We've been out and about at bike trade shows this week and here are six of the most interesting new accessories that we've seen.
SeaSucker Hornet bike mount
We already reviewed the SeaSucker Talon bike mount for carrying your bike on the roof of your car, and concluded that it was excellent; now the brand has a new model called the Hornet for carrying your bike on hatchbacks and SUVs.
The SeaSucker design uses suction cups that attach to your car. You put them in place, pump the air out via a little button, and the vacuum holds them in place. It’s a system that works really well.
The Hornet is a new design with two suction cups that fit to the back window of a hatchback. These hold the bike upright by the handlebar, wheels pointing backwards and saddle resting against the back of the car. Straps stop the hanging bike from moving around.
The whole system lives in its own little bag that’s small enough to fit into the car’s glovebox.
The RRP is £159.99.
Fabric Chamber multitool
We really like the look of the Chamber multitool from saddle specialist Fabric, largely because it’s super neat. We first showed you this last summer, and it’s now available.
Chamber is a little aluminium canister that contains six double-ended bits that you can fit to the stainless steel head. Once you have one of these in place, the body of the canister itself acts as the handle for the tool as you do your fettling.
You get 13 different functions (2mm hex, 2.5mm, 3mm, 4mm, 5mm, 6mm, 8mm, SL3, SL5, PH1, PH2, T10, T25) covering most bolts that are likely to need adjusting while you’re out and about.
Two different versions of the Chamber are available, one with a fixed head (£29.99) and one with a reversible ratchet (£34.99).
Hiplok FLX lock
Hiplok is about to launch a new pit stop lock called the FLX. It’s a combination lock with a 90cm retractable cable that you can use to attach your bike to an immovable object if you stop for a mid-ride coffee.
This isn’t one of Hiplok’s highest security devices, the idea is just to deter an opportunist thief from jumping on your bike and riding off while your back is turned. Hiplok claims that the FLX is just 100g so it’s hardly going to weigh you down.
One other neat feature is that the FLX has its own little LED. It hooks over the top of a jersey rear pocket to help get you noticed as you ride.
The FLX isn’t out just yet but we do know that it’ll be priced at £29.99
Cannondale Airport Carry-on Pump
Cannondale has a nifty floor pump that you can fold flat. Both the handle and the base fold in/out. It’s really intended for taking in your hand luggage when you fly, although the design might be handy for any other situation where you want to take up as little space as possible.
The barrel and handle are both alloy while the lever-less EZ Head works on both Presta and Schrader valves.
Cannondale reckons that the pump offers 160psi although we’ve not tried it out yet. We’ll try to get one in for review here on road.cc.
Price? £39.99, and available now.
Feedback Ominium Trainer
Feedback’s Omnium Trainer will be available soon. It’s an unusual design in that you take your front wheel out and mount your bike’s forks on a tripod stand.
Your rear wheel runs on two aluminium drums that offer progressive magnetic resistance.
The Omnium weighs 6.21kg and measures just 66cm x 18cm x 20cm folded down (manufacturer’s figures).
We don’t yet have a UK price.
4iiii Sportiiii head up display
The Sportiiii is a head up display from Canada’s 4iiii that you can add to your existing eyewear to help you stay within your chosen training/racing zones.
You can position the device where you like thanks to a universal mount that fits to the right arm of your glasses and what 4iiii calls a ‘flexible boom’ – the visual section that bends around the front.
The idea is that you sync the Sportiiii with other ANT+ devices and use the 4iiii app to preset your target zones. Those zones could be based on your heart rate, power, cadence or speed/pace, depending on what you have connected.
A series of multi-coloured LEDs, along with verbal prompts, help you stay within your target zones. A green light tells you that you’re currently within your chosen zone, other lights tell you whether you’re above or below, and by how far.
4iiii says that the Sportiiii’s battery lasts up to 17hrs between charges and that it weighs less than 10g. It records your workout data in .FIT format for uploading and analysis later.
Do you need this when you could just mount a small ANT+ head unit on the handlebars? Maybe not, but it’s interesting tech and something else that we’ll try to get in for review.
Mat has worked for loads of bike magazines over 20+ years, and been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. He's been road.cc technical editor for eight years, 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 past winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer.