Shiny Stuff Episode 1 - Bontrager, Prime, Shimano & Tyres made of flowers

Dave and Liam root through the testing box of swag to pick out shiny stuff to show off. This week products from Bontrager, Prime, AfterShokz, Shimano and Vredestein.

Bontrager Elite Road Pedals - £84.99

Bontrager’s first serious entry into the road pedal market is based around the Look Keo cleat shape. They’ve got a composite body and spin on a Chromoly axle (I’ve learnt to say in now, promise). Internally there are sealed bearings and you’ve got adjustable tension on the rear. So they look rather standard and quite solid. But what will our reviewer think? Ash Quinlan is testing them as I type.

AfterShokx Aeropex Headphones - £149.99

If you’re looking for a way to listen to podcasts or music when you’re on the bike, but you don’t want to block your ears from hearing vehicles, then bone conduction headphones would be just the thing you need. The Aeropex adds IP67 waterproofing to better cope with exposure to sweat.

Dave is off for some self-isolation rides to test them out. 

Shimano Transit Hardshell Jacket - £179.99

Riding into road.cc HQ isn’t particularly challenging from the edge of Bath and many of us simply ride in normal clothes. This gives us the option of stopping on the way home for a post-work hydration beer at the pub. Normal cycling jackets can look a bit out of place with normal clothes so this Shimano commuter jacket aims to blend in with casual office attire. 

The Transit features a waterproof shell, essential for commuting in the UK, sealed seams and a detachable hood. Will it be any good? I best head to the pub to find out.

Prime Baroudeur Disc Wheelset - £250

While these aren’t the flashiest wheels you’ll see on road.cc, they do look very versatile. Prime’s Baroudeur hoops are designed around a disc-specific rim that is 19mm wide internally and 23mm deep. The extra width of the tubeless rim opens them up for wide road tyres, gravel tyres and even cyclocross rubber.

The wheels come with tubeless tape and valves for easy tubeless setup out of the box but the best bit comes at the hubs. These wheels use Prime’s RD020 hubs for which you buy a £450 Ceramic Speed bearing kit.

I’ll be managing without as I spin them around the Somerset lanes.

Vredestein Flower Power Tyres -  €150

Firstly, you probably won’t be able to get hold of a set of these tyres as there’s only 125 out there. But they are rather interesting, so we’ve sent Mat Brett off to ride them and report back with a first ride review.

Vredestein has been working on these tyres for several years now and a limited run has been produced. They’re made from Russian dandelions with rubber being extracted from the root of the plant. Our flower tyres were grown in Holland.

The special rubber compound apparently improves grip by 2% over the standard Vredestein Fortezza tyres.

We’ll be back with more shiny stuff soon but for now, for the latest road.cc test reports, head over to our reviews section. If you want some more advice before splashing the cash, check out our buyer's guides.