Summer might be drawing to a close, but the bike world is as busy as ever; we’ve got a portable repair stand that uses air to lift your bike, a gravel bike that folds, new lights from Exposure, and a scent from Quoc, believe it or not – but we’re starting this week with a £180 lock that comes with some big security claims…
“The last lock you’ll ever need”: Oxford unveils angle grinder-resistant range
Oxford has released two new locks in its Grinder range, which each come with a 14mm hardened steel carbide core that, it says, will withstand an average of 10 angle grinder discs.
If you saw our lock testing video last year, you’ll know that’s a big claim – similar to the one Kryptonite makes for its £279.99 New York Diamond Standard. In our testing, a few locks survived a two-minute attack with an angle grinder and a couple of them entirely destroyed discs. In most cases, a thief is likely to turn tail and scarper at that point. Even assuming they have nine spare discs with them, getting through 10 would take a long time and attract a lot of attention.
The Oxford Grinder locks use double-locking mechanisms, anchoring the shackle at both sides, meaning that a thief would need to cut through both sides of the lock before your bike could be taken.
The Grinder S1 (260mm long, £179.99) and Grinder S2 (320mm long, £199.99) each have a Sold Secure Pedal Cycle Diamond and Sold Secure Powered Cycle Diamond ratings. https://soldsecure.com/ratings
“The fastest gravel wheelset on the market”: Berd launches Sparrow50 Gold
US wheel brand Berd says that its new Sparrow50 Gold wheelset is the fastest gravel option out there, as long as you consider its vibration-damping benefits alongside aerodynamics.
Berd says, “With a 30mm internal width and a 50mm deep profile, the Sparrow50 Gold is not only a super-aerodynamic wheelset for wide gravel tyres, but it also delivers the vibration-damping qualities that Berd spokes are known for.”
The spokes in question are Berd PolyLight, made from “an advanced polymer called ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) that has 15 times the strength-to-weight ratio of steel and floats on water”.
> Check out our review of the Scribe Gravel Carbon 40 Berd Spoke Wheelset
Berd has released a whole white paper covering the physics of viscoelastic spokes and their use in the Sparrow50 Gold wheels.
We’re used to hearing about mass and aerodynamic drag in efforts to make bikes faster, but Berd’s paper throws vibration damping into the mix and describes the physics by which a viscoelastic spoke dissipates high-frequency vibration.
According to Berd’s figures, although Zipp 303 XPLR SW and Enve G SES 4.5 wheels have slightly lower yaw-weighted drag, the Sparrow50 Gold saves watts against its rivals as a result of spoke damping.
For example, over a 100km Cat 2 gravel course, Berd says that a rider and bike – total weight 90kg – using Sparrow50 Gold wheels and 50mm tyres would finish 41 seconds ahead of the same rider using Zipp 303 XPLR SW wheels and 49 seconds ahead of the same rider using Enve G SES 4.5 wheels. Check out the white paper and see if you’re convinced by the modelling.
Berd has also launched a ‘finish time calculator’ on its website that allows you to see the effect of tyre width on ride finish time.
The Berd Sparrow50 Gold wheelset comes with 24 Berd PolyLight spokes front and rear and weighs 1,298g (without rim tape or valves).
There aren’t that many Berd dealers around the UK, but you can buy the Sparrow50 Gold wheelset for €2,495 from Dutch WheelWorks or direct from Berd for £2,159.
Ridley “redefines gravel racing” with new Kanzo Fast 2.0
Belgium’s Ridley reckons it has redefined gravel racing with the launch of its new Kanzo Fast 2.0, offering what it calls “next-generation aerodynamics” with clearance for 58mm tyres (increased from 42mm on the previous generation). That’s about 2.3in, and it’s at the very wide end of the gravel market.
Ridley says, “The Kanzo Fast 2.0 brings Ridley’s latest-generation aero technology, developed and proven on the Noah Fast at WorldTour level, to the gravel segment. At the same time, its generous tyre clearance gives riders the freedom to choose the setup that best matches the course and conditions. Wide tyres can deliver more grip, comfort and rolling efficiency on rough terrain, while the aerodynamic platform helps maintain speed on faster sections.”
