This week was surprisingly light on big launches, but I still found a few cool things. Canyon’s new endurance road bike, two wild steel adventure bikes, ultralight climber’s wheels, shiny wheels, an air shock, a versatile carbon MTB fork, and more! Here’s the best new stuff this week:
- Canyon Endurace CFR
- Velo Orange Piolet
- Tanglefoot Moonshiner
- Forma aero position sensor
- Hunt Hill Climb SL wheels
- Astral Outback Silver
- Rockshox Vivid Air
- Lithic carbon forks
- OMM Pizza Rack
- Electra Ponto Go!
Canyon Endurace road bike gets lighter & faster
Canyon’s new Endurace endurance road bikes get a CFR-level frame, their lightest carbon fiber (-100g vs CF SLX) typically reserved for their top race bikes, and it gets aero shaping developed with Swiss Side to cut drag.
But its real trick is a one-piece adjustable-width handlebar w/ up to 40mm width adjustment, plus 15mm of spacer swaps underneath, with no cutting or re-wiring required. Behind that, a tool pouch hides in the top tube!
It clears 700×35 tires, but comes with 30mm front/32mm rear tires on it. Eight frame sizes (smallest two get 650B wheels), prices from $4,199 to $8,999. Claimed weights from 7.2kg-8.7kg, all models include their flex seatpost & some get power meters.
Velo Orange Piolet is a rugged steel bikepacking MTB
Better known for their retro-modern fenders and accessories, Velo Orange has some equally retro-looking steel frames. The latest is the Piolet, a 4130 double-butted chromoly steel hardtail with all the mounts. Wheel size ranges from 26″ to 27.5+” to 29″ depending on frame size, with tire clearance up to 2.8″ on larger sizes.
The included fork is triple-butted steel. Framesets are $925 (earlybird deal for $795 thru 8/28), available in S (26″) and M/L/XL (27.5+/29er).
Tanglefoot Moonshiner 2.0 steel gravel-MTB-adventure monster
Piolet too tame? How ’bout the Tanglefoot Moonshiner, a swoopy steel beast of an drop-bar adventure bike that now fits 29×2.8 (or 27.5×3.0) tires and rides high through the roughest terrain. This updated version switches to a tapered steerer tube, a 2lb-lighter segmented fork, modern rear thru-axle dropouts, and adds XS & XL frame sizes. Framesets are $500 $1,400.
Streamline Forma aero riding position sensor
Add the Forma Position Sensor to your stem and it’ll use infrared sensors to tell you in your head or torso are moving out of their most aero position. It pairs with Garmin head units to display your failings (flailings?), but you’ll need to set your desired parameters, which means you’ll want a visit to the wind tunnel or slap a drag sensor on your bike to figure out your optimum aero cycling position. MSRP £475.
Hunt Hill Climb SL 963g tubular wheels
The new disc-brake Hunt Hill Climb SL tubular wheelset gets 28g lighter than the original rim brake version despite having wider rims and disc brake hubs. Key specs are:
- 280g rims
- 963g wheelset (426g front / 537g rear)
- 26mm external / 30mm deep
- optimized for 23-28mm tires
- UD carbon spokes (2.6g each)
- 18 front / 20 rear spoke count
The hub’s axle and freehub body are drilled out, saving 67g off their standard H_Ratchet hubs. They have a 209lb total rider+bike weight limit. MSRP $/€1,699 (£1,299).
Astral Outback polished silver alloy gravel wheels
As one of their most popular “special editions”, the shiny silver Astral Outback rims and wheelset was a hand-polished labor of love. Now, they’ve figured out how to automate the polishing process and have added it as a year-round offering.
The house-made 25mm (internal) gravel rims are laced with Sapim spokes to White Industries CLD hubs, both also polished silver. Rims are $199 each, complete wheels are $1,299.
Rockshox Vivid Air shock gets coil-like performance
The new Rockshox Vivid Air gets tunable position-specific compression damping. The first 10% of travel bypasses the main compression piston so it can soak up all the little stuff off the top, then the next 70% provides better support where you’re spending most of your time.
The last 20 % gets 5 steps of increasing bottom-out resistance with their Adjustable Hydraulic Bottom Out (AHBO) knob. The oversized DebonAir sleeve provides a nearly linear, coil-like spring rate, but fits Bottomless Tokens volume spacers for further tuning. Available in Ultimate trim for aftermarket, and Select+, Select & base modelsfor OEM.
Lithic adds three carbon forks for gravel, MTB & fat bikes
The new Wolf Tooth Lithic carbon mountain bike fork introduces a clever interchangeable dropout system that makes it compatible with 100/110mm hub widths and post/flat mount brakes. Four different inserts let you run any of those combos natively, with no adapters, and also provides 7.5mm of offset/rake adjustment. Key specs are:
- 754-781g
- 495-498mm A-to-C
- suspension-corrected to match 120mm suspension forks
- 3-bolt cage mounts
- external brake hose routing
- MSRP $630
The gravel and fat bike forks have been offered on their Otso bikes for a while and are now available separately, too. They use standard thru-axle dropouts, full specs here.
