By Stan Portus

Published: Friday, 09 September 2022 at 12:00 am

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This week has seen a slew of new bike releases with Canyon, Trek, BMC and Santa Cruz all announcing new machines.

Canyon has updated its all-round race bike, the Ultimate. While there may be an air of ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ about the new bike, Ashley Quinlan’s first ride impressions suggest Canyon has hit its goal of achieving the perfect balance for many riders.

Also on Thursday, Trek released the new Domane, which ditches front IsoSpeed to create a faster bike.

The brand also announced a new version of its Fuel EX that, on first impressions, rewards aggressive riders. Tom Marvin was on hand to write a first ride review.

Santa Cruz released a new version of its trail bike, the 5010. The previous iteration was the last 27.5in-wheel bike in the brand’s line-up, and with this new version switching to a mixed-wheel setup Santa Cruz has waved goodbye entirely to bikes with 27.5 wheels in twos.

BMC revealed the Kaius gravel bike that takes inspiration from its Teammachine road bike with an ultra-light frame and aerodynamic touches.

Aside from bikes, maybe the biggest news story this week was Zwift releasing a smart trainer. The new piece of hardware could rival many competitors – especially with its relatively low retail price.

While Zwift’s smart trainer and the brand’s CEO using the word ‘Zwift’ as a verb may hint at the possibility of genericide, it isn’t the only training platform in town. We published our guide to RGT Cycling, having updated our guide to the best training apps last week.

We also delved into the world of gravel dropper posts and tyre sizing, profiled Hope’s HB.916 and reviewed the 2023 Giant Propel Advanced SL 0.

Hutchinson Challenger tyre

The Hutchinson Challenger is a budget road bike tyre for training, endurance riding and sportives, according to Hutchinson.

It has a new dual-compound design with harder rubber in the centre of the tyre and a softer rubber on the exterior edges.

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The harder, central section is said to minimise the risk of ride-ending cuts, while the softer edges are for “superior grip when cornering”.

The sides of the tyre have grooves to help with grip when cornering and a dimpling across the tyre is said to improve safety and grip.

A 66 TPI casing underneath the rubber balances protection and performance while offering puncture protection.

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Hutchinson says the rubber on the Challenger is thicker than on its other tyres, increasing the potential mileage to 8,000km.

The Challenger is available in 700x25mm, 700x28mm and 700x30mm with a tubeless version due in 2023.

• £29.99 / €32.99