The frame features an oversized aero down tube and extended head tube that’s designed to manage airflow around the frame and water bottles. The geometry has been tweaked to take account of larger tyres, with a lower bottom bracket and adjusted fork rake.
Ridley acknowledges that a wider tyre can generate more aerodynamic drag than a narrower one but it says that “the reduction in rolling resistance offered by a wider tyre can more than offset this aerodynamic disadvantage”. Not surprisingly, it says the new Kanzo Fast 2.0 is faster than its predecessor.
The Kanzo Fast 2.0 gets a storage compartment inside the down tube for tools, a CO2 cartridge or a spare tube. Two padded pouches allow you to organise things in there. You get mounts for a top tube bag too.
It’s designed for 1x drivetrains only and will take a chainring up to 56T.
The Kanzo Fast 2.0 is available in three SRAM builds priced from £4,999 to £10,999.
The sweet smell of cycling: Quoc is now selling scent
Cycling has never been short of unlikely collaborations. We’ve had Rapha joining forces with Palace Skateboards, MAAP getting together with Unimatic, and Brompton teaming up with fashion house Kenzo. At this point, you might think nothing could surprise us.
And yet here we are.
Quoc, the London-based brand best known for making rather lovely cycling shoes, has teamed up with Berlin perfume house Raer to produce a fragrance called Golden Hour.
Yes, perfume. Not cycling shoes that smell nice. Not a clever anti-foot-odour spray. An actual perfume. We didn’t see this coming.
Quoc has built a reputation around beautifully designed cycling footwear, with products such as the M3 Air and Gran Tourer III receiving extremely positive reviews here at road.cc.
But apparently there was a gap in the market. And that gap was somewhere between your favourite café stop and the fragrance counter at a department store. Golden Hour is described as a “100% natural botanical parfum”.
The collaboration isn’t quite as random as it initially sounds.
Quoc founder Quoc Pham and Raer founder Ted Rohn have known each other for years. Rohn was previously art director for Brooks England and is also the founder of The Tweed Run – the cycling event where riders dress up in their finest tweed and head off around London.
As for the scent itself, Quoc says: “At its heart is Vietnamese Holy Basil, grown in Quoc’s homeland, and layered with green mandarin, jasmine, Bulgarian rose, smoky cedar and a hint of pepper.”
That’s quite a departure from the traditional eau de damp jersey, energy gel and chain lube that you might be familiar with.
Intended as a unisex scent, a 30ml bottle of Golden Hour is priced at £130. It’s a luxury option, then.
Bike Friday goes gravel with Pocket Rocket Further
Folding bike brand Bike Friday has released the Pocket Rocket Further, its first ever bike designed for gravel. Other folding gravel bikes do exist, but this is a niche within a niche.
Why bother? You could easily take a Pocket Rocket Further on a bus or train to the start of a ride, for example, or pack it into an airline-checkable suitcase and travel further afield. The Pocket Rocket Further measures around 86x83x31cm when folded, although that varies by frame size.
The new bike is based on the existing road-going Pocket Rocket, but with a few tweaks. The Pocket Rocket Further comes with a widened fork and frame that can take 1.6in (41mm) tyres, hydraulic disc brakes, thru axles and a Universal Derailleur Hanger.
> What is UDH and is it the future of all bikes? SRAM’s Universal Derailleur Hanger explained
Bike Friday Pocket Rocket Further prices start at US$3,200 (which converts to £2,355). We don’t have confirmed UK prices but Bike Friday offers direct-to-consumer sales and global shipping.
Quirk Cycles launches its first full-production gravel bike: the Kegety
London-based Quirk Cycles has introduced the Kegety gravel bike, which follows the same batch process launched with the Mamtor (road) and Durmitor (race) framesets earlier in the year. It is made using Columbus Life steel tubing combined with a 3D-printed head tube, seat cluster and dropouts.
Quirk says, “The Kegety distils years of custom gravel bike development into a production frameset designed to deliver a repeatable ride quality. Drawing on modern gravel bike geometry, the Kegety gives stability when loaded or moving fast over broken ground without feeling dull on the road.
