Five Cool Things from Orbea, Title, Peaty's, Rapha and Alpinestars

The coolest things in for test and the best new stories.

Liam Mercer

Jun 21 2024

In this week's Five Cool Things, we peruse some new wares from Title, a newly introduced brand in the UK. As well as some seriously blingy pedals, we'll check out Peaty's new grips, a Polartech-equipped jersey from Alpinestars, summer-ready riding specs from Rapha and Orbea's gravel bike.

But let's not get any further without recapping this week's news because it's been pretty mega. To start, Specialized stole headlines with its budget-friendly entry-level cross-country bike, the Chisel FS which uses the same construction methods as what we saw on the Crux DSW gravel bike, making its new XC ripper the lightest alloy full suspension frame on the market, according to Spesh, that is. On cross-country, we forwarded our thoughts on modern XC bikes and argued whether or not cross-country bikes are the new quiver killers.

RockShox once again made it to our home page as the brand updates Flight Attendant for the new Lyrik, ZEB and Pike forks, bringing the cool tweaks seen on its XC suspension earlier this year. Then, the brand best known for its eye-catching mountain bike cranks, 5Dev, has brought its robot-made titanium cranks to gravel and XC with its aptly named Titanium Road Gravel XC Cranks.

Earlier in the week, our Suvi reported on all of the cool kit she saw at Tweedlove's expo in Tweedlove highlights: Atherton, Propain and Deviate bikes. We also ask industry pros when should you replace your bicycle helmet?

As always, we brought a selection of reviews stretching from all corners of the off-road cycling world with Quoc's Gran tourer XC Lace shoes receiving a solid four stars, DT Swiss's D 232 dropper post being praised for its action and Topeak's Prepstand ZX work stand posing as a solid budget option for those who want to stick on-brand.

Orbea Terra M20i Team gravel bike

£6,300

Kicking off Five Cool Things with a rather pink-coloured bang is Orbea's Terra gravel bike and here we've got it in its M20i Team build with a colourway from the brand's renowned MYO customisation service.

Onto the bike itself, Orbea says that this is a purpose-built gravel rig, rather than a road bike kitted with fatter tyres, and with that, it's designed to add comfort and give the rider the confidence to take the bike over off-road tracks unknown. The brand goes on to say that this M option is a racier option built to be fast and light while utilising Orbea's Lockr system for downtube storage.

As for tyre clearance, it can fit 700x45c rubber and 650x50 tyres if that's more your thing. The gravel-specific frame has allowed designers to create the bike around modern gravel-focussed drivetrains and on this bike, there's a Shimano GRX Di2 2x system.

Then because this is a gravel bike, it gets its geometry designed to suit with a longer top tube, a slacker head tube angle and a lower BB. The frame can also take a skinny 27.2mm seat post to encourage some flex for more comfort.

With this bike, Orbea offers loads of build options, allowing riders to pick and choose kit as they desire but here, we've got a full Oquo setup.

www.orbea.com

Title Connect flat pedals

£150

Title has been around for a little while having been found bolted to freeride and slopestyle riders' bikes. Founded by MTB legend Brett Rheeder, the brand is finally being brought into the UK by Bombtrack's distributor, Traffic UK.

Here, we've got the brand's Connect flat pedals and they're constructed of a forged 6061-T6 aluminium that's then CNC machined to save grams but result in their rather stellar finish. The pedals then rotate around a CNC machined Cr-Mo SCM 415 spindle that holds three sealed bearings as well as an IGUS bushing.

As for the measurements, the Connect features a 105x111mm platform with a 14mm profile that features a concave shape. Weighing a claimed 398 grams, there are 22 pins per pedal.

www.titlemtb.com

Rapha Explore sunglasses

£150

With summer finally here, what better time to get some glasses tested? These are Rapha's Explore specs and the brand says that they're ideal for off-road riding and all day adventures. For your £150, Rapha's treating you rather well as these specs benefit from an injection moulded Grilamid TR90 frame that's been chosen for its durability. The frame then features two-point snap lock hinges and an interchangeable nose-piece for fit adjustment.

Moving onto the lens and it's a single-piece shield lens that benefits from a military-grade anti-fog and scratch-resistant finish as well as a hydrophobic coating to help repel water. The arms are wrapped with a Megol material to keep the glasses grippy and in place, even when sweaty, and the purple/green lens is said to block 15 per cent of light transmission.

In the box, you get the glasses, a hard case, a soft bag and a clear lens.

www.rapha.cc

Peaty's Monarch Knurl grips

£25

Main man, Steve Peat, has been riding bikes for decades now and that means hanging onto a huge range of grips, so that should mean he knows a thing or two when it comes to offering top-notch grips through his own brand, Peaty's. Thankfully, these seemingly aren't an off-the-shelf special as there's a whole load of design that's been thrown at them.

Coming in two textures, knurl and mushroom, they share a special thumb pad and finger grips. They're both tapered with an offset core which places more cushioning where it's important and there are two thicknesses to choose from. We've got the thick grips here.

Adding to the list of cool tech is that the Monarch grips employ a soft but hopefully durable 20a rubber and the core is built from 80 per cent recycled ocean plastic.

peatys.co.uk

Alpinestars A-aria Polartech Switch jersey

£90

When garments come with Polartech, we usually assume that they're designed to help retain heat but on Alpinestars' A-aria jersey, it's quite the opposite as it employs Polartech Power Dry, which is a fabric that's constructed to keep the rider dry. The brand says that it's high-wicking, super breathable, and fast-drying.

This top also features laser perforations to encourage airflow and the fabric is built from recycled materials.

alpinestars.com

Author block

Liam Mercer

Since beginning his mountain biking career while working as a resort photographer in Greece in 2014, Liam became a freelance contributor at off.road.cc in 2019. From there, he’s climbed the journalism job ladder from staff writer to deputy technical editor, now finding his place as technical editor.

Partial to the odd enduro race, heart rate-raising efforts on slim-tyred cross-country bikes, hell-for-leather e-MTB blasts or even casual gravel jaunts, there’s not a corner of off-road cycling where Liam fears to tread. With more than 40 bike reviews under his belt and hundreds more on MTB, e-MTB and gravel parts and accessories, Liam’s expertise continues to be cemented and respected by the industry.