There's brand new releases from the likes of Enve, Campagnolo, Hunt, LOOK, Lazer and Van Rysel. Sam Gupta, Stefan Abram and Joe Baker all sit down to talk about all the new releases in detail.
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00:00We've got Bastion, Envy, Hunt, Look, Laser and Van Riesel and they have all dropped new gear.
00:06So we're going to start with some eye-wateringly expensive new bars from Envy. Joe, tell us all
00:13about them. So last week Envy launched the Envy SES AR one-piece bar and stem. Now the first thing
00:19to note is that this is not the handlebar that Team UAE and Tali Pogaccia have been riding for
00:25the last sort of nearly a year now. This is actually a handlebar that's designed more for
00:30the all-road category. So they were first released with the Envy Melee and the Envy Custom road bike.
00:36And now if you can cough up the cash, they are available to the wider market for the grand
00:42total of £1,300 or $1,200. That is so much money. To put it into perspective, I think a great
00:51comparison is that that is about the cost of the entry-level specialised Alley. But yeah,
00:57what do you get for all that money? Well, they're all handmade in the USA. They're available in 20
01:02different length and width configurations and they all share the same 5 centimetre flare that we saw
01:08from the SES Carbonaro handlebars about 10 years ago. So in terms of geometry, it's a 76 millimetre reach
01:14and a 127 millimetre drop. All pretty safe. They're compatible with Envy's in-route internal cable
01:21routing system as well. And they're going to weigh in the region of 330 to 360 grammes. That's
01:27obviously size dependent. Yeah. Well, what kind of width options do they have like the SEM and
01:32the actual bar width? Yeah. So as far as width options go, you're looking at anything from 38 centimetres
01:38wide to 46. Now that is for the hoods. Interestingly enough, that means in the biggest size, the drops
01:45will actually be more than half a metre apart, which definitely sort of puts them, I would argue,
01:50to be honest, more towards the gravel spectrum than road, actually, because 38 isn't particularly
01:54narrow. And as I say, 51 centimetres on the drops is a lot of control. But that's not the only new
02:01thing from Envy because I also think they released something else pretty recently. I think they came out
02:05of some new hubs, which aren't always the most interesting new piece of tech. But I think there's
02:10a deeper story going on here, right? Yeah, there's a little bit more context to it. So last week or the
02:15week before last, I should say, Envy released another set of its own hubs. They're 100% in-house
02:20design and they're 60 grammes lighter than their J-Bend model. 326 grammes claimed for the pair. They
02:26also feature a lower engagement angle of just 3.3 degrees or down two, I should say. That's a little bit
02:32lower than DT Swiss's equivalent goes down to 6.6. Now, the wider context to this is really that
02:38the DT Swiss's patent on ratchet sort of hub systems ended in 2020. And now Envy is the latest
02:46brand to come out with its own hub design that sort of works off the back of this patent. Now,
02:52Envy said in its press release, they said they're totally behind ratchet systems over sort of more
02:56traditional pull systems. The first thing that comes to mind, though, is why it's taken quite so long.
03:02Obviously, we're four years on now. A couple of people reporting that actually engineering the
03:07tolerances needed for these ratchet systems is really, really tricky. So it's only now that
03:13we're starting to see other brands catch up, but Envy is the latest to do so. Yeah, Envy's
03:17storming ahead in those terms, really, because with DT Swiss, I think that they're quite conservative
03:22with their star ratchet system. And so they start at just 18 teeth. And so these are like quite big,
03:26meaty teeth. It's a very reliable system, but that means that you get 20 degrees of engagement and you
03:31really, really do feel that. They go up to 24, 36, 54 numbers of teeth. And that brings the engagement
03:38down. But as you say just earlier, Envy's, they go all the way up to 100 teeth, which is really,
03:44really quite impressive, especially considering the problems that other brands are having when it
03:48comes to the tolerances. That makes a lot of sense. And Envy aren't the only wheel manufacturer
03:54that's kind of taking advantage of this ending of the patent, because Hunt has also brought out some
04:00new wheels called the Sub-50s. And those wheels have been brought out to replace the Limitless 48.
