If you are reading this in the southern hemisphere and spring has now turned to summer, well number 1, please don’t show off and 2, keep this review in mind for April onwards when those of us in the frozen/rain soddern northern hemisphere are feeling smug about there being more light in the day.
Unfortunately back in the reality of a UK winter where it’s starting to get dark at 4pm and other than riding at the weekend (or your designated day off in the week) you’ll be riding in the dark. To do that you need a decent light to enable you to be seen by other people and to see by.
moon titan max mountmoon titan max usb-cmoon titan max wireless charging
The Moon TitanMax is pretty unique as its shape is cuboid and not like any other light I’ve seen. It is 62 x 48 x 56 mm and weighs 152g on my unvarified kitchen scales. It boasts 1700 lumens at full power and has two beam modes, Moon describes these as “city” and “highway”. this is a bit confusing as they both of these say urban commuting to me but city is the lower power setting. if you think of “city” as being a mode to not dazzle oncoming traffic (or dipped headlights if you are a car driver) and “highway” as full beam and much more suited to off road cycling. Essentially city has a shorter throw and highway lights up the road/trail further ahead.
Moon titan max city lowMoon titan max city highMoon titan max highway lowMoon titan max highway high
City mode also gives you three flashing modes, mode 1,2 (100 lumens) and day flash (800 lumens) and will last a claimed 140hrs at the lowest lumen setting. “highway” has two modes, one is 1000 lumens and the other 1700. You switch from city to highway by double clicking the on-off button when the light is switched on.
In the box is an out front mount which comes with the option to just clamp on the light, to run the light and your favourite bike computer or using an included adaptor the light/computer and an action cam. It also comes with a bluetooth handlebar remote with which you can swap between modes. It has a USB-C charging port (2hrs for a full charge). This port is 2-way and you could use the light as a power bank!
moon titan max bar remotemoon titan max on garmin stem mountmoon titan max on action cam mount
Talking of charging, you can also charge the light wirelessly by just placing it on a charging pad. The light also comes in 5 different colours, which is nice, even if it’s pretty superfluous in the dark!
Riding in the dark on the road the city mode is more than enough and even in the lowest setting other road users would need a hell of an excuse to say they didn’t see you coming head on or behind them. Side on the moon titan max suffers the same as most lights and its much harder to see, this is where fluorescent clothing comes in handy. The flashing modes are great for those gloomy days or near dusk and help you stand out. The daytime flash is effective even in full daylight as it gives a very bright pulse of 800 lumens and is perfect for those that feel the need to have a light on at all times.
Off road you definately need the higher power setting as the city setting gets a bit lost and seems to spread sideways rather than projecting forward. The highway setting throws the beam much further forward allowing you to see obstacles sooner. Due to the shape of the lens the beam pattern is “square” rather than a cone seen on more regular shaped lights. This doesn’t detract from the lights ability to light up the trail but does take a little getting used to if you are familiar with other lights.
moon titan max stem cap mountmoon titan max stem cap mount
The big downside for me was the outfront mount. It’s just too flexible. With just the light fitted it vibrates on tarmac and when ridden off road that movement is much worse and makes the light seem to flicker. Add a computer or an action cam to it and this trait is exacerbated. I ended up using my stem cap garmin mount in the end and this proved much more sturdy but of course I lost the option to run other accessories at the same time.
The Moon Titan Max light is an excellent all rounder with a good run time, quick charging with a wireless charging option that is useful for commuting in day and night time and can hold it’s own against much more expensive lights. The fact it looks “different” is a plus point for me but it is let down by the plastic out front mount. Maybe spend the money saved over more expensive lights to by a metal mount?
you can find more details on the Moon Titan Max light here
When it comes to feet, mine run cold and I’m always searching for the perfect solution to keeping my toes comfortable when the temperatures drop to single or minus figures. So it was either very brave or very foolish for Northwave to take up the challenge with their Celsius Arctic GTX shoes. Warning: there’s a lot of acronyms and product names in this review, such is the current fashion in the bike industry. Still, “Celsius Arctic GTX” does on the face of it sound impressively warm doesn’t it? Luckily the period of riding in these coincided with the UK weather reverting to normal with a named storm, torrential rain, floods that then turned into a cold snap of windscreen scraping mornings and crunchy puddles, so all in all perfect test conditions!
Northwave Celsius Arctic GTX the clean unworn edition
Ok, lets get some of the jargon and acronyms out of the way first, the Northwave Celsius Arctic GTX boots are advertised as having a “Cirrus XT 4L membrane made by Gore-Tex” for waterproofness and breathability, 200g recycled “Primaloft Gold thermal padding” inside and a “4 layer Arctic insole”. More of a shoe with a neoprene cuff than a boot they close using a “X-Dial SLW3” (think Boa but with a quick release lever) and a zip up the inside of the cuff. The sole has an aggressive looking “Jaws Evo sole” tread, with a SPD cleat pocket and the provision of fitting football boot studs at the toe for added traction if you are fit/mad enough to run with your bike on a cyclocross race.
Enough of the jargon, what are they like to wear? Well i asked for a size larger than my normal summer shoe size as I intended to run thicker or waterproof socks with them and Northwave agreed that was a good idea. With a thicker sock on my feet I attempted to put them on for the first time. There’s definately a knack to it. Inside the shoe are two red straps to aid pulling them on and they are needed. It was a bit of a wrestle to be honest and i was instantly worried I needed an even bigger size. However once on and my socks straightened by wiggling my feet in the shoe they felt totally the right size and i had plenty of toe wiggle room. Infact they are sort of T.A.R.D.I.S like as they seem bigger when on than when putting on if that makes sense?
Once on and the dial turned to snug the front of the shoe down and the zip done up they feel really comfortable, there’s loads of adjustment with the X-Dial and the neoprene like cuff fits well around the ankle and allows unhindered ankle joint articulation. So no resistance to pedalling.
the sole has a very generous amount of cleat adjustment, I’d go as far as saying the most I’ve experienced on any clip in shoe. I set it as far back as it could go thinking the shoes were like most others and soon realised I had to move the cleat back towards the toe which is unheard of in my experience! The sole is aggressive and there’s lots of grip even without the toe studs for hike a bike sections. The close spaced knobs will get clogged with clay and leaves (your soil conditions may be different) but a quick bang on the pedals soon clears them though. Taking of walking, the sole has just the right amount of flex for trotting up muddy trails and lets face it more importantly they won’t make you look like a penguin when walking up to the counter in your favourite coffee/cake/chip shop/pub. Despite this flex there is plenty of stiffness at the cleat for efficient pedalling.
Northwave Celsius Arctic GTX test conditions
Are they waterproof then? the shoe part of the “boot” definately is, i know this because I deliberately on your behalf pedalled my bike through all the floods, stood in X-dial deep puddles and tried to (unsuccessfully) leap across a ford. The neoprene cuff though isn’t, it’s weather proof but will eventually get damp from spray. Bear in mind though that there’s a big hole in the shoe where your foot goes in so a wet sock cuff is equally caused by water running down the leg of my waterproof trousers as much as the neoprene. The good thing about neoprene though and why it’s excellent as a wet suit is that despite being damp it still insulates the wearer by trapping body heat. On the wettest day when i removed the shoes the top of my sock was damp but from the ankle down was as dry as when I put them on.
Northwave Celsius Arctic GTX in the wildNorthwave Celsius Arctic GTX full frontal
Despite having to really tug to get the shoes on the straps have remained intact. the X-Dial looks fragile put I have accidentally smashed it into a concrete bollard (Northwave sell spares) and the release lever allows very easy adjustment, in a juxtposition to putting them on the shoes come off at the end of a ride very easily which messes with my mind somewhat.
Northwave Celsius Arctic GTX X-Dial adjusterNorthwave Celsius Arctic GTX side zip
Did the Northwave Celcius Arctic GTX shoes keep my feet warm? Northwave needn’t have worried (I expect they weren’t losing any sleep) as my feet stayed warmer in these shoes a lot longer than I’ve experienced before. i’d go as far as saying they are the warmest cycling shoes/boots that I’ve tried so far and as the temperature drops the further we get into winter i’m looking forward to spending longer out on the bike than previous years.
Northwave Celsius Arctic GTX making wavesNorthwave Celsius Arctic GTX will never be this clean again
The Northwave Celsius Arctic GTX shoe is a comfortable, efficient pedalling, warm and weatherproof shoe that’ll help you go further for longer in the grimmest of conditions.
Northwave haven’t paid for this review, they took the risk of an honest review, there are no affiliate links or discount codes. I do (I hope) get to keep the shoes, not that anyone would want then after my plates of meat have been in them for a few weeks!
I am a self confessed thick bar tape hater, I don’t even like wearing gloves unless the temperatures really take a dip. So the concept of a cushioned bar tape designed to provide “excellent damping” with 2.5mm thickness left me a bit cold.
Fitting was relatively easy, the tape doesn’t have much stretch but is flexible enough to fit around the shifters without the need for cheat strip use and there’s plenty of it to fit my 44cm bars which have a generous flare to contend with too.
Ergon BT allroad bar tapeErgon BT allroad bar tape
the tape has the usual sticky strip on the underside but its not too superglue like that you can’t unwind it from the bars to make adjustments if you need to when fitting. The tape comes with simple push in bar end plugs but i opted to use my own wedge plugs because they match the frame colour and I’m a tart! The tape does come in other colours, white, blue, red and green. Green would have been my prefered colour (see previous sentence).
Ergon BT allroad bar tapeErgon BT allroad bar tape
The Ergon allroad tape has a patterned finish said to aid grip and looks pretty good too. After a month of riding, including in the rain I found that my fears about the thickness of the tape were unfounded. The tape has a pleasing squish and is grippy without being tacky even with bare hands. The 2.5mm thickness does give the feeling that it’s actually giving a little help with the vibration coming from the bike compared to my usual tape that was much thinner.
The Ergon Allroad bartape has survived very hot sun (yay!), dust, mud and quite a bit of sweat. It has coped well with being leaned on various cafe and pub walls, lots and lots of bramble brushing, hedgrow interfaces and being loaded into vehicles. Infact with a quick wash with soapy water it looks almost like it’s just been mounted to the bike.
Ergon pitch this tape for riding on all roads and they have a gravel specific tape that is 1mm thicker but I think if you are like me and don’t get on with the very thick bar tapes then this all you need. It’s up there with the premium bar tapes when it comes to price (£34.99 RRP) but performs well if not better than its competition
Ergon BT Allroad Bar tape, a tape for all roads and off roads, it’s expensive but the comfort and ability to brush off the rigors of off road riding is worth it.
you can find more details here ALLROAD BT this is not an affiliate link, although I don’t think Extra UK will want the tape back after many weeks of me gripping it!
