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TECH NEWS

Check out "the lightest angle grinder-resistant lock" infused with diamond, plus £4,300 Mavic wheels + more tech news from Giro, Topeak, SDG + CamelBak

Take a sneak peek at unreleased shoes, leopard-print saddles, and Mavic’s luxury road wheels that are priced at a whopping £4,300

Check out a bunch of the latest cycling products that we saw at the UK bike industry’s COREbike trade show yesterday, including unreleased shoes from Giro, Topeak’s LED torque wrench, and cool new stuff from Camelbak, Mavic, and SDG.

OnGuard’s RockSolid is “the lightest angle grinder-resistant lock”

OnGuard is introducing a new RockSolid lock which, it claims, is the lightest angle grinder-resistant option out there.

2024 Core OnGuard Rock Solid - 1 (1)

It comes with a 14mm shackle that’s locked into the barrel on both sides (as opposed to one side being locked and the other just being hooked in) using OnGuard’s X4P Quattro bolt mechanism

2024 Core OnGuard Rock Solid - 4 (1)

The secret to the RockSolid’s strength is apparently in the patented coating which contains diamond. That drives the price up, but at £199.99 it’s still less expensive than other angle grinder-resistant bike locks out there. It weighs less than other locks of this kind too: 1.4kg.

> Hiplok reveals ‘world’s first truly portable bike lock to resist angle-grinder attacks’ 

2024 Core OnGuard Rock Solid - 3 (1)

OnGuard describes the RockSolid as “an impenetrable fortress against even the most determined thieves armed with angle grinders”. Well, that’s giving it the big I am, isn’t it?

It says the keys can’t be copied so you get five with the lock. If you manage to lose them all, a barcode allows you to contact the manufacturer for more.

The OnGuard RockSolid has a Sold Secure Diamond rating and stock will be available mid-March.

Find out more here 

Roarrr! SDG offers limited edition animal print saddles

SDG will offer its Bel Air 3.0 saddle with limited edition animal-print uppers in the next couple of months.

2024 Core SDG saddle Leopard - 1 (1)

The brand has done animal print before and it has done very well. It’s not for everyone, obvs.

2024 Core SDG saddle tiger - 1 (1)

Prices have yet to be set but you’re likely looking at £99.99 for a saddle with Lux-Alloy rails.

Find out more here 

Sneak peek: Giro to introduce Gritter gravel shoes

Giro has some new Gritter shoes coming in the summer. They have a one-piece Syncwire upper (Synchwire is “an advanced composite of thermo-bonded film that provides overall durability, a non-woven internal sheet for distributing the force from the BOA Fit System to the upper for direct power transfer, and mono-filament mesh for ventilation”, according to Giro).

2024 Core Giro Gritter shoes - 1 (3)

Closure is handled by two Boa Li2 aluminium dials and a stainless steel lace.

You get a carbon composite outsole and more pronounced arch support than on previous shoes, says Giro.

2024 Core Giro Gritter shoes - 2 (1)

These will be priced at £359.99.

Find out more here 

Another sneak peek: Giro to release Empire SRC shoes

Giro will also release an Empire SRC lace-up shoe to replace the existing Empire VR90.

2024 Core Giro Empire SRC - 1 (1)

> Read our review of the Giro Empire VR90 shoes 

It features a one-piece microfibre upper with TPU protection at the toe and heel. The option above is a 1980s-inspired finish but other versions will be available.

The Empire SRC will be priced at £274.99 from July.

Find out more here 

Topeak debuts LED-indicator torque wrench

We really like the look of this new Topeak E-Torqbar torque wrench. Rather than pre-setting the torque you’re aiming for, you get LEDs that light up to indicate the level of force you’re applying.

2024 Core Topeak E-Torqbar torque wrench - 1 (1)

The E-Torqbar handles torque from 1Nm to 10Nm, comes with the most commonly used heads, and is priced at £134.99.

2024 Core Topeak E-Torqbar torque wrench - 2 (1)

We reckon this one is going to be a birthday present hit. We’ll request one for review.

Find out more here 

Topeak adds tools to seatbag range

Sticking with Topeak, the brand has added to its Elementa seatbag range with the introduction of the Elementa Gearbag which contains a ratchet and some of the most commonly needed heads (hex, torx, screwdriver).

2024 Core Topeak Gearbag - 1 (2)

You don’t get the CO2 canisters pictured, although it’s easy enough to add them.

> Read our review of the Topeak Elementa Seatbag M

2024 Core Topeak Gearbag - 1 (3)

Price? You’re looking at £46.99.

Find out more here 

CamelBak introduces insulated stainless steel bottles in Podium range

CamelBak has added a stainless steel model to its long-standing Podium range, complete with double-wall vacuum insulation to keep your drink at the right temperature for longer.

2024 Camelbak Podium stainless steel - 2 (1)

The valve is lockable and the bottle is available in 530ml (£35) and 650ml (£40) options. The pic below is a cutaway showing the double-walled structure. 

2024 Camelbak Podium stainless steel - 1 (1)

CamelBak is introducing a titanium version too, although this is considerably more expensive at £100.

Find out more here 

Check out Mavic’s Cosmic Ultimate 45 Disc wheels – just £4,300!

We told you about Mavic’s Cosmic Ultimate 45 Disc wheels last year, but this was the first time that we’ve seen them for ourselves. Priced at £4,300, it’s fair to say that these are at the luxury end of the market.

> Mavic launches the Cosmic Ultimate as “lightest wheelset in its category”

2024 Mavic Cosmic Ultimate 45 Disc wheels - 1

Mavic says that this is the lightest wheelset in its category (45mm deep) with a total weight of 1,255g. Each Cosmic Ultimate 45 takes eight hours of work at the production line, and you get a label that says who signed off each part.

