Another week, and another five cool things have landed at off.road.cc HQ ahead of testing. This time, we’ll take a glance at Pembree’s new grips, Hunt’s enduro wheelset, and some mega racy XC rubber from Pirelli. That’s not all, as there’s Ride Wrap’s full protection kit, and Markus Stitz’s latest gravel ride guide.
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As always, before we dive into the techy goodness, let’s have a look at what happened on off.road.cc throughout the week. It’s been a fairly exciting time in mountain bike news as Deviate has reopened its online store, now selling its mountain bike range once again after some difficulties. Merida has then stepped in to put a welcome pause on all of the super pricy e-mountain bikes we’ve seen over the past couple of weeks with its new ETMO, with prices starting at £3,650. It’s not just been about mountain bikes, however, as Genesis unveiled its prototype 32in-wheeled gravel bike, and Basso released a revised Palta III. We’ve got a first ride review on that Basso Palta III, too, so click on over to see my first impressions.
With the weather being awful out there (did you know it’s rained every day in the UK this year?), we thought it was high time to bring you our top pick of the best winter mountain bike tyres. And, what if I told you that you could get some bike time and fitness in, without getting terribly muddy? It’s possible, so head over to six ways to survive winter if you hate mud, to find out how.
We’ve been pumping out the reviews, too, having thoroughly tested Mudhugger’s Shorty 2026 Fox 36 mudguard, Tailfin’s Bar Cage, DMR’s VMAX clipless pedals, and Leatt’s HydraDri ProFlat 7.0 Boa shoes.
Pembree GCS Performance grips
£25
Since before the new year, Pembree has been expanding its product line up to include the GCS Handlebar, GCS Stem, and now, the GCS Performance grips to round off its cockpit offerings. Pembree says that these are built for “grip, control, and durability” as they utilise a very soft 20A rubber to provide the traction and comfort, combined with a knurled pattern for the upper portion. For the fingers, there are what the brand calls aggressive blades to achieve a solid hold.
Available in two diameters, 32mm and 34mm, each gets a tapered core that’s made from recycled materials, and there’s an aluminium locking collar that can be picked up in six different colours.
Hunt Enduro V3 Mullet MTB wheelset
£499
It’s taken us a little while to get our hands on these, but better late than never, right? This is Hunt’s latest enduro-focused wheelset that apparently delivers industry-leading impact strength. With that, they’re built with all-out durability in mind, so hopefully, it’ll be the last wheelset you’ll buy… technically. The rims are built from an alloy that’s slated to be 30% stronger than 6061 alloy, and each wheel gets its own construction. The front rim features a 31.5mm internal width for compliance and control, whereas the rear wheel uses a 30mm internal width and a deeper, v-shaped profile to boost impact resistance.
The wheels then boast Hunt’s H_Ratchet XL 40T DBL hub. As its name suggests, it works around a 40-tooth double-ratchet ring system, not too dissimilar from the types common on DT Swiss wheels. This provides a nine-degree engagement, and it’s tested to be compatible with e-mountain bike motors that knock out up to 120Nm of torque. The CNC-machined 6066-T6 aluminium hub bodies feature 6-bolt rotor mounts, and there are 17mm 7075-T6 stepped axles for stiffness and a boost in bearing longevity. To wrap up, the freehub body comes sorted with a coating that protects it against cassette gouging.
Gravel Rides Loch Lomond & The Trossachs by Markus Stitz
£15.95
If you’re one for big adventure epics, the well of ride ideas can dry up pretty quickly. However, Markus Stitz, an adventure cyclist known for his video documentaries, also authors a vast range of books and guides to offer inspiration and routes that you might not have heard of before. Gravel Ride Loch Lomond & The Trossachs is Markus’s latest publication, where he guides you through 15 of the best gravel and adventure rides across Loch Lomond, The Trossachs National Park and into Argyll.
Stitz knows his stuff, too, as each route is heavily researched, featuring Ordnance Survey maps, directions, details on distance, difficulty and how long it might take you to complete. He also includes a link to downloadable GPX files. These routes are pretty much laid out, ready for you to pick.
- www.adventurebooks.com
- Buy Gravel Rides Loch Lomond & The Trossachs by Markus Stitz from Adventure Books for £15.95
Ride Wrap Frame, Crank and Fork protection
£27 – £160
We reckon that applying a protective wrap to any bike is incredibly important, especially for off-road going machines. Slapping on a wrap adds very useful protection against stone chips and the general rough and tumble any bike will go through, helping to keep it looking fresh, and retain some resale value. Ride Wrap provides protective wraps for all corners of nearly any bike, covering frames, forks, wheels and cranks to varying degrees.
Ride Wrap offers a bunch of options to suit a range of budgets. The range starts at Essential Protection, which covers only the important areas of a frame all the way to Tailored Protection, which covers the whole frame, leaving just 3mm gaps between sheets. That theme runs through the brand’s whole range of products, too, with its crank and fork-focused products available to provide near-complete protection, or to cover the highest wear and tear areas.
What sets Ride Wrap apart from others is that the RideWrap Lotus Pro film is made from recycled materials, and it’s a self-healing layer, so it should hide scratches soon after they occur. It’s superhydrophobic, too, so mud and water shouldn’t stick quite as easily.
Pirelli Scorpion XC RC Race ProWALL
£69.99
We might be a little optimistic with this one, given how wet it is out there, but as soon as things dry up, this is going straight on the bike. Found on bikes across the elite XC circuit, the Scorpion XC RC is all about going fast but without giving up control. It’s seen a bit of a revamp as the tyre now uses a squarer profile, a new rubber compound and an ‘advanced’ casing construction. But with that, Pirelli reckons that this tyre is 7% faster than the outgoing model.
The brand also reckons that despite its low-profile tread, it’s a bit of a mixed conditions specialist with its single compound Race rubber offering consistent performance while providing chemical grip even when it’s wet. The ProWALL casing then features a 120tpi nylon construction with extra sidewall reinforcement to boost protection and improve handling. If the claimed 725g ProWALL construction is a bit heavy for you, this tyre is also available in a lighter 690g LITE casing.