The People behind GRVL.CC are first and foremost riders. I know this because I’ve been riding with them. What they also have is years of experience designing sportswear for other companies, some of them very big in the sports world. you’ve probably worn some of their designs but don’t know it.
The GRVL guys though wanted to produce products with more sustainability, in factories that are enviromentally friendly but still give the quality that they demand. All that is a tall order right?
They sent me out a pair of their GRVL bib shorts to try and I’ve been riding short and long distances in them over the last couple of months to see if that list of demands they’ve made for themselves translates into something comfortable to wear, because you can have the most ethical clothing in the world but if it doesn’t feel good when you ride you’re not going to keep wearing it.
The first thing you’ll notice is that these shorts look like they have a baggy short included and they kind of do, but its sewn into the traditional lycra leg and joins at the inner thigh seam. So it’s not a lycra short inside a baggy one, it’s permanently fixed too. GRVL say it’s to give the rider extra protection from the weather, dust and mud. The GRVL logo appears on one leg, this is actually a nightmare for photos because it’s the non drive side leg (otherwise known as the left) and all shots of the bike should be from the driveside, that’s an unwritten bicycle marketing rule right there. I kinda like they’ve gone against the rules, lets hope it’s deliberate!
The logo shows up in a couple of other places and is embossed on the shoulder straps and the bottom of the legs and is a nice stylish touch that makes them stand out from other shorts in this price bracket.
There are two rear pockets which I’d say were perfect for small snacks and gels etc. I did manage to get my phone in there (pixel 6) but had to position it sideways and stretch the pocket as in the vertical postion the pocket only just reached half way up the phone and it didn’t feel secure. Not really a fail on the shorts though as a phone isn’t what every rider stuffs in the pack pocket.
The fit is excellent, I usually take an XL size and these were a good fit, I’d have liked to try the next size down for a little more compression on the legs but when riding they felt spot on.
When I first posted a picture on my instagram account of these shorts I received a direct message from someone who had tried the shorts and said they wanted to warn me of the minimal padding on the chamois. GRVL say the chamois is for “comfort for rough terrain and big adventures” You can see from the picture that the padding isn’t as thick as some shorts on the market. I didn’t find this a problem when riding up to 60+ mile and lots of shorter rides. Not to be too graphic but my backside is well used to riding long distance on my saddle so it is a bit “hardened off”. A beginner rider might have a different view on this but I will say that too much padding is as bad non at all. The chamois does seem to breathe well though and I’ve been glad of this the last few weeks of high tempertures in the UK.
These shorts are not cheap, currently (July 2025) they retail at £185, not the most expensive shorts out there by any means but also not the most affordable. However, they are comfortable and the materials feel like quality. After numerous washes and abrasions from riding they still look good so GRVL have achieved that part of their wish list, the ethical side I take their word for as as I mentioned, they aren’t a faceless corporation, they actually go riding and I’d trust that over any fancy marketing campaign .
The extra baggy short look i’m not sure about. After a long time cargo pocket sceptic but now adopter I missed the leg pockets when riding.
The GRVL.CC bib short is comfortable over long distance, excells in it’s price bracket and manages to look different in a sea of similar looking bib shorts. Given the knowledge that they are striving for sustainability and if the integrated baggy short look is your thing then I’d definately consider these over a big name brand who just care about the profit margin.
Cyclists get a lot of flak from the non cycling fraternity for wearing the “uniform” of lycra shorts, tight fitting hi-viz yellow jersey (or dayglo/aero, add your own social media insult, usually from a post reporting a collision between a motor vehicle and a cyclist, their clothes somehow proving it was the riders fault!) and a cap and it’s a shame that even though lots of us don’t wear that outfit for riding we get grouped into the same tired stereotype.
However, one item on that list I’d say while not essential to riding, can enhance the experience much more than the latest carbon wheelset or electronic shifting gizmo. That item is the humble cycling cap or if you want to be really pretentious, a casquette.
Caps are great for wearing under a helmet when it’s cold, hot, when it’s wet or when it’s sunny. they also work for all these reasons without being under a helmet. At the cafe stop, the pub, the campsite etc etc. i take one on every ride in case I need it for any of the above reasons and not just because I’m folically challenged. I also did the same when i had enough hair to flick out of my eyes…..did i say they’ll keep hair and sweat out of your eyes too?
Uncle Pete THIS IS UNCLE PETE on instagram sent me a message asking if I’d like to review one of his handmade cycling caps. Being a big fan of the humble cap I of course agreed. Pete asked me to measure my head where the rim of a cap would normally sit, easily done with a tape measure and a mirror or a piece of string and a rule. Even easier if you have someone to measure it for you. He asked me what colour/pattern material I wanted and to look at his Etsy site for ideas. Now, I am lazy and colour blind so I said I’d leave it to him to decide.
A few days later a parcel arrived for me and the cap in the pictures was the result. This navy blue cap is very understated, i was expecting something much more jazzy but I have to say it looks classy and not out of place in the non cycling side of my life, then i checked the lining material which was covered in a skull and crossbones material! A hidden treat.
The cap is super soft with a shallow stiff brim, I much prefer the smaller brim, it fits with helmets much better and looks so more stylish than the usual long brim seen on most caps which i always find hinders vision when on the bike unless you push your helmet too far backwards. The cap doesn’t have an elasticated rim because it doesn’t need one, it’s made to measure. This cap wins massively over off the peg caps because of this. Off the peg caps in my experience are either too big or too tight if you don’t possess an average size head and not many of us do.
The cap has served me well the last few weeks and is so comfortable and it’s been tested in some of the best weather the UK has had in a while. It’s kept my head from being sunburnt and you can see from the pictures it’s been sweated in a few times. It’s made of cotton with a cotton liner and so is quite breathable but obviously in really hot weather the cotton does soak up any moisture. It does however wash really well.
I really wish I’d taken the time to choose a brighter colour as this cap has quickly become my favourite and it deserves to shout “look at me!” the quality and finish is top notch and many many times better than the run of the mill caps available. Yes, its currently £30 for a cap, but thats only £5-10 more than the will it/won’t it fit cap with a big brand name on it that probably cost pennies to make in china.
I’ve even experimented with wearing it with the lining on the outside!
The quality of construction, the comfort, materials used and the fact it’s specifically made for your head by hand is worth every penny, just choose your colour and pattern wisely and treat yourself.
I recently got invited to visit the Brooks England factory in Smethwick, Birmingham as they were having an open weekend and conducting tours of the factory. Of course I accepted, especially as the premises is only a 14 mile pedal from my house using the extensive local canal system.
It wasn’t until I looked into the intinery and the history of the company that I realised what an opportunity this was. Brooks haven’t opened their factory to the public for over 150 years so this literally could be a once in a life time visit!
Brooks have a long long history in cycling, if you are seriously into your cycling then you have probably heard of Brooks and their leather saddles. If you are not into cycling at all and are asked to describe or draw a bicycle saddle i guarrantee you will picture the traditional Brooks B17 saddle that has been in continous production for over 100 years.
Brooks B17
It said that Brook’s founder John Boultbee Brooks, a horse saddle manufacturer since 1866 when the company was founded was unhappy at how the wooden saddle on his bike felt (we can all sympathise I’m sure) and decided he was going to make a better one out of leather and the first patent was filed in 1882. The company has been making saddles since then, it has been bought, sold, rescued and is now owned by Selle Royal who make all the non leather saddles in Italy but the Smethick factory continues to hand make saddles to this day.
The Day started with coffee and pastries in the factory loading bay and a tour of the bike makers and designers set up in the courtyard who were all known for their use of Brook’s saddles on their bikes. its the best coffee I’ve had in a loading bay ever! The factory is just how you’d expect one to look dating back that far, it could have been a movie set but all the old boxes and stock on the shelves were there for a reason, even the toilet block should be a listed building it was so authentic!
We then began the tour, guided by Steve who had been at the factory since he was 16 and he explained later he’s done pretty much every job in the factory from tea boy to machine press operator, even a stint in HR!
The tour progressed from the very vintage presses which were very loud to the cutting out of the leather which is soaked in water to soften it before it’s put into a press/shaper. Some of the machines were over 100 years old and i asked one of the guys, what happens when one of these machines that hasn’t been in production for so long breaks? He said, we just make a new part from scratch for it and if we can’t do it Birmingham’s renowned jewelry quarter is a couple of miles away and there are small factories there that can make anything you want.
Everything is done in house apart from the tanning of the leather which is done in Belgium. No UK company can cure the British hides to Brook’s exacting standards
The sights, sounds were outstanding but the smells in the factory were what made the experience so visceral.
we saw springs and saddle frames being bent into shape using, quite frankly lethal looking machines which undoubtedly back in the day didn’t have all the safety guards they do now attached to them.
we went from raw materials through to the finishing touch of riveting the Brooks logo, also stamped in house, to the saddles. At every stage there was a human operating the machinery, it was mass production but on a much smaller and personal scale than I’d expected before visiting.
As we walked around I took the time to chat to the staff working there and I asked one candidly if they were amused that all these people were interested to see and photograph all the small parts of what must be a mundane everyday job to them and he said, no, he was proud that there was interest and he loved being there and what they do, of the people i chatted to the shortest time working there was 16 years, so they must like it!
It was an incredible day, i can honestly say one of the best things I’ve done as part of running UKGRAVELCO, I could have stayed there watching the process all day and not been bored. totally not how i thought it would be. The day was so well organised, fascinating and the people so friendly, open and warm.
No robots, no CNC machines just skilled craft persons shaping metal and leather into some of the best cycling products on the market. What made it great for me was being able to chat to the people on the factory floor and despite it being their day job the enthusiasm and pride in the company came through.
You can get a bit blasé when you read the phrase “hand made” but now I know the true meaning and value of that label. With Brooks England though I think that also includes pride and maybe a little love in every product too.
Massive thanks to @brooksengland and @extra_uk for inviting me. you can see all the products that Brooks manufacture here Brooks england and if it doesn’t take another 150 years for them to open the factory to the public again make sure you are on that tour!
all the black and white professional pictures were taken by Dan Phillips Photography the less professional colour ones by me!
British brand Altura have long been known for good value practical clothing and kit. This season they have expanded their “all roads” collection and these items seem perfect for commuting, gravel biking and riding in general so to see if what’s written on paper is true I tried a few pieces out to see if they lived up to their billing.
altura all road cargo shortsaltura all road cargo shorts
All roads Cargo Shorts. First up then is an essential, in my opinion, part of any cyclists wardrobe if riding medium to long distance and that is a pair of padded shorts. I was a long time sceptic of bib shorts with pockets on the legs but since trying them I’ve become a complete convert and now wouldn’t consider a pair of bib shorts without some sort of storage option.
The Altura Cargo shorts actually have 5 pockets. two on one leg, one on the other, two rear pockets in a similar spot to where jersey pockets would be and also a loop at the rear which I found perfect to store an Altura rain pullover jacket.
