In the last fortnight, the road.cc office has become more akin to a bike shop, as new bikes have been rolling in left right and centre… but we’re not complaining, it is spring after all and that’s when we all want to ride more! So with that, we have a quartet of new bikes in this edition of Five Cool Things, featuring bikes from Pinarello, Scott, Giant and Van Rysel, and to top it all off we’ve also got the brand new Redshift Top Shelf Bar to test, too.
Before the full reviews drop in the next couple of weeks, here’s a sneak peek at the cool things we’ve got in to review just now.
Scott Addict RC 30 – £4,399
The Addict is Scott’s premium road bike, and the RC 30 sits mid-range in the race-oriented RC lineup. With fully integrated cables and spec focused on light weight, it gives “you the tool to sprint to a mountain top finish or win your local criterium”, according to Scott.
The last time we reviewed the Addict RC in 2021 it got a shining four-star score, so the stakes are high for this new model to live up to the standards.
Our review bike comes with HMX carbon (the middle one of the three carbon layups Scott uses) frame and fork, SRAM Rival eTap AXS groupset and Schwalbe One Race-Guard tyres.
Find out more here
Giant TCR Advanced Pro 0 AXS – £5,999
The Giant TCR is a road bike that simply keeps giving, decades after the first iteration came out. We’ve reviewed plenty of generations of the TCR, but with a bike as iconic as it is, there are plenty of models to go through. And the newest iteration of the bike – launched just last month – claims to be nothing else but the “lightest, most efficient TCR ever”.
The Advanced Pro 0 comes with the middle-tier carbon layup and our test bike comes with SRAM Force AXS groupset, Giant SLR 0 carbon wheelset, Cadex Race GC tyres in 28mm width (there’s clearance for 32mm) and full Giant finishing kit.
Giant promises that this bike can ” climb, corner and descend with astonishing speed and sublime road handling”. Stu will be putting those claims to the test, and you can read his full verdict soon.
Pinarello Dogma X Dura Ace Di2 – £13,300
Pinarello revealed its Dogma X all-road bike back in September last year, and the bike with its funky seat stay design has now made its way to our thorough testing. The X is the flagship model of the lineup and as such, comes with a hefty price tag of £13,300 – easily fitting into our list of the most expensive road bikes out there.
For your money, you get the top-end Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 shifting, Princeton Grit 4540 DB wheelset wrapped in Pirelli P ZERO Race TLR tyres. There is tyre clearance for 35mm rubber, and claims to “heighten the emotional experience of cycling and reshape how we think about endurance and speed”. Will Stu’s emotions be heightened riding this bike? Wait for the full review landing soon to find out.
Van Rysel RCR Rival AXS Power Sensor – £4,500
Van Rysel has been in the headlines a fair bit in the past year, as since it announced seven new bikes it’s also sponsored (very successfully) a pro WorldTour team.
The RCR Rival AXS is not quite the pro bike, but Van Rysel still says it’s its “most accomplished bike to date. It has been designed and tested by aerodynamicists and offers the perfect balance between pure performance and pleasure.”
The bike we’ve got in for test comes with SRAM Rival AXS groupset, Zipp 303s wheels shod on Michelin Power Cup black tyres and like all of the RCR models, it’s equipped with a power meter and Deda finishing kit and Fizik saddle.
Redshift Top Shelf Bar handlebar – £139.99
It’s not all just bikes we’ve got in! Redshift’s newest handlebar, the Top Shelf Bar, has certainly caused some stir with its rather unconventional shape, and we’re eager to see how it actually feels to ride. It’s aimed at addressing similar issues as the ‘hover’ bars are, in essence giving you more stack height without needing to put on tons of spacers or a positive stem.
The Top Shelf raises your handlebar either 50 or 70mm (2 or 2.75in) and additionally, you get some extra mounting space for accessories. But as a downside, as you might expect when you add material to something, these bars aren’t exactly lightweight, tipping our scales of truth at 502g. They’re not cheap either…
12 thoughts on “New bike day! We preview Pinarello, Scott, Giant and Van Rysel bikes + some funky bars from Redshift”
I cannot understand who would
I cannot understand who would prefer this appalling bar that btw introduces a new possible point of weld failure, over a £15 kalloy stem at 17° or 30°. Unless somebody in need for extra mounting and doesn’t want the equal monstrous addition bars
I can. I think Cugel refers
I can. I think Cugel refers to them as ‘dafties’
Top marks for ugliness at any
Top marks for ugliness at any rate.
I recently got some of the
I recently got some of the wiggle riser bars (specialized copies) in the close out sale. They’re actually super useful on a bike where you use a bar bag. By lowering the bag it clears the tops for your hands and puts it further out the way of hoods.
I can tell – from experience
I can tell – from experience – that the problem with steeper stems is that they generally lack length. They move the handlebars higher, but also closer towards you. This handlebar hightens but keeps the handlebar at the same distance.
I finally found a Procraft stem in 35° and 15cm length, but dammit it was hard to find.
Also, just so you know, you don’t actually need to understand other people’s choices. And that ‘point of weld failure’ is a bit far fetched.
I understand that if it is on
I understand that if it is on sale, most likely it will be sold. I am just trying to understand its benefits.
Yes, if you go for 35° and 15cm it will be hard to find one.
Most solutions I have seen is the steerer tube extension I have seen, which looks equally horrible, also included additional points of failure (I know the odds are miniscule, but better get rid of them), but it is reasonably priced.
@Dogless raised bars seem way more sensible than this thing.
What I don’t understand is
What I don’t understand is what is so hard to understand about the fact that higher/steeper stems bring the handlebars closer to you. If you only want the bars to be higher, not closer, than a handlebar like this is a solution.
The Redshift bar has its
The Redshift bar has its potential uses; I’ve had a Giant Defy for a few years and I’m not as flexible now as when I bought it. I would really like to raise the handlebar but because the diameter of the steerer is an inch and a quarter I can’t find a suitable replacement stem. I have been in contact with Redshift in the U.S. and found that apart from the bar being expensive, the cost of shipping to Australia is (in their words) prohibitive. Looks like a replacement fork is the only solution?
Genuinely interested in how
Genuinely interested in how the Van Rysel test goes. So much hype about them it’ll be great to hear what it’s really like.
Me too though I was hoping
Me too though I was hoping they would be testing the pro frame rather than the base level version. Though it should give an indication what the next level version is like. VERY interested in that.
You do get that there will be
You do get that there will be no material differences between the 2 right? Apart from 150g (1/3 of a poo or a 1/3 of a water bottle full) or so or more expensive carbon…..
The rest is PR.
I don’t want SRAM & the base
I don’t want SRAM & the base frame is only available with Rival I think