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We have now a crammed version of Tech of the Week lined up for you, together with cool new bikes from Bianchi and Mason, just-released clothes from Rapha, 7mesh and MAAP, and even a motorcycle with none wheels, however we’re kicking off by questioning whether or not Van Nicholas’ new Nootau is absolutely the final word bike-packing machine… or only a retro bike repackaged for a brand new period.
Is Van Nicholas’ Nootau the final word bike-packing machine… or only a very cool Nineteen Nineties mountain bike?
Titanium bike specialist Van Nicholas says that its new Nootau is “the final word bike-packing machine”, designed to be snug over lengthy distances and able to carrying every thing you want on an epic experience – however are designs like this primarily Nineteen Nineties mountain bikes given a brand new lease of life?
“It is going to go wherever, carry something, and preserve you snug whereas doing so,” says Van Nicholas.
There’s a specific amount of hyperbole thrown in there however you get the place the Dutch model is coming from.
“The Nootau is specifically designed for adventurers searching for the final word problem, such because the Great Divide, the Panamerica, the Silk Road or different bucket listing rides,” says Van Nicholas.
The Nootau options “a low-slung titanium body and a light-weight tapered carbon fork” which can be designed to maintain the burden down. It additionally has an extended wheelbase designed round 29in wheels, with house for tyres as much as 2.8in (71mm) huge. The relaxed geometry is meant to supply consolation and management over numerous forms of terrain, and also you get a number of mounting factors on the body and fork to handle baggage dealing with necessities.
“We additionally engineered a brand new yoke with an eccentric backside bracket, which helps accommodate the broader tyres, but additionally permits us to suit an inside, sealed Rohloff 14-speed hub,” says Ralph Moorman, Basic Supervisor of Van Nicholas.
Titanium body, flat handlebar, inflexible fork, fats tyres, disc brakes… Is the Nootau – and others prefer it – actually a mountain bike from 25-30 years in the past earlier than suspension took over? Are so much of at present’s bikes merely about intelligent advertising and marketing of previous ideas, and have we simply come full circle? We’d have an interest to listen to your ideas.
The Nootau is accessible as an entire bike at costs from €4,999 (which converts to round £4,300). The body and entrance fork are €2,299 (which converts to about £1,980).
Is that this a brand new Bianchi Specialissima?
Arkéa-Samsic’s Kévin Vauquelin has been driving a brand new Bianchi in La Vuelta a España that would effectively be a brand new Specialissima (click on on the fourth pic on this Twitter submit).
𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚 🇪🇸📸 pic.twitter.com/OsVuBquW1T
— Staff Arkéa Samsic (@Arkea_Samsic) September 4, 2023
The crew riders spend most of their time on the Oltre RC however this bike has a very totally different silhouette. Whereas the Oltre RC has deep tubes, together with a seat tube that curves round the vanguard of the rear wheel, the bike pictured right here has slim tubes and seems to be constructed with a lightweight weight fairly than aerodynamics in thoughts. Vauquelin’s bike is provided with a separate handlebar and stem fairly than an built-in cockpit too.
All of this ties in with the concept it is a new model of the Specialissima, and the timescales can be about proper too, the earlier model having been launched in 2020.
Standby for an announcement from Bianchi someday quickly.
Trek releases wheels made with “100% recyclable” fibre
Trek, by way of its Bontrager model, has launched two new additions to its Aeolus carbon wheel vary utilizing a brand new OCLV NEXT thermoplastic building that it says helps soak up vibration whereas being “rather more pleasant on the planet than conventional carbon manufacturing”.
We’ll come again to the wheels themselves in a mo; it’s the OCLV NEXT tech that’s the actually fascinating factor, significantly in gentle of Trek’s just-revealed plans to accept used bikes and sell second-hand as part of a sustainability drive.
Trek says, “OCLV NEXT thermoplastic carbon materials replaces brittle, poisonous epoxies with harder plastic polymers which can be simpler and greener to fabricate whereas making a stronger wheel that helps soak up vibrations for a smoother, sooner, and total extra sturdy experience.”
“Not like conventional thermoset carbon fibre, OCLV NEXT is 100% recyclable. It doesn’t require further sanding or deburring which helps cut back as much as 95% VOC [volatile organic compounds] and carbon mud emissions related to extra conventional carbon rim ending processes.”