The two pockets on one leg i found a perfect size to hold a phone and some gels and keep them separate from each other and the other side perfect for a bag of walkers! The two rear “jersey” pockets are sized just like jersey pockets so anything you’d be able to stuff in a top you’ll be able to fit here too. Bear in mind though that whatever you stow here will be nearer the heat of your body so chocolate bars are probably out but gels should be easier to swallow when warmer! Obviously if you put something heavy or unwieldy in the pockets they will drag the short legs down but trial and error is your friend here.
altura all road cargo shortsaltura all road cargo short pad
The pad in the shorts is comfortable for short and medium rides without any chamois cream for me, anything over 50 miles I’ll be slathering on the cream to stop any hot spots, but this is the same for any padded short regardless of cost.
The sizing is realistic, I usually take an XL to feel comfortable at over 6ft tall and XL in these shorts was spot on. numerous washes haven’t made the shorts baggy or tight so I can say with confidence they are worth a place in your wardrobe and may end up as your go to shorts.
All Roads Shorts At the other end of the spectrum are the Altura All Roads “baggy” shorts. I’ve put those quotation marks in as although the shorts are baggy compared to bib shorts they are quite fitted and so look “normal”, more quotes but what I mean is you could wear these as everyday shorts and no one would bat an eyelid. Ride to work and wear them all day or in the pub. Personally i’d add a padded short too if going any distance as these shorts have no padding. What they do have tough is a stretch fabric so pedalling is easy in them with no pulling.
altura all road shortsaltura all road shorts adjuster
The shorts have waist adjusters and three pockets. The rear is zipped for security and the two side pockets are very useable in that you can ride with a phone in the pocket without it interfering with pedalling action. The material is lovely and soft to the touch but maybe a little thick to wear on the hottest of days. Sizing again is realistic and large for me with a 34″ waist was spot on.
altura all road shortsaltura all road shorts and shirt
All Roads Cycling Shirt The ubiquitous check shirt, sometimes known as a flannel. Well Altura’s verion is not flannel at all. It’s a technical fabric more akin to a cycling jersey and is made of a polyester ripstop material, very handy when riding through the UK’s overgrown bridleway network. It has a lovely amount of stretch to the fabric has two chest pockets and snap button (or press-stud if you’re old enough) which makes venting on climbs very easy. Because it’s not flannel it folds up compactly so is great to stow away on your bike for pub stops or bike packing when you’ve made camp and are sitting around the fire…ok, maybe eating rehydrated cardboard dinners and hiding from midges but you know what I mean. The shirt also has some reflective detailing if the check pateern isn’t enough to get you noticed.
altura all road cycling shirtaltura all road cycling shirt front
A shirt like this should be in every riders kit as it’s so versatile and comfy to wear.
Altura Esker Cave Trail Hoody Hoodies for bike riding? doesn’t the hood just fill with air and act as a brake? sometimes yea in a high wind or speed situation but it really is just occasional and the benefits outweigh that drawback massively. The Altura Cave hoody (not sure what the Cave bit is about if i’m honest) is a soft feel jacket with high loft fleece areas on the chest and outer upper arms, just where windchill will make it’s presence felt. because of this it’s really an early or late in the day or an Autumn-winter-spring garment. The two zippered front pockets are big enough to stash a phone and the hoody is treated with a water repellent coating to shrug off spray and a light shower. And the hood? it’s actually elasticated so it’ll fit over a helmet and not fly off.
altura Esker hoodyinside altura Esker hoody
This hoody has been so comfortable and because the test period co-incided with the hottest spring for years has seen more use off the bike than on. That just shows it’s versatility though.
altura Esker hoody and all road shortsaltura Esker hoody and all road shorts
Altura Esker Waterproof Packable jacket Riding in the UK you will need a waterproof jacket at some point unfortunately. In my mind there are two types of waterproof cycling jacket. One that you wear when it’s already raining when you leave the house or one that you take with you, tucked away somewhere on you or the bike incase it starts raining when you are already mid ride. This Altura jacket is for the latter and it works pefectly in this respect as it is very packable and will fold away into it’s own pocket.
altura all roads waterproof jacketaltura all roads waterproof jacket
It is full waterproof with taped seams and has vents front and rear to aid breathability and an integrated hood. the hood has a drawstring adjuster to tailor the fit and prevent it blowing about. the jacket is cut for cycling and has sleeves that are longer to account for the cycling position. The cuffs are also partially elastic to stop draughts blowing up the sleeves. Again the fit is real world.
altura all roads waterproof jacketaltura all roads waterproof jacket and waterproof trousers
As with any waterproof jacket, even the most expensive, you will get warm riding in this jacket in warm humid conditions, that’s unavoidable but this jacket is no worse in that respect than jackets costing three times as much.
An essential waterproof jacket that takes up no room at all so you can take it with you for when you need it….and you will!
Altura All Roads Packable Waterproof Trousers Do you really need waterproof trousers? I’ve always thought this as all the waterproof leg wear I’ve tried in the past has been franly, horrible. Rustlely, clammy and hot is my experience with waterproof trousers so I put these on in trepidation, prepared to absolutely hate them but, what a revelation, these Altura waterproof trousers were truly excellent.
Altura All Roads Packable Waterproof TrousersAltura All Roads Packable Waterproof Trousers side zip
I picked a day when it had been raining for a couple of days and was still raining to give them a proper test. First thing to note is that the zip “fly” is off set to one side so no bunching up when you bend over and there’s a waist adjuster to get the fit just right. there’s also a side pocket that these trousers actually roll up into and are of small enough bulk to stash away on the bike making them perfect for bike packing or commuting.
Altura All Roads Packable Waterproof TrousersAltura All Roads Packable Waterproof Trousers
The main thing I loved about these trousers was the fit. most cycling trousers tend to not have the correct articulation at the knee and the pedalling action pulls the trousers down when the knee grips the fabric. No such thing happened here, even standing up i didn’t have to adjust the waist height everytime. The material has a waterproof coating which made water bead off them and despite riding for a couple of hours in the rain in them I didn’t feel like i was over heating.
Fit again is good but I’d like to improve a couple of things, first the length. I’d like the legs to be longer, when riding there was a gap between trouser leg hem and shoe. easily rectified with a waterproof sock btu if you were using these as an emergency rain stopper them water will run off them into your shoes. the other thing is also hem related. the hem is elasticated and this ensures minimal trouser-chain interfaces but they fit so well here it’s definately a shoe off situation to get them on in that emergency deluge situation.
Those two things are far outweighed by how good the trousers perform and also how quiet they are when pedalling. no annoying rustle of the fabric. Invest in some waterproof socks, buy a pair of these altura all roads waterproof trousers and go and play in the rain!
Altura Esker Eco Trail Trouser winter riding sucks right? Its cold, dark and motivation is at an all time low. bib tights are just not cutting it in the single digit temps. That’s my feeling anyway so I bought the old version of these trousers and wore them with bibs and knee warmers underneath and they kept me toasty and able to extend rides because of the warm and how comfortqble they were.
Altura Esker Eco Trail TrousersAltura Esker Eco Trail Trousers adjuster
I was keen to try this new version to see if they were still as good and what differences there might be. The ECO part of the name is the result of using recycled materials in the fabric. there’s a water repellent coating that works well and the fit is great. the waist is a wrap around design with the adjuster over to one side so it doesn’t stick in your belly when in the cycling position. The material has a great stretch to it and it doesn’t hamper pedalling at all. Altura say there’s enough room at the knee for low profile knee pads, not something I’ve ever used but this room means the knees are free to move and don’t pull the material down. the close fitting hem length means there’s no flapping that might put the material into the chain.
Altura Esker Eco Trail Trousers hemAltura Esker Eco Trail Trouser raised rear
The fit is just as good as the original pair i bought and they pedal equally as well. If you hate riding through nettles and brambles in summer then these trousers are your go to. Despite me wearing mine in winter i have tried them in more clement conditions just to see how they faired and you won’t feel like a grain of rice in a boil in the bag sachet. They also pack up fairly small too so definately an option for bike packing.
The Altura Esker trail trousers are still my favourite full length riding trews!
This is just the tip of Altura’s clothing iceberg, they do road specific , commuting and MTB stuff too but these pieces above seem to cross all genres and so fit gravel riding perfectly.
The Altura All roads and Esker clothing range is good value, has realistic, real human sizing and is carefully designed by people who know about UK riding. Definately check them out when looking for kit to go riding in.
here’s a link to altura’s website, it’s not an afiliate link so I don’t get any money for this review, I do however get to keep the kit that they sent to me, afterall, no-one would want those bib shorts now would they?……hmm, maybe of of those specialist websites!
Ultimate Sports Engineering (U.S.E) have been making bicycle components for many years, I had one of their suspension seatposts on my mountain bike back in the 1990s. Together with the other arm of the business, Exposure lights, they have a well earned great reputation for well thought out and reliable components with excellent after sales service too.
I tested the modern equivalent of that original seatpost and you can read it here U.S.E now have a suspension stem in their line up and I was lucky enough to be sent one for a few weeks to try out.
The stem is available in two lengths currently, 70 and 90mm and unlike other similar stems on the market is rated for use on drop or flat bars. It is constructed of aluminium, weighs194g for the 70mm version I tested It consists of one main pivot point that squeezes a changeable elastomer that allows the stem to move up to 20mm. The stem also has adjustment for rebound and compression, something I’ve not seen on any other suspension stem I’ve tried so far.
The first thing to say is that it looks like an ordinary stem, which to my mind makes it a much better prospect than some of the huge parallelogram style suspension stems on the market which are quite ugly in my opinion. When riding and you look down it looks good and is not something you’d want to hide!
As with most suspension stems, you need to dial in the stem to suit your weight and riding preferences. U.S.E. include 4 interchangeable elastomers that allow you to do this. The stem does have to be taken apart to swap the elastomers though. Happily there is a comprehensive guide included in the box and it’s on actual paper! no downloads needed. It’s pretty straightforward to swap, just make sure you put the stem back together as the U.S.E. guide states. U.S.E. also include a little tub of grease in the box which is a great touch.
Set up with a yellow elastomer as per the rider weight guide and all bolts tightened to the correct torque I went for a series of rides to test out the stem, I’ve included a video below that shows the stem in action, please take a look (and subscribe to my youtube channel if possible, it’s free!)
So, does the U.S.E. Vybe suspension stem work, well yes and no. Firstly and this is the same as with any “suspension” stem, do not think of it as suspension like a suspension fork, it dampens the vibrations coming off the trail through your front wheel and rigid fork, it doesn’t suspend the rider from big hits. What it does by dampening those vibrations is reduce fatigue on you hands, arms, shoulders and upper body allowing you to ride further and recover more quickly. The U.S.E. Vybe stem does this brilliantly but there is one drawback and this is affected by your riding style.
