Welcome to First Look Friday – your weekly round-up of the best cycling swag to land at BikeRadar HQ

By Jack Luke

Published: Friday, 28 July 2023 at 06:00 AM


We’ve jumped from the end of the men’s Tour straight into the second edition of the Tour de France Femmes – the biggest race on the Women’s WorldTour calendar.

BikeRadar had a team on the ground to bring you a round-up of the most exciting tech from the opening stages of this year’s race. We also took a close look at some of Trek-Lidl’s amazing custom paintjobs, with more pro bike checks to come.

Back on the men’s race, we examined how bikes have changed since Chris Froome’s victory in 2013, comparing his Pinarello Dogma to Jonas Vingegaard’s Cervélo S5 – oh how times change…

We also heard Oscar Huckle’s thoughts on why Microshift Sword – a new affordable 10-speed gravel bike groupset – could upset the mid-range bike market.

In a slightly less balanced analysis, Tom Marvin launched into an entertaining polemic against the state of gravel bike tech today from the perspective of a dyed-in-the-wool mountain biker. The accompanying podcast is also a fun listen – I promise you’ll enjoy ol’ Marv turning red over topics as trivial as gravel suspension and electronic drivetrains.

That’s only a small slither of the titillating tech tidings published on BikeRadar this week. Subscribe to our twice-weekly newsletter for regular updates on our very best news, reviews and features.

For now, we dive into First Look Friday – our weekly round-up of the very best new kit to land at BikeRadar HQ.