04:07So as you can imagine, they are about 50 mil deep, but they do also come with a new hub. But that new
04:13hub isn't quite as exciting as the Envy hubs. And if anything, they're pretty off the shelf. Now, I did
04:19speak to Hunt last week about the new wheel set. And I will say there's a lot more to them than just
04:24the hubs. Arguably, the hubs are the least interesting thing, in my opinion. But those new
04:29hubs, they do seem to be a pretty standard off the shelf kind of design. They're made in a similar
04:35factory to other wheel manufacturers out there as well. But when I asked Hunt about the hubs, they
04:42said that essentially the reason why they went for those ones and didn't kind of try to come out with
04:47anything really exciting and brand new is because actually they just wanted something that would
04:50work and be reliable. And actually, I really respect that because I think in a world where
04:54maybe brands feel like they need to be pushing the envelope all the time, that can result in things
04:59that maybe sometimes don't work that well. So I think actually just using a hub design, which is
05:04proven, durable, versatile and just works. Actually, I think I rate quite high, but it's the other
05:10features of the Sub-50s that I think is quite cool. So as I say, that's a 50 mil deep wheel set,
05:15which is coming in at a claimed 1,380 grams, which is impressive. That is impressive. And that's
05:22using their UD carbon spokes, which save around about 50 grams compared to the stainless steel
05:28versions. But yeah, I think that those wheels, which have been made to kind of prioritise either
05:3528 mil tyres or 30 mil tyres, one really forward thinking, really lightweight, I think they're going
05:40to work very well for people that ride on a mixture of terrains and do kind of want to balance that
05:46aero and lightweight performance. Yeah. So do we have any data or any claims on exactly how we
05:50stack up against the competition? Yeah. So Hunt did actually provide a lot of their testing data
05:54and I've got some numbers in front of me and they have compared these wheels against the 454 NSWs,
06:01the Zip 303 Ss, the NV 4.5s, the Princeton Peak 4550s, the Sub-50s, and then of course,
06:09the Roval Repeat CLX2. So they've kind of put themselves up there with the best of what's on
06:13the market, which is a, that's a pretty bold claim because a lot of these wheels cost double
06:17what the hunts do. But actually they've stacked up pretty well. Overall, when you look at the graph
06:23that you guys can see on screen, it's only really the Rovals that maybe give them a proper run for
06:28their money, especially at kind of those higher yaw angles. So according to Hunt, they're actually
06:32beating out a lot of the competition. So let's say you're speccing your brand new bike, you've
06:37put £1,300 handlebars on it, you've put £3,500 wheels on it. What do you need next? Well, Bastion
06:46seems to think that you might need an amulet to go with your bike. So now, all, I can't believe this,
06:52all new Bastion bikes and frames that are sold will now come. They're going to come with an
06:59amulet because apparently that that's what... Any special claims for the amulet? So there's no
07:03claims for the amulet, but imagine if it did, that'd be great. But what it does come with,
07:08or what they do do is engrave each amulet with the frame number of your very own Bastion. So they
07:15are linked, they are custom and individual. But I've just, when I saw this on Instagram,
07:21I was just thinking like, why? What's the point? Now, I don't think that it's going to be inflating
07:26the prices of bikes, but I'm wondering whether or not Bastion thinks that it helps justify the
07:31price of their bikes. I mean, sure, they are very expensive and they do have some incredible
07:34technology that goes behind that. I just don't think you need all this extra stuff. I feel like
07:40it's the equivalent of having a Ferrari key on your keys, just so you can wave it around and show
07:46that you have a Ferrari. It feels like the same. I don't understand it. I think it's stupid.
07:50But then again, if I had the money for a Bastion, I probably wouldn't hate it.
07:54Next up, we've got something that I think is quite exciting. And I think you do too.
07:57I think it's exciting. I do. New pedals from Look.
08:00Yeah, I do like Look. Well, yeah, well, I don't know, maybe going back to the start,
08:04I mean, Look's got a really strong position, like in like cycling's heritage, like starting
08:07up from the ski bindings, they created the first clipless pedal in 1984. And so this is
08:11the 40 year anniversary. So it's quite momentous for Look, really. And so, yeah, and yeah,
08:16to mark the occasion, Look is updated, it's Keo Blade pedals. And these, I think, are also
08:21quite, yeah, almost like an iconic product, really, sort of like within cycling's history.
