The nights may have drawn in as we move deeper into winter but we've got some great products in for Tech of the Month to keep our sprits up!
Zipp 303 Firecrest
This popular wheelset has undergone a major revamp, with the internal rim width swelling from 21mm to 25mm—wider than many mountain bike rims of the not-too-distant past. As such, the minimum tyre width these wheels will take is now 28mm, which also happens to be the tyre size that best aligns with the 30mm external rim width, creating a smoother interface for better aerodynamics.
The two-pronged attack of going disc brake only and switching to hookless rims has led to a saving of 200g over the previous version of this wheelset. By cutting down on the material used in the walls of these rims, Zipp claim to have gotten these wheels down to weight of 1355g for the pair.
Improvements to the hubs have also been made, there's now 66 points of engagement in the rear, promising a quick pick up. It also makes a very satisfying click when freewheeling.
This indoor spesific cycling kit has the party trick of integrated pockets for holding icepacks against your skin. NoPinz say that its "SubZero Gel Packs" will keep you cool for between 20 and 40 minutes of intense indoor cycling. Should you need more, it is possible to buy the pockets separately from £4.99.
It's not just the ice inserts that promise to keep you cool, the range sees heavily perforated fabrics to optimise airflow and wicking.
Taking its name from Cyrstal Palace, where the founder of Bowman cut his teeth racing, this bike proves that aluminium shouldn't be written off as a material for a high quality build.
The intension was to create a bike that is fun to ride, but is also easy to live with. With a view to the former, the geometry has been designed for a fast ride and precision handling, while the weight has been kept impressively low, with the Ultegra build we've got our hands on coming in at 8.13kg. To put that in perspective, the Trek Émonda SL6 pro—which is a carbon climbing bike—is within 100g grams of the Palace 3.
Regarding liveability, there are no funny standards on this bike, with a threaded bottom bracket, a 27.2mm seatpost and readily available headset bearings. The wheels from Noble and are hand built for maximum quality control.
This single sided mudguard promises to be a quick and rattle free way to fit a set of 'guards to your bike. They use what Quickguard calls a gimble mounting system which allows you to set to clearance against your tyre, 10mm is specified, and up to 32mm tyres can be accommodated.
You can either fit it using an adaptor that clamps to your axle or, for a cleaner set up, Quickguard sells a wide range of thru axles for most widths, diameters and thread pitches which are designed to quickly and simply accept the mudguards.
After winning the 2019 National Single-Speed Cross-Country Mountain Biking Championships and claiming the plushie unicorn (true story), Stefan swapped the flat-bars for drop-bars and has never looked back.
But his favourite rides are multiday bikepacking trips, with all the huge amount of cycling tech and long days spent exploring new roads and trails - as well as histories and cultures. Most recently, he’s spent two weeks riding from Budapest into the mountains of Slovakia.
