SRAM's Maven brakes, Ride Concepts Tallac Mid shoes, POC's Supreme Rain Jacket, Stan's Exocore valves and socks from Bridgedale

A strong showing in this week's Five Cool Things and, of course, the best stories.

Liam Mercer

Sep 27 2024

In this week's Five Cool Things we'll take a look at SRAM's most powerful brakes, fresh kicks from Ride Concepts and socks primed for winter riding. But that's not all as Stan's latest entry into the tubeless valve market has found its place and we've got POC's incredibly pricey rain jacket. To top things off, we'll glance over the top news of the week.

If we thought last week was big for news, it's really hotting up this week as we covered the launch of Carbon Wasp's new Truffle; a carbon bike hand-built in Leeds. Mondraker has released the Sly, a Bosch-equipped lightweight e-MTB that benefits from what we saw on the Neat and Dune. However, the real headline was the launch of Lauf's Elja, the brand's first foray into mountain biking. It's a single-pivot cross-country bike with 2.8in tyres and not one but two bottom brackets.

But we can't forget about Fox Live Valve Neo. Since Live Valve's release in 2018, it paved the way for wireless suspension adjustment but it relied on wires to transmit the signal from the sensor to the fork and shock. Now, Live Valve Neo utilises the Neo protocol introduced on the Transfer Neo to wirelessly connect the brake-mounted sensors to the shock in milliseconds. We managed to get a ride in on the new tech ahead of launch, so for some early impressions, check out our Fox Live Valve Neo first ride review.

Moving onto features, we caught up with the GOAT of Downhill mountain biking, Greg Minaar, to chat about what the future has in store for the South African legend after such a prolific career. We also sat down with UK MTB stalwart, Chris Porter to learn more about his career and how he's arrived at where he is today. We also collected the best mountain bike jackets we tested to help you get the best prepared for the wet and wild riding of winter.

This week, only one review has hit the site but if you're one to film your rides, it's well worth a look. The DJI Osmo Action 4 has proven to be a well-priced but powerful action camera that captures great-looking footage without batting an eyelid.

And don't forget, we've teamed up with Challenge Tyre in our latest competition. Click on over to Win one of TWO pairs of Challenge Gravine or Grifo tyres and comment to put yourself in with a chance.

Ride Concept Tallac Mid Boa

£190

Coming in both flat and clip options, the Tallac Mid is Ride Concept's latest shoe designed to provide more. That's more technology, protection and support. This pair of kicks get a PerformFit Wrap that uses a Boa dial that's claimed to improve power transfer while providing the micro adjustment.

Distancing itself from the regular Tallac, the 'mid' in the Tallac Mid's name refers to the mid-height collar that boasts extra protection through the addition of D3O inserts placed around the ankle. The non-Newtonian material is also found at the top of the foot for extra protection.

Built for enduro, downhill and all-mountain riding, this utilises Ride Concepts' MaxGrip rubber outsole with an EVA midsole for shock absorption. Boosting weather protection and stopping dirt from finding its way into the shoe is a fully gusseted tongue, and there's plenty of additional protection provided by TPU guards and inserts.

rideconcepts.com

SRAM Maven Expert Kit

£600

SRAM's Maven made waves in the market upon release with a claimed 50 per cent more stopping power than the brand's most powerful brake, the Code Stealth Ultimate. SRAM also says that the Maven requires 32 per cent less input force to achieve the same power as the Code, so it should stave off fatigue for longer.

This is all achieved through larger 19.5mm and 18mm pistons and a tweaked ratio to account for the bigger pistons. Also, the caliper is designed to retain heat, rather than dissipate it as SRAM says that heat is necessary for consistent and powerful braking. The brand has designed new seals to cope with the increased heat and they're so heat resistant that they overcome the downsides of mineral oil as a brake fluid. As such, the Mavens run on mineral oil for its advantages.

Although available as a regular pair of brakes, we've got the Mavens in the limited-edition Expert kit that contains everything a privateer racer would need. That includes 180, 200 and 220mm rotors, a specific bleed kit and all the fixings required for the brake setup. However, it is a limited-edition named Edition 1, so we might expect more editions to be released.

www.sram.com

POC The Supreme Rain Jacket

£450

At a claimed 89g, POC claims that The Supreme rain jacket could be the lightest jacket on the market. It's made using a three-layer fabric and with a 20,000mm water column and fully glued seams, it's set to keep you dry even under the heaviest downpours.

On top of that, there's a DWR coating and the brand reckons it's super breathable with a 50,000gsm/24hr breathability rating. There's a full-length front zip with waterproof tape that's moulded into its teeth.

poc.com

Stan's Exo-Core Tubeless Valves

£50

Believe it or not, the tubeless valve space is seeing some serious competition from several brands and the Exo-Core valves is tubeless originator, Stan's entry. The whole idea behind these valves is to resist the clogging on tubeless sealant while delivering a larger volume of air into the tyre faster.

It features a twist and pull cal with an open/close housing design that allows users to control the rate of airflow. Turn it by a quarter for micro-bleeding, one full turn is wide open. Its core can be removed and serviced without tools and there's a self-locking valve nut. Of course, it's compatible with tubeless inserts and modern rim profiles.

stans.com

Bridgedale Mid-Season and Winter Weight socks

£24 - £25

Bridgedale is a sock brand with a wealth of experience in the outdoor market and here we've got two pairs of its mountain bike-specific socks for mid-season and winter riding. Often overlooked, good riding socks can provide a range of benefits, and that's exactly what these set out to do.

Both pairs have seen a three-year development process with a design that provides comfort and durability. The Mid-Seasons socks benefit from a T2 Merino built with strategic pads and a mesh upper. There's an anatomical vibration-damping footbed and knit pads around the Achilles and ankle to add a bit of protection.

The Winter sock boosts warmth while getting all the goodness found in the Mid-Season sock.

www.bridgedale.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.