Bikes Etc Magazine September 2019

The summer is finally here in all its glory, bringing with it loads of great weather that’s ideal for riding your bike. So to celebrate, we’ve teamed up with one of our favourite apparel makers Stolen Goat to offer one lucky reader the chance to win one of its brilliant Body Line jerseys and bibshorts – a package worth £173! Stolen Goat is very much a brand driven by the idea that exercise should be enjoyable – not something you just cram into your life around the edges. And its bright, colourful clothing, designed to help you stand out from ‘the herd’ as they put it, very much reflects that. With an athletic fit, the Bodyline jersey features raw cut sleeves, three rear pockets (plus a zipped, water-resistant one) and…

I was talking to a neighbour of mine about a big ride he’s doing later this year and was surprised by how anxious he is about taking it on, not least because he’s a vastly experienced cyclist. He’s also a taciturn chap, but hoping to gain some insight I pressed him on the subject and asked him what it was about the event that worried him. ‘Because it’s out of my comfort zone,’ was the far-from revelatory response that I got. Undeterred, and digging deep into my reserves as Britain’s 314th (or thereabouts) best journalist, I asked him why then, if the ride freaked him out so much, was he doing it in the first place? ‘Because,’ he said with a shrug. ‘it’s out of my comfort zone.’ And in…

WEIGHT: 10.05 kg FRAME: 300 Series Alpha Aluminium GROUPSET: Shimano 105 11-speed BRAKES: Shimano RS505 flat mount disc CHAINSET: Shimano 105 50/34t CASSETTE: Shimano HG800 11-34t 11-speed BARS: Bontrager RL IsoZone VR-CF, 31.8 mm STEM: Bontrager Elite, 31.8 mm SADDLE: Bontrager Montrose Comp SEATPOST: Bontrager Approved WHEELS: Bontrager Tubeless Ready TYRES: Bontrager GR1 Comp 700x40c COST: £1,700 CONTACT: trekbikes.com What is it? Having previously introduced the short-lived Domane Gravel, essentially a road bike with big tyres squeezed in, the Checkpoint represents Trek’s first proper crack at making a gravel racer. A completely new design created from the ground up, it’s suited to adventuring, gravel grinding, or even a spot of more conventional touring, and its unique adjustable dropout system allows riders to tune the bike’s handling by lengthening or shortening…

THE ULTIMATE CF EVO DISC Price: £9,099 Contact: canyon.com A design that’s already been ridden to a string of wins by the Movistar pro team, this latest version of Canyon’s Ultimate is well below the UCI’s current limit of 6.8kg. Meaning if any of the brand’s sponsored riders want to take it racing, they’ll need to bung a bit of concrete down the seat tube first. Scraping in below 6kg, despite its disc brakes, the CF Evo Disc bike manages this by employing a frame weighing 641g, a fork weighing 285g, and a one-piece cockpit that adds only another 270g. This is then gussied up with a selection of parts that look to have been sourced from some weight weenie’s spreadsheet of lust. These include SRAM’s latest RED eTap AXS…

Are these the fastest wheels in the world? Having thrown out a host of conventions in their search for speed, Sussex-based Hunt thinks so. Aerospace engineer Luisa Grappone has spent the last decade developing wheels for World Tour pros from BMC Racing, Team Movistar, and the Cervelo Test Team. Taken on by Hunt in 2017, since then she’s been creating and wind tunnel-testing prototypes for the brand’s new ultra-wide 48 Limitless Aero Disc wheelset. First up, being disc-only freed Hunt to go super-wide on the rims. With calliper brake wheelsets topping out at around 27-28mm wide, some disc-only models are now tentatively hitting the 30-32mm mark. Instead, after creating several 3D printed versions, Grappone instead hit upon a radical 34.5mm-wide profile. However, the next problem was making something so broad…

BOARDMAN ADV 8.9E Price: £2,700 Contact: boardmanbikes.com Nicknamed the ‘professor’ due to his meticulous approach to cycling, former pro and national treasure Chris Boardman also has a hand in designing a popular and eponymous range of bicycles. And like some freewheeling Dr Frankenstein, he’s recently harnessed the power of electricity to bring his latest creations to life. Freshly escaped from the lab at the Boardman Performance Centre, along with two e-assist hybrids, is this radical electric adventure bike. Called the Boardman ADV 8.9e, like the rest of the range it uses a top-spec 4.6kg Fazua EvationDrive system and integrated battery to produce 250 watts of assistance. However, with a slack head angle and 38mm Schwalbe G-One Speed tyres, the ADV 8.9e is also off-road capable. Backed up further by a…