08:27And so for the most part, most clipless pedals, they use a metal spring as the retention system
08:32to keep your foot, yeah, firmly locked in place. But yeah, the Keo Blades, yeah, first
08:36released in 2011, they, yeah, use a little leaf spring made out of carbon, which is, yeah,
08:42lovely, the sort of snap when you clip into it. Yeah, it's, it's quite unique. It's, yeah,
08:46it does have some difficulties in that if you want to change the release tension, you need a
08:50different, yeah, carbon, carbon wafer, really. But yeah, aside from that, it's, yeah, a nice,
08:56yeah, really simple, and yeah, really satisfying set of pedals. But they've been updated, they've
09:00been, yeah, maybe there's sort of some issues with the previous iteration, some little niggles
09:05that can cause a little bit of frustration. And I think one of them is really the way that the old
09:10look, Keo Blades, they used to hang. And yeah, just for weight distribution, they'd always be
09:16like the wrong way, you'd have to kick it over with your toe. And yeah, if you've got white shoes,
09:19you just end up with a scuff. It's, yeah, perennial nightmare. But these, the sort of friction of the
09:24torque, sort of with the pedal and spindle, in combination with a shift in the weight distribution,
09:29means that it, yeah, hangs in a position which is more meanable to your foot clipping in. And so
09:34they, yeah, claim to have solved that issue. Once we've actually got a set and attached it to our
09:38bikes, yeah, we'll be at the judges of that. But yeah, they have, yeah, sought to address it.
09:42But I think there's an interesting number here, because what have Luke said about, because
09:46they've claimed a number against this. Exactly. And so, yeah, so the claim from Luke is 60% easier
09:51to clip into your pedals. But no, no, it's the torque, it's the infriction in the pedals. And so
09:58does that correlate one-to-one for it being easier? Perhaps not. But maybe it's a difficult
10:03concept to communicate, yeah, in just a headline. But yeah, it's quite an interesting one there.
10:09Yeah, I think it's really exciting that they're kind of updating these pedals, because like you
10:12say, they are kind of like iconic within the game. Sam, I hear you've got hold of a new helmet
10:16from Laser. I have. They have actually released this, the brand new Z1. Now, the Z1 was actually
10:22super popular with amateurs, and loads of pros were wearing them as well. So yeah, this new helmet
10:28is the successor to the previous version. And it does come with quite a few claims. One of which
10:36being that it has achieved a five-star Virginia Tech rating, which I think we'll probably come on to
10:44a little bit later. But it also incorporates Laser's own kinetic core impact technology, which
10:51is essentially their way of dealing with rotational forces. A bit like MIPS, really. A little bit like
10:56MIPS, yeah. So yeah, I've been using the helmet now for probably about a month or so. And actually,
11:04I've been really getting on with it. I will say, in winter, it is pretty cold, because it is a very
11:10well ventilated helmet. So I'm keen to use this in summer, when it's a little bit warmer here in
11:16the northern hemisphere. But I, to be honest, I've really, I'm really enjoying using this helmet. I
11:21actually used the previous Z1 for a couple of years, and I really enjoyed that helmet. I will say one
11:25of the big things that I've noticed is that the retention wheel, so adjusting the cage, it is
11:30smoother. It's a lot smoother. But I still don't think that's better than just having a wheel at
11:34the back. I still prefer a wheel at the back compared to the top mounted. Well, apparently it's
11:39supposed to work better with them ponytails, but not being in a position to test that, yeah, I agree
11:44with you. But yeah, maybe a use case is where it could be better. Yeah, so actually, that leads me
11:48on to another point that I found with this helmet, is that the cage, when it sits around your back,
11:53obviously you can manipulate that cage and have it come down further. But even in its lowest setting,
11:58sometimes I do just feel like it feels like it's a little bit higher. I would actually quite, I mean,
12:03I found when I was testing the cask Elemento, I really like that because the cage came right
12:08down and it felt really secure and on my head. That is something I found similar as well with
12:13the casks in Tessie when I tested it. It did sort of come quite far down the head, which is quite nice.
12:19It gives that sort of feeling of security that the helmet wouldn't lift at the back of the head,
12:23which is quite nice, isn't it? Yeah, so that's one thing that I guess maybe I'm not the biggest
12:28fan of, but it's still an incredibly comfortable helmet. Like it fits like, I mean, I don't want
12:32to say it, but it fits like a glove. But yeah, I mean, this helmet really lands itself in competition
12:38with things like the Protone from cask, the Trenta, the Prevail, the Airbreaker. But actually,
12:44I think it's really worthwhile. I think it deserves its place in the market. Absolutely.
12:49And well, I think considering the weight, yeah. So Laser claims that this is the lightest helmet
12:54with rotational impact protection. The claimed weight is at 220 grams. We've weighed it at 236
13:01grams, so a little bit heavier. But even so, that's still lighter than Giro's Aries MIPS spherical
13:05helmet. And that's, yeah, 265 grams. And so there's a significant difference there in terms
13:11of the weight. And when that's on your head, those, you know, sure, we're only talking about
13:15tens of grams. But actually, when it is on your head, those tens of grams really help and
13:19you can really feel it. Now, next up, we do have some new tech from Van Riesel slash Decathlon.
