Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

Five cool things coming soon from Forme, Fabric, Everysight, Giro and RooDol

Another selection of the best gear, bikes and kit we're testing at the moment...

If you woke up to shockingly cold conditions in the UK for your Saturday morning ride, fear not... we're set for a blast of warmth later this week, so don't put away those shorts just yet! Here's some shiny new stuff we'll look forward to testing in those more pleasant temperatures... 

Fabric Lumacell Light Set

£36.99

Fabric Lumacell Light Set.jpg

This nifty little set of lights from Fabric put out 30 lumens at the front and 20L at the rear, with plenty of side visibility so you can be seen from all angles. They're also free of cables thanks to the direct USB charging built into the body of the lights, which helps cut down on cable clutter at home and/or work, and the max run time is 8 hours on flash. Did they light up Stu Kerton's life? The review is imminent...
fabric.cc

Forme Flash SL Ultegra Di2

£3,700

Screen Shot 2018-10-08 at 16.19.40

The Flash is Derbsyshire-based Forme's fast, workhorse race bike, and is built to be nippy but also to deal with British road conditions year-round. This means tubeless-ready wheels and tyres and a high quality frame made from T700 and T800-grade carbon. It comes with a flat mount hydraulic disc set-up with thru-axles front and rear, and you can choose from various build options with our test bike being the Ultegra Di2 version with Mavic Ksyirium Elite UST wheels. Did it get our reviewer from A to B in a flash? The verdict is coming soon.   
formebikes.co.uk

RooDol Track Folding Rollers

£199.00

roodoltrackfoldingrollers-withbike

These rollers are said to offer larger cylinders than your average to allow for more inertia, stability, balance and lower resistance. The easy-folding structure is light and transportable with its own bag, and the QuickAdapt system allows you to set the front roller distance with no tools needed. 
moorelarge.co.uk

Everysight Raptor smart sunglasses

£699.00

everysight-raptor-glasses-1

These shades certainly got plenty of attention when they arrived in the office due to their space-age appearance, and there are a ton of features packed inside the frames and on the lenses themselves via a heads-up display. Everysight say the semi-transparent display is actually safer than relying on looking down at a head unit when riding in traffic or on technical sections - it also gives message and call notifications from your phone, useful for those who may be tempted to try to grab their phone from a back pocket. You can even use voice commands to alter the settings, or swipe and tap on the touch pad located on the right temple of the glasses, and there's a companion Raptor app to share all your data through Strava and social media. A built-in HD camera can also capture images and short videos, useful for any Relive fanatics. Has Stu embraced the futuristic Raptors, or are they too convoluted? The full review is coming soon.  
everysight.com

Giro Isode MIPS helmet

£69.99

Giro Isode MIPS helmet - side 2.jpg

One of the most affordable lids we've seen with the MIPS brain protection system, the Isode has a classic design with Giro's In-Mold construction to keep the weight down, and easy one-handed adjustments thanks to the Roc Loc Sport retention system. Check back for the full test report towards the end of the month...
zyrofisher.co.uk

 

To see all of road.cc's full test reports, head over to our reviews section. If you want some more advice before splashing the cash, check out our buyer's guides. 

Arriving at road.cc in 2017 via 220 Triathlon Magazine, Jack dipped his toe in most jobs on the site and over at eBikeTips before being named the new editor of road.cc in 2020, much to his surprise. His cycling life began during his students days, when he cobbled together a few hundred quid off the back of a hard winter selling hats (long story) and bought his first road bike - a Trek 1.1 that was quickly relegated to winter steed, before it was sadly pinched a few years later. Creatively replacing it with a Trek 1.2, Jack mostly rides this bike around local cycle paths nowadays, but when he wants to get the racer out and be competitive his preferred events are time trials, sportives, triathlons and pogo sticking - the latter being another long story.  

Add new comment

21 comments

Avatar
davel | 5 years ago
1 like

One more. We've seen in the UK that even small amounts of money can make politicians say stupid shit to impress paymasters. This is for Congress. 