Because the pivot point on the stem is very near the steerer of the fork the nearer your hands are to that pivot the less the stem moves. What this means when riding on drop bars is that the maximum compliance of the stem is achieved when riding on the hoods. Riding with hands on the drops and therefore further back than on the hoods mens the stem moves significantly less. So if like me you spend a lot of time on the drops for technical descending then you won’t really benefit from having that 20mm of travel. If you ride on the hoods you’ll get much more cushioning as you move along. So pedalling long sections of rough trail like forest fireroads or towpaths that are ridden on the hoods is where the stem really shines. I know for a lot of riders this is exactly what gravel riding is. Others like myself who don’t have that kind riding on our doorsteps and ride XC trails will find less benefit.
Since posting this review I’ve had messages from readers who have seen reviews of the stem where the main pivot bolt came loose during a ride. I can say for the 4+ weeks the stem was on my bike over various rides that bolt remained tight.
The Ultimate Sports Engineering Vybe Suspension stem is a well made and thoughfully designed component with added features over other similar stems on the market. If you are a fireroad/towpath/rough bridleway and typical UK pot holed road rider then it’s an excellent way to reduce fatigue and lengthen time in the saddle. if you push the boundaries of what a gravel bike is supposed to do it maybe of less benefit but who doesn’t ride all the above to get to the juicy challenging routes? Might as well take advantage of that suspension for those section as it won’t hinder you on the downs!
you can find more information about the U.S.E. stem on their website here
Restrap is a British company who have been producing bike packing bags and accessories since 2010. The company started from a bedroom in the North of England.
Now anyone who knows Northern England will know all to well that they get, and I’ll describe it generously as, “mixed” weather up there. So, they should know a thing or two about what works on a bicycle in those varied conditions. Restrap have had saddle bags in their range for many years but recently introduced some new models a 2.4ltr and a 4.5ltr bag. i was lucky enough to be contacted by Restrap and they asked me to give my opinion on the new models.
Restrap saddle packRestrap saddle pack dropper post
I plumped for the 4.5ltr version in a green colour (to match my Fustle Causeway) but they are available in black and orange too. Made from super hard wearing 1000d cordura nylon material the bag looks quality from the outset, it is also easy to wipe clean. The part of the bag in line with potential spray from the rear wheel is coated with a TPU rubber for extra water protection and the interior is seam sealed to keep 100% of any moisture out. The interior material is also a bright orange colour which makes finding items inside the bag in varying light conditions much easier than if it was the usual black colour.
Fixing the bag to the bike is very easy. It has straps and buckles that fit over the saddle rails and a rubber strap with a sponge spacer to fit around the bike’s seat post. All these straps can be snugged right down to fit the bag neatly under the saddle, minimising movement. the straps can be neatly tucked away too with the supplied plastic clips making for a very neat surplus strap solution.
The saddle bag has a roll top and this means if you have only a small cargo to carry you can cinch it right down to stop any baggyiness and of course if you have a lot of kit you can do the smallest amount of roll and really stuff the contents in and it’ll still be secure. The bag closure features a lovely fidlock magnetic clasp that emits a very satisfying click when it engages.
Although Restrap don’t mention it on their website the back will work with a dropper post. I’d recommend taping the post where the strap sits though.
On the bike and fully loaded the bag has impeccable manners, there’s very little side to side “wag” even when i deliberately put the heaviest items to the back of it. check out the video below to see it in action. it’s not a quick access bag as it sits out back, but if you wanted to replace a bar bag and just run a top tube bag for essentials it would be ideal. the fact that it easily detaches means if you are touring and need to take the bag with you into accomodation it’s straightforward and convienient. On that note, it’s not really a long distance bike packing bag unless you are one of those riders who can ride ultra events on 1 mars bar and 2 hours sleep in a hedge! For the rest of us it’s a great day ride or “credit card” touring bag where you carrying minimal kit and travel between B&Bs/AirB&B etc and aren’t carrying a tent and cooking paraphernalia.
Restrap saddle pack est 2010Restrap saddle pack proudly made in the UK
the Restrap saddle bag is hard to review really as there aren’t any downsides. it’s always nice to suggest an improvement or a short coming and the bag doesn’t have these. I’m reluctant to say it’s boring, maybe drama-less is a better description as it just gets on with the job,…. if i think hard maybe it’s lacking a loop to attach a rear light as it’ll probably cover your seat post, the traditional spot for a light but really that’s just nit picking.
The Restrap saddle bag is made of quality materials with years of design experience learnt in true British conditions built in. it’s even great value when you look at other bags of similar size. there aren’t any downsides*
here’s a link to the Restrap website for this bag Restrap 4.5ltr please note this is not an affiliate link. i don’t get any kick back (£) from this review so you can be assured it’s a genuine one.
please check out the videp that goes alongside this review and please take the time to subscribe to my youtube channel, it’s absolutely free to do so!
*the only downside is i’ll have to probably send it back to Restrap!
Restrap launched their all new saddle bag at this year’s Core bike show and I was lucky enough to get one to try out. this is the 4.5l version, there’s a smaller 2.5l bag too. with easy fixing, the sublime fidlock fastening and a waterproof lining it has the potential to be a great saddle pack. I’ll be abusing it over the next few weeks so make sure you subscribe to UK gravel collective on YouTube and ukgravelco.com to see how it fares.
I know there are mixed opinions on suspension stems, in fact I think they shouldn’t be called suspension stems at all but here’s a quick look at Ultimate Sports Engineering (the guys behind exposure lights) Vybe “suspension” stem
This is going to sound obvious, but wheels are the most important part of a bicycle, after all it wouldn’t be a bi-cycle if it didn’t have a minimum of two wheels right? However the humble wheelset is often over looked when buying a bike. The shiny flamboyant (or drab, your choice obvs) paint job is the first thing you see right before you check out the gears and brake groupset that is on your potential purchase. Well, here’s the thing, bike manufacturers know this and so a fancy paint scheme and a chi-chi rear derailleur are added to turn the buyers head. The reality is the hidden bits, the bottom bracket, the finishing kit (handlebars, stem, seatpost etc) are never going to be more then functional unless you are spending a LOT of money. This is fine, all these parts are easily replaceable or upgradable in the future lifetime of bike ownership, they get the job done to start you off.
Unfortunately this lower standard of component also extends to those very important hoops that are your interface with the terrain you are riding on (apart from tyres, again, easily upgradeable when they wear out) and this is a shame as a good set of wheels can really improve the ride of a bicycle. Most original equipment wheels will come with basic bearings, heavy hubs and rims and may or may not be tubeless compatible should you choose to run without inner tubes.
So one of the first things I’d suggest you upgrade on a bike is the wheelset but this is going to be more expensive than swapping out a saddle or handlebars, not everyone is made of money so what you need to look for is affordability, build qualilty, ease of maintenance and ride characteristics.
Most of those wheels that come on a new bike will have been put together on a wheel building machine, these are wonderous things that literally take minutes to go from a set of hubs, spokes and rims to a fully built wheel and there maybe a cursory quality control check at the end of that production line but they will have been built to a price and will be nowhere near the quality or have the attention to detail afforded to them that a set of hand built wheels do. But hand built wheels cost mega bucks…dont they?
CES sport came to my attention when they followed me on instagram, I’ll admit it was the first I’d heard of the company and I did a bit of internet searching and read their bio and saw that after supplying wheels to the triathlon community they had branched out into gravel with their “Graean” wheelset. Unusual name you think to yourself, well not if you hail from Wales, which is where CES Sport is based “Graean” is the Welsh word for Gravel! I messaged Joe, the founder of the company and asked if he was willing to send a pair of wheels for review, with the usual caveat that It would be a honest review and that given the state of my local trails the wheels were not going to get an easy life. Joe was fully confident in the wheels and sent a pair out to me.
I asked that the only thing they should come with was tubeless valves as I intended to mount my own tyres. this is because I have a working knowledge of how those tyres behave so as not to muddy the water of the wheel review by getting used to a new tyre’s handling characteristics. I added tubeless tape, sealant and a pair of WTB Resolutes and then swapped rotors and cassette from my usual wheels, but before this I weighed both wheels (with valves) and they came out at 1670g. exactly the weight claimed on the CES Sport website, this was a first for a review!
There’s a choice when you buy the wheels of having Bitex hubs or DT Swiss 350 hubs, I let Joe choose these and they came with the DT Swiss. These hubs ran smoothly throughout the test period although they did freak me out a little as I’m used to the loud buzz of Hope hubs and the DT Swiss were near silent. Talking of which, these deep section 35mm rims were also silent. A lot of deep section carbon road rims emit a frankly horrific rumble on tarmac that you can hear from miles away. (how you can ride with that noise I do not know) maybe it’s the higher volume tyres on a gravel bike that quiet them down but either way I was relieved at this characteristic.
The rims are 25mm across internally and 32mm across externally. My 42mm tyres seated first time with a track pump and sat with a pleasing round profile. The rims are not hookless so you are not confined to a few compatible tyres. They are built with Sapin j-bend spokes and brass nipples….yes! This may not mean anything to you but it ensures the wheels are easy to maintain, spokes are easy to source if you break one and the nipples are external. Too many wheelsets have fancy, hard to find proprietory bladed spokes. They have aluminium nipples that can corrode (react with the steel spoke) and break and the nipples are sometimes hidden in the rim meaning its a tyre off scenario just to true a wheel. This approach by CES is to be applauded, it may add a few grams but I’d rather have ease of maintenance any day.
So on paper they sound good but how did they ride? Well I did not give them an easy life at all. My local trails are already hub deep in mud in places, soft ground and bridleways heavily used by our horsey friends see to this so they’ve had a baptism of fire mud. Mix this with a liberal scattering of leaves and a close fitting front mudguard and this saw the rim walls scaped with all sorts of trail detritus. I’m writing this in the garden now looking at the wheels drying in the pathetic bit of sun we have today after being washed and they look absolutely unscathed…..apart from a slight peel on a sticker, I’m told though that this is the demo wheelset and the stickers will be different on production rims.
The wheels are noticably stiffer than my usual aluminium rimmed wheels, out of the saddle flinging the bike from side to side to try and flex them there was no tyre rub on that close fitting mudguard, something that is very noticable on my normal wheels. It gives you the feeling that all the effort you put on the pedals is being transfered into forward motion. I did drop the pressures of the tyres by a couple of psi as at 32-35 on really rocky ground it did become bumpy but that seemed to do the trick and they became as comfortable as my usual wheels but without any squirmy feeling.
