Ohmagerrrd. It’s Friday already. The day when we should be winding down, eating chips, and planning our weekend down time. But no! Not us! Not here! It’s been deadline week, so we’ve been finishing off the next glorious issue of the magazine. Yes! We don’t just play around in the office taking silly pictures of ourselves and writing about products, we create an actual magazine too! If that had escaped your attention, then you need to go on over here and make sure the next issue comes through your front door.
As if that wasn’t quite enough to get done in one week, we’ve been sailing this ship with a man down. Our Man from Down Under has been laid low by a vicious bug which means he hasn’t left the house this week. In fact, he’s barely left his bed, the poorly little lamb. We’re going to have to survive without Wil next week too, as he’s off on holiday. On the plus side for you lot, it means you’re not going to have to face any of his disturbing poses with product for the next two weeks. But when he comes back we’re sure he’ll be glad to show off his new thin and tanned body. We’ll do our best to restrain him. No one send us any budgie smugglers for testing, please.
What with such a hectic week, let’s have something chilled to take us in to Fresh Goods Friday…
https://youtu.be/C404S7KaoeQ
RSP Calavera CC28 27.5 Carbon Wheels
- Price: £479.99 (rear), £414.99 (front)
- From: Raleigh
Coming in under a grand for the set, the Calavera wheelset is aiming for the ‘maybe I could upgrade my wheels before buying a new bike’ market. Also available in 29in sizes and with wider rim options available, we have here the 27.5in version with a 28mm wide internal profile. Oversized hookless beads should keep your tyres seated in rufty tufty conditions – and our David (serial tester of puncture prevention kits…) will be putting these to the test in our upcoming carbon wheel grouptest.
The asymmetric carbon rims are laced with 32 Mach 1 spokes per wheel. They’re made of stainless steel and are of the standard J-bend variety, and RSP has used a traditional 3-cross lacing pattern along with brass nipples for longterm durability. RSP has chosen Chosen hubs to star at the centre of each wheel, with the rear hub getting a rather impressive 150-point engagement freehub that offers an insanely quick 2.5° pickup.
Claimed weight is 1783g for the complete 27.5in wheelset, which is pretty competitive for a set of burly trail wheels that RSP lists as being ready for some enduro racing action. There’s a 1-year warranty with the wheels, and a 2-year crash replacement scheme for those who encounter a whoopsie with their new flash carbon wheels.
One Up EDC (Every Day Carry) Tool System
- Price: $59.00
- From: One Up Components
Slot this little gizmo into your steerer tube and you’ve no need to carry a separate multitool or quick link. Plus there’s room for a gas cartridge or other small item. Don’t forget you’ll need the Tap Kit to fit it (but we’ve already got one of them – yay!).
One Up EDC (Every Day Carry) Top Cap
- Price: $25.00
- From: One Up Components
This is the top cap you’ll need to add so that you can get to your secret tool stash.
One Up EDC (Every Day Carry) Tool Strap
- Price: $15.00
- From: One Up Components
There’s a neat little pump that will accommodate the tool system, if you don’t want to mess around with your fork. These straps will then hold the pump firmly onto your bike.
Shimano 6 Bolt Centrelock Hub Adapter
- Price: £14.99
- From: Madison
Handy when you have lots of wheels to test, this converts Centrelock hubs to fit 6 bolt rotors. This is a newer style Centrelock adapter kit from Shimano that features a thinner profile lockring that promises less interference with close-fitting fork lowers.
Magura HC1 Levers
- Price: £30.41 per lever
- From: Magura
Aftermarket levers specifically designed for single finger braking, as designed with input from Danny MacAskill. Standard levers from Magura are pretty long and often better for two fingers. If that bugs you, these could be the answer. Designed to fit new generation MT8, MT7 and MT Trail brakes.
661 Rage Hard Knee/Shinpad
- Price: €89.99
- From: 661
A lightweight, breathable, flexible pad that still delivers great protection to the knee area. Developed by 2015 Downhill World Champion Loic Bruni, the external hard cap provides extra protection and gives the ability to slide in the event of a crash. Crashing with style? This version gives a bit of extra shin protection, but there’s another version without that for €10 less.
661 Recon Kneepad
- Price: €59.99
- From: 661
Ultra light pads for all day pedalling – we have in fact tested these before, but these have come in a Chipps-leg-size.
661 Evo Kneepad
- Price: €99.99
- From: 661
Designed for high impact protection, featuring D30 material which hardens on impact yet flexes while riding. Kevlar panels add abrasion resistance. These have a low profile and pre-curving for a better fit.
Polartec Waterproof Cap
- Price: tbc
- From: Polartec
Handy for keeping the water out of your hair and eyes (under your helmet of course) this is a waterproof cap. Chipps picked it up at Eurobike from the Polartec peeps themselves, however Sugoi do a branded cap which looks very similar and is made form the same fabric.
Specialized 2F0 Flat 1.0 Shoes
- Price: £100
- From: Specialized
With a flat and grippy rubber sole, you should stay in contact with your pedals. The neoprene inner bootie is designed to keep your foot in place, and captured foam in the upper helps protect your tootsies from rocks.
Specialized 2F0 Flat 2.0 Shoes
- Price: £130
- From: Specialized
More armoured, a bit stiffer, and without the internal sock, these flats are just as sticky but a bit more rufty tufty than the 1.0s above. Mark has been testing a pair of these since Specialized’s Press Camp, and he really likes them.
Shimano SLX 11-46 M7000 Cassette
- Price: £74.99
- From: Madison
Heavier than the XT cassette tested by Wil, but a whole £25 cheaper, this is Shimano’s new 11-46t wide range SLX cassette. May well be handy for people wanting to switch to 1x without blowing the budget.
Booicore Trucker Hat
- Price: £17.99
- From: Booicore
From the makers of towel ponchos that making car park changing easy (or at least not an arrestable offence), here’s a trucker cap. Being modelled by Hannah before this happened…
Well. Blimey. Time for the weekend then? Let’s cruise on through…
ST Out.
Comments (10)
Comments Closed
Cassette caption confusion! Captiion cites 11-42, copy claims 11-46?
That jazz track was wholly annoying. Hang the DJ!
@thepurist it’s the 11-46 one, sorry!
I still love you ST.
“Developed by 2015 Downhill World Champion Loic Bruni” – and 2017 champion too!
So, wait – hold on; you pay $60 for the EDC set (probably £60 once converted to GBP) but in order to use it you need to pay a further £25 for the top cap?
I love the EDC concept but the pricing makes it a complete non-starter
By the time you factor in the tool to cut the thread into your steerer your probably over £100 (and one set of probably significantly devalued when you come to sell them forks), for what is still at the end of the day ‘just a multitool’, and $15 for a couple of rubber pump straps really is taking the p!ss
OneUp say that they “expect” bike shops to do the reaming, and for home mechanics they actually said they thought clubs would own one and you’d share it.
Yeah I’m not convinced either.
Neoprene sock? Sound sweaty. Perhaps good if you take a dive OTB.
$15 for some straps that a tuppence cable tie would do.