13:25And I believe they brought out a new range of turbo trainers. Yeah, absolutely. There's three
13:28new trainers. And we've got the top end model here. In fact, yeah, we've got it. Yeah, just
13:32down here. Pop that on. It's about 20 kilos. So it's got some heft to it.
13:36There we go. That's pretty big. It's sizable. In fact, maybe that's not going to work.
13:40Yeah, maybe. Run us through some of the specs. Yeah, well, I'll start with the price because
13:44I think that puts everything in perspective, really. And so it's not sold in the U.S. just
13:48yet. And it's only in the U.K. and Europe. But it's £550. And so just to put that in comparison
13:54with the Wahoo Kicker V6, that's £1,100. And with the Taxi Neo 2T, that's £1,200. And so
14:01it's half a price or better than half a price of these top end trainers. And so when it comes
14:06to the specs, so we've got a plus or minus 2% for the accuracy, which is sufficient for top
14:12level and swift tracing, but it's obviously less than the Kicker, which is plus or minus 1%. And
14:17same for the Tax. And then also with the Kicker, it's got the auto calibration, which this doesn't
14:22have. And so you're losing a little bit of nice features, but half a price, you can't really
14:28complain. It's interesting, isn't it? A few sort of creature comforts, obviously, there that are
14:32lacking. But actually, the thing that impresses me is, on first impression at least, the build
14:37quality is really nice for something that's so much cheaper. Because I think often, something
14:41that's manufactured with loads and loads of units, often people will cut costs on some
14:45of the materials that often that you end up touching, and it just doesn't feel like such
14:48a nice product to use. But on first impression at least, it seems pretty well built, doesn't
14:52it?
14:52Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, it's got a lot of metal in the construction, and just the solidity
14:57to it, and the stability. I mean, comparing it to the Elite Zumo, that's £100 cheaper,
15:01that's £450. But it's got much worse than specs. And so it doesn't get close to the maximum
15:08resistance of this, which is 2000 watts.
15:10Wow. Yeah, it doesn't, I think that the Zumo is maybe about 13% maximum gradient. This goes up to
15:1520. And so it's, yeah, it's ticking all those. The fact is, it's competing with the best. It's
15:20competing with the best, and it's about half a price. And as I say, it's a step up over these
15:24mid-range direct-drive trainers that we previously had when it comes to the stability. Yeah, the Zumo,
15:29it's, well, it's reasonable, but it's not got the same sort of substance as, yeah, the D900,
15:36which is really quite impressive.
15:37Well, I think that's the fact, is that the fact that even before, you know, having ridden it,
15:42just looking at the specs on paper, we're already comparing it to things that are twice the price,
15:46which kind of then insinuates that when you look at things that are direct price-rival
15:51kind of comparison, it's already kind of blown those out of the water. So it's fair to say that
15:55I think the ride feel will probably be quite good. And again, for that price, I think it's just going
16:00to be really interesting to see how it does compare to a kicker.
16:02Yeah, you're just missing out on, well, I call it gimmicks a little bit. I mean,
16:06the kicker's got its little feet, man, give you a bit of play. And yeah, the tax as well,
16:09it's got a little bit of sway. Do you really need that? Is it worth paying that much?
16:13Exactly. And again, with the tax, that works without having it plugged in.
16:18Yeah.
16:18And that's a nice feature. And maybe, you know, that's a reason to opt for the tax.
16:21But I will say that there's one criticism that I will have of it. And that is that it uses
16:26a quick release skewer with end caps like tax used to use. And yeah, happily, more recently,
16:35taxes have changed that. You can just put a through axle straight through the trainer
16:39as if it's just a wheel. Whereas with this, you have to put the, yeah, the quick release
16:44through the trainer and connect it to the trainer that way. And so, and then you have a through axle
16:50rolling about, yeah, getting lost. And yeah, so it's a bit of a pain in that respect.
16:55But this isn't, this also isn't the only trainer they've launched. They've launched two other
16:59models.
