Five Cool Things from Orbea, ENVE, Rimpact, Elite and Stans
An e-MTB, high end trail wheels and a chain damper make it into this week's Five Cool Things.
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This week's Five Cool Things and the top stories of the week.
Five Cool Things is back – and we've got some seriously cool kit to show off.
This week's five cool things and the top stories of the week!
We take a look at the best coffee table literature as well as this week's hottest products.
Featuring Orbea's big travel enduro e-mountain bike, Rimpact's take on improving downhill ride quality, ENVE's high-end trail wheelset, a mess-free tubeless sealant installation tool from Stans and Elite's direct drive FE-C Mag smart trainer, it's all going down in this week's Five Cool Things. Of course, we'll also take a look back at the most exciting stories.
- How to start mountain biking
- Five tips to make winter cycling easier
- How to set up your mountain bike for winter
Following up on last weekend's Redbull Hardline Tasmania has been one of two key stories of the week. For young gun Jackson Goldstone, it was a tale of redemption as he took the men's win after his season-ending spill during last year's event. Upping the excitement further is that it was a big weekend for the Canadians as Gracey Hemstreet took the podium in the women's category too.
Adding to the buzz, a patent surfaced from Shimano outlining what looks to be an upcoming XTR Di2, or at least a fully wireless mountain bike drivetrain. That's not all as we've also found drawings of a new caliper and wireless shifter. Something's clearly brewing over at Shimano, and we can't wait to see what comes up. Speaking of new things, Cannondale has revived the SuperX that dons a racy geometry and special flex zone in the pursuit of speed.
As for features, we're still rolling on the winter riding hype train, showing that it needn't be as horrific as it seems. We dive into mountain bike mud tyres, explaining the ins and outs of finding winter traction and we also ask the question: can winter riding damage trails?
Wrapping up with reviews, our Ty has been spending some quality time with the Merida eOne-Sixty SL 6000, praising it for its lively demeanour and competent specification for the cash. Matt delivers his verdict on Magura's MT8 Pro brake as well as Albion's All Road Three Season Pocket Tights. And if it's shoes you're after, Crankbrothers' Candy Lace kicks look set to please gravel riders and mountain bikers alike.
Orbea Wild H10
£6,500
2025 orbea wild 5ct.jpg, by Liam Mercer
Released a few months ago, the latest version of Orbea's big travel enduro e-mountain bike now boasts 170mm of suspension at both ends, while taking on the same geometry and general aesthetic of the outgoing bike. Orbea claims the Wild is designed to go very fast regardless of what's ahead.
Driven by the newest Bosch Performance Line CX motor, the Wild can run a choice of 600 and 750Wh batteries which can then be boosted up to 1,000Wh thanks to the PowerMore range extender. Then, to complement its 170mm of bounce, the Wild is built with burly kit, including a Fox 38 Performance fork paired with a Float X Performance shock. That's bolted to Orbea's sleek-looking alloy frame that rolls on a pair of Oquo MC32 Team Power hoops. There's also a lengthy adjustable dropper post.
As mentioned earlier, the geometry remains the same as before and that's certainly no bad thing. The Wild features a 63.5-degree head tube angle, a 77.5-degree head tube angle and a 448mm chainstay. This large frame on test then gets a 480mm.
Rimpact Chain Damper
£280
2025 rimpact chain damper 5ct.jpg, by Liam Mercer
Although it might look a little similar to O-Chain's active spider and work in a similar way, Rimpact's Chain Damper is designed to address a different area of the drivetrain's impact on a bike's performance - chain slap. While pedal kickback does throw some odd things into the mix, typically during slow and heavy compressions, Rimpact believes that a lot of the harshness felt through the pedals when descending occurs due to the chain flapping about.