When you ride a wheelset for the first time after its been built the spokes tend to ping and bang a bit as they seat and you should check for trueness, these wheels through did not do that. This I put down to attention to detail from the builders. This is the difference between those bog standard wheels that come on your new bike and a set of hand built wheels, someone has taken the time to check their work and taken pride in doing so. Yes, the components are off the shelf, the rims are almost certainly built to spec in China (the DT Swiss hubs almost certainly are) but here they are chosen for a job rather than the price point being the be and end all, the fact that this set of wheels come in at an affordable, compared to other carbon wheels, price of less than £1200 (less than £950 for the other hubs) makes them stand out of the crowd.
The CES Sport Graean Carbon wheelset rides and works well, They are easy to maintain, are comfortable but still stiff and with the build quality and ease of tubeless set up I can’t think of a downside……oh no wait, If they had a stealthier sticker they’d be spot on, I guess thats the triathlon influence!
you can find more details on the CES Sport website here (not an affiliate link)
Checkout the video review of the wheels below, If you like or dislike this video please take the time to subscribe to my YouTube channel. It costs nothing but makes a huge difference to me
I’ve been called many things over the years but probably the most annoying is that I’m an “influencer” Now you might say as I publish online reviews, you tube videos and have a instagram following that that is exactly what I am and up to a point I suppose you are right and also wrong, let me explain.
Back in 2018 I was working in the bike industry, selling and fixing bikes in a local bike shop. These new fangled “gravel bikes” had started to be a thing. Of course I wanted one and even tried to get as near to the concept as I could by adapting a hard tail MTB with narrow tyres and a rigid fork. A year later I was lucky enough to be allowed to ride the shop demo gravel bike, a Trek Checkpoint (check the dropdown above for a review of that bike) which I absolutely loved. At that time there were so many companies that were jumping on that gravel band wagon it was really confusing for the ordinary rider to know what was good, what was essential and what just wasn’t fit for purpose. No one really has the cash to throw away on a bike or product that the media tell you you need but in reality is so far from quality or purpose that you might as well just set fire to your pound notes (remember real money?)
So I decided to start UKGRAVELCO on instagram to share my pictures and repost others snaps to inspire people to ride and quite frankly to find people to ride with. I started to be inundated with messages asking my opinion on this or that bike, that wheelset, what should i wear etc etc you get the picture. At the time there was a lot of media attention for gravel, lots of articles online and in magazines (they existed back then!) and many pro riders and those with lots of followers recommending kit. All well and good you might think. However, working in the industry I’d had some of that kit that’d been recommended as essential in my hands and well I didn’t agree. It was then I launched ukgravelco.com to try and give an honest, balanced look and review on some of these items.
I started with bikes or kit I already owned and knew that worked or didn’t and this proved popular. I gained followers at a fast rate and traffic to the website was good. I was able to show this data and contacted a few companies and distributors to see if I could review some of their kit, always with the premise that it was at their risk. If i liked the product I would say so, but also if I thought it was lacking I’d put that in print too. It was a risky move, but I wasn’t doing it to make a living from the reviews, I was doing it to help others and yea, it was fun too. Luckily quite a few companies and marketing people had confidence in their products and sent them to me to try out.
“i bet you get to keep all that stuff you get sent” is a sentence I hear a lot and the answer is yes and a definate no. Understandibly no one wants clothing or shoes back after I’ve worn them for a few weeks, especially bib shorts! Bikes and wheels definately have to go back and a few times at my expense too. I’ve also agreed to review kit I can give away in a competition afterwards either in a straight free competiton with a random winner or by buying a ticket where all the profits go to a charity or good cause such as Nil’s Rider Resilience project.
“How much do you get paid to review stuff?” honestly, nothing, not a thing. Now this is really what inspired me to write this article really. This was because I recieive quite a lot of offers of product that comes with a ready written script from the manufacturer, that script is what they want you to write about their stuff. Basically a glowing review before I’ve even had the product in my hands. This comes usually with a sweetner of keeping the item or the promise of commission. I’ve even had emails asking how much I charge for a positive review! Needless to say I’ve always declined these offers. So have peace of mind that all the reviews on ukgravelco have not been paid for upfront or scripted by someone with a vested interest in having a good review.
I reviewed the ASS Saver Win-Wing last year after writing an email to see if they would send me one to review. I loved it, it’s such a simple idea that really works. I wrote a review and made a a video that got lots of attention. When Ass Savers produced the mark 2 win-wing they asked if I’d like to try one out to see the differences between the original and the new one. Of course I said yes. they liked the ensuing video so much they shared it and offered me a discount code to share with my followers. This was post review and not before it was written/filmed. This was something new to me and it came with what the industry calls a “kick back” This meant every time someone used my code ( GARYW_10 ) they would get 10% off their order and I would get a small percentage of that discount, This was a dilemma, would this compromise my neutrality? I decided that as i believed in the product so much and would recommend it anyway I would agree to it. After all the website hosting and domain does not pay for itself, plus a lot of the products I review I’ve paid for in full from my own money. So full disclosure, for one Ass Saver sale of £20.34 i receive £2.85.
All this is handled by an affiliate company. Usually an advertisement company or media company who handle publicity/promo codes and links for many companies at once. The company that handle ass-savers send out the codes and handle commission, if any and that’s not guaranteed. Most times when you see a link to a product at the end of a review it’s an affiliate link, if you click on it then either the reviewer or the website that is paying the reviewer to write the review gets a percentage kick back. This is why I’ve started putting a disclaimer next to any link I post that it isn’t an affiliate link.
It was while browsing the extensive list of companies on the affiliate website that I noticed that a good many of the accounts of “influencers” I follow on instagram had nearly all the cycling affiliate offers listed on their accounts. In some cases it was almost a carbon copy of the list. Taking a closer look at their content where they are saying “look at what I’ve been sent/this is the best thing ever” etc etc and seeing the long list of discount codes and links in their bio they are getting a kick back for every one. Honestly half the stuff listed i would not even give the light of day too. I get sent an email if there’s a new affiliate opportunity and It’s become a ritual to go to this account and see how long before they announce that they can’t live without that particular product and oh, here’s a discount code so you don’t miss out.
Is this influencing? I guess it is. I feel it’s wrong and this is why I do not like being called an influencer. I’ve had chats with a few cycle industry companies recently about reviewing the latest products and in all cases I own items they’ve produced in the past already, paid for with my own money and the subject of earning a kick back for reviewing their product has come up and I’ve said that I believe in their product and that I’d recommend it anyway regardless of kick back.
This is the only way I can go forward, I can’t continue reviewing without being totally honest. If there’s any offer code then I’ll be upfront about any kick back and I won’t be agreeing to that until I’ve properly seen and tested the item.
So choose your influencer carefully, there are genuine reviewers out there that will only take kick back on products they really believe can make a difference to your riding but unfortunately there are those who clearly are only in it for the money.
This may be old news to you, it may open your eyes and make you look at any review or influencer with a pinch of salt and if it’s the latter it’s been worthwhile writing this. No pictures on this one as I didn’t think it was fair to use unrelated pictures just to fill out the article and implicate any company, product or dare I say influencer wrongly
if you’d like to support these honest reviews and ukgravelco.com then please consider following this page, the instagram channel, subscribing to the youtube channel all of which are free to do or buying something from the ukgravelco shop, links below, non of which are affiliate
Brooks saddles have always scared me. Tales of having to do long rides to break in the leather top, the spanner that came with them to adjust the spring underneath to stretch or relieve the pressure on that top and the well, lets face it, the retro bygone era look of the things all contribute to asthetically make me not want to go near one with my tender under parts!
Well Grandad I hear you say (and probably Brooks reading that paragraph) things have moved on. Brooks have evolved and moved with the times. They do of course still produce those hand made leather saddles and I concede that once the breaking in period has passed and the saddle has molded itself to your undercarriage they are probably the comfiest saddle out there. However, who in the modern world has time to go through all that discomfort? I have to hold down a day job and also have the every day humdrum chores that we all do so my riding window is small and I need to make the most of it by jumping on the bike and go riding.
The Brooks Cambium range of saddles is their solution to those of us without the time to break in new parts (or break our own doing it) and shock horror it isn’t even made of leather!!! No the Cambium has a vulcanised rubber cover so no worries about water damage or having to treat the material to protect it. Wash and go at the same time as you clean the bike. It has tubular steel rails and aluminium rivets.
Yes rivets, you see Brooks haven’t abandonned the traditions completely. The saddle is still designed to have the “hammock” effect of the original saddle, the top is still riveted together but with anodised aluminium rather than copper rivets and it even has a traditional twin fitting for a saddle bag, such as Brooks’s own or something like a carradice waxed cotton one. Lets not stray too far into the past though, as sunlit and glorious in a rough stuff fellowship kind of way it might be. Make no mistake the Cambium is a well thought out modern saddle that has been designed for commuting, road riding, world travel, gravel biking & bikepacking in all weather conditions.
The 17 part of the name represents the width, Brooks produce a 15 and a 19 in these and their other saddles. I went with 17 as it was closest to the width of saddle I’m most used to. I received a “carved” version which means there is a cut out in the middle designed to add pressure relief and more flex for long hours in the saddle. The rails will fit any modern seatpost and theres is no tension adjustment for the top.
The ride then does not match what my preconceived ideas forecast. To my eyes it looks uncomfortable and hard. This though is as far from the truth as it’s possible to get! The saddle feels like you are easing into your favourite armchair. The first few rides I found the flex a little disconcerting and I thought I could feel the cut out move and close together a little as i sat down but I think this was entirely psychosomatic as it didn’t interfere with any of my delicate parts at all. I didn’t find this flex affected the ride though, there’s no bouncing pogo stick like over rough ground but I could tell the difference from my regular saddle. The ride wasn’t as harsh, its no substitute for a suspension seatpost (or full suspension bike) by any means but it does help with that trail chatter and that has got to help with fatigue over a long ride.
Brooks C17 carved rivetsBrooks C17 carved saddle bag mount
I’ve used this saddle over the summer and now into the wet autumn…..who am I kidding, the summer was nearly as wet! The rubber saddle cover has proved durable and actually doesn’t look like its been used at all! It shrugs off water and a quick wash with a sponge or hose cleans off any residual mud or grit completely. After multiple rides the only thing I think I’d change if I was to buy one of these saddles is to go with the narrower C15. This is because I’ve mostly been using the saddle on a bike with a standard seatpost, not a dropper post so going downhill I’ve had to get my weight and myself behind the saddle in the old fashioned way and the slightly wider rear of the saddle has made this a process I’ve had to concentrate more on than if it was narrower. The fact that this method of riding with a rigid post is the only old fashioned thing about the saddle is not lost on me given my first two paragraphs. I think I’d go with one of the colours too, black is rather too traditional!