Old Man Mountain Pizza Rack
The new Old Man Mountain Pizza Rack’s wide, flat (10″ x 12.9″) base supports larger loads (like Pizza!) and uses their rock solid thru-axle mounting system to support up to 35lbs. You’ll need to upgrade to Robert Axle Project’s thru axles to get the bolt-on capability, but… worth it. MSRP $168.
Lezyne boosts LED bike lights collection
Lezyne’s entire LED bike line is revamped, with waterproof USB-C charging ports, enhanced heat dissipation, better optics & beam patterns, and longer run times.
Sleek new form factors with satin black finish makes them look good, too. Tons of options for front and rear across all price points, with many of the headlights having GoPro mount compatibility for placing them under cycling computers.
Electra Ponto Go! e-bike
If you’re just looking to kick around town, the new Electra Ponto Go! e-bike gets a big cushy seat, upright seating position, and a throttle for “those days”. The Class II (20mph max assist) bike comes with front & rear lights (including brake lights & turn signals), seating for two, and even a Quad Lock wireless-charging phone mount on the stem.
The 650Wh battery is good for up to 60 miles range, with a powerful 750W/60Nm rear hub motor. Comes in four colors, including a fun “Cloud” multi-color fade. MSRP $2,699.
Kit of the Week
Outdoor apparel brand RAB Equipment’s first foray into cycling kits is a winner, with a casual look that belies solid all-day performance. The Cinder bibshorts and jersey that are perfect for long gravel days. The jersey ($140) looks basic, but the material is very soft, breathable, and has UV & odor protection. Internal non-stretch reinforcements prevent the pockets from drooping when overloaded.
The Cinder cargo bibshorts ($160) have side pockets with a small flap to help keep things from slipping out. The women’s version has a split “drop seat” waist on the back to make potty breaks easier. Check the full collection here.
On Stage
Here’s the 2023 Leadville 100 recap and Keegan Swenson’s record-smashing finish.
Small Bites
- Join the free Big Sugar Backyard Bash gravel ride & party on 9/2
- The quadrennial Paris-Brest-Paris bike race kicks off Sunday
- MyWhoosh adds 1223km of classic Belgian roads to ride virtually
- Here’s what race bikes from the Colorado Trail Race look like
- Wolf Tooth adds T-Type compatible chainrings for Race Face cranks
- YT’s Uncaged lineup adds Ohlins-equipped Izzo, Capra & Tues
- Powder Mountain Bike Park opened two new MTB trails
- Here’s a fold-flat, pop-up portable five-bike stand
- JensonUSA has Ltd Ed. Ibis Hakka w/ silver Shimano GRX
- Here’s the new Specialized Tarmac SL8’s development story
- Bedrock debuts UltraRomance-edition sandals
- New Kali Invader 2.0 open-face trail helmet has mega coverage
- The Velocio Ride Series has a few events left this year
Hot Deals
- Fezzari’s Labor Day Sale has huge MTB/eMTB deals
- Aventon e-bikes are $100-$400 off for Back to School
- All 2021/22 Alchemy MTBs are now in their Outlet Sale
- All Marin gravel, MTB, commuter & more bikes up to $800 off
- Backcountry’s Semi-Annual Sale has gear up to 60% off
- Competitive Cyclist Semi-Annual Sale has bike stuff up to 50% off
- Wolf Tooth’s awesome Morse Cage Ti bottle cages are 25% off
Parting Thoughts
I just got home from a press event (new drivetrain coming later this month!) where our riding was curtailed by a haze of smoke.
We squeaked in one ride on the first day, but the second day’s bigger ride was canceled.
The AQI was bad. As in, it wasn’t even fun standing outside, so riding hard was completely out of the question.
Which is a shame because it was an area I hadn’t been to before, and we were all looking forward to exploring new roads and trails.
If you haven’t seen the new AIQ (Air Quality Index) and Fires layers on Google Maps, they’re neat. Disheartening, but neat. We were surrounded by fires to the east, west, and north. And Canada was completely covered in bad air.
There are some spots I want to visit, and each year it seems like my window to do so gets narrower and narrower.
Most of us have a bucket list of places we want to ride. Between snow, rain, extreme heat, fires, floods, and everything else, it might be time to write down your list and start prioritizing based on the likelihood of those trails or forests still existing in a couple years’ time.
I know I am.
On a lighter note, a huge welcome to the ~2k new subscribers joining us from our Summer Rollout Sweeps! I’m drawing the winners this weekend, so keep an eye out for an email! If this is your first issue, here’s a little bit about what we do here.
And if you didn’t win this time, I hope you’ll stick around. I’ve got more fun stuff to give away throughout the rest of this year, and most of those opps will only be mentioned here, not on social. But, you know, follow @TheLunchRide there, too.
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