And the week’s best news, reviews, advice and opinion
It’s Friday and our brains are fried at BikeRadar after five days of non-stop news.
Before taking a refreshing sip from the tasting flight of tech in this week’s First Look Friday, you, and certainly I, could do with a recap. Trust me, the week’s stories are a far better read than the contents of a former health secretary’s WhatsApp messages.
On Monday, we reviewed the middling Hutchinson Tundra gravel tyre and advised you how to prevent hand and wrist pain from cycling.
Then Shimano Cues arrived, spelling the end for many of the brand’s cheaper road bike groupsets. Deputy editor Jack Luke reckons Cues is a win for groupset compatibility, but what do you think?
The Specialized Turbo Tero X and Mondraker’s first gravel bike, the electric Dusty, launched the same day.
The other big news included the official release of the Cannondale SuperSix EVO and an updated SRAM Force groupset. Road and gravel presenter Liam Cahill gave his first ride impressions on the latter.
We also had time to bring you reviews of the Scott Trail Storm WP shorts and £2,000 Fulcrum Speed 25 wheelset.
Despite now being March, it remains chilly here in the UK. If you’re sniffling, our guide to cycling with a cold will help you decide whether to keep riding.
That’s only a sample of what we’ve published this week, but now it’s time to check out the finest kit to land at BikeRadar.
Wahoo Kickr Steer
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When Wahoo launched steering on its RGT Cycling app, it released the Kickr Steer to enable you to guide your avatar manually in the indoor cycling app.
The Kickr Steer attaches to round, 31.8mm handlebars with a Wahoo Elemnt Bolt mount. Your phone lies flat and horizontally in the holder. Pushing down the paddles tilts your phone screen, which steers your RGT avatar.
Wahoo says you can’t crash, but will be held up behind another virtual rider for a couple of seconds if you fail to steer around them.
The technology brings RGT Cycling up to speed with the competition. Zwift steering was launched in 2020.
For some, the introduction of a skill-based element to training and racing on RGT Cycling will add to the benefits of indoor cycling. Sceptics will say this doesn’t mitigate the pitfalls of indoor vs outdoor cycling training – principally that spending too much time on the turbo neglects your bike handling.
If you’ve already built the ideal indoor training space and don’t want to pay for another piece of hardware, you can also steer by pressing arrows on your phone screen or desktop keyboard. Or, you can disable steering entirely in the app’s settings.
- £89.99, or £179.99 along with with an annual Wahoo X membership
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Brooks Scape Top Tube Bag Long
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Brooks says its Scape Top Tube Bag Long can carry 1.5kg of gear and is fully waterproof, making it perfect for commuting, touring and bikepacking. Its size and capacity are probably unnecessary for faster-paced gravel racing. It measures 370mm long and 110mm high, weighing 100g, according to Brooks.
However, the British brand claims the bag’s Hypalon Velcro straps and buckle straps will keep it in place over off-road bumps if more relaxed gravel riding is your cup of trailside-brewed, single-origin coffee.
The Scape Top Tube Bag Long comes in black as pictured and a more gravelly shade of moss green.
Other features include a reflective side Brooks logo and a front TPU cable hole through which you can connect your bike computer to a power pack. Or you can run a charging cable from your bike dynamo to your mobile phone in the bag.
According to Brooks, the two sliders on the full-length, coated zip enable you to access the contents of the bag on the go with one hand.
- £59.99
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Styrkr energy products
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Styrkr says its sport nutrition products help you ride harder for longer, thanks to their scientifically formulated, high-carb content.
All of the brand’s energy products contain both maltodextrin and fructose. Nutritionists have found this ‘dual-carb’ mix enables athletes to absorb 90 to 120g of carbohydrate an hour, compared to 30 to 60g from a single type of sugar.
Such a large carb intake can help you avoid bonking on a bike ride, for instance during ultra-endurance cycling events. At the top level, dual-carb fuelling turbo-charged Chris Froome’s astonishing breakaway on stage 19 of the 2018 Giro d’Italia.
Styrkr’s Mix90 energy drink powder packs a similar punch to Froomey’s fuel during his solo attack. It contains 90g of carbs in the ideal 1:08 ratio of maltodextrin:fructose, 2g of electrolytes to ward off cramps and 3g of L-Glutamine, which is claimed to help prevent fatigue.
Styrkr recently released a rice energy bar, its first piece of solid on-the-bike food. The Bar50 delivers 50g of carbs in 250kcal and comes in three flavours: dark chocolate chip; date, almond and sea salt; and apple, cinnamon, caramel and sultana.
All products can be bought separately or in bundles.
- Styrkr taster kit £11.99
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Attaquer x Egle Zvirblyte Psychedelic jersey
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Car headlights won’t be the only dazzling thing on the road once deputy editor Jack Luke is out and about in this jazzy jersey.
Following on from Felix Smith’s Alé Kenya jersey, all-over print jerseys are officially the hottest thing to have at BikeRadar HQ.
Truthfully, we’re now unsure who’s loudest on the road and the biggest attention seeker of the two.
Attaquer’s latest jersey was produced in collaboration with Egle Zvirblyte.
In the words of Attaquer, Zvirblyte produces “playful, psychedelic, character-driven illustrative work [that] explores identity, spirituality, body image and relationships with an unwavering inclusive energy”.
That’s all well and good but, let’s be real – we know it was the funky frog design that revved Jack’s engine.
The jersey has a racy aero fit and is available in men’s or women’s cuts.
- £124.95 / $140 / €144.95
- Buy the ATQ x Egle Zvirblyte Psychedelic jersey direct from Attaquer