16:59Yeah, they've launched two other models. And so we'll, yeah, we'll gloss over the middle one
17:03because it's, yeah, it's kind of sort of in no man's land a little bit. But the D100 is very
17:08interesting in itself. And so the price is £240. Yeah, very impressively price. And so it's,
17:15yeah, about sort of like half out of a kicker core. But it's got a very similar design. It's got
17:19that T-leg setup that everybody has from like the Swift hub, from the Jet Black vaults and,
17:24yeah, and the Explova and those are there. Something that's notable about this is that the specs
17:28seem like somewhat down. And so the maximum resistance that is claimed is 600 watts for,
17:33this D100. And so that compares quite unfavorably with the Explova Noza S, which apparently can do
17:41up to 2,500 watts. And then it's a similar story, again, when it comes to the resistance. These
17:46other trainers that have a very similar design look almost the same. Yeah, having maximum inclines of,
17:51yeah, even up to 18% is claimed. Whereas this, it's only claimed to be 6%. And so I have a sneaking
17:58suspicion, perhaps, that the trainer is actually better than what these stats are rating it as.
18:04And this is just to differentiate the bottom end trainer from the higher end ones.
18:08Yeah. As a direct drive trainer coming in at that price level, I think that's just great to see.
18:14But like you say, even if the more expensive D900 is as competitive as we potentially hope it might be,
18:22against say the kicker, that's going to be, that in itself will be amazing. Absolutely.
18:29For this month's bike of the month, we have the Canyon Endure Race, but the aluminium version.
18:35Stefan, run us through it, because I think the version that we have is a slightly newer model.
18:39Yeah, absolutely. And so this is coming with the new Shimano 105 12-speed mechanical. And so it's a
18:46yeah, brand new group set, very, very nice. But yeah, to just focus on the bike, yeah, just in the
18:50first place, because it's just a very nice bike, really. And so it's aluminium, but you couldn't
18:55really tell for the welds, the seat post junction or the head tube, it's really, really very smooth.
19:00It's only around the bottom brackets that, yeah, it's given away as being an aluminium bike. And so,
19:04yeah, the lines, yeah, it's very, very pretty. Yeah, it looks almost like a carbon bike, but then you've
19:08got that nice, slight impact resistance of aluminium. And so it's, yeah, it's a very, very nice frame.
19:15And then when it comes to the tyre clearance, it goes up to 36 millimetres, which is pretty generous,
19:20really, for like, yeah, what's ostensibly an endurance road bike. But it's, yeah, coming with
19:2432 millimetre tyres. And, and yeah, to be fair, it is, it's looking plump, those tyres. And the internal
19:30rim width of the wheels, the DT Swiss LNs is 22 millimetres. And so it's not even that. The, yeah,
19:37wheels are particularly generous. Okay, they're plump, but larger if they, yeah, had like, yeah,
19:42zip 303s is on, for instance. But yeah, to be fair, I don't think many people are going to put
19:47some 303s is on and on an Endure race. Oh, I don't know. I think that's crying out for it,
19:52really. I mean, I really love like an aluminium frame, just the sort of solidity to it over
20:00carbon. Like, yeah, you don't have to worry, as I say, about like the old, like knock and scrape.
20:03It's yeah, it can sort of put up with a rough and tumble of life a little bit better. But then like,
20:07you want to offset that a little bit, you know, and so some like lighter wheels, a little bit of
20:10aerodynamicism. So this is coming in at £1,649. And now just to put that in perspective, okay,
20:16a specialised Alley Sport with Shimano Tiagra. Okay, so we're looking at a Shimano 105 with 12
20:23speeds versus Shimano Tiagra with 10 speeds. Okay, the specialised is £50 cheaper. And so what are you
20:30going to do? Which one are you going to choose out of both? It's really quite incredible of a value on
20:34this. And yeah, it even extends to Trek. And so to get the Trek and Wanda ALR with, yeah,
20:40with the same group set, yeah, that's, yeah, £1,000, £2,100. Whereas to get it with the older
20:47105, 105, 11 speed, that's still more expensive around about the 1800 mark. And so...
20:52So what do we reckon? We reckon that the Endurace here is actually delivering really good value for
20:57money. Incredible value. And you almost think that, yeah, Canyon might like wise up to it a little bit
21:03and like bump the price up because yeah, right now it really does stand out for the value that
21:06you're getting. It's nice to see what is probably all the bike that most people really could ever
21:11need. You know, without going crazy, it's all the bike you could really ever need. And it's still
21:17at a much more palatable price point than A, its competitors, but B, it just, it's not even in the
21:23same league as most carbon bikes, is it? You know, when you're talking about spending three,
21:27£4,000 on something with, you know, 105, I think it's refreshing more than anything to see something
21:34coming in considerably under £2,000 that would absolutely be like, you know, a brilliant bike
21:39for most people. Well, let us know down below. Bearing in mind the price of this bike, would you
21:43prefer to have an entire Canyon Endure race or the new NV handlebars? Let us know down below.