested in one for my intense, but it all gets quite congested behind the chainset due to the VPP link being in the way. Thanks!
Downtube on that Alpine looks huge, and curvy seat tube gussets are for girls. Otherwise though, that looks a bit excellent.
How is a chain device £130?????
well done dialled for using an internal headset! Lovely looking frame
Ti alpine looks nice…
Enve wheels have 3 logos so how do you align the tyre logos,
are there any tyres with 3 logos on them to match?
If i had those rims id be taking a black maker to the tyre decals.
Dialled Ti???
Oh yes please..
I guess a £130 chain device is reasonable in a world where even a bloody sponge costs £3…
Align tyre logo,s inbetween wheel graphics,trippy!
that dialled alpine is beautifull. i want one!!!!
Mike – make the Ti Alpine. I want one too…..
Wheel logos are 120 degrees and tyre logos as 180 there’s no way of align that will look cool.
Facebook petition for 3 tyre logos anyone?
That Dialled Bikes Ti Alpine is lush.
Do you reckon a fat lad could pinch himself quite badly after bottoming the rear of that Norco out, especially if he was a little squirrelly at the time??
The Ti Alpine is pretty damn sexy. Shame they didn’t use the flat plate braces instead of the tube ones. Change that for the production Mike 🙂 I think some lazer etched wings in it instead of the normal cutouts would make it even better. WANT!
i’ll swap my hummer for that dialled frame anytime your ready
38th Birthday today, with that Alpine Ti I’ve just found my 40th Birthday present. Mike, you’ve got 2 years to get it into production 😉
the ti alpine in the fresh goods….fantastic !
when starts the preorder ?
Ti Dialled looks awfy Brodie Holshotish, and immediately apparent differences?
Didn’t think that you could improve the alpine!! Just been proved wrong!! Would they take 3 children in exchange for a frame?
Nice to know people are liking the Ti Alpine. If people are serious about wanting one, please contact Mark at The Bike Chain in Edinburgh. It was he who nagged/pestered me into making the prototypes and I said I would only put them into production if he got at least 30 pre-orders and deposits.
Ti Alpine is stunning feller, well done. Out of my price range but it would make the world a better place if they were in production 😉
that dialled is making me think of leaving my Evil…
Nagging! Me??!!
Well i am known as being a PITA i suppose.
Glad people are liking it. Hopefully the feedback from the guys after riding it is as encouraging.
Mike designs a good frame eh. Our riding of them was great fun, yes, it’s light so you need to keep it in line but it’s ability to react to you getting things right (or wrong) is remarkable.
Cheers, Mark
LOL@Mark. Fair to say, the prototypes wouldn’t have been made if you hadn’t been so “persuasive” or enthusiastic about the project.
As I said at the time, even if they never go into production, at least you have 2 nice/rare frames to play with.
Yeah, Ti Alpine looks like a nicer and slightly less expensive Brody Holeshot Ti, so what’s not to like. Out of my price range but sweet. For the sake of aesthetics, please don’t make the large 20″ though, keep it to 19″ max.
Loving that Ti Apline. Only thing that might pursuade me to trade in my Mk 1.
That Ti Alpine looks awesome could possibly drag me away from my plans to buy a new full suss next Spring, so build it quick and if it rides like it looks thats where my cash might go!
I’ll have one Ti Alpine 18″ please, Mark I’ve sent you a mail so tell when to send my deposit!!! 🙂
chain device and sponge – rip off.
Ti bike – v. nice!
The Alpine looks near enough the same as the Ti Holeshot from Brodie, except for the head tube difference. Would hazard a guess they are from the same factory 🙂 the ISCG/bb area needs a tidy up though on the alpine 🙂 also, are they not the same price? Wish you the best, they are cracking bikes to ride.
it looks near enough the same…
but geo is different….
Ti Alpine, for those of you who turned up 5 years too late for a Kobe 🙂
you say the Alpine is designed around a 130-140mm fork…….Will it still take 160mm ones?
Mike, it’s your civic duty to put that Ti Alpine into production, it looks the nuts
I wish I wish I wish that the Alpine Ti had a 30.9 or 31.6 seat tube… Then it would be perfect. Finding a 27.2 dropper is tough, much less choice
@Nowthen
The Ti Alpine does have a 31.6mm ID seat tube. Bike Chain confirm this on a similar thread over on Dirt’s website.
Oh no… That means I have to buy one, missus will not be best pleased…thks GT!
Can it be any better than my Kobe!
Do you know the import duty on a timbuk 2 bag?
Timbuk2, still have no UK distributor, yet are sending new stuff? Also, where can I get replacement reflective bits and a shoulder strap for my old bag?