Ready to read about all the tech that turned our head this week? Well, you’re in the right place, our latest Tech of the Week round-up featuring some lightweight wheels whose maker is very confident, as well as some bling components, a home-training update from Wahoo, and plenty more. Let’s dive straight in…
Are these new wheels really “a true game changer”?
Progress Cycles got in touch this week with news of its “latest innovation”, a set of wheels that it calls “a true game changer”. The Orbit 380s will officially be presented at the brand’s booth at the Sea Otter industry show in Girona next month and have apparently been in development for two years, a process including “exhaustive” lab testing and thousands of kilometres of road testing.
The “technological leap forward” is that it’s the brand’s first wheels with carbon spokes, something Progress Cycles says will boost their lightness, strength and aerodynamics, although admittedly it’s more of a surprise when a cycling product is launched without positive claims about that particular trio of features.
In this case, the Vonoa carbon spokes apparently weigh “50 per cent less than an ultralight steel spoke” and feature a patented adhesive-free mechanical joint. While they’re lighter, Progress says they maintain “extreme durability” and are “resistant to deformation, breakage and elongation”.
There’s no shortage of confidence here, Progress saying they are the manufacturer “with the most experience in the industry” and that the new carbon spokes’ fatigue and tensile strength is 49 per cent stronger than the steel ones. We don’t have pricing info yet, presumably that will come at Sea Otter but the Orbit 380s are available with Shimano HG and Microspline, SRAM XDR and XD, and Campagnolo N3W freehubs.
They’re 38mm deep and weigh 1.19kg for the set, but Progress says they maintain “optimised aerodynamic performance”. In short, it’s a full house, the brand unsurprisingly claiming these are lighter, aerodynamic, stiffer and have “extreme durability”. A couple more details: the internal width is 23mm and outer 30mm, Progress saying the aero performance remains “optimised” with 30mm tyres.
“These wheels are a true game changer,” the brand tells us. “The ultimate combination of lightness, rigidity, and aerodynamic efficiency for exceptional performance in any condition.”
We’ll have to wait for pricing and hopefully a pair of these in for test to see exactly where they stand.
The blingest pulley wheels out there?
“We made it,” Hopp Components said, bringing this to the world on Instagram the other day. A fully carbon cage with oversize pulley wheels (14 and 20t for anyone wondering) and built specifically for SRAM transmission derailleurs. The scales of truth say it’s 67.7g, so bloody light… and presumably also bloody expensive.
Meanwhile on Facebook…
Rare as hen’s teeth, we spotted someone selling a never-used Shimano Dura-Ace 7800 carbon crankset, advertising on the popular UCI Bandit’s Bike Facebook group. The price? 999 euros excluding shipping, although the RRP was somewhere around the £700 mark in the noughties.
As this was produced during Shimano’s 10-speed Dura-Ace era, perhaps it would qualify as the most OTT upgrade ever for a Tiagra-equipped bike?
“The shift from heavy pannier racks to ultralight, rackless set-ups has also come full circle”: Does Apidura’s new front rack make onto your touring kit list?
Apidura has launched its first rack-specific design, the front rack a result of bikepacking’s evolution. As the brand explained: “The growth of gravel and adventure bikes has brought a resurgence of mounting points, from top tubes to fork legs and downtubes, offering more ways to attach gear beyond traditional pack placements.
“The shift from heavy pannier racks to ultralight, rackless setups has also come full circle: Minimalist, lightweight racks are now common, echoing the demand for lightweight and performance orientated gear that spurred the move to bikepacking packs a decade ago.”
So, here we have the Expedition Front Rack Pack, designed to offer boosted capacity for longer tours and multi-day trips via a rack system. As you’d expect the bag part is fully waterproof. It’s available in 20-litre and 30-litre options so there is plenty of room, and the bag features a roll-top for easy convenient access. By using a rack, with somewhere for the bag to sit, it really does up your storage. For example, Apidura’s Expedition handlebar pack has nine or 14 litres, whereas the rack pack, as we’ve established, has 20 or 30.
It’s not a cheap bit of kit of course, the rack pack starting from £168, but Apidura is confident these are as durable as they come and could take you anywhere from a weekend ride to a global tour. Check them out on Apidura’s website.