 

Avatar
davel | 5 years ago
1 like

Unfortunately, the argument surrounding gun rights in the US is much more complex than just pro-gun/pro-control. Nutty shit like arming teachers has made it into the debate, but lobbying goes even further and will be ad-hominem covering just about anything to get a favourable candidate in. The NRA backed Trump bigly, but I'm pretty sure they spent even more money attacking Clinton than on pro-Trump coverage.

 

Avatar
don simon fbpe | 5 years ago
2 likes

It's a boycott, the customers will be back. It'd be a short sighted businessman who didn't want to pick them up on the cheap with full knowledge that they would return to full trading in a short period of time. The market has an appetite for these brands and might even be strengthened.

Putting economics over principles is what gets us in the shit in the first place and is a piss poor defence for not boycotting.

Avatar
FluffyKittenofT... | 5 years ago
2 likes

I don't really understand the supposed moral argument against boycotting.

 

  It's not as if the money that would have been spent on the product disappears - it will be spent on something else (same product from a different manufacturer or a different product entirely).  Ergo one company suffers reduced sales, another one has increased sales, and the total number of jobs, in the long run, remains the same.  It just sends a message about desired behaviour to all the companies involved.

 

  As 'the market' is supposed to be largely about conveying information via market signals (there's no other reason for it to exist, without that role it might as well all  be state monopolies) what's wrong with using it for its intended purpose?

 

Personally, though, I don't see that US problems with their own gun laws are really my concern.  It's up to Americans to decide what they want to do about it.  And the NRA's spending doesn't actually appear to be a deciding factor (spending equal money on the other side didn't seem to do much to change outcomes), it seems to be just down to US voter priorities.  Those who want gun-control just don't seem feel as strongly as those opposed to it.

 

The number of gun-owners is slowly declining, so maybe eventually the fanatical pro-gunners will be electorally overwhelmed by weight of numbers of the mildly anti-gun voters.

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to FluffyKittenofTindalos | 5 years ago
0 likes

FluffyKittenofTindalos wrote:

Personally, though, I don't see that US problems with their own gun laws are really my concern.  It's up to Americans to decide what they want to do about it.  And the NRA's spending doesn't actually appear to be a deciding factor (spending equal money on the other side didn't seem to do much to change outcomes), it seems to be just down to US voter priorities.  Those who want gun-control just don't seem feel as strongly as those opposed to it.

 

The number of gun-owners is slowly declining, so maybe eventually the fanatical pro-gunners will be electorally overwhelmed by weight of numbers of the mildly anti-gun voters.

I was under the impression that the gun control side had much less money to spend as there's very little money to be made by NOT selling guns.

I just found this site (I have no idea how accurate/biased they are):

https://www.opensecrets.org/news/issues/guns/

and those figures suggest that twice as much money is spent on lobbying for gun rights compared to gun control.

Avatar
hairyderriere | 5 years ago
0 likes
Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to hairyderriere | 5 years ago
1 like

hairyderriere wrote:

But then, this news that they are to sell their bike holdings?

I wouldn't hold your breath if I were you. A more cynical person might think that Vista Outdoor announced their intention to sell some brands (Bell, Blackburn, Giro) just to placate cycling customers who don't appreciate the huge political interference that the NRA engages in (and that Vista supports).

An even more cynical person might notice the more recent news tht Vista have changed their priorities: https://www.bicycleretailer.com/industry-news/2018/08/09/vista-plans-sel...

Quote:

Vista announced in May that it planned a major restructuring and refocus that includes selling its Savage and Stevens firearms brands, its Jimmy Styks paddleboard brand, Bell, Giro and Blackburn, the Copilot bike baby carrier brand, and the Raskullz and Krashco helmet brands. It said it would retain CamelBak, Camp Chef, and Bushnell, as well as its ammo' brands.

Vista had previously announced that it planned to sell its Bollé, Cebé and Serengeti brands, and in July it reached an agreement to sell them to a private equity group for $158 million. While those brands are primarily known for their eyewear, Bollé also sells bike helmets.

In a conference call with investors Thursday morning, Vista executives said that with the eyewear brands disposed of, they will now turn their attention to selling the other brands, starting with Savage and Stevens.