Fellow US model Chris King launched a range of recyclable carbon wheels earlier this year, so is the bike trade shifting in the proper path when it comes to environmental issues, or are we being spun a line? There’s an actual sustainability theme on this version of Tech of the Week with Rapha saying a spread of clothes utilizing extra materials to scale back waste and 7mesh introducing new PFAS-free driving gear.
“The Aeolus Professional 37V wheels [£799.99 front, £999.99 rear] will likely be changing the Aeolus Professional 3V wheels and are perfect for riders who desire a versatile carbon wheel for driving roads and exploring off-pavement,” says Trek.
“Examined on Paris-Roubaix’s roughest cobbles, the brand new Aeolus Professional 37V wheels present 15% extra radial deflection and cut back vibrations by 5% whereas being over 100g lighter than the earlier Aeolus Professional 3Vs.”
Okay, however not too many people experience cobbles frequently. Ranges of vibration are significantly nearer on the tarmac.
“The Aeolus Professional 49V wheels [also £799.99 front, £999.99 rear] emphasise aerodynamics and are for riders who need much more effectivity with higher-volume tyres,” says Trek.
The quantity in every title refers back to the rim depth in millimetres. Trek claims weights of 650g (f) and 815g (r) for the Aeolus Professional 37V wheels, and 690g (f) and 865g (r) for the Aeolus Professional 49Vs.
They’ve 25mm inside rim widths and are tubeless-ready, Trek says they’re designed to be quickest with 28mm tyres.
Rapha launches second Extra assortment utilizing surplus materials
Following an preliminary launch earlier this 12 months, Rapha has unveiled a second Extra assortment of clothes utilizing surplus material that might in any other case have gone to waste – therefore panels in colors that do not essentially match.
The London-based model is eager to focus on the environmental benefits of the Execss vary, and we applaud that. Plus, turning extra material into saleable clothes can’t damage the underside line both. A win-win, then.
“We recognise to some extent that as a clothes enterprise, the existence of surplus is unavoidable,” says Rapha. “[We are] working in direction of long-term options for surplus, not only a fast repair for at present. The objective is to minimise extra to a degree the place we shouldn’t have sufficient to make a set.”
The Extra lineup options new color mixtures and introduces the Professional Staff Lengthy Sleeve Coaching Jersey (£125) for each men and women, all created from 100% extra supplies.
The Extra assortment additionally contains short-sleeved jerseys, bib shorts, and socks.
Cool kicks from Pas Regular Studios and Fizik
Fizik has teamed up with Danish cycle clothes model Pas Regular Studios for a cool-looking collaborative version of its gravel-specific Ferox Carbon shoe.
> Check out our review of the Fizik Vento Ferox Carbon Shoes
It is available in an off-white end with navy detailing, in addition to the usage of Pas Regular Studios’ ‘Street to Nowhere’ tagline. You additionally get a pair of socks (we’re unsure concerning the knowledge of utilizing the ‘PNS’ abbreviation; perhaps that is simply us) and a musette for storing the sneakers throughout journey.
The collaboration is the primary in a sequence from the 2 manufacturers.
The Pas Regular Studios x Fizik Ferox Carbon sneakers are priced at £290.
That’s one method to do it
In the event you’re questioning, it’s the automobile that’s powering the coach, not the opposite method round.
To be honest, you could possibly do that with an inverter out of a 12v socket on most automobiles, however this man is so 2023.
Mason declares bikes outfitted with new Shimano 105 and GRX
Shimano final week introduced its new 12-speed mechanical 105 R7100 and GRX groupsets and a great deal of manufacturers have been clamouring to get information on the market of fashions that function the brand new parts. One model we’ve not coated but is Mason…
“Our Bokeh 3.0 (quick gravel), Exposure (gravel journey), and InSearchOf (final journey) fashions have been outfitted with new gearing choices to cater to a variety of driving types and adventures,” says Mason. “Now you can select from GRX 1×12 with 10-45T or 10-51T, or GRX 2×12 with 10-36T or 10-34T.
Bokeh 3.0 GRX 820 builds start at £3,300.
“Moreover, our Resolution (metal all-road, pictured) and Definition (alu all-road) fashions have been up to date with the most recent 105 12-speed mechanical shifting groupsets,” says Mason. “You possibly can go for the 105 7100 2×12 with both 50-34T or 50-36T and 11-34T or 11-36T gearing choices.”
Decision 105 7100 fashions begin at £3,265, and Definition 105 7100 fashions are priced from £3,045.
Marking the launch of the brand new Shimano GRX 12-speed groupsets, Mason has launched a Bokeh 3.0 in a limited-edition OpticGreen end (pictured above).