Originally designed for the inaugural Silk Road Mountain Race and handmade in Hackney, the Kegetry features a 1x-specific frame that offers 50mm tyre clearance and low-profile mudguard mounts. It takes a T47 threaded bottom bracket and is compatible only with electronic groupsets. You get Enve’s Gravel In-Route fork and colour-matched cockpit integration.
Price? The frameset is £4,999 with complete bikes starting at £10,550.
Pump it up: the repair stand that takes the weight off
Feedback Sports describes its new Pro Air Lift as “the world’s first lightweight and portable air lift bike repair stand”.
Its pneumatic column can raise bikes weighing up to 45kg without the need for batteries or a power cord. That’ll cover the vast majority of bikes out there, including nearly all e-bikes.
Essentially, you pressurise the lift column with a floor pump, electric pump, or air compressor with a Schrader valve connection, and you can raise your bike up to a maximum height of 169cm. A foot-activated air release valve allows you to lower the bike.
The Pro Air Lift’s folded dimensions are 21.8cm x 17.5cm x 115.4cm and it weighs 8.1kg, so it’s portable enough.
Not many people are going to be in the market for a £700 repair stand, but maybe the tech will trickle down over time. The Feedback Pro Air Lift will be available in the UK from October. We’ve requested one for review on road.cc.
Light season is coming, and Exposure has turned up the lumens
Light season is nearly upon us – don’t shoot the messenger – and Exposure has released new versions of the Trace lights (now the Trace 4s).
The lights have higher outputs than previously, the Trace 4 (£55) offering 360 lumens (up from 125), while the TraceR 4 (£55) and TraceR 4 ReAKT (£75) are now 200 lumens rather than 120.
The TraceR 4 is Exposure’s standard rear light while TraceR 4 REAKT adds the ReAKT (it flares up automatically under braking and adapts to the surrounding ambient light conditions to maintain maximum visibility) and Peloton (it dims when the front light of the rider behind is detected) technology.
You now get a runtime of up to 40 hours, 90-minute USB-C charging, and an upgraded IP67 rating, all at a weight of just 35g. Stand by for reviews on road.cc shortly.
Jersey or jacket? Assos shoots for the middle ground
If you’re smelling autumn just around the corner, Assos has introduced the Equipe ThermoBooster P1, which sits somewhere in that middle ground between a jersey and a jacket.
Assos says, “It is made for cool starts, exposed descents and the changing temperatures of spring and autumn, when a jersey is no longer quite enough, but a jacket is too much.”
The idea is that you get thermal protection with high breathability and low weight. Assos reckons it’s light enough to pack away when conditions improve and aero enough for racing.
The Equipe ThermoBooster P1 is available in men’s and women’s cuts priced at £175, and one has just shown up for testing here at road.cc
Shokz introduces OpenFit Air 2 open-ear earbuds
If you like to listen to music but don’t want to isolate yourself from the outside world, Shokz is launching OpenFit Air 2 open-ear earbuds, the lightest option in its ear-hook lineup. Each earbud weighs just 7.2g
OpenFit Air 2 is said to offer “a featherlight design, secure fit, all-day comfort and powerful open-ear sound”.
Shokz says, “[Our] signature open-ear design means listeners never lose touch with their surroundings, ideal for sports, commuting or general outdoor activity.”
The OpenFit Air 2 earpuds are rated IP55 for dust and water resistance, so they’re designed to handle sweat and showers.
They retail at £129 and will be available from 16th September 2026 in the UK
In case you missed it earlier in the week…
- “The second fastest bike ever made”: Specialized expands Tarmac SL9 range
- Stan’s launches Rolled Gold: “the fastest, lightest sealant” for road and gravel
- Van Rysel launches gravel bikes in two distinct flavours – with prices from £2,100
- Gravel bike vs MTB: The bike genre lines are more blurred than ever, so which one is actually best for cycling on gravel?
- Take a look at this gorgeous Cliff Shrubb winter training bike made with Columbus SL tubing