 

Avatar
Tony Farrelly replied to hawkinspeter | 5 years ago
1 like

hawkinspeter wrote:

hairyderriere wrote:

But then, this news that they are to sell their bike holdings?

I wouldn't hold your breath if I were you. A more cynical person might think that Vista Outdoor announced their intention to sell some brands (Bell, Blackburn, Giro) just to placate cycling customers who don't appreciate the huge political interference that the NRA engages in (and that Vista supports).

An even more cynical person might notice the more recent news tht Vista have changed their priorities: https://www.bicycleretailer.com/industry-news/2018/08/09/vista-plans-sel...

Quote:

Vista announced in May that it planned a major restructuring and refocus that includes selling its Savage and Stevens firearms brands, its Jimmy Styks paddleboard brand, Bell, Giro and Blackburn, the Copilot bike baby carrier brand, and the Raskullz and Krashco helmet brands. It said it would retain CamelBak, Camp Chef, and Bushnell, as well as its ammo' brands.

Vista had previously announced that it planned to sell its Bollé, Cebé and Serengeti brands, and in July it reached an agreement to sell them to a private equity group for $158 million. While those brands are primarily known for their eyewear, Bollé also sells bike helmets.

In a conference call with investors Thursday morning, Vista executives said that with the eyewear brands disposed of, they will now turn their attention to selling the other brands, starting with Savage and Stevens.

 

But if the boycott of those brands results in a fall in revenues and profits won't it make it harder for Vista to sell them? And in a worse case scenario simply result in them being shut down leading to a lot of people who design and make some pretty good cycling kit, and who probably don't in any way support the NRA, losing their jobs – I'd imagine a fair few of them aren't even based in the US. Vista will roll on as before – they might even be able to write off the closures against tax. 
If people want to boycott something well that's a personal decision, but it's also worth considering that there could be bad consequences for some blameless people too. It's not easy.

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to Tony Farrelly | 5 years ago
1 like

Tony Farrelly wrote:

hawkinspeter wrote:

hairyderriere wrote:

But then, this news that they are to sell their bike holdings?

I wouldn't hold your breath if I were you. A more cynical person might think that Vista Outdoor announced their intention to sell some brands (Bell, Blackburn, Giro) just to placate cycling customers who don't appreciate the huge political interference that the NRA engages in (and that Vista supports).

An even more cynical person might notice the more recent news tht Vista have changed their priorities: https://www.bicycleretailer.com/industry-news/2018/08/09/vista-plans-sel...

Quote:

Vista announced in May that it planned a major restructuring and refocus that includes selling its Savage and Stevens firearms brands, its Jimmy Styks paddleboard brand, Bell, Giro and Blackburn, the Copilot bike baby carrier brand, and the Raskullz and Krashco helmet brands. It said it would retain CamelBak, Camp Chef, and Bushnell, as well as its ammo' brands.

Vista had previously announced that it planned to sell its Bollé, Cebé and Serengeti brands, and in July it reached an agreement to sell them to a private equity group for $158 million. While those brands are primarily known for their eyewear, Bollé also sells bike helmets.

In a conference call with investors Thursday morning, Vista executives said that with the eyewear brands disposed of, they will now turn their attention to selling the other brands, starting with Savage and Stevens.

 

But if the boycott of those brands results in a fall in revenues and profits won't it make it harder for Vista to sell them? And in a worse case scenario simply result in them being shut down leading to a lot of people who design and make some pretty good cycling kit, and who probably don't in any way support the NRA, losing their jobs – I'd imagine a fair few of them aren't even based in the US. Vista will roll on as before – they might even be able to write off the closures against tax. 
If people want to boycott something well that's a personal decision, but it's also worth considering that there could be bad consequences for some blameless people too. It's not easy.

Yes, I get your point, but it's similar to arguing about all the innocent people working on the Death Star when that got blown up. You could be Mr Stevens, Head of Catering on the Death Star, but sometimes you have to make a stand and not serve peas to Darth Vader (or at least not with penne).