Wahoo adds power data to its Kickr Rollr
It’s that time of year in the UK when the first thoughts start to turn towards autumn and indoor training. Maybe the latest heatwave has postponed that dark, depressing thought slightly but then came along Wahoo to remind us that it won’t be long before the leaves are falling and the evenings darker.
They’ve at least slightly sweetened the pill by pairing it up with some happier news concerning its Kickr Rollr, the brand’s roller product, namely that users can now get consistent power readings to inform their sessions. While Wahoo accepts this won’t be as accurate as direct-drive trainers, due to the free-moving rear end of the bike, it does say the feature will remain consistent with itself when you’re using the same equipment and gearing, enabling riders to track progress from session to session.
Wahoo’s CEO Gareth Joyce furthered the point that this is very much aimed at people “starting their indoor cycling journey”, but the “power-based data insights” were a nice new extra.
Visit Wahoo’s website for more info.
Complete MyWhoosh’s Grand Tour challenge during La Vuelta
MyWhoosh is unrolling a Grand Tour challenge for riders following the Vuelta at home. Now, naturally, given this is the Spanish Grand Tour and the peloton will be tackling Spain’s hardest mountains, the MyWhoosh challenge involves completing three ascents up… *checks notes*… Hollywood Hills, Saka No Michi and Jebel Hafeet…
Maybe they’ve been inspired by the Vuelta’s Italian start and journey into France before any Spanish roads are ridden, opting for a more international feel instead? Anyway, whatever the reasoning, the virtual training platform is challenging users to complete the three stages (no round-the-world transfer required in between) between August 18 and September 22. If you do complete it you’ll get a red BMC bike, Vuelta-inspired red jersey, and a MET Trenta 3K helmet… for use in the virtual MyWhoosh world of course…
All the info is here if you do want to get involved.
9 thoughts on “Are these new wheels really “a true game changer”? Plus the blingest pulley wheels out there, another super rare Dura-Ace carbon chainset goes up for sale + more”
Ah, the fabled Dura-Ace
Ah, the fabled Dura-Ace ‘carbon’ chainset, worked on a customers’ bike with one on many a time, as I built the bike up from the frameset including the wheels.
Heavier than the original Dura-Ace chainset and (in my opioion) didn’t look right with the rest of the polished alloy groupset.
The 7700 groupset was the best looking, although I have a soft spot for the Suntour Superb Pro…….
Totally agree, especially
Totally agree, especially about the SunTour Superbe Pro. The chainrings didn’t last as long as Campagnolo SR, or Record, but still. Even the SunTour Cyclone was an amazing series (though one has to constantly tighten) the downtube levers).
Still, if I had the cash, I’d WANT 😁 the DA Carbon crankset for my parts bin(or drawing room wall)! Cheers!
Which original Dura Ace
Which original Dura Ace-chainset are you referring to? The 7800-C carbon variant weighs 616 grams, the 7800 regular 679 grams, so a modest weight saving of about 10%.
Many, many apologies Richard,
Many, many apologies Richard, my bad.
I was thinking of the FC-7700 chainset which was (slightly) lighter than the FC-7800-c.
I will hang my head in shame as old age has clouded my memory.
The carbon chainset still looked naff though!
All the best.
No worries! The 7700 of
No worries! The 7700 of course did not have to contend with its own axle – BB and crankset should be much lighter going from 7700 to 7800 I would think.
And yes, the carbon variant is definitely out there, not really fitting in!
The move to bikepacking
The move to bikepacking setups a decade ago was spurred because people wanted to tour on bikes without rack mounts.
Maybe/probably partially so,
Maybe/probably partially so, but that’s certainly not all of it.
Many people just want their setup to be more minimalistic, so it allows them to ride nicer paths/trails/gravel roads etc. that just aren’t very well suited to ride with big, fully loaded panniers. Their weight, bulk and movement make somewhat more techinal/bumby stuff impractical and no fun.
I just took a look at the
I just took a look at the Apidura website to check this out. Will I be able to sue Apidura when my barely secured tent poles shutter down into the spokes of my front wheel?
It would have been nice of
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