Muc-Off debuts new pump and multi-tool
Muc-Off has added two cheap new merchandise to its already giant vary: the AirMach Mini Pump and the 17-in-1 Multi Tool.
The AirMach Mini Pump (£30) encompasses a machined aluminium barrel and a pull-out versatile hose with a reversible CNC-machined head that’s appropriate with each Presta and Schrader valves.
Muc-Off says the AirMach Mini Pump gives a most stress of 110 PSI and weighs simply 80g (excluding the holster).
The 17-in-1 Multi Instrument (£20) comes with aluminium sidebars and chromium-vanadium software bits and is alleged to weigh simply 112g.
“This software has every thing from hex wrenches to screwdrivers, Torx instruments to spoke wrenches, in addition to a series breaker and a nifty bottle opener for cracking post-ride brews,” says Muc-Off. “This can be a small however mighty ride-saver.”
Did we ever present you this one earlier than?
It is a bike with out wheels. Why? Who is aware of?
7mesh declares Airmap breathable and water resistant autumn clothes
The transfer in direction of extra environmentally pleasant technical clothes is large information proper now – we instructed you about Santini’s use of Polartec’s new bio-membrane last week, for instance – and Canada’s 7mesh has launched Airmap to its clothes vary, which it describes as “the following era of air-permeable, water resistant PFAS-free driving gear”. PFAS are sometimes known as “perpetually chemical compounds” in that they hardly degrade within the pure atmosphere.
“Constructed utilizing strategically layered zones of three totally different laminate materials, Airmap controls airflow, placing air as a replacement to open up new ranges of consolation in variable climate situations,” says 7mesh.
“Three-layer Airmap supplies spectacular weatherproof safety, two-layer Airmap gives strong wind resistance, and single-layer Airmap maximises permeability and breathability. These three materials are rigorously mapped and deployed in every garment to maximise safety and airflow.
“Airmap’s multilayered system controls air motion throughout totally different areas of the physique, blocking the air within the path of journey, managing water in and out, and respiratory to permit moisture and warmth change.”
The entire Airmap materials are Bluesign and Oeko-Tex Standard 100 licensed and are made with out the usage of PFCs or PFAS. The polyester and polyurethane utilized in Airmap is created from recycled supplies.
The vary contains the brand new 7mesh S2S Jersey (£280) – which has simply arrived right here at highway.cc for overview – and the S2S Vest (£180), every coming in a slim match designed for highway and quick gravel driving.
MAAP updates Transit clothes vary
Cycle clothes model MAAP has unveiled its newest Transit vary which it describes as a “performance-oriented streetwear-first assortment”.
The boys’s Padded Overshirt (£195) is a brand new design, as an example, that includes recycled Primaloft Gold insulation.
The Phase Pant (£120) and Phase Short (£100) are new too, designed to be used each on and off the bike. They use a two-way stretch technical material and a DWR (sturdy water repellent) coating for climate safety.
Over on the ladies’s aspect of issues, there’s a brand new Padded Lightweight Liner Jacket (£195) and a Power Air ¼ Zip high-neck sweater (£120) created from Polartec’s Power Air efficiency material, therefore the title. Energy Air is designed for insulation and to scale back microfibre shedding – though the mannequin would not look overly thrilled with the excellent news.
The vary is fairly in depth today; go to MAAP’s web site to see all of it.
Need a distinctive bike? Orbea introduces new customisation choices
Orbea has launched new colors and customisation choices for its Orca Aero. The highway bike is now accessible on this Tanzanite/Lilac end, for instance.
In the event you’d like your bike to face out much more, Orbea has introduced in new choices for its MyO customisation software. Now you can incorporate two patterns, for instance, choose the body color in two sections, and even select the color of your seatpost from 28 choices.
As beforehand, you should utilize the MyO software to pick from numerous element choices.
Apidura introduces Expedition Waist Belt
Apidura has launched an Expedition Waist Belt that’s designed so as to add a litre of on-body storage and keep away from overladen pockets. The bike-packing model additionally factors out that conventional jersey pockets are much less frequent than they as soon as have been because of a development in direction of loose-fitting clothes, significantly for off-road riders.
The Expedition Waist Belt is created from a light-weight and breathable four-way stretch material and comes with storage pockets for carrying meals, gels, and different experience necessities. The 2 outer ones are angled for straightforward entry.
The value is £38.
In case you missed it earlier within the week…
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