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The past couple of weeks have been huge for cycling news with brands unveiling Avinox-equipped machines, and heaps of new kit for all kinds of riding. In this week’s Five Cool Things, we’re going to take a look at Merida’s friendly-on-the-wallet e-MTB, Rimpact’s refined tuned mass damper, as well as Renthal’s revised stem and fresh tyres from Continental and Schwalbe. Let’s dive in.
With Sea Otter done and dusted, there has been an awful lot to cover, but before we jump into all of the new stuff, I’m going to highlight our first-ever Adventure Week, which took place just last week. Throughout the seven days, we were all about bikepacking and adventuring on your bike, far from tarmac. We interviewed Angus Young, rediscovered old school mountain bike routes on a gravel bike, and touched on bikepacking mistakes we made, so you don’t have to. And that’s just scratching the surface.
As for other features, we got up close and personal with free ride legend, Andreu Lacondeguy’s top secret mountain bike, and got in touch with the people over at Avinox to figure out how they intend on honouring warranty claims with the new M2S and M2 motors.
In other news, plenty has been going on as Cotic updated its Jeht mountain bike, gracing it with a ride inspired by its Rocket e-MTB, and SRAM has proven that there’s life in the ol’ derailleur hanger yet, having shaken up its non-T-Type range. Specialized then pulled the cover off its heavily teased Demo 11, and wow, it’s definitely a bit mental.
Merida Etmo 800
£5,250
It might have taken a bit of a while, but we’re now seeing brands launch more budget-friendly but still performance-focused e-mountain bikes, and I’m totally here for it. This one is Merida’s Etmo, and it leverages the success of the big-hitting eOne-Eighty but whittles it down to a 160mm travel platform. The 800 is the priciest model in the range, but if it’s a little too rich for your blood, the lineup starts at a very accessible £3,650.
Merida isn’t messing about with this bike, as it’s equipped with a Bosch Performance Line CX motor that produces 100Nm of torque, and it’s paired with an 800Wh battery, promising plenty of range. It’s a mixed-wheel bike as standard to bring out agile handling, and its build kit is definitely nothing to sniff at. Damping its 160mm of travel at both ends is Marzocchi’s Bomber Z fork, combined with the brand’s Bomber Air shock. Shimano sorts the shifting with its 11-speed XT M8130 kit, and the bike’s slowed thanks to Shimano’s newest XT brakes.
Finally, it rolls on some Reynolds alloy rims, which are wrapped with Continental rubber in the form of the Kryptotal F and R duo. If you’re looking for bang for buck, the Merida Etmo may well be it.
Rimpact TMD V2
£199.99
Rimpact isn’t a brand to launch something and call it good. Instead, it’s constantly tinkering with its products with the aim of delivering the best performance possible, and that goes for its TMD V2.
“What is a TMD?” I hear you ask, well, it’s a Tuned Mass Damper, something that’s becoming increasingly common amongst the elite downhill race scene, and to put it simply, it’s a 250g weight that’s suspended between two springs. The TMD is inserted into your fork’s steerer, and when the front wheel hits a bump, that suspended weight moves in the opposite direction of the impact, which absorbs vibrations. The result should be a calmer and more comfortable front-end, which is said to shave one second per minute during race efforts, according to previous enduro racer Jesse Melamed.
Now in its second iteration, the TMD V2 is a simpler unit. Now it only comes with one set of springs, so it’s not as adjustable as before, but it uses a pair of elastomers at each end to damp the weight’s movement at the ends of its stroke. Installation looks pretty straightforward, too, as the TMD also acts as the star nut, as it’s able to apply preload to your bike’s headset. It’s optimised to work with fork steerers that are 180mm or longer, but it can be installed into shorter steerers when used with headset spacers.
Renthal Apex 35 V2 stem
£116.95
Renthal’s Apex stem became just as strong a staple as the Fatbar, but now, it’s receiving a long-awaited glow-up. Some facets of its design remain the same as the older model, like the 240-degree handlebar clamp with a zero-gap lower clamp, but apart from that, and its colour, everything else has changed.
The second-generation Apex uses a totally different steerer clamp arrangement. Now, the steerer clamp is side-mounted, which not only gives it a tidier aesthetic but also removes any sharp edges while providing more efficient clamping, which achieves a higher clamping load, says the brand. The stem is forged and then CNC machined, which sheds a bunch of weight while retaining strength. But thanks to the bar clamp design, the brand has managed to shave more material away from the inside of the stem. Renthal says that this has enabled a lower weight of 120g, including bolts.
As for materials, the Apex V2 is a full aluminium affair with a 2014 aluminium main body and 7050 aluminium clamps. The whole lot is then heat-treated for strength and durability.
Continental Dubnital 50mm
£66.99
Throughout the last year or so, fat mountain bike tyres have been finding their way onto gravel bikes, and with good reason. With low-treaded options producing fast rolling speeds, their larger volumes bring a welcome boost in traction and comfort, which is more important than you might think on a rigid gravel bike. With a fatter tyre’s greater ability to deform over terrain, as they can run lower pressures, there’s also an argument that they can roll even faster.
With all of that in mind, Continental has jumped right onto that trend, bringing its Dubnital cross-country tyre to a 50mm build, priming it for use on gravel bikes. This tyre features a siped centre tread design that’s said to balance rolling speed and traction, but there are plenty of transition knobs to provide support when cornering. Then, those shoulder knobs are reinforced and slightly larger in a bid to provide plenty of bite when cornering hard.
This tyre is only available in the brand’s Race Casing and Race Compound, and apparently, it weighs 545g.
Schwalbe Romy Trail Pro Radial
£75
The Romy is an all-new tyre from Schwalbe that replaces the Hans Dampf. Although it acts as a replacement for that tyre, it’s built to be an all-rounder but with something of a gravity pedigree. Taking that into account, it’s designed to be light but more than up for more demanding trails. To achieve that, it uses a tread pattern that’s not too dissimilar from the Albert, but it’s lower in profile and wider spaced, so it should roll rather quickly, while providing just enough bite for when things get tricky.
Of course, as a new Schwalbe tyre, it gets the Radial technology, which helps the tyre better conform to trail imperfections to increase grip and comfort. It’s then available in a bunch of options, to fit 650b and 29″ wheels, along with two widths – 2.4 and 2.5 in both wheel sizes. It can be picked up with Gravity or Trail casings, with both available in Soft and Mid rubber compounds.