It's very often overlooked, but as the upper portion of the chain travels along the vertical plane, there's a lot of energy in that motion and that's where the Chain Damper comes in - it's designed to damp those forces and smooth out a bike's ride with a chainring that moves independently of the body in fore and aft directions. That movement is then damped by a collection of springs and elastomers. It's not designed to eliminate chain slap, but rather eliminate the negative effects of chain slap.
The brand has then put a lot of effort into sealing the unit to help it cope with the demands of regular UK riding and the whole thing is serviceable, with spare internals and chainrings available directly from Rimpact.
The Chain Damper is available for Shimano Direct Mount, SRAM three-bolt X-Sync and SRAM T-Type crank fitments with an e-MTB option incoming. Customers can then choose from 30 to 36t chainring sizes.
ENVE M6
£2,500
2025 enve m6 5ct.jpg, by Liam Mercer
Late last year ENVE shook up its line of wheels in a bid to simplify the range while bringing key updates to its four new wheelsets. The brand also claims to have lowered its prices, despite still asking for quite the premium.
Here, we've got the M6 wheelset and it's the trail wheel in the range but as we all know, 'trail' means many things to many people. ENVE then says it's rated to be hooked up to a lightweight e-MTB, so we reckon it could put up with a tougher beating than its trail intentions suggest. With that in mind, it borrows technologies found on the M5 Pro cross-country race wheel, benefitting from a new rim shape and carbon layup, but it beefs it up to achieve increased durability and traction.
The M6 follows modern trends of front and rear-specific constructions, with the front wheel being lighter and more compliant while boasting a wider 32mm internal rim width whereas the rear wheel is stiffer to boost power transfer and strength. It also gets a narrower 29mm internal width. Both rims utilise wider hookless beads to fend off pinch flats and all wheelsets in ENVE's new range use the brand's new Innerdrive straightpull hubs.
What's cool about the Innerdrive rear hub is that it runs on a ratchet system that allows riders to choose from 40 to 100t engagement options. As standard, the M6 comes with an 80t ratchet.
Elite Avanti
£750
2025 elite avanti 5ct.jpg, by Liam Mercer
We're cooking up something rather exciting behind the scenes at off.road.cc. That means that we've got to put in a whole bunch of indoor miles and there's only one way to do that - a smart turbo trainer. To help get the job done, our friends at Elite have sent over their Avanti direct drive trainer. It's based on the Justo and it comes with all of the connectivity you'll need to get Zwifting in no time, and even use your Apple watch as a heart rate monitor.
On top of that, the Avanti promises to replicate gradients up to 18% with a power accuracy of 1% thanks to the brand's Optical Torque Sensor. Calibration is automotive and it uses a four kilo flywheel to achieve a natural ride feel. It's set to be quiet too, thanks to its open flywheel design.
Elite has built the Avanti with a dual Bluetooth channel that allows the trainer to be used as a cadence or cardio bridge when used with compatible wireless accessories while packing the ability to connect to ANT+ and FE-C connections. It's Italian-made using 50% recycled plastics and it comes with a Shimano HG freehub as standard with conversion kits available aftermarket. It's then compatible with 142x12 and 130/135mm QR frames with adaptors available for Boost and Superboost spaced hubs.
Stans Tubeless Sealant Injector
£15
2025 stans tubeless injector 5ct.jpg, by Liam Mercer
A tubeless conversion isn't everyone's idea of a good time but Stans' Tubeless Sealant Injector is set to make the task that bit cleaner. It's a rather uncomplicated bit of kit. Essentially, it's an oversized syringe but it's loaded with small features that make it primed to be a mega-useful tool whether you're setting up a fresh set of tubeless tyres, or just topping up your sealant.
Sealant is loaded through the top of the syringe, with the plunger removed, and here's a gap for air to escape as the plunger is reinserted to stop it from blasting all over the place. Included in the box is a length of surgical tubing with a specially designed valve adaptor that'll fit over Presta and Schrader valves. There's then a plug that'll seal everything up between uses, keeping everything clean and tidy.
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