Avatar
brooksby replied to hawkinspeter | 5 years ago
1 like

hawkinspeter wrote:

Tony Farrelly wrote:

hawkinspeter wrote:

hairyderriere wrote:

But then, this news that they are to sell their bike holdings?

I wouldn't hold your breath if I were you. A more cynical person might think that Vista Outdoor announced their intention to sell some brands (Bell, Blackburn, Giro) just to placate cycling customers who don't appreciate the huge political interference that the NRA engages in (and that Vista supports).

An even more cynical person might notice the more recent news tht Vista have changed their priorities: https://www.bicycleretailer.com/industry-news/2018/08/09/vista-plans-sel...

Quote:

Vista announced in May that it planned a major restructuring and refocus that includes selling its Savage and Stevens firearms brands, its Jimmy Styks paddleboard brand, Bell, Giro and Blackburn, the Copilot bike baby carrier brand, and the Raskullz and Krashco helmet brands. It said it would retain CamelBak, Camp Chef, and Bushnell, as well as its ammo' brands.

Vista had previously announced that it planned to sell its Bollé, Cebé and Serengeti brands, and in July it reached an agreement to sell them to a private equity group for $158 million. While those brands are primarily known for their eyewear, Bollé also sells bike helmets.

In a conference call with investors Thursday morning, Vista executives said that with the eyewear brands disposed of, they will now turn their attention to selling the other brands, starting with Savage and Stevens.

 

But if the boycott of those brands results in a fall in revenues and profits won't it make it harder for Vista to sell them? And in a worse case scenario simply result in them being shut down leading to a lot of people who design and make some pretty good cycling kit, and who probably don't in any way support the NRA, losing their jobs – I'd imagine a fair few of them aren't even based in the US. Vista will roll on as before – they might even be able to write off the closures against tax. 
If people want to boycott something well that's a personal decision, but it's also worth considering that there could be bad consequences for some blameless people too. It's not easy.

Yes, I get your point, but it's similar to arguing about all the innocent people working on the Death Star when that got blown up. You could be Mr Stevens, Head of Catering on the Death Star, but sometimes you have to make a stand and not serve peas to Darth Vader (or at least not with penne).

"Blue Collar Man: Excuse me, I don't mean to interrupt, but, uh, what are you talking about?

Randal Graves: The ending of "Return of the Jedi".

Dante Hicks: My friend here's trying to convince me that any independent contractors who were working on the uncompleted Death Star were innocent victims when it was destroyed by the Rebels."

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to brooksby | 5 years ago
1 like

brooksby wrote:

hawkinspeter wrote:

Tony Farrelly wrote:

hawkinspeter wrote:

hairyderriere wrote:

But then, this news that they are to sell their bike holdings?

I wouldn't hold your breath if I were you. A more cynical person might think that Vista Outdoor announced their intention to sell some brands (Bell, Blackburn, Giro) just to placate cycling customers who don't appreciate the huge political interference that the NRA engages in (and that Vista supports).

An even more cynical person might notice the more recent news tht Vista have changed their priorities: https://www.bicycleretailer.com/industry-news/2018/08/09/vista-plans-sel...

Quote:

Vista announced in May that it planned a major restructuring and refocus that includes selling its Savage and Stevens firearms brands, its Jimmy Styks paddleboard brand, Bell, Giro and Blackburn, the Copilot bike baby carrier brand, and the Raskullz and Krashco helmet brands. It said it would retain CamelBak, Camp Chef, and Bushnell, as well as its ammo' brands.

Vista had previously announced that it planned to sell its Bollé, Cebé and Serengeti brands, and in July it reached an agreement to sell them to a private equity group for $158 million. While those brands are primarily known for their eyewear, Bollé also sells bike helmets.

In a conference call with investors Thursday morning, Vista executives said that with the eyewear brands disposed of, they will now turn their attention to selling the other brands, starting with Savage and Stevens.

 

But if the boycott of those brands results in a fall in revenues and profits won't it make it harder for Vista to sell them? And in a worse case scenario simply result in them being shut down leading to a lot of people who design and make some pretty good cycling kit, and who probably don't in any way support the NRA, losing their jobs – I'd imagine a fair few of them aren't even based in the US. Vista will roll on as before – they might even be able to write off the closures against tax. 
If people want to boycott something well that's a personal decision, but it's also worth considering that there could be bad consequences for some blameless people too. It's not easy.

