This week we’ve not got one, but two gravel bikes from Standert and Sonder. On top of those, we’re going to take a look at Leatt’s updated waterproof shoes, Lazer’s new Impala helmet and a minimalist first aid kit from Sendhit. But first, let’s take a look at this week’s top stories.
- Bike check: Lukas Baum’s Orbea Oiz
- Big Read: Big mountain pairs racing with Enduro2 Les Arcs
- Opinion: You don’t need a dropper post on your gravel bike
Perhaps the most exciting thing to hit the site this week is our big Christmas giveaway. We’ve got one medium Merida Big.Trail 300 but with help from our sponsors, it comes sorted with a bunch of upgrades in the form of Hunt wheels, tyres from Kenda and a finishing kit from Funn. Elite has also joined the party with a neat thermal bottle. We’re running a competition offering one lucky reader the chance to win this bike! So head over to the Christmas giveaway article to find out how to enter.
Moving on to features, we got in touch with the folks at Hunt and ENVE to find out how wheel compliance works and found that stiffer isn’t actually better. Steve shared his thoughts on why cleats are far from perfect for mountain bikers, and we showed off the best winter gloves we’ve tested.
There have been some rumbles in the gravel camp, too, as Ducati has its sights set on cycling dominance as it plans to unveil new road, gravel and e-MTB models in collaboration with Diamant, and Cinelli has overhauled its HoBootleg Geo with a mountain bike-inspired geometry.
As for reviews, we delivered our verdicts on Trek’s Wahoo 24 kids’ bike, Race Face’s Era wheelset, Endura’s MT500 Waterproof Bib Pants and Fox’s Transfer Factory dropper post, to name a few.
Standert Kieswerk
£3,006.71
Better known for its steel road frames, Standert is making waves in the gravel market with its recently released Erdgeschoss and Kieswerk gravel bikes. This here is the Kieswerk, and it’s an aluminium-framed rig that’s designed to do it all. In a bid to live up to that claim, it’s loaded with mounting points for luggage, and it’s built with a T47 bottom bracket, a UDH and clearance for up to 50mm tyres, so it’s certainly a modern machine.
In its SRAM Apex AXS XPLR build, it gets that very groupset, but DT Swiss joins the party with its G1800 wheelset wrapped with Pirelli rubber.
Sonder Camino AL
From £1,200
The second gravel bike to find its way into this week’s Five Cool Things is Sonder’s Camino AL GRX1. As its name suggests, it sports an aluminium frame paired with a carbon fork. There’s Shimano’s CUES 2×10 groupset and Sonder’s own Nova I25 700c wheelset.
This bike takes inspiration from cyclocross frames and adventure race bikes to bring comfort and a neutral riding position, says Sonder. It also claims that the low bottom bracket and short chainstay make for an agile ride while the slacker head tube promotes confidence. There’s then the full gamut of mounting points, so it can be loaded up for big days out in the hills.
As usual from Sonder, this Camino can be customised and upgraded before checkout, so it can be built up exactly how you want it before it turns up at your door.
Lazer Impala KinetiCore
£200
Next up is Lazer’s recently updated Impala KinetiCore, and it’s received a fairly substantial overhaul this time around. Designed with help from Jono Jones it uses a new construction that takes advantage of Lazer’s fresh DualCore technology. Essentially, it’s a dual-layer EPS that works similarly to Mips as the low-density inner layer is designed to absorb rotational impact, while the firmer layer addresses direct impacts.
The Impala is sorted with a breakaway camera mount, and a breakaway visor, and features a new sunglasses dock. Additionally, there’s also Recco technology. Previously found on POC’s helmets, Recco is a neat internal reflector that helps recovery services find the rider in the event of an accident. However, those services will need a detector to make that happen.
Sendhit First Aid Bandage kit
€14.16
We mountain bikers don’t think about first aid enough, despite revelling in a fairly dangerous sport. Though Sendhit aims to make carrying the essentials easy with its new and smaller First Aid Bandage Kit. Of course, fully fledged first aid kits aren’t the most carriable of things, so Sendhit has made this little package as minimalist but as powerful as possible.
With that, the brand recognises that most injuries mountain bikers suffer are fractures, dislocations and concussions, and they’ll all need proper first aid carried out but trained professionals, so Sendhit decided to focus more on the more common injuries – cuts and bleeding. The brand says that a simple bandage can help limit any damage before the patient goes to the hospital.
Inside the zip lock package is a bandage, two wound closure strips, two sachets of physiological serum, two antiseptic wipes, two safety pins and an instruction manual in five languages.
Leatt 8.0 HydraDri shoes
£209
In 2023, we tested Leatt’s 7.0 HydraDri flat pedal shoes and quite liked them, but now the brand has only gone and given them a welcome update. The 8.0 HydraDri shoes use Leatt’s HydraDri EVO membrane with a sealed bootie construction to keep the elements out, with a zipped gaiter to bolster the protection.
But perhaps the biggest change is that these shoes move from a speedlace system to an externally adjustable Boa Li2 dial. As usual, there’s a RideGrip Pri outsole with a waffle tread pattern. The shoe is built with a mid-cuff for extra impact protection, and an Active Carbon insole wards off nasty smells.
