We first saw the German Bombtrack Hook EXT back in January and, as Dave Arthur said, 'we liked what we saw'. Having spent a month trying to find a trail it couldn't handle, I'm stumped. This is simply an awesome bike to take off-road.

Kenda's Flintridge Pro is a reasonably priced tubeless tyre that stands up well to harsh conditions.

Kenda recommends the Flintridge Pro for 'dry, hard and sandy' conditions, but they work pretty well in 'wet, rocky and rooty' as well. You wouldn't plan a paved-road ride around them, but they'll see you right for a few tarmac miles between home and gravel. The centre tread is almost constant, to afford smooth, low-resistance rolling over hard surfaces, while the more open pattern towards the sides affords grip in the slippery stuff – to a point.

The Magicshine MJ-906B Bluetooth Smart USB bike light APP version - to use the full name offers a shed load of lumens and builds on the previous model of the 906 light by adding a smartphone app but doesn't address the light beam issues.

The Ribble CGR AL e is a cracking bike for the money. Comfortable, stable and capable over very rough ground or while effortlessly eating up road miles, it adds intuitive, discreet electric assist to a fundamentally great chassis. It's a bike that opens up huge possibilities (for all levels of rider) in covering serious ground – and having a lot of fun along the way.