Yes, I get your point, but it's similar to arguing about all the innocent people working on the Death Star when that got blown up. You could be Mr Stevens, Head of Catering on the Death Star, but sometimes you have to make a stand and not serve peas to Darth Vader (or at least not with penne).

"Blue Collar Man: Excuse me, I don't mean to interrupt, but, uh, what are you talking about?

Randal Graves: The ending of "Return of the Jedi".

Dante Hicks: My friend here's trying to convince me that any independent contractors who were working on the uncompleted Death Star were innocent victims when it was destroyed by the Rebels."

Roofer: Well, I'm a contractor myself. I'm a roofer—Dunn and Ready Home Improvements—and speaking as a roofer, I can tell you; a roofer's personal politics comes into play heavily when choosing jobs.
Randal: Oh yeah, like when?
Roofer: Three weeks ago, I was offered a job up in the hills. Beautiful house, tons of property—a simple reshingling job! They told me if I could finish it in one day, I would double my price. Then I realized whose house it was.
Randal: Whose house was it?
Roofer: Dominic Bambino's.
Randal: "Baby-Face" Bambino, the gangster?
Roofer: The same! The money was right, but the risk was too high. I knew who he was, and based on that, I turned the job over to a friend of mine.
Dante: [to Randal] Based on his personal politics.

 

Avatar
Tony Farrelly replied to hawkinspeter | 5 years ago
0 likes

hawkinspeter wrote:

Tony Farrelly wrote:

hawkinspeter wrote:

hairyderriere wrote:

But then, this news that they are to sell their bike holdings?

I wouldn't hold your breath if I were you. A more cynical person might think that Vista Outdoor announced their intention to sell some brands (Bell, Blackburn, Giro) just to placate cycling customers who don't appreciate the huge political interference that the NRA engages in (and that Vista supports).

An even more cynical person might notice the more recent news tht Vista have changed their priorities: https://www.bicycleretailer.com/industry-news/2018/08/09/vista-plans-sel...

Quote:

Vista announced in May that it planned a major restructuring and refocus that includes selling its Savage and Stevens firearms brands, its Jimmy Styks paddleboard brand, Bell, Giro and Blackburn, the Copilot bike baby carrier brand, and the Raskullz and Krashco helmet brands. It said it would retain CamelBak, Camp Chef, and Bushnell, as well as its ammo' brands.

Vista had previously announced that it planned to sell its Bollé, Cebé and Serengeti brands, and in July it reached an agreement to sell them to a private equity group for $158 million. While those brands are primarily known for their eyewear, Bollé also sells bike helmets.

In a conference call with investors Thursday morning, Vista executives said that with the eyewear brands disposed of, they will now turn their attention to selling the other brands, starting with Savage and Stevens.

 

But if the boycott of those brands results in a fall in revenues and profits won't it make it harder for Vista to sell them? And in a worse case scenario simply result in them being shut down leading to a lot of people who design and make some pretty good cycling kit, and who probably don't in any way support the NRA, losing their jobs – I'd imagine a fair few of them aren't even based in the US. Vista will roll on as before – they might even be able to write off the closures against tax. 
If people want to boycott something well that's a personal decision, but it's also worth considering that there could be bad consequences for some blameless people too. It's not easy.

Yes, I get your point, but it's similar to arguing about all the innocent people working on the Death Star when that got blown up. You could be Mr Stevens, Head of Catering on the Death Star, but sometimes you have to make a stand and not serve peas to Darth Vader (or at least not with penne).

Similar buts not the same. The big difference being that the people on the Deathstar aren't real (hate to break it to you) and the people at Giro etc are. Easy making a stand when that stand comes down to not buying the bike helmet you probably wouldn't have bought anyway. Less easy, I'd argue, when it comes to to putting your livelihood, the roof over your kids's heads, on the line - even temporarily - to make a stand against a corporation in another country that owns the company you work for because it's making donations to an organisation of which you might not approve, but which doesn't exist in the country you live in, in which gun ownership is strictly controlled. 

