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Sigma Rox 12.0 Sport Set GPS computer - menu.jpgFive cool things coming soon from Sigma, Knog, Schmolke, Look and Rapha
Bank holiday can't come soon enough, although this week on two wheels is being made a little easier by the weather gods as the sun continues to shine in the south west. Here's some of the best stuff we've been testing on our training rides and commutes these past few days...
Schmolke Roadbar Oversize Evo TLO handlebars
£359.00
It's not very often we get products through the door that cost more than double in £'s what they weigh in grams, but the Roadbar Oversize Evo TLO from carbon experts Schmolke are one such example... weighing a staggeringly light 147g, these bars are road-specific and were made to give the best stiffness-to-weight ration of any handlebar in the world. With the drop at 126mm and reach at 78mm Schmolke have also designed them with optimal ergonomics in mind for riding in the drops or on the tops, and there are recessed cable grooves and an option to get Di2 routing holes drilled in to keep everything tidy. Is the performance huge like the price, or less so like the weight? Mat Brett's review will be in shortly.
schmolke-carbon.com
£34.99
This super smart bell wraps around any drop bar so you barely notice it's there visibly, but you'll definitely know its there when you ping it. A loud yet distinctive and pleasing tone means you'll be heard from far away, and the Luxe version has a CNC machined ringer and brass dinger, plus a stitched leather shim and metal injection moulded stainless steel to make it a classy addition to your front end. Jez Ash will be reporting back to us on whether it works as well as it looks.
silverfish-uk.com
Look Keo Blade Carbon Ceramic pedals
£180.00
Look have added carbon bearings to their top-end pedals, claiming to have reduced friction by 18% which will be appreciated by the most discerning and fussy racers who want every advantage. The stack height of the pedal and cleat is just 14.8mm, and our scales tell us they weigh just 116g per pedal. Are they worth the extra cash? Liam Cahill will be giving us his tuppence worth soon.
zyrofisher.co.uk
Sigma Rox 12.0 Sport Set GPS computer
£376.95
This big bucks GPS is being used by Tom Dumoulin and co at Team Sunweb this year, and you get a very comprehensive list of features on their top-of-the-range computer that will appeal to those who like to crunch plenty of data and ride structured workouts. You can personally customise up to six training pages and select from 30 different training views, and you can create a workout directly on the device in seconds. A colour screen with an intuitive smartphone-like interface should make it a breeze to use, and Sigma say they've prioritised making the Rox 12.0 easy to use and logical with big buttons and clear graphics. What's more, there are various optional coloured cases available to purchase separately so you can do some bike matching if black and white is too Plain Jane for you. Worth the cash? The full review is coming soon.
sigmasport.com
£50.00
Fifty quid mitts better be damn good mitts, and our reviewer Tass Whitby will be hoping these ones from Rapha will justify the price tag over her test period. The latest versions have a new palm construction for better comfort and feel, say Rapha, and are recommended for warm to hot days in the saddle. The synthetic suede palm should offer plenty of cushioning, and the fabric on the back of the hand is the same used in the Souplesse Jersey, with an anti-bacterial treatment and SPF 50+ sun protection... if you've ever slapped on the suncream before a hot ride and forgot about the backs of your hands, you'll know about it!
rapha.cc
To see all road.cc's latest 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.
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24 comments
I was an original kickstarter supporter of the Knog Oi. It came, eventually, and it was so quiet and unobtrusive that I never fitted it. It was made in only 22.2mm and 31.8mm. They had apparently not realised until late in development that drop bars are 23.8mm diameter!
If you want to try, there are Chinese knock-offs on a familiar auction website now for a fraction of the original cost.
Has a ‘5 cool things…’ feature ever generated so many comments?
Taxes and bells.
If you can save your pocket money for a couple of weeks get a Spurcycle. My kids bought me one for my road bike 2 years ago and it is so effective on shared routes I bought one last month for my new bike.
I've got a couple of the KickStarter Titanium bells and they're rubbish. The spring started rusting on one of them as well as the bell being far too quiet.
Never heard of carbon bearings. Should it read ceramic bearings on the Look pedals?
Double post
The original is rubbish, not loud at all. Don't believe the hype
That's loads more scientific than 'hype'. Big thanks.
Actually, the original is rubbish.
Very underwelming sound and construction.
I have owned 2 (pre-ordered them because of the hype) and one of them rattled quite badly.
I think they fixed the construction on the 'luxe' edition but still need to hear it before I consider buying it. Actually the BBB 'loud and clear deluxe' bell (5-ish quid) is the one I use on all my bikes now. Not perfect (rattles when riding over cobbles ) but it's small and loud.
Detailed and informative. Actual thanks.
Thanks, have bought a loud & clear from tredz on ebay, £3.42 delivered.
The loud & clear is great, good tip, thanks
Main issue with the bell is that it's great when you're not moving but cycling vibrations dampen the ring and striking it too hard in emergencies often plinks it rather than ringing true. If you strike it carefully you get a good ring but then it's not loud enough.
Rain/ severe fog killed my second bell's ring, they are sending me another, they to their credit have improved customer servce, especially towards Kickstarter backers who they seem to realise are not just customers but supporters and deserve a little more TLC. And may support them on Kickstarter again.
Good shout... Which it seems is what you need if you have an Oi.
I did back the original run but my Oi ended up in my garage or knicked by one of my kids. Haven't ever used it. Good to hear their service is reasonable.
go and buy one yourself then and find out scientifically.
what a complete bellend you must be.
What a waste of Internet you actually are. And that's ScienceFact.
Hey, I've never paid more than basic rate and I've just started using my Jones Ti H-bar, pricey, and I got them from the US, so a bit confused about the total cost. My reasoning was that if I got the ali version and loved them, then I would have got to get the Ti ones eventually, so wasting the initial investment. They are brilliant (very luckily). Quality IS worth it.
They are the same weight as the alloys, but I wanted the longeivity, which is why I couldn't go for the carbon. And maybe the damping?
And I did pick up 2 sets of grips at $20 a go, charliethebikemonger has them at £40, so saved a little bit, yeah, right.
£50 for gloves, £35 for a bell, £360 for a pair of handlebars? “This is fine”
If someone is willing to pay, then yes. The sooner we get a 70% tax band, the better.
We already have one. Parents earning between £50k-£60k lose 58% of anything above £50k to tax due to Child Benefit clawback, and NI on top takes them to 70%.
is that just 50-£60k, whats the tax rate at 60-70 on that method? Thanks
If you're earning £110k+ with a good employer pension you can hit some crazy marginal rates.
100%+ for some people.
Not a very sensible system.
So we don't have anything like a 70% tax band then.
What would 70% tax band plus NI contributions look like?
If you're one of the 5% of employed people earning between fifty and sixty grand a year, you get to keep 30% of your last £10k of earnings, which I'd say is like a 70% tax band for those people.
A 70% tax band plus NI contribs would look like an 82% tax band, which would be a purely political statement, given that history shows it would lower the overall tax take.