The only lateral stiffness is in our backs; real-world product reviews from real-world riders: Wolf Tooth pedals, DMR cranks, Ceramic Speed SLT bearings, USE bar, Madison bib-trouser, Leatt knee pads.
Wolf Tooth Waveform Flat Pedals
- Price: £155.00
- From: Saddleback
- Tested by: Benji for 4 months
Bold Statement Alert! I think these are the best flat pedals currently available. Yep, my long-standing love affair with the classic DMR Vault flat pedal has come to an end. Essentially these new Waveform pedals feel very similar to Vault pedals, and then some. They’re a bit bigger platform than Vaults (112mm x 106mm compared to 105mm x 105mm). They’re a bit thinner than Vaults (14m versus 17mm). The Waveforms actually have fewer pins than Vaults (9 versus 11 per side) – once you’ve removed the two concavity-reducing pins from the centre that is. Ultimately, the pins on these Waveform pedals are the best I’ve encountered in terms of traction. And they are all ALL rear loading. There are no sneaky top-loading ones anywhere. And, in a pleasing touch, there are six spare pins provided in the box (which means a total of 14 spare pins when/if you remove the centre pins as I recommend you do). Flat pedals have a hard life and spare pins will be needed at some point, in my experience. The on-bike feel of these Waveform pedals is brilliant. They offer that oft-elusive combo of super traction and super feel. Another key aspect of these Waveform pedals is their consistency of spin. Other pedals I’ve used for a similar amount of time as these would have started to feel uneven, with the rear-trailing pedal often noticeably looser than the other. This is due to a common Achilles heel of poor sealing. These Waveform pedals both spin as they did on day one. I’m confident in stating that these pedals will pay for themselves in terms of not having to shell out for axle kits or spare pins over the years. And when they do eventually get baggy (bushings don’t last forever) a complete set of spares is available.
DMR Axe 165mm cranks
- Price: £180.00
- From: Upgrade Bikes
- Tested by: Benji for 10 months
I’m not going to say these are ‘noticeably stiff’ or anything like that. Who knows? There comes a point when things are stiff enough and that’s that. They certainly aren’t flexy, is all I’ll say. They spin on a 30mm axle so are best paired to a frame that accepts external bottom bracket cups (so there’s decent room for bearings still). What I can say is that I like the shape of them; they don’t rub my footwear, nor have they taken bites out of my inside ankles. They’ve spent most of their time on a bike with a very low-slung BB height and they show impressively little in the way of battle scars and scrapes. The direct mount chainring is the three-bolt standard so you can run SRAM X-Sync rings as well as DMR’s own Blade rings. If you want some good-looking 165mm cranks in silver (or black), then these are a great choice.
CeramicSpeed SLT headset bearings
- Price: €129.00 per bearing
- From: CeramicSpeed
- Tested by: Benji for 18 months
Solid bearings. There are still metal ball bearings inside, but they’re ‘hidden’ inside the solid white stuff. It’s the white stuff that is The Thing here. The solid white stuff acts as both the seal and the lubrication. They aren’t suited to all bearing tasks (bottom brackets would be too draggy, for example), but for headsets and such they seem ideal. I’ve had these bearings in a Works Components Angle Adjust headset (a headset that is notoriously bad for rusting and general filth ingress). What can I say? I haven’t thought about them once. They’ve just sat in the headset cups, hidden away, getting on with it. From a function point of view, they are 10/10. But from a value point of view, €258 for a pair of headset bearings just isn’t going to fly I’m afraid. Kudos to CeramicSpeed for pushing boundaries though. Hopefully, the price will come down before the whole (excellent) idea dies a death.
Ultimate USE FLOW 2 Wide Carbon 40mm Rise 800mm Bar
- Price: £135.00
- From: Exposure USE
- Tested by: Benji for 9 months
What do I want handlebars to be? Not uncomfortable. Not garish. Not a weird combo of sweeps. Not too low a rise on them. Not narrower than 800mm width. And ideally not 35mm clamp diameter. If they’re light, that’s a bonus but not the be-all and end-all of things. I’ve had these bars on a number of bikes throughout 2023. That is often sign enough of a sorted product. They’ve become one of my go-to sets of bars; usually on bikes where a 50mm rise bar is just a tad too high. As well as a wholly neutral comfy feel to them, I must confess to falling for their looks. Lovely satin finish. Minimalist there-if-you-look logos and markings. And the textured finish in the stem clamp area is reassuring and actually useful when it comes to accurately adjusting bar roll. Just a really well-thought-out, good-looking carbon bar.
Madison DTE Waterproof Bib-Trousers
- Price: £199.99
- From: Freewheel
- Tested by: Hannah for 3 months
Sod the official name, these are dungarees. These come in three lengths and I’ve been wearing the Regular length, which is actually fairly long. The three-layer waterproof fabric has a slight stretch to it, but you should plan to have these moderately loose fitting, not tight – they’re not that stretchy. The fit is good. There’s plenty of room for knee pads. You can use the two-way zip on the right to let a bit of heat out. During the test period, they’ve become more water-absorbent in the seat; I can feel a cold patch as I ride, but it hasn’t yet caused any leaks. Regularly cleaning your saddle and the dungarees will help stop the grit grinding through that membrane. I’d like to see a tougher seat fabric for durability, and the chest pocket being slightly larger for modern phones. But otherwise, a really good piece of kit.
Leatt Knee Guard AirFlex UltraLite
- Price: £99.99
- From: Hotlines
- Tested by: Ross for 9 months
These are fit ’n’ forget comfy. I’ve ridden them in warm weather, cold weather, wet weather and hot weather and they have stayed comfortable. More importantly, they’ve stayed in place no matter what. They’re light and slim enough to fit under riding trousers. And having actually crashed in them a fair few times, they’ve offered an impressive amount of protection. I’ve crashed reasonably hard at least a couple of times (that I can remember) with my knee smashing into the ground on one of those occasions and into a pretty substantial bank on the other occasion. My knees were fine both times. The only issue I have is that the tougher scuff guard on the left knee has now peeled off, although the mesh underneath is so far undamaged. Some of the lightest knee pads I’ve used but they’ve proven themselves to be a stellar addition to my riding kit.
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