Plus all the latest news and reviews from the week just gone

By Simon von Bromley

Published: Friday, 07 July 2023 at 12:00 am


As we reach the end of another week, it’s time for First Look Friday, our weekly round-up of the latest and greatest swag to arrive at BikeRadar towers.

Before we get into that, though, let’s recap some of the week’s biggest stories and reviews.

It’s been an action-packed week on BikeRadar, with the Tour de France understandably dominating many of the headlines.

This week, we’ve taken a close look at Caleb Ewan’s prototype lightweight, all-rounder Ridley, and the new ENVE integrated handlebar adorning Tadej Pogačar’s Colnago V4Rs.

Over on the BikeRadar YouTube channel, we’ve got coverage of the hottest custom bikes at this year’s race, as well as deep dives into some of the new and unreleased bikes we spotted at the Grand Depart in Bilbao, Spain.

Just in case you were curious, our team of experts also revealed who the tallest cyclist at the Tour de France is, and why it matters.

Away from road racing, BikeRadar’s senior technical editor, Alex Evans, has been dutifully testing mountain bike flat pedals, and this week saw reviews of the Pembree D2A and Race Face Atlas published.

A review of the Focus JAM2 SL 9.9 electric mountain bike also went live this week, with Alex praising the bike’s performance and versatility.

Over on the BikeRadar podcast, BikeRadar’s in-house foodie, Tom Marvin, spoke to celebrity chef and environmental campaigner Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

Joined by Darron Coppin, of Sven Cycles, and BikeRadar’s senior technical editor Warren Rossiter, the four talk about Hugh’s custom-built River Cottage Rambler electric bike.