Tech of the Week: British custom and do you need a superbike to win?
What's new in the world of cycling tech over the last seven days
British custom
Looking for a bike to stand out from the crowd? The UK is a hotbed of custom bike brands pushing the envelope and blurring the lines between technology and art. Up and down the country skilled craftspeople are creating some of the best looking bikes found anywhere in the world. We've showcased ten of the best British custom brands for you to drool over.
FFWD bring out affordable carbon
Fast Forward's latest Tyro wheels are full carbon, disc brake, tubeless, 45mm deep and have a very attractive price. The Dutch brand is selling the Tyro's at €999, approx. £850 making them a bit of a bargain.
Get the full lowdown in this feature.
Vitus pro bike build
There's nothing better than watching a bike being brought to life. Vitus Pro Cycling decided to get Gee Milner to build one of it's new 2020 race bikes from scratch and film the whole experience. Based around the new 2020 Vitus Vitesse Evo Disc in a pretty sweet candy apple red colour, this is pretty relaxing stuff.
Watch the build and get the full rundown of the spec here.
Rapha's new kicks
Rapha’s new Pro Team Shoes is only the brand’s second foray into making its own road shoes in-house following on from the Classic Shoes. This time though there’s more science, more research, and enough promises of pro racing level performance than you could ever need. With a £260 price tag, these shoes are expensive, but chipping in cheaper than many of the other high-end shoes like the S-Works 7, Giro Empire SLX, Shimano S-Phyre on the market. But can they match up in performance? Digital Editor Richard Windsor tested the newly released shoes and gave his opinion.
Who needs a superbike
Certainly not the Danish track squad who managed to break the world record for the Team Pursuit twice at the World Track Championships in Berlin this week. Riding pretty 'standard' looking Argon 18 Electron track frames the Danes proved you didn't need specially made bikes to be the best.
The best aluminium road bikes
With the Danes proving that super bikes aren't always necessary we turned our sights onto the oft overlooked area of aluminium road bikes to see which models can compete against carbon's reputation as to the material of choice. Five bikes caught our eyes and you can read our thoughts and work out if any are for you in this handy buyers guide and review.
Want more tech? check out the following for other cycling tech featured in the last seven days.
Canyon launch updated EVO bikes for 2020, it's lightest ever road bike
Australia reveal it's track bike for the Olympics
Specialized launch new off-road shoes perfect for gravel and cx
London Bike Show attracts 200 brands for its 10th anniversary
That's all for now, check back next week for another tech round-up
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James Bracey's career has seen him move from geography teacher, to MBR writer, to Cycling Weekly's senior tech writer and video presenter. He possesses an in-depth knowledge of bicycle mechanics, as well as bike fit and coaching qualifications. Bracey enjoys all manner of cycling, from road to gravel and mountain biking.
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