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to Tony Farrelly | 5 years ago
1 like

Tony Farrelly wrote:

hawkinspeter wrote:

Yes, I get your point, but it's similar to arguing about all the innocent people working on the Death Star when that got blown up. You could be Mr Stevens, Head of Catering on the Death Star, but sometimes you have to make a stand and not serve peas to Darth Vader (or at least not with penne).

Similar buts not the same. The big difference being that the people on the Deathstar aren't real (hate to break it to you) and the people at Giro etc are. Easy making a stand when that stand comes down to not buying the bike helmet you probably wouldn't have bought anyway. Less easy, I'd argue, when it comes to to putting your livelihood, the roof over your kids's heads, on the line - even temporarily - to make a stand against a corporation in another country that owns the company you work for because it's making donations to an organisation of which you might not approve, but which doesn't exist in the country you live in, in which gun ownership is strictly controlled. 

I do appreciate that, but your argument can be applied to virtually any company or organisation (hence my choice of the Empire) and would work as an argument against any kind of boycott. Boycotting is certainly a blunt tool and more people will be affected than just the "evil" ones, but what would be an alternative protest to boycotting?

Personally, I just prefer that my cycling budget gets spent on companies other than ones that (indirectly) support the NRA. If I spend my money with Giro, then other companies would lose some of that money and again, innocent people may suffer because of that. It's just logical for me to not buy Vista Outdoor company products if there's a decent alternative.

Avatar
EM69 | 5 years ago
2 likes

Do wish Giro would come up with a helmet that doesent make you look like Twiki from Buck Rogers...

Avatar
Reedo | 5 years ago
0 likes

Giro (and Bell, Blackburn, CamelBak, Bolle and Bushnell) are owned by assault weapons firm Vista Outdoor. Make your own (informed) choices and enjoy your next ride. 

Avatar
hairyderriere replied to Reedo | 5 years ago
0 likes

Reedo wrote:

Giro (and Bell, Blackburn, CamelBak, Bolle and Bushnell) are owned by assault weapons firm Vista Outdoor. Make your own (informed) choices and enjoy your next ride. 

 

I had no idea. That's a bind, as Bell are one of very few helmet manufacturers that actually fit my head.

Avatar
r.glancy replied to Reedo | 5 years ago
1 like

Reedo wrote:

Giro (and Bell, Blackburn, CamelBak, Bolle and Bushnell) are owned by assault weapons firm Vista Outdoor. Make your own (informed) choices and enjoy your next ride. 

 

And? 

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to r.glancy | 5 years ago
2 likes

r.glancy wrote:

Reedo wrote:

Giro (and Bell, Blackburn, CamelBak, Bolle and Bushnell) are owned by assault weapons firm Vista Outdoor. Make your own (informed) choices and enjoy your next ride. 

 

And? 

Vista Outdoor support the NRA and the NRA are well known for throwing lots of lobbying money at the U.S. govt in order to influence policies. Basically, it's anti-democratic so some people decide to boycott brands that will put more money in the NRA's pockets.

Avatar
pepita1 replied to Reedo | 5 years ago
0 likes
Reedo wrote:

Giro (and Bell, Blackburn, CamelBak, Bolle and Bushnell) are owned by assault weapons firm Vista Outdoor. Make your own (informed) choices and enjoy your next ride. 

Thanks for the reminder.

Avatar
Fluffed | 5 years ago
0 likes

That Forme bike is list as £4,400.00 not £3,700, which seems a lot for what you are getting there.

Avatar
Jack Sexty replied to Fluffed | 5 years ago
0 likes

fluffed wrote:

That Forme bike is list as £4,400.00 not £3,700, which seems a lot for what you are getting there.

That's with the Cosmic Pro Carbon wheels, my test bike has the alloy Ksyirium Elite UST's which Forme told us would come in at £3,700 - this build isn't shown on the Forme website but they say you can mix and match most of the specs with any of their dealers. 

Latest Comments