2024 Mavic Cosmic Ultimate 45 Disc wheels - 3

The hubs are laced to the rims with 10 one-piece, elliptical R2R no-stretch carbon spokes. Each spoke runs from one side of the rim to another, so it looks like 20 spokes both front and rear (R2R is technology that Mavic already uses). CNC and heat-treated aluminium inserts are used to connect the spokes to the rim.

2024 Mavic Cosmic Ultimate 45 Disc wheels - 2

The downside? If you ever damage these, you can’t just nip down to your local bike shop for a spare spoke; these have to go back to Mavic for repair.

Find out more here 

Add new comment

21 comments

Avatar
mattw | 9 months ago
3 likes

I admit that most of these products are the type of things I go window shopping for to remind myself of items I don't need to buy.

Sorry !

Avatar
Sriracha | 9 months ago
2 likes

Good to see more vacuum insulated water bottles - chilled water on a sweltering ride is so much better than lukewarm. Not sure about the titanium option - curiously it only rates half the insulation performance of the cheaper, bigger steel bottle (7 hours cold vs 14 hours). Not sure why.

Avatar
MattKelland replied to Sriracha | 9 months ago
1 like

My titanium bike always feels warm to the touch, so maybe titanium is a worse insulator than steel? Or maybe it's just because they can use thinner material while maintaining strength? I'm now wondering where the carbon option is!

Avatar
Sriracha replied to MattKelland | 9 months ago
2 likes

If at ambient temperature it feels warmer to the touch that would suggest it conducts heat relatively less well. But in any case, the metal here is not the insulator, the vacuum is.

Avatar
hawkinspeter | 9 months ago
8 likes

They're missing a trick by not doing a squirrel fur saddle

Avatar
chrisonabike replied to hawkinspeter | 9 months ago
2 likes

Wasn't that an option on the Saddle Spur, then?

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to chrisonabike | 9 months ago
6 likes

chrisonabike wrote:

Wasn't that an option on the Saddle Spur, then?

I sent a bunch of helpful information and a couple of prototypes to them to help them with the design, but they got really angry and took out an injunction against me.

Avatar
Sriracha replied to hawkinspeter | 9 months ago
10 likes

Thinking the idea was nuts they buried it.

Avatar
Mat Brett replied to hawkinspeter | 9 months ago
3 likes

No squirrels mentioned, sadly. There's also this one. Not sure what animal it is. Anyone? Dalmatians and Friesians have been ruled out.

Avatar
brooksby replied to Mat Brett | 9 months ago
1 like

Appaloosa horse?

Avatar
Secret_squirrel | 9 months ago
0 likes

So if I'm seeing this right - those Mavic's - lose a spoke and trash the wheel?  They look one-piece/bonded onto the hubs.

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to Secret_squirrel | 9 months ago
1 like

Secret_squirrel wrote:

So if I'm seeing this right - those Mavic's - lose a spoke and trash the wheel?  They look one-piece/bonded onto the hubs.

TFA states that they'd go back to Mavic for repair

Avatar
SimoninSpalding replied to Secret_squirrel | 9 months ago
1 like

It does say they have to go back to Mavic for repair, but I am guessing at over £4k they are unlikely to be your only wheels/ on your commuter bike that you can't get to work without. 

Avatar
a1white | 9 months ago
2 likes

Great to see more angle grinder resistent locks. would be good to see someone give it a test to see if it is. The Litelock X1 is cheaper at £149 but a bit heavier at 1.7kg. 

Avatar
tourdelound replied to a1white | 9 months ago
1 like

The Litelok X1 has a 16mm shackle, which is considered bolt cropper "proof". The OnGuard 14mm, not considered bolt cropper "proof". 300g is a negligble difference IMHO. I have a Litelok X1 as well as an old Abus Granit 54, which weighs around 1450g and in a backpack it's difficult to tell the difference.

Avatar
ktache replied to tourdelound | 9 months ago
1 like

The lockpickinglawyer has had some very bad things to say about OnGuard locks.
Though he's ripped into HipLock too, and I'm seriously considering their new big angle grinder resistant lock.

Avatar
Steve K replied to ktache | 9 months ago
0 likes

ktache wrote:

The lockpickinglawyer has had some very bad things to say about OnGuard locks. Though he's ripped into HipLock too, and I'm seriously considering their new big angle grinder resistant lock.

Have you got a link to the lockpickinglawyer and the Hiplok D1000 - I tried googling but couldn't find it (and all the other reviews/attempts to break it are very positive about it).

Avatar
ktache replied to Steve K | 9 months ago
0 likes

I may have been thinking about his almost instant destruction of the original litelock.
I have yet to see him ruin any angle grinder resistant locks yet, and really would like to.

Avatar
Steve K replied to ktache | 9 months ago
0 likes

ktache wrote:

I may have been thinking about his almost instant destruction of the original litelock. I have yet to see him ruin any angle grinder resistant locks yet, and really would like to.

Thanks, I feel reassured!  (I got the D1000 on the original kick starter.)

Avatar
andystow | 9 months ago
1 like

I irrationally want that Topeak torque wrench. I can't currently find it on their site, though.

Avatar
Mat Brett replied to andystow | 9 months ago
2 likes

Hey Andy, you're right, it's not on the Topeak site yet. I've changed the link to take you to Extra UK, Topeak's UK distributor.

The E-Torqbar is listed there, but showing as 'out of stock'. That's because it hasn't arrived yet. Extra said they have a March delivery on the way from Topeak and I think this new product will be contained in that, so it's not far off.

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