Is this smart handlebar the future of cycling tech? Plus some "next level" wheels and colourful tyres to upgrade your Brompton, baby Tour de France bodysuits + loads more

It's awards season here at road.cc and we've started the year with Recommends 2024/25, bringing you all the best bikes, kit, tech and accessories we've reviewed over the past year. Don't worry though, there's still time for the first Tech of the Week of 2025, so here's all the new stuff from the cycling industry that caught our eye this week.

"Next level" Brompton upgrade — bling wheels for your folder

Back in August we thought we'd found the blingest Brompton upgrade out there when we spotted Paul's £195 "powerful, best modulating, and most adjustable brake", now we might have a new contender for that crown courtesy of these Light Bicycle 16" rims.

The "one-of-a-kind" RF621 Brompton rim boasts a waved profile more familiar from aero road wheelsets, and it "combines style and performance". Speed and acceleration aren't the first things that come to mind when we think about folding bikes, but Light Bicycle reckons this "innovative rim shape reduces air drag and enhances lateral stiffness for quick acceleration". Anything to win the traffic light drag race... "With small wheel diameters, these qualities matter!" the brand suggests.

They weigh just 220g and "revolutionise urban cycling by shaving weight from your bike without sacrificing reliability", however it's not all about speed and weight. 

"Comfort and safety are non-negotiables for urban-cycling and commuting. The RF621 rims have a 21mm internal width, delivering more stable handling and a more comfortable feel with wider tires (compared to stock Brompton wheels)," Light Bicycle continues.

The wheelset is priced at $605 (£496) and will "take your Brompton to the next level"... according to Light. Those Paul brakes + these wheels = one pricey folder to dominate the commuter scene... but what about tyres?

Goodyear Eagle F1 R...16" for folding bikes

At this rate the Brompton World Championships 2025 is going to be an arms race. Perfect for your flash new wheels are... Goodyear's F1 R tyres, newly seen in 16".

Baby bodysuits for future Tour de France champs

Just look at these baby bodysuits from Cycling Souvenirs...

Let's not get into the debate about whether your little one needs to have won the World Championships or mountains classification to have earned the right to wear the rainbow bands or polka dots. 

Miche enters the WorldTour, will supply Groupama-FDJ wheels for 2025 season

Miche is the new technical partner of FDJ, heralding a new WorldTour era as the Italian company supplies the French team with wheels for the upcoming season. Miche shared snaps of its Race Division range on the team's Wilier bikes, a partnership that will debut at the upcoming Tour Down Under.

Gregory Girard, Miche's general manager, explained how the partnership involves "strong commitment from both parties" who want to be "top players in the WorldTour".

"From day 1 the main goal of both was to work side by side to leverage our expertise and feedback to further refine their high-performance products," he added. "Miche is not simply participating, but is here to deeply support the team to win the biggest international races and our entire team embraces this challenge."

Trek publishes its sustainability report and highlights aluminium-manufacturing choices, tyre recycling and improved packaging

Trek has published its 2024 sustainability report, outlining the steps the company is taking to reduce emissions and be more sustainable. The bicycle manufacturer said it wants to hit its 2032 goals five years early, by 2027, working "to reduce the carbon footprint of every bike we make, and meeting our absolute reduction goal means cutting emissions per bike model by about 50 per cent".

Using aluminium from manufacturers who use less fossil fuel is cited as a major gain, reducing the carbon emissions by up to 46 per cent. Likewise, Trek outlined an ambition to "figure out how to get old bike tyres into the recycling stream to close the loop and keep them out of our landfills and waterways".

Elsewhere, the report highlighted continued work to "refine" packaging to be the "ideal blend of sustainable and effective", cutting out single-use plastics. It also noted a desire to make e-bike batteries easier to recycle.

The full report is available here...

Silca collabs with artist Chris McNally on limited edition tool kit

One for our US-based readers now (although if you're reading this, you're almost certainly already too late). Silca announced an "ultra-limited" and "one-of-a-kind" collab with artist Chris McNally on some Artist Edition HX-1 Home Essential Tool Kits. Only 60 of the SILCA HX-1 x Chris McNally boxes are being produced and there will be a "blind box" system in place, whereby 10 hand-painted boxes will be randomly mixed into the batch of the other 50 laser-engraved boxes. In short, cross your fingers and pray you're one of the lucky 17%... "What is life without a little risk?" Silca jokes...

The Silca site now displays a '404 page not found', so it sounds like anyone who's interested but yet to act is already too late.

The boxes feature the artwork from Colorado-born artist McNally, who is now based in San Francisco, California, and is celebrated for his unique blend of analogue textures and digital precision.

"Drawing inspiration from urban culture and the natural world, McNally's Drawing Services bring an organic yet modern aesthetic to every piece he creates," Silca explained. "His signature style transforms the HX-1 into more than just a tool kit."

TORQ adds Energy Jellies to its line-up

Performance nutrition brand TORQ has added to its range of products with the launch of Energy Jellies, each pack providing a 30g hit of ride-fuelling carbs. They come in berries, lime or orange flavour and feature TORQ's "own special 2:1 ratio blend of glucose-derivatives and fructose". As with most specific energy products, they're not cheap at £2.75 per pack, a sampler pack of six packets (two of each flavour) also offered at £16.50.

Check out the full range on TORQ's website...

The future of cycling technology?

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by FLITE GmbH (@flite.bike)

Forgive us, we only saw this for the first time this week. In fairness, there hasn't been much movement on Flite's social media pages since July anyway, but here's a look at a concept design for a "fully connected and integrated smart handlebar". Not much movement until yesterday, that is...

Will we soon see power data, heart rate, directions and traffic info direct on riders' bars. The brands offering bike computers might have something to say about that, but Flite's designers believe it will "transform the future of cycling". Needless to say we'll be following their progress closely.

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