As mountain bikers, the sun brings us a great amount of yays with very few nays. Yay to dry dusty trails, less to clean up, less layers to carry, GRIP! Nay to the sock tan lines and the frustration of gazing out the window as we wait for everyone to settle down in the online team meeting.
The May Bank Holiday hopefully allowed more of us to get out for some daylight riding, and the dry trails should be making it easier to get a post-work spin in. If you’re limited for time but don’t fancy forking out for an e-bike, make sure you’re subscribed to the magazine in time for issue 138. We have three bikes that can help you cover ground faster than ever. And on that, let’s take a look at our first item:
Scott Spark RC 900 Team
- Price: £4189
- From: Scott Sports
With 110mm travel up front and 100mm, thumbswitchable down to 70mm at the back, the Scott RC900 Team bike means business – if your business is flat-out fast riding and cross country racing. As an ‘affordable’ version of the bike that Nino and friends ride at the highest level, it’s pretty much ready to race out the box (though we’d still like a dropper post please). This is in for our XC race weapon bike test in the August issue, so stay tuned for the results!
Roval Control Carbon 29er wheels
- Price: £1150
- From: Specialized UK
This is the less unicorn version of Roval’s new Control Carbon wheelset. It uses the same rim as the World Cup-tested 29er wheels, with a 4mm wide rim profile for reducing pinch flats, only here it uses DT Swiss 350 hubs instead of Roval’s own. Weight is still an impressive 1450g with a ‘system weight’ limit of 125kg (for bike, rider and snacks…)
We’ve tested, and really liked the Control SL wheels, but with the same 29mm internal profile and bombproof DT Swiss 350 wheels, we can’t see these 28/28 spoke race wheels being anything but equally impressive for fewer folding ten pound notes.
Rapha + Smith Forefront 2 Mips Helmet
- Price: £175.00
- From: rapha.cc
The Smith Forefront 2 isn’t new to the market, however the one with a Rapha logo is. Featuring VaporFit™ dial adjustment system, 20 fixed vents, Koroyd® coverage for ventilated impact protection and Mips. Available in two colour options and compatible with most riding glasses.
Rapha Pro Team Full Frame Sunglasses
- Price: £120.00
- From: rapha.cc
Within the new trail range from Rapha are these full frame sunglasses, featuring arm grippers for a secure fit, large vents around the lens for ventilation, a big wrap around lens and a UV400 rating. They arrive in a flocked hard case with a clear lens and spare nose bridge.
Rapha Women’s Lightweight Trail Jacket
- Price: £130.00
- From: rapha.cc
Just in time for the official release, our first samples of Rapha’s new trail range has landed. This lightweight packable windproof trail jacket is available in purple or grey, and features a strap to attach it to your bike for convenience. This might seem like a novel idea, but they’ve really put some thought into the attachment, right down to a grippy rubber panel to keep it secure.
Garmin Edge 1030 Plus
- Price: £519.99
- From: Garmin
The Edge 1030 Plus is the top of the range cycle computer from Garmin. We’ll be doing a full test on this unit following on from Amanda’s recent Garmin fenix6 Pro Solar review. There are far too many features to list, but from inital use we’re really keen on the Climb Pro feature, that shows you how much torture you have left on ascents.
Endura SingleTrack SS Jersey
- Price: £39.99
- From: Endura
A lightweight jersey that you could get away with for casual wear, available in Cocoa (red) or Pewter. It has a secure zip rear pocket for your keys and a reenforced drop hem. This Endura SingleTrack jersey is made from >80% recycled fabric, too!
Endura MT500 Spray Short
- Price: £79.99
- From: Endura
4-way stretch demonstration
The Endura MT500 range continues to keep our UK bums dry with the Spray Short, a lightweight, durable design offering 4-way stretch front panels with DWR finish, PFC-Free, non-toxic durable water repellent finish, 3 layer seam taped rear panels, Velcro® side waist adjusters and zipped hand pockets.
Endura Hummvee FZ Hoodie
- Price: £64.99
- From: Endura
Not happy in the 22degree heat 
Cosy post ride comfort 
‘Do Dan Atherton’
Made from cotton touch, wicking fabric for a technical yet casual look. The Hummvee hoodie is available in three colours.
Endura Translite SS Base Layer
- Price: £29.99
- From: Endura
A convenient breeze arrived to demonstrate the need for this extremely lightweight, extra-fine gauge mesh fabric base layer. All seams are flat locked for comfort, it is an athletic fit and offers UPF 25+ protection.
Endura GV500 Reiver Bibshort
- Price: £119.99
- From: Endura
What makes a bibshort gravel specific? Cargo pockets of course! Also featuring double-layered side leg panels to reduce potential gravel rash, additional mesh storage on the waist and lumbar support for those rough rigid descents.
Endura MT500 Waterproof Jacket
- Price: £229.99
- From: Endura
A popular choice for breathability, durability and reliable waterproofing, the MT500 jacket from Endura is well established and keeps getting better each year. Endura are so confident you will like this, they offer a 90 Day Satisfaction Guarantee.
Endura SingleTrack II Helmet
- Price: £74.99
- From: Endura
Logo in-line with jaw? Check.
Lightweight trail protection with a goggle friendly visor, large vents including top ‘air intake’ zone for increased airflow, and a crash replacement policy.
Endura GV500 Foyle Tech Tee
- Price: £59.99
- From: Endura
A ‘casual gravel cycling top’ that features cycling specific tailoring with the drop hem and (according to our model) sleeves that are more comfortable in a riding position. The colour is great, and they also have a green option.
Apple AirTags
- Price: £99 (4 pack) £29/each
- From: Apple
Prompted by this forum topic we’ve ordered a four pack of these AirTags lost item tracking devices just released by Apple. They aren’t a new idea of course – Apple tends to take other company’s ideas and just polish them up a bit – We’ve been using the Tile trackers at STHQ for a couple of years to keep tabs on keys and even experimented with attaching them to test bikes.
We’ve got these so we can test just how easy it is to use them as some kind of theft protection for bikes. There’s lots of issues around their use so we thought we’d put them to test in an upcoming members’ feature.
First problem to solve is where and how to attach them to a bike. You would have thought that Apple may have worked out how to put holes in things by now. But then, they never pass up a chance to sell us some ‘extras’ like this £399 bit of leather to hold your AirTag.
…which are currently sold out! WTF?
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Comments (7)
Comments Closed
The Hummvee Hoodie is a brilliant piece of kit on and off the bike, just needs a small zip pocket similar to jersey for keys and it would be perfect.
4mm wide rims are old school indeed! Must be tricky to fit tyres, let alone tubes.
£4.2k for a bike with no dropper post? I hope that the rest of the kit is very chi-chi or that just looks like gouging the punter.
Holes in AirTags is covered on iFixit (for the brave drill enthusiast) though it will ruin the warranty. Su-Gru also needed to fill the hole afterwards to keep the cack out.
First pic of the MT500 shorts is disturbing.
@Rich I don’t like big phones either……..
Under bottle cage airtag mount that you can print: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4868270
Testament to just how good the spark is to even be included in a group test in the last year of its product cycle.