Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

TECH NEWS

Tech Roundup: Ridley, Rotor, SiS, and mini-Mark Cavendishes

Product news in brief, including Vélobici, Vespertine, Leisure Lakes, BH, Primal...

Tech Roundup? On a Tuesday? We’re such mavericks here at road.cc that we’re not constrained by the rule that says Tech Roundup gets published on a Friday. Anarchists, basically. Out of control. Or it might just be that we were busy with Cycle Show 2013 stuff at the end of last week. Whatever the reason… Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, here are some interesting new products from the world of bicycles and that.

 

New Primal tech clothing

We saw some great-looking new clothing from Primal at the Cycle Show 2013 last weekend.

This, for example, is the Iero2 multi-weave polypropylene base layer that’s a one-size-fits-all design. The price has yet to be confirmed but it’ll probably be around £40.

This is a prototype technical pairing with no name yet (that’s the product development code on the top of the sleeve). 

The jersey, which will be priced at around £80, features antibacterial silver ion and different weaves in different areas – mesh around the back of the shoulders, for example.

The shorts will have a price of about £120. The hem is seamless and there’s a dotted silicone gripper on the inside.

We really like the look of the Paradigm jacket (£118) that’s both windproof and water resistant (the seams aren’t taped so it can’t be classed as waterproof). That’s a two-way zip, by the way. It’s available in various colourways, including black/white options.

The Fusion is more or a spring/autumn-weight jacket that’s thermal rather than windproof. It has reflective piping stitched throughout and is priced at around £70.

For more details go to www.primaleurope.com.

 

Rotor Power cranks available in UK

Rotor’s UK distributor tells us that they now have good stock of Rotor’s Power cranks. The system has been out for a while now but availability has been an issue with demand outstripping supply.

The Power cranks are available in both 110mm and 130mm bolt circle diameters (so, for both compact and standard chainrings) and Rotor claim the system weighs 527g, just 30g more than their 3D+ Mas crank.

Prices start at £1,450 with a steel bottom bracket. They’ll have the new mountain bike system very soon too, so keep your eye on www.rotoruk.co.uk.

 

Vélobici clothing available from Condor

Hooray! After a ridiculously lengthy absence, T-shirts are back in Tech Round-up, and not a moment too soon. These are from Vélobici and they’re stocked in Condor Cycles www.condorcycles.com in London (Gray’s Inn Road, to be precise). They’re available online too.

Condor are stocking a selection of on-bike kit and leisurewear from Vélobici, including this new range of T-shirts in performance fabrics.
Despite the name, Vélobici is an entirely British brand with products designed in Leicester and made in Nottingham.

For more information on the Velobici brand visit www.velobici.cc.

 

Science in Sport launch new products

Nutrition brand Science in Sport (SiS) has released several new products that we’ve just received for review.

First up, there’s SiS Go Hydro + Caffeine, which is a low-calorie, high-electrolyte effervescent tablet to help you stay hydrated while training and racing. The difference here is the addition of the caffeine. You get 75mg per tablet, which you dilute in 500ml of water. The idea of the caffeine, of course, is to provide a physical and mental boost. A pack or 20 is £6.99 (other pack sizes available).

Then there’s the SiS Go + Caffeine Gel that gives you 21.5g of carbs along and now 75mg of caffeine. It’s available in cola and berry flavours at £1.79 per gel.

Finally, there’s the Rego Protein Bar that contains 20g of protein from a blend or whey, casein and soy. The advice is to have one bar 30-60mins before exercise and/or immediately afterwards. It’s available in a chocolate and peanut flavour and each 55g bar is £1.99.
We have all these products out being tested at the moment.

In other news from SiS, former World Champion Mark Cavendish will join the brand in January as an Elite Sports Consultant. He has invested in the company and will be integral to product development decisions.

For more info on Science in Sport, and to order online, go to www.scienceinsport.com.

 

Leisure Lakes to open new Daventry store

Bike shop chain Leisure Lakes has announced that it will be opening a new store in Daventry, Northamptonshire in a few weeks. Work is already well underway and there will be over 250 bikes on display when it’s complete.

 

Fashion and safety from Vespertine

We’ve reviewed a few Vespertine products on road.cc in the past and we thought we’d show you a few more here.

The New York City brand combines fashion and safety, so you get clothing and accessories in high-quality fabrics, bright colours and reflective materials.

This is the £37.32 Skipper belt, for example, which is made using 3M Scotchlite material. Like a lot of Vespertine products, the idea is that it doesn’t look incredibly bikey when you’re not cycling, but it has a big safety aspect when you are in the saddle.

This is the Gossamer belt, which is priced at £24.88. Again, it’s 3M Scotchlite.

Vespertine products are available in the UK through Leftfield Bikes.

 

BH-UK distribute electric bikes

BH-UK is now responsible for distributing the electric bikes of BH’s NEO range as well as all the standard bikes in the Spanish brand’s lineup.
This is the Neo Race, for example, that gives a power assist function from a 350W motor. You can choose from four types of progressive assistance until you reach a 1:3 assistance ratio (user effort: motor effort).

For all the details, go to www.bhbikes.co.uk.

 

Ridley Fenix Disc prototype spotted... on Facebook

“Disc brakes on road bikes are coming,” is the statement published by Ridley Bikes on their Facebook page yesterday - more proof, if it were needed, that we’re witnessing the rise of disc brakes on road bikes. Ridley was one of the notable absences from our huge roundup of disc road bikes at Eurobike.

The bike in question looks like a modified version of the Fenix road bike, their model designed for endurance riding and races like the Spring Classics. Looks like they’ve been testing Shimano’s new hydraulic discs on the cobbles too. And if “you don't like discs,” says Ridley, “don't buy them.” So there!

