Crankbrothers add to Stamp shoe range and Scott’s new lightweight Scale RC

Our round up of the very best tech stories of the week

Rhian Atherton

Dec 17 2022

This week in the world of off-road cycling tech, we see tyre brand Vittoria changing ownership, and we look at the race bikes used by our in-house team, ORCC. We see a number of exciting releases from Crankbrothers with its addition of a new Stamp shoe and Mondraker’s limited edition e-MTB running a rare Bosch motor, and Scott introduces a new carbon creation to its cross-country range. Here are the highlights of this week's tech news.

Crankbrothers reveal new ‘street style’ flat shoes

These new laid-back flatties by Crankbrothers have bags of style and performance and are designed for lighter style riding, such as hitting the local dirt jumps and street use, with a casual demeanour that doesn't look out of place to match your post-ride beverage attire. Named after trials and MTB expert Fabio Wibmer, the Stamp Street Fabio are a breed of their own with an approach to excel both on and off the bike. The rubber grip is designed to be paired with the Stamp flap pedal platform, where maximum traction and foot placement are achieved thanks to the tightly spaced tread pattern on the outsole. The brand calls it a ‘Match’ system.

Crankbrothers is no stranger to this unity of shoe and pedal. The Mallet and the enduro version of the Mallet-E both have a dedicated system that, when paired together, provides the best possible riding performance, or so it's claimed. The new Fabio shoe in the Stamp collection is available in (colour scheme) and will cost you £125.

Crankbrothers adds the Stamp Street Fabio shoe to its range

Team ORCC’s racing bikes

We look back at the bikes that our team ORCC have been using during their full season of racing. From enduro racing to gravel to cross country, the team have been busy tweaking their machines to suit and chasing that finish line in the process.

Team ORCC has three experienced riders doing their thing in their chosen discipline, with Brad, Suvi and Liam making up the strong trio team, all riding Canyon bikes. Brad on the Canyon Lux Trail gives him a more relaxed frame shape for far more capabilities than a typical cross-country bike would offer, and some grams have been shaved with the exchange of lighter-weight wheelsets and tyres. Suki has been using the Canyon Grail AL7 eTap to going away at the gravel miles, only changing the bar tape and enduro shredder Liam has been pleased with his Canyon Spectral CF8 CLLCTV featuring a modern mullet wheel set up and coil rear shock with changes to the handlebars with Fasst Company Flexx taking control for more flex.

Team ORCC EP.11: The bikes - Canyon Lux Trail, Grail AL7 and Spectral CF8

Mondraker reveals all-new LTD e-mtb

The world of electric motors for bikes has developed at such a speed within the last few years that one may wonder when the line between a pedal machine sways a little too much across to the act of pedalling becoming nonexistent. This, of course, would never happen; the way the electric biking world is going, bikes are more intelligent and increasingly powerful. The secret formula is to keep the overall weight low while performance, power and ride quality is high. With the recent news of the Mondraker’s all-mountain/enduro addition to its Crafty e-bike lineup, the Carbon XR LTD is purely a one-off design and ticks more boxes, bringing together all of these elements. Has Mondraker just raised the benchmark for performance e-MTB?

This beautiful limited edition makes an unforgettable first impression with a unique paint job to its lightweight Stealth Carbon frame. The most impressive and rare feature is the addition Bosch’s powerful Performance Line CX motor to make mince meat out of steep slopes by simply pushing it into ‘Race’ mode. Mondraker has saved weight anywhere possible by encasing the motor inside magnesium to rid another 150g.

Mondraker's new Crafty Carbon XR LTD rocks rare Bosch Race motor

Scott's new lightweight XC bike

Scott’s Scale bike is well known for being an out-and-out pure hardtail racing machine with the geometry to give you that edge to succeed. Now the brand has revealed its new breed of a cross-country bike, encompassing its knowledge of carbon construction to create a complex and fascinating masterpiece that Scott say is ‘lightweight perfection’.

Using a new monocoque construction allows the front triangle to be made using a single mould, with the whole chassis only being three pieces merged, boosting efficiency. The premium model's frame, the HMX-SL, weighs just 847g, 32g less than previous attempts. Geometry perfection is achieved with input from Scott’s race team athletes.

Scott dubs the new Scale RC as 'lightweight perfection'

Vittoria goes global with new owner

Italian tyre manufacturer Vittoria had only two years ago changed hands to Wise Equity, and even though the brand has grown since this move, they have announced a new owner, Telemos Capitol, with the vision to expand globally. Vittoria currently sells via subsidiaries in Asia, Europe, and North America, and the brand's future looks to incorporate more countries into its list while remaining focused on sustainable practices.

Vittoria changes ownership, again

Author block

Rhian Atherton

Found exploring new gravel routes around the Welsh border, with weekend trips to a
bike park shredding the trails and trying all the cake. Still keen to race after 29 years,
mainly having fun on a 4x bike with some enduro in the mix. I rock my ukulele in a
folk band when not on two wheels.