The Brooks England C17 saddle, there for the long haul rides with armchair comfort and lasting looks
you can find out more details from Brooks England (not an affiliate link)*
*if you’d like to support these reviews and ukgravelco.com then please consider following this page, the instagram channel, subscribing to the youtube channel all of which are free to do or buying something from the ukgravelco shop, links below
The very first thing I noticed when I received this bottle from the team at Lyon Cycles, the distributor of Hydrapak was the “removes 99.99% of ecoli and parasitic cysts” boast on the pack. Who knew there were cysts lurking out there to make your day less fun?
I will be the first to admit that I am not the worlds most prolific bike packer, I tend to like to ride between B&Bs and hotels with a clean water source rather than wild camp in a tent, bivi or bush and use streams to replenish my water supply.
Luckily I ride with people who do love that sort of riding so I was able to give them the Breakaway + bottle to try out in the environment it was designed for.
Tim is a veteran of the Tour Divide and numerous Silk road races and will be using the Breakaway + bottle in next years Atlas mountain race. He along with Maria spent a weekend in the Elan Valley in Wales on a route that even though was not far from civilisation can get pretty remote and definately doesn’t include shops to top up your water supply. they also had an over night stop in a bothy so wouldn’t be carrying enough liquid for drinking and cooking with them. Ideal then to try out the bottle filter system.
here’s the message I got from Tim
A picture paints a thousand words so they say…how about a picture of some words? Anyway I’m sure you get the gist but lets have a look at the bottle in action. This was filmed on that Welsh trip with the Breakaway+ being used with water from a stream
I can confirm that Tim and Maria are very much still alive and well and have had no side effects from using the filter bottle and Tim has continued to use the system on his ultra rides ever since.
The filter will filter 1 litre of water per minute and is good for 1500 litres before its recommended to be replaced. Spare filters are readily available. The bottle itself is very squeezeable making the whole operation very easy even with freezing cold hands or big thick gloves. The cap also includes a cover to stop the drinking nozzle from being covered in spray (the hydrapak website does describe it as a dust cover…..dust! how i laughed!) the whole system, bottle and filter weighs just 114g.
To quote Tim again “I’ve used a few (filter bottles) and this is the best one I’ve ever used” you can’t say fairer than that.
more details can be found at the Hydrapak website (not an affiliate link)*
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I recently noticed that Lake shoes had produced a cycling shoe that they had promoted as adventure ready. It looked a very interesting design and having had Lake shoes in the past, most notably their winter boot which has lasted for 8 years so far I really wanted to try them out. I shot the team at lake a DM and they agreed to send a pair out for me to review.
I’ll start first with sizing and this is because Lake are one of the few companies that manufacture cycling shoes that offer different widths, narrow, regular and wide. The fitting guide on the lake website is excellent, theres even a tutorial on how to measure your own feet. This involves a piece of paper, a tape measure, a pen and of course your feet! I measured mine and took advice from the guys at Lake. I usually take a EU44 and mostly find that size comfortable in most shoe brands. Lake suggested going a half size bigger with a narrow fit. I left the colour up to them, secretly hoping for the white pair as they’d stand out for the photos.
My wishes came true and a white pair of MX30Gs turned up and well, this is going to sound silly but they looked even brighter in real life than on the website. Maybe it was a bit of rare sunshine glinting on them that day, but they were a bit dazzling!
I was sent the clarino microfibre upper version, there is also a mesh version. I think the version sent is best for UK conditions. The material looks robust and equally importantly it looks like it would wipe clean easily. Which given the nature of UK riding (mud, more mud, water and if we’re lucky one day of sunshine) is a very important feature, especially when your shoes are that white! The toe box has extra material around it for reinforcement to take any knocks and the rubber sole extends slightly upward at the toe for more protection and to aid traction if walking. The heel is padded but not bulky and the tongue is soft and comfortable. The shoe is secured to your foot via two BOA dials, these have lots of adjustment by twisting one way or the other and release quickly when removing them. its easy to reach down and adjust the fit while riding too, an advantage the BOA system has over laces.
The sole is 100% carbon with rubber lugs to aid traction and the addition of two stud placements allows for an enhanced level of grip if needed. The cleat pocket is generously wide allowing lots of mud room.
The sole is plain carbon but there’s a little rubber coverage between the heel and cleat section. The cleat fitment section of the sole is fairly long and I was able to pull the cleat far enough back for me to feel comfortable. I’m definately a ball of the foot over the pedal axle kind of rider rather than on the toes so this was good news, so many other shoe brands don’t have this adjustbility
The Ride, i’ll be honest and say that when I took these shoes out of the box I was a little bit intimidated. The colour was the first thing. I always think if you’re going to stand out this much then your riding had better live up to the aura of greatness your shoes are emitting! The other was the level of stiffness. Grabbing the shoe by the toe and the heel and trying to bend the sole was an exercise in futility. These babies do not flex!
On my feet I found the sizing spot on, the micro adjustability of the BOA system was fantastic and they feel really comfortable. On the bike, the large cleat pocket meant clipping in and out of the pedals was easy and even in the mud they performed flawlessly, not clogging once. The rubber strip across the arch of the shoe is excellent to see, too many carbon or stiff soled shoes miss this out to get a lighter weight but this little strip of rubber can save your bacon. Unclipping for a tight turn and getting back on the pedal sometimes ends in missing the pedal with the cleat and you end up with the wrong part of your shoe on the pedal. A plain carbon arch means you can slip off the pedal in a panic moment (see also rocks, roots etc too). The MX30G offers up that extra grip here that could get you out of a sticky situation before you re-establish accurate contact with the pedal.
Power transfer, as you’d expect with a sole this stiff is direct. You feel like all your effort is going towards propelling the bike forward. Despite this stiffness I didn’t experience any heel slip which I’m guessing is all down to how well they fit and the shape of the heel. This though does have its downside. Walking is a bit of a chore, entering a cafe you will get the walking like a penguin effect and this also tells you how the shoe would feel if your route contains a good slice of hike-a-bike. The material the shoes are made of has proved to be hard wearing, shaking off all the knocks of off road riding and yes, they clean up well despite a liberal coating of mud and various farm yard effluents! I’ve bashed the BOA dials of roots and a gate post and they’ve remained as good as the first ride
Lake describe the MX30G as “pure and simple off-road adventure shoe” which I think is a little innaccurate, maybe pure and simple gravel race shoe would be better. This is all down to the stiffness. The all day comfort is there definately but that’s if you stay in the saddle. Prolonged walking would be a bit of a chore purely for the lack of flex in the sole. Lake’s other gravel shoe the MX238 is probably a better bet for bike packing (and cafes) with its “built in walkability“.
So it all comes down to what you want your shoe to do because material, comfort, durability and looks wise I can’t fault the MX30G shoe, it’s really, really good. My only criticism is of that one sentence on the lake website which might be a little misleading or maybe it’s just my idea of an adventure is different to theirs.
Oh and it also comes in a more subtle blue colour!
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Way back in the summer I took a trip up to Manchester to visit the Bespoke Bicycle Show which was hosted in Victoria Baths. It was a lovely venue, if a bit delapidated. The show it self was a shadow of its former self when it was in Bristol but there were some interesting exhibitors non the less. After an argument in the carpark I popped into the baths and immediately went straight into the deep end of the pool, thankfully this is where the show was and no, it wasn’t under water!
I was drawn to one exhibitor straight away though, I say exhibitor because stood by a wooden table, a table that was conspicuously empty of anything apart from a Japanese guy who was leaning on it looking a bit lost. Turns out his name was Koh and he owns and runs Equipt-Japan. Frustratingly for him, he had made it all the way to Manchester but his stock hadn’t. It was still in transit and he was hoping it would arrive by day two of the show! Not ideal, what was ideal though was that the only UK stockist of his items was Keep Pedalling in Manchester and he’d raided their display and had one example each of his multitool, the Sardine and a pedal spanner, the Cucumber. We stood and chatted and he offered to send me two of his tools when he got back to Japan. a few weeks later a package arrived at my doo containing a Sardine and a Cucumber…..
The Cucumber is one hefty lump of machined aluminium and because of this it’s a workshop or back of the car/van tool rather than a carry with you item. It has a 6mm and 8mm bit at one end , these pivot making it easy to use at different angles. Perfect for through axles or pedal fitting or removal
There’s not a lot to say, it works perfectly, has enough leverage for the most stubborn of pedals but the shape also allows a little finesse when using as an axle tightener/loosener. It comes in a miriad of colours, one of which is green and in my opinion that colour is the only thing that resembles a cucumber. Name aside though its an efficient tool and something that will definately stand out in your tool box.
The Sardine on the other hand is a different kettle of fish (yes, i did that on purpose and I’m probably going to have to explain it to Koh) it is a mutltitool designed to be with you on every ride. This is where the shape (it’s not fish shaped at all) is a winner. the long thin profile makes it sit in any bar, frame, saddle or top tube bag very neatly. if you don’t want to hide it away though it comes with a plastic mount that will sit behind a bottle cage or any two bolt mounts on your frame. I put this one on the top tube as it made taking pictures easy, in real riding I wouldn’t mount it there as I might catch it with my knee given my knee-in riding style.
The Sardine comes with 3, 4, 5, 6 and torx T25 bits that swivel out of the ends or from the middle. The middle one also locks into the plastic bike mount via a notch. The tool is very useful, as any multitool is but where it wins for me is that the shape means it’s not bulky like a lot of multitools and you can actually get some leverage unlike a lot of tools that have stubby little allen keys on them. It doesn’t have a chain splitter but I’ve yet to use a chain splitter on a multitool that I haven’t sworn or shouted at so I’m actually happy that I’d have to take a separate tool for that. It weighs around 40g so there’s no weight penalty for the length of it (95mm) the swivel bits mean you can hold it like a pen/screw driver or grip the handly like a spanner. Try doing that with a foldable tool that is designed to be folding or small rather than having function as its prime goal.
This leverage came in handy tightening an errant disc rotor bolt up when out riding.
Both the Cucumber and Sardine are not cheap coming in at £89 and £55 each but if you want something a little different to the normal run of the mill tools to stand out in your bike tool kit or on your bike then spend the extra because not only do they look good they also work too.
How do you secure your bikes when traveling in a vehicle? Personally I’d rather not use a car/van at all but we are not all lucky enough to have fabulous riding right from our door. Even if you do have great singletrack on your doorstep you can get bored of it, especially in winter. So, you’ll need at some point to travel with your bike.
Up until now I’ve been bungy cording mine to the side of the van, which is ok but not ideal as the bike can slip and if you have more than one bike in there they can rub together. I was looking for a solution and came across Bikestow.com which looked interesting. I then checked their contact details and found they were situated only 20 minutes from my shed! I dropped them a line and they very graciously offered and trusted me to review a demo Original 3 bike rack.
I popped over to their unit in Stourbridge and got a tour of the workshop (i have to comment how clean and well organised it looked) and chatted to one of the owners. They were about to leave for the Ardrock event in Yorkshire so after a quick demo on how to use the rack it was in the back of my van and I was home pcking for my own trip to Norfolk.