 

Mark Cavendish pocket sized vinyl figure available soon

Cav makes his second appearance in Tech Roundup this week - surely his greatest ever achievement, ahead of winning the World Champs, the green jersey and a gazillion career wins.

Remember the story we ran on the Eddy vinyl figure last year? Well the artist behind it, Richard Mitchelson, is back with a Mark Cavendish vinyl figure. The model sees Cav sporting his British national road race championships jersey and a set of removable Oakley Radarlock sunglasses.

Cav is 6 inches tall. The vinyl figure, we mean. He’s supplied in a smart presentation box and will be available in November. Drop a line to cav@rouleur.cc if you’re interested in getting one. Don’t forget to tell them we sent you!

Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. We send him off around the world to get all the news from launches and shows too. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.

Add new comment

15 comments

Avatar
James Warrener | 10 years ago
0 likes

Wasn't there supposed to be a range of Mark Cavendish merchandise coming under the CAVDSH label (or something like that).

Avatar
charlierevell | 10 years ago
0 likes

Why oh Why do we still have to use Colourways?? Will Colour not do??

I wonder if Cav will manage to get SiS to remove the large amount of crap in their products. I find they are full of sweeteners and lead to slightly disturbing bowel movements!!
Much rather a product like Torq...
Wasn't he also the front man for Powerbar up until not that long ago??

Avatar
bohrhead replied to charlierevell | 10 years ago
0 likes
charlierevell wrote:

Why oh Why do we still have to use Colourways?? Will Colour not do??

I wonder if Cav will manage to get SiS to remove the large amount of crap in their products. I find they are full of sweeteners and lead to slightly disturbing bowel movements!!
Much rather a product like Torq...
Wasn't he also the front man for Powerbar up until not that long ago??

+1 for me. I had one sip of SIS stuff once and found it utterly revolting. Why would you ever need to put sweetener in something that is predominantly sugar?!

Avatar
timbola replied to bohrhead | 10 years ago
0 likes
bohrhead wrote:
charlierevell wrote:

Why oh Why do we still have to use Colourways?? Will Colour not do??

I wonder if Cav will manage to get SiS to remove the large amount of crap in their products. I find they are full of sweeteners and lead to slightly disturbing bowel movements!!
Much rather a product like Torq...
Wasn't he also the front man for Powerbar up until not that long ago??

+1 for me. I had one sip of SIS stuff once and found it utterly revolting. Why would you ever need to put sweetener in something that is predominantly sugar?!

I happily use Mule Bar Kicks and Torq gels as I find them very palatable - some other makes have definitely dodgy tastes - still pander after the old blocks of soft-dried bananas I used when I raced in the 80s - anybody know where I can get those ? Oh, and I don't mean original vintage ones, OK ?

Avatar
watlina replied to timbola | 10 years ago
0 likes
bohrhead wrote:

still pander after the old blocks of soft-dried bananas I used when I raced in the 80s - anybody know where I can get those ? Oh, and I don't mean original vintage ones, OK ?

There's whole dried bananas but they look at bit gross.
http://www.hollandandbarrett.com/pages/product_detail.asp?pid=2995

Avatar
Mat Brett replied to charlierevell | 10 years ago
0 likes
charlierevell wrote:

Why oh Why do we still have to use Colourways?? Will Colour not do??

That top is yellow and black. It's also available in white and black, for example, and then in white and black but with the colour of each panel reversed, and in various other combinations.

So no, 'colour' wouldn't cover it - hence colourways, describing the combination of colours.

Avatar
charlierevell replied to Mat Brett | 10 years ago
0 likes
Mat Brett wrote:
charlierevell wrote:

Why oh Why do we still have to use Colourways?? Will Colour not do??

That top is yellow and black. It's also available in white and black, for example, and then in white and black but with the colour of each panel reversed, and in various other combinations.

So no, 'colour' wouldn't cover it - hence colourways, describing the combination of colours.

So its available in various colours then?? Dont know why we need an extra word for it. Just seems very american!

Avatar
Mat Brett replied to charlierevell | 10 years ago
0 likes
charlierevell wrote:

So its available in various colours then?? Dont know why we need an extra word for it. Just seems very american!

Again, that doesn't cover it, no (see previous comment).

The word 'colourways', on the other hand, does.

Avatar
Fixie Girl | 10 years ago
0 likes

Velobitchy Hot-Hands Houlihan - are they for real, $115 for a piece of totally tasteless sexist cr@p.  14

Avatar
Mikeduff | 10 years ago
0 likes

Has Cav got a milk moustache?

Avatar
Leviathan replied to Mikeduff | 10 years ago
0 likes
Mikeduff wrote:

Has Cav got a milk moustache?

He is missing his huge simian bottom lip when he has lost.

Avatar
joemmo replied to Leviathan | 10 years ago
0 likes
bikeboy76 wrote:
Mikeduff wrote:

Has Cav got a milk moustache?

He is missing his huge simian bottom lip when he has lost.

He's missing a basic resemblance to the person he's meant to be a representation of.

Avatar
bohrhead replied to joemmo | 10 years ago
0 likes
joemmo wrote:

He's missing a basic resemblance to the person he's meant to be a representation of.

Indeed.

Avatar
Gkam84 | 10 years ago
0 likes

I can't wait for the Cav model, I know I've got Eddy on route and am going to build a special shelf in anticipation of Rich making more of these wee riders

Avatar
WolfieSmith replied to Gkam84 | 10 years ago
0 likes
Gkam84 wrote:

I can't wait for the Cav model, I know I've got Eddy on route and am going to build a special shelf in anticipation of Rich making more of these wee riders

.. Of you could leave home and start talking to women..? Don't mention your inflatable doll collection though.

Latest Comments