Those all important items of the bike
Quite simply, the latest Schwalbe Pro One 25mm tyre is without doubt strong, light and agile. I have to say right off the bat that I’ve suffered not a single puncture and these tyres appear as good in autumn as they did back in June.
Schwalbe are working hard to bring new developments to your cycling. We fitted their new Aerothan tubes to their latest Pro One tyres – and the bike danced with joy… find out why.
Finding the correct size drop bar for a road bike has always been straightforward. Measure the distance between the acromial arches (the bony protrusions on the anterior shoulder) and that is your centre to centre bar width. Following the evolution of gravel and adventure bike geometry, the choice of bar shape and width is expanding with width and degree of flare being the most significant differences.
Saddles are important, especially to me. I don’t like it when I have to use a strange bike and the saddle is uncomfortable. I want to be comfortable on my bike, so that I can give my best performance. That means not worrying about being on a bad saddle.
Rotor Q Rings can be a great addition and upgrade for mountain bikers and for Gravel Bike users, helping those with knee pain issues in particular. The technology and science behind them is constantly developing. Time then for us to take a detailed lookat them with Scott Cornish.
Pirelli returned to road cycling just a few ago, going back to their heritage and using their knowledge and skills developed in a formula 1 to great effect. Now sponsoring UCI World teams at both road and mtb disciplines, their latest tyre ranges take things to a whole new level, like the new 28mm TLR road tyre.
A bike saddle is the most personal part of your bike, and it can make all the difference in the world. That’s why getting the right saddle for road cyclists and triathletes is so important. While a good saddle is barely noticeable, the uncomfortable one will make you beyond miserable. Unless you want to make your best friend’s thigh chaff and lower parts numb, you need to find the right saddle. But what exactly does that mean?
Well, to put it simply, women-specific saddles usually have a cut-out to relieve soft tissue pressure. The use of a wider saddle helps to accommodate a woman’s wider-spaced sit bones. Sit bones are the bones that make up the area in your buttocks that are the most likely to feel pressured during a ride.
3T make excellent cycles and finishing kit; oh, and great wheels too. For the past year we’ve been testing their Superergo Team bars on our bike build series road bike here at Pedalnorth and they’ve been spot on in all aspects.
Some riders swear by them, others aren’t so convinced. Oval chainrings can be a bit marmite, but are certainly here to stay, with Absolute Black dedicated to the cause.
Living in the mountains, I need good tyres. Testing the latest ones from Pirelli was intersting, as they were new to me. The Pirelli MTB range is born from Pirelli’s experience and know how in the world of off-road competitions. Let’s see how they do…
Scott Cornish