The racks are made from exterior grade birch plywood so it ok if your tyres are wet when the bikes go in. All the shapes are CNC cut with a very high standard of finish. All smooth edges and straight lines (not like my attempts at jigsawing I can tell you!) and this was a demo unit so has been used and abused by lots of different riders and press. It folds out from absolutely flat to a triange design and clips into position using magnets, very easy to use. See the video below for a better understanding of how simple but effective this design is. The rack is then secured in the vehicle with two tie down straps using the anchor points bolted into the floor.
you then undo the little knob on the aluminium slider, lift it up until you can slide your bike wheel in, slide the slider down over the tyre, tighted the knob and it doesn’t need to be tight at all and thats it!
When you get back from the trip, reverse the process, remove bike, unto tie straps, fold the bikestow rack completely flat and remove from vehicle and store in your shed/garage/under the bed until its needed again.
Anyone who has driven in Norfolk will know that they don’t seem to like main roads over there, either that or my sat-nav was on the blink. We seemed to spend the entire time driving down twisty narrow lanes with hair pin bends and stop-starting to give way to huge lorries nad tractors weighed down with hay bales. This gave the Bikestow rack a proper workout and i’d removed the bulkhead not long before so any rattles or noise was going to be easy to detect. I had two gravel bikes in the rack, toe to tail next to each other and didn’t hear a peep out of either of them. I have to say I was very impressed.
I’ve also tried mountain bikes in the Bikestow rack and they work perfectly too, in fact the rack will take up to 2.6″ 29er tyres and the website does show a + option too which takes up to 5″ tyres for the fat bike riders! I used the space between the rack sides to stow (see what I did there) a tack pump, shoes, helmets and a bag of kit too so no space was wasted.
Products and ideas get overcomplicated and they work but with lots of setting up and fuss. No one wants to spend hours constructing a bike rack and having to find somewhere to store it between rides, we want maximum saddle time in our busy lives.
The Bikestow Bike Rack is a simple idea that really works, easy to use, very secure and folds away for storage. It will maximise your saddle time and make your life simpler. Now I’ve just got to decide if I want a two or Three bike version!
check out my youtube review below to seethe Bikestow rack in action, oh and if you could subscribe to my youtube channel that would be awesome. It costs you nothing but helps me approach companies like bikestow to review kit for you to see and save you forking out hard earned cash for someting that might not suit you.
I absolutely love the fidlock clasp and bottle holder on the recently reviewed Collins Cycle Works Hip Pack so I was happy when Ison Distribution sent me a fidlock bottle and toolbox to try out.
Both items come with a magnet embedded strip of plastic that I guess you could say takes the place of the traditional bottle cage. Of course though there’s no “cage”. Both the bottle and toolbox have an integrated mount built into the bottom. This also contains a magnet and when you place the bottle or box over the strip they come together with a very satisfying click and are then held very securely. To release the bottle or box simply twist to one side and the magnets disengage.
The Twist bottle holds 590ml of liquid, has a self sealing mouthpiece and a cover to stop the part you drink out of getting covered in mud. It’s a very soft squeezy material with a wide opening screw off top. It works just like any bottle but because of the self sealing cap you do hve to give it a good squeeze to get the liquid flow going. The wide lid makes it easy to clean.
On the bike the clip on/twist off technique soon becomes second nature but you do have to look down to make sure the magnets are in the vicinity of each other before letting go! I had a couple of occasions where I missed and dropped the bottle. Once you dial in the technique though it becomes second nature
fidlock twist bottlefidlock twist toolbox fork leg
The Twist Toolbox works in exactly the same way but obviously you won’t be removing and replacing it as often as the bottle. It’s made from a water repellent material, which is just as well as I mounted it under the down tube in the way of spray from the front wheel. Despite the weather’s best efforts the interior has remained dry. It will take up to 550ml of kit. It has a zip opening and opens like a clam shell. There’s a few of elastic strips and a mesh section to hold tools steady and I’ve got an inner tube (full size mtb) tyre levers, a multitool and a tubeless repair kit in it. It has never detached itself from the bike but because the part that attaches to the bike frame is quite narrow and the toolbox quite wide and full of kit there’s is some noticable wobble.
fidlock twist tool box has seen some actionfidlock twist tool box openfidlock twist tool box contents
The bottle is very neat and allows for a very clean looking set up on the bike, drinking wise it’s the same as any other bottle, the twist system really works. You would need to commit to the fidlock system though as if you were to be handed a standard bottle in say a race situation there’s nowhere to put it. Theres also a financial element too as the bottle and mount are quite expensive. You can get kits to convert your normal bottles to the twist system though.
The toolbox works brilliantly and if you had more than one bike you could swap tools quickly between them if you had a mount on each frame.
The Fidlock Twist bottle and Toolbox, two pieces of great functioning and good looking kit but it’s best to go full Fidlock to get the most out of the concept.
My last article on UKGRAVELCO.COM was about flat pedals and if it was possible to use them on a gravel bike and a quick review of the Crank Brothers Stamp and HT pedals. As discussed in the video you can wear whatever shoes you want with flat pedals, that’s what makes them so versatile and popular, you don’t have to have expensive specialist or specific shoes to use them. However, if you want the optimum amount of grip and performance and your budget or circumstance allows you can buy shoes designed to mate perfectly with flat pedals. the bonus of shoes without a cleat sticking out of the bottom is that you can use them as ordinary shoes too and you won’t stand out as “a cyclist” sterotype at work, the supermarket or down the pub!
The benchmark flat pedal shoe before Adidas took them over was the Five Ten range of shoes, known for their super sticky sole and robustness for trail riding. They were excellent for all round riding from cross country to downhill. They kind of lost their way especially with sizing and narrowness when taken over and lots of other companies caught up and designed and introduced their own version.
Crank Brothers are one such company, not new to the cycle industry and well known for their pedals they have introduced the Stamp Trail line of shoes. Yes, they call their pedals Stamp too so I’d hope they were designed in conjunction. I tried out a pair of the lace up version and as well as using them on the “can you ride gravel on flat pedals” experiment I’ve been using them on my mountain bike too.
The look of the shoe is very understated (they do a white version too, perfect for UK conditions! 🙂 ) with a blue upper and a brown gumwall sole. there is a reinforced poly urethane toe bumper. the heel is well padded and the laces mean micro adjustments for fit are easy and endless. The upper is perforated for heat transfer. The tongue also has a very neat lace pocket to stop any lace-crank/chain interface. this is much better than the elastic lace strap you get on a lot of these type of shoe. I like the fact that the logos are subtle and don’t shout “LOOK AT ME” which is why you can wear them all the time with pretty much any outfit, I’ve even worn them a few times at work.
Crank Bro Stamp shoe in and out of lace pocketCrank Bros Stamp lace Shoe
Crank Bothers advertise these as the perfect blend of performance and adventure and that the sole has high-friction MC2 rubber compound combined to provide optimal grip on and off the bike. So they are pitching these as an all rounder, a shoe that can play at the bike park and also engage in a bit of hike a bike or bike packing where sections of walking might be involved.
The sole is made up of “lozenge” shapes that you will realise is the same outline as the Crank brothers logo, a nice touch. at the heel and toe the pattern changes to horizontal grooves that are designed to aid traction when walking up or down slopes.
So you’ve seen the specs and the intentions fron Crank Brothers how do they compare to the bench mark?
First of all sizing. I initially went for my usual size of 44 and I found them a little small so I exchanged them for a 45 and they felt spot on. In use on both gravel bike and mountain bike they are superbly comfortable i’d go as far as to say they felt like slippers on my feet. Now usually when a shoe is that comfortable it tends to be quite soft and flexible on the sole. The Stamp shoe however was not. It was good to try them on the gravel bike because on that bike I do longer distance on tarmac where any flex would be felt after a few miles through the sole of your feet. In this case the Stamp shoes were stiff enough on the ball of the foot to not feel hot spots or like my feet were curling around the pedal. i’m not saying they are as stiff as a clip in shoe but compared to the bench mark they are excellent. I’ve had the shoes since the end of april and they’ve had multiple rides but obviously I can’t say how flexy they’d get after a year etc, but up to now there’s no complaints. There’s no compromise for this stiffness in the way of grip either, they stick to the pedals tenaciously, I’ve even found myself trying to unclip like a clip in shoe when I’ve forgotten I’m wearing them such is the level of adhesion. This soft compound pleasingly hasn’t meant the sole has been chewed up by the pedal pins either. They size up a little small but only in length, width wise they are spot on for me.
The Crank Brothers aim of making a flat pedal shoe fit for adventure has been met and I’m happy to say exceeded the benckmark.
The Stamp flat pedal shoe is thoroughly recommended, if you need a flat pedal shoe for all your riding then crank bothers might just have the shoe you’ve been looking for.
In a recent poll on my instagram channel @ukgravelco I asked what things put people off trying a gravel bike. Overwhelmingly the highest results, apart from the cost of a gravel bike, was that people didn’t want to have to wear lycra and didn’t want to use clip in pedals.
Well spoiler alert from the start, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO WEAR TIGHT CLOTHING OR USE CLIP IN PEDALS if you don’t want to. That is part of the beauty of gravel biking, because it’s relatively new there are no rules and long may this continue! As a clip in pedal user on the gravel bike myself it got me thinking that maybe I should try riding on the gravel bike with flat pedals to back up my above statement. I do use flat pedals when riding my mountain bike so I’m no stranger to the concept but that is used for a majority of off road riding. Gravel riding has a lot more potential tarmac riding (where i live at least) so that could make a difference. there was only one way to find out.
The guys at Extra UK and Ison Distribution the distributors of Crank Bros and HT respectively agreed to send me a pair of pedals. I decided to try an affordable pedal, the HT PAO3A (not the snazziest of titles) which at time of writing costs £60 at full RRP and the Crank Bros Stamp 2 (see what they did there?) at £100 RRP to see what the difference would be by spending a little more.
Crank bros (right) HT (left)
the Crank BrosStamp 2 pedal is from their quite extensive flat pedal range which they have been producing for a long time, so they know what makes a good flat pedal. They come in two sizes, this version is the large and the basic rule of thumb is to size the pedals according to your shoe size, there’s a guide on the Crank Bros website for this. The Body of the pedal is made from aluminium. It comes with 10 10mm removeble pins per side, has a steel spindle and the pedal spins on an inner ignus bearing and twin cartridge bearings on the outside. They are only available in silver or black and have a 5 year warranty. They weigh 494g on my kitchen scales.
side view crank bros stamp 2side view HT PAO3A
The shape of the body allows maximum mud shedding room and if you look from the side the pedal is concave, so the outer edge is higher than the spindle allowing your foot to “sit in” the pedal for maximum grip and security from slippage. it’s quite difficult to photograph this but check the video below for a better example of this.
the HT PAO3A pedal in contrast is made of glass reinforced nylon with two in mould pins and 8 replaceable pins per side. Again HT make a huge range of pedals and these come with DU bushings and one dual sealed bearing. The platform is just a hair smaller than the Stamp but weighs less at 351g on my not very accurate kitchen scale. the platform also has the concave shape that is essential in a flat pedal. It comes in just about every colour you can think of and as its “composite” (plastic) there’s no worry about it looking tatty after a few rock or gravel strikes as there’s no paint to flake off.
