By Simon von Bromley

Published: Friday, 16 December 2022 at 12:00 am

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There may only be nine more sleeps until Christmas, but the content factory is still in full swing here at BikeRadar.

If you need any last-minute tips concerning Christmas gifts for cyclists, the BikeRadar team has curated an array of tasteful items for every budget.

This week also saw the launch of the Colnago V4Rs, the latest matt black, aero-but-still-lightweight, dropped seatstays, all-round carbon road bike (which might lead you to wonder “Why do all bikes look the same?”).

Despite Colnago hyping up the bike’s improved aerodynamic credentials – the V4Rs is claimed to be 27.7 watts more aerodynamically efficient than the Colnago V3Rs (at an unspecified speed) – I suspect Tadej Pogačar is hoping it turns out to be one of the best climbing bikes.

Our latest Bike of the Week, meanwhile, was the Ribble Ultra SL – the British brand’s radical aero road bike in its most affordable electronic shifting form.

Reformed racer, Liam Cahill, brought us his picks for Gear of the Year. #nospoilers, but it’s good to see the latest addition to BikeRadar’s newly expanded roster isn’t setting his stall out on my territory.

After all, there’s only room for one chain waxing, indoor training aero-obsessive on this team (that, of course, is a joke – everyone is welcome in that club, the real problem is that no one else wants to join).

Tuesday saw the launch of a new semi-regular feature, Torque About Tools. In this, Oscar Huckle, BikeRadar’s technical writer and dedicated tool nerd, uses his knowledge gleaned from countless days spent in workshops, to shine a light on some of the latest bike tools on the market.

Lastly, for those who (like me) prefer to avoid the cold weather and train indoors over the winter, I published a piece looking at what’s new in indoor cycling in 2023.

It covers the latest smart trainers, updates to the best indoor cycling apps and a snapshot of what virtual races and events are available to participate in.

Now, though, it’s time to take a look at some of the latest tech to arrive at BikeRadar HQ this week.

BSC Tools Press-fit bottom bracket remover set

Despite being a firm believer that press-fit bottom brackets are better – when properly designed and manufactured – even I wince at the sight of press-fit bearings being hammered out of carbon bike frames.

Fortunately, BSC Tools has stepped up and created a near-universal press-fit bottom bracket extractor tool.

Priced at £114.16, the kit includes pullers and cups to work with all of the major press-fit bottom brackets on the market, including Shimano BB86/92, SRAM DUB, BB30, PF30, Campagnolo Ultra Torque, and so on.

Simon von Bromley / Our Media

Aside from the obvious advantage of negating the need to take a hammer to your pride and joy, the BSC Tools Press-fit bottom bracket remover set also makes it possible to extract press-fit bottom bracket bearings without damaging anything.

This can be useful if you’ve got an expensive bottom bracket (perhaps with ceramic bearings) that you’d like to transfer to a different bike. It’s also handy if you need to remove the bottom bracket from your bike to access and service internal cable routing, and don’t want to damage a set of perfectly serviceable bearings in the removal process.

Though not cheap, the tool set appears built to last and could be worth it purely for the peace of mind of being able to retire your hammer from bottom bracket duties for good.

Simon von Bromley / Our Media

• BSC Tools Press-fit bottom bracket remover set – £114.16