In use both pedals have performed flawlessly offering up oodles of grip in all situations. Now, as a clip in pedal user usually on the gravel bike, i found myself automaticaly twisting my foot to unclip such was the amount of adhesion to my foot when dismounting.
Pedal dynamics wise there’s a theory that clip in pedals are more efficient and give more power as you can push down and pull up but in the real world unless you are racing or analysing efficiency to a microscopic level I don’t think there’s a great difference, not one that would bother me out for a leisure ride anyway. Both these pedals shed mud 100% better than a clip in pedal. If you ride in the UK this is almost a year round problem. Clogged pedals and shoes can stop engagement between the rider and the pedal, not what you want in slippery downhil situations. Both the Crank Bros and HT pedals were there and accessible in all muddy foot out, flat out scenarios.
So which is the best? well there’s not a lot in it to be honest, the bearings in the Crank Bros pedal seem nicer and spin well without stiction, the HT bearings feel smooth but spin the pedal and it soon stops, this maybe though because the bearing seals are so good. The Crank bros pedal does feel more robust being made of metal and looks like it’d take more knocks at the expence of a bit of paint and are approx 100g over the HT but it does come with a 5 year warrant.
Grip wise there’s nothing in it though. Both are at the top of their game, so i guess it comes down to that warranty and the slightly nicer bearing for me to prefer the Stamp pedal, but then I can put up with silver, if you want a colour and pay a lot less ££ then there are no drawbacks to the HT pedal.
check out the video below to see the pedals in action
I was contacted by a media company who asked if I would like to try out a cycling jersey from a brand new company called Staark. Now I’ll be honest with you I get quite a few emails or DMs via social media asking if I’d like to try this or that, thats not a boast by the way, I’m just trying to convey the fact that I have to filter a lot of these requests out. Many times it’s for stuff completely unrelated to cycling such as jewelry for pets (“from our extensive research you’d be the ideal ambassador for our product”) or female specific running shoes etc etc, you get the idea. So it was with a pinch Of salt I looked into Staark to see if it was legit. I’d also been repeatedly told that Staark was a “B-Corp Certified Company”. Well, to be honest I had no idea what this meant so them making a big thing of it didn’t make me want the jersey more, or less for that matter.
By the way being B-Corp certified means that the company meets the standard of verified performance, acountability and transparency on factors from employeed benefits and charitable giving to supply chain practice and input materials.
After checking our their website and a chat to the media company via email I agreed to try out the Founders jersey. As always witht he caviat that It’d be an honest review looking at performance and value for money. basically If I thought it was great I’d say so but also if I thought it was rubbish I’d let my readers know that too.
Enough of the corporate business stuff though, can they make a decent jersey?
Lets get down to basics, the jersey is a limited production run and as such just comes in one colour, black with a contrast blue zip, the inside of the collar is also blue. It has a very soft front, rear and sleeve material with quite a bit of stretch. The side panels have a mesh like material to aid breathability. there are three rear pockets and one pocket has a zip closure. The front zip is full length and has a “beard garage”
I was sent the jersey at the end of February and given that it’s definately a warm weather top It’s been difficult to test it how it was intended to be worn. For a lot of the wears it’s been used as a second base layer with a thin layer underneath and a flannel or gilet over the top. I Can tell you though that it was very comfortable. All the seams are flat and so nothing dug into my skin. The last month or so we’ve experienced the strange phenomena that is “warm , dry weather”….. you may have heard of it. It’s a freak occurance that happens only so often in the life time of a UK rider. So I’ve been able to try it how it was designed to be used.
Using the jersey as a outer layer with a very thin base underneath has brought to the fore how comfortable it is. Fit wise I’d say it’s semi-aero. It doesn’t make you look like an over stuffed sausage skin but it is in no way flappy. the sleeves come to a few centimetres above the elbow and the whole soft stretch feel of the top make it very easy to wear. The full length zip has come in handy for venting duties when the temperature has got high enough that the mesh side panels need a little help (so thats maybe once then!) the pockets are easy to access but are not very deep. the average smart phone (pixel 7 here) will stick out of the top but nothing has ever jarred loose even over rough ground.
Sizing is pretty standard, I’m an XL in most jerseys and I’m XL in this. Length is perfect too. I’d say if you do want the stuffed sausage aero look go one size smaller but you’d run the risk of it looking like a crop top.
Now if you were buying this jersey from one of the well know big brands, those with a big pedigree or those that have a great marketing department and a logo with lots of fashinable kudos (you probably know who I mean) then you’d be paying a premium for this jersey, upwards of £200 in some cases which is frankly ridiculus! The staark jersey is a limited edition yes, it’s a great jersey, again yes but when I was sent the top it cost £159 direct from Starrk’s website. I’ve looked today and the price is £129 so moving in the right direction.
Currently (and has been since I first checked them out back in the winter) the jersey is only avaliable in male sizing, a womens version is “coming soon”
bearing in mind the ethos of B-Corp, and feeling the need to embrace the performance, acountability and transparency can I whole heartedly get behind this jersey and say go out and buy one as it does things no other jersey can do? Hmmm, there are lots of jerseys out there that perform a similar function at less cost to your bank balance. Do I think it’s a great jersey? yes I do, it’s made from premium italian fabrics, the fit is great as is the performance. at £129 it just about justifies the expenditure but I worry as a start up Staark may have out priced themselves from the market. At £129 the average rider on a budget will look elsewhere and equally the rider with deep pockets who wants the label and the look will see the Staark logo and dismiss it. Which is a great shame because at the very basic level it’s a jersey worth having.
you can find out more about the staark founders Jersey at their website www.staark.cc
I only had the chance to ride the Fara F/Gravel bike for just under two weeks before it was whisked away to another reviewer/press day but in that time I pretty much covered all the local trails that I regularly ride on my own gravel bike which I thought would be a good comparison.
Fara Cycles is based in Norway so they have plenty of rugged off road riding there to be able to design a great riding bicycle. Fara say their F/Gravel bike is “our go anywhere, ride anything, adventure bike. Ultimately, it can handle nearly any type of off-road riding you feel comfortable throwing at it. It has nimble handling and 50mm tyre clearance, meaning you can cover rough terrain with confidence and in relative comfort. Wide tire clearance and a rugged carbon frame empowers you to tackle the roughest terrain. Ready to take you to incredible places. Shred ready, Both lightweight and responsive, the F/Gravel’s geometry is oriented towards the “fun” side of gravel riding with a shorter wheelbase and sporty handling“
The frameset is carbon, the frame has a claimed weight of 1300g, not superlight these days but certainly lighter than any of my own bikes. With a stock Sram Apex AXS XPLR 1×12 build with a Fulcrum Rapid Red 900 DB wheelset, ritchey Butano bars (42cm) and stem (100mm) and a Fara carbon “2 flex” 27.2 seatpost the bike weighed in around 24LBs (10.8k approx) so not exactly heavy!
The frame has internal cabling from the bars that go through the headset and because of it being wireless shifting this means only the brake hoses making the bike look very clean indeed (until I rode it in the UK weather!) there are triple fork mounts on each fork leg, three sets of bottle cage mounts and a top tube bag mount and eyelets for mudguards if required. there are also mounts under the tip tube to enable strapless fitting of Fara’s frame bag, a very neat touch. the frame bag costs £88 as an optional extra.
The clearance for tyres on this bike is a claimed 50mm and with the 43mm gravel kings that came fitted to the wheels there was acres of room both in the fork and the frame. There didn’t seem to be provision to fit a dropper post. The bottom bracket is a thread in T47 unit, no pressfit bearings in this frame I’m delighted to say. both axles are bolt through as you’d expect.
So how does it ride? well first of all just scroll back up to the bold text where I quoted Fara’s mission statement for the bike. “shred ready, Adventure, Go anywhere, Confidence and comfort” this is great, just what probably 90% of the riders buyibg a gravel bike want but here I have a problem, well two problems really…
The first is easy to fix and totally understandable. The gravel king tyres (old style not just launched version) just do not work in UK winter/spring or autumn, they clog up with mud, don’t clear and do not inspire confidence on wet terrain, that sort of terrain you might encounter on an adventure say, while you are going “anywhere” etcetc, you see my point. Well, as I said it’s understandable, Fara can’t specify tyres for each country they seel bikes too. GK tyres are probably perfect for California or a desert country so I can forgive them that. What I don’t get is the narrow aero profile handlebars, 42mm on a bike designed for someone tall enough to fit a 56cm bike is just too narrow. There is no flare and the reach is fairly long. If you pitch a bike for adventures and laden bike packing you need to spec a wider, more confidence inspiring bar, especially if that rider is tired and doesn’t know what trail obstacle is around the next corner. Plus if you are bike packing you are only getting a tiny bar bag inbetween those drops. Now you can, if not buying the off the peg bike but are using the bike builder portion of Fara’s website choose a different bar and stem but even then the bars are only 2cm wider and the stem 20mm shorter if you follow their recommendation. This obviously adds to the price though.
the camera makes the bar look flared, it isn’t!
Well, sorry if that came across as a bit of a rant, it wasn’t meant to be but that bar did annoy me and that is because THE FRAME AND FORK IS VERY VERY GOOD! It’s responsive, push on the pedals and all the power goes to the rear wheel but the rear end doesn’t feel stiff, that carbon seatpost absorbs a lot of trail chatter. the head angle is just in the sweet spot of great handling without being ponderous on the tarmac and despite Fara saying the bike has a short wheelbase there was absolutely no toe overlap. this is a great frameset just let down but a simple bit of specification. Pop a shorter stem and a 440-446cm bar with some generous flare and a short reach, something like a Ritchey Corralitos bar and this bike would absolutely fly!
I should say something about the AXS groupset, but there’s not a lot to say, it performed faultlessly and silently throughout the test in both mud and dry…..as long as you remember to charge the battery!
So the Fara F/Gravel bike. it’s got an outstanding frame and fork, the geometry is sorted for what Fara have designed the bike for, it’s just failed at the final fence by speccing it with a bar more suited to road racing or gravel racing. Something that I hope Fara will notice if they read this review.
clearance
I’d have a Fara F/Gravel in an instant, but the next instant I’d be replacing the bars whith something to really make it into the ultimate gravel bike.
UK GRAVEL COLLECTIVE 