Surly's Bridge Club and Fizik's Vento Proxy shoes

And a glance back at the best stories of the week.

Liam Mercer

Mar 29 2024

Another week and another Five Cool Things. This week, we check out Surly's Bridge Club, a steel-framed fully rigid bike that's primed for big bikepacking adventures, Fizik's latest Vento Ferox off-road race shoes and Panaracer's latest GravelKing tyres. That's not all, as we'll also examine Rapid Racer Product's fresh mudguards and neat-looking tools from Crankbrothers.

But first, here's the most exciting news and stories to hit the site. The week started with several new bike checks from the 2024 Absa Cape Epic, which kicked off with Anne Terpstra's race-winning Ghost Lector FS. This was followed by Mona Mitterwallner's Cannondale Scalpel – an all-new bike that boasts size-specific suspension, more aggressive geometry and the famous Lefty fork. We also looked under the hood of Andreas Seewald's Springbok-themed Canyon Lux.

There were a couple of news stories, too. Crankbrothers unveiled a new S.O.S on-bike storage tool range (featured a little further down the page) while Specialized lifted the lid on the S-Works Phenom saddle now with Mirror technology for added comfort.

Surly Bridge Club

£1,600

The Bridge Club is Surly's steel-framed, fully rigid bike that's built to be super versatile over almost any terrain. That, and to be loaded with kit for multi-day bike touring epics through the wilderness. Kitted to take on whatever's thrown at it, the Bridge Club can accommodate 700 x 47mm, 27.5 x 2.8 or 26x3in tyres and with that, it's a bike that the user best defines.

Its 4130 Chromoly steel Natch tubed frame is sorted with a 71-degree head tube angle, a 73-degree seat tube angle and a 435mm chainstay. A large frame gets a 434.5mm reach whereas this small frame dons a 397mm figure.

We've got the bike in its Whipper Butter colourway with 27.5-inch wheels and it's built with Tektro hydraulic brakes and Shimano Cues 11-speed shifting. It rolls on a pair of WTB ST i29 TCS rims laced to Novatech hubs and they're wrapped with a set of WTB Trail Boss tyres.

surlybikes.com

Fizik Vento Proxy

£230

Gaudy colours are becoming a staple of Fizik's racy shoes and the brand's Vento Proxy shoes get that very treatment. Although its bright salmon-pink colour is what will initially catch the eyes of the masses, the Vento Proxy is Fizik's off-road race shoe that's designed for efficiency over gravel and demanding cross-country tracks. Then there's the weight, which Fizik says is 326g.

As well as reaching a low weight, ventilation is a priority in the Proxy's design and a translucent PU-laminated mesh provides ample breathability. The upper also uses a tear-proof construction to keep them in one piece through the most technical of terrain. As with most high-end shoes, these are kitted with Boa's Li2 dial and they use Fizik's redesigned X3 fibre composite outsole for stiffness and efficiency as the shoe sits at an eight on Fizik's stiffness index. There's a chunky rubber tread for grip off of the bike during cyclo-cross events.

www.fizik.com

Rapid Racer Products ProGuard Front Bolt On V2

£40

Spotted first at 2024's Corebike show, Rapid Racer Products has brought a host of updates to the well-reviewed ProGuard Bolt-On mudguards but importantly, it has brought its Max Protection size to a bolt-on configuration. To put the updates simply, the new Bolt-On V2 mudguards offer more of everything, so that's more sizes, as mentioned, more bottom-out clearance, more vertical adjustment, more stability and more seal protection.

The new guards also fit more forks, offering compatibility with the 2022 RockShox ZEB and Domain, the 2024 RockShox Lyrik and Pike, Fox 34 variants, the Ohlins RXF38, EXT's Era fork and the X Fusion Trace 36. That compatibility is possible through new adapters and of course, the guards fit all of the forks they did originally.

Included in the pack are adapters for many forks as well as two sets of tacky rubber pads that sit in between the fork legs and the mudguard to provide protection and extra stability. There's also an Allen to help you get the guard installed without having to trawl through the toolbox.

www.rapidracerproducts.com

Panaracer GravelKing X1

£54.99

Next up is the newest addition to Panaracer's GravelKing lineup. Not only did the brand introduce a new rubber compound as well as new carcasses, but it also brought its new X1 tread compound, and that's what we've got here. Panaracer claims that this tyre is the fasting rolling GravelKing yet but without compromising on mud clearance and control in rough terrain.

This tyre benefits from a new bead Lock tech and uses the brand's fresh ZSG rubber compound as well as TuffTex puncture protection. We've got the tyre in its 700x45c size and with tan sidewalls.

www.panaracer.co.uk

Crankbrothers S.O.S tools

£30-£120

Earlier this week Crankbrothers unveiled its Save Our Shred or S.O.S range which brings on-bike stored tools and accessories to its lineup. Coming in five different configurations, each is built to offer easy access tools in containers that are bolted onto a bike using bottle cage mounts or accessory mounts.

Here, we've got the TT17 Twin Tube Tool Kit, BC18 Bottle Cage Tool Kit and TS2 Tube Stash+. The former is designed to hold Crankbrothers' new S.O.S multi-tool which is equipped with all of the Allen's you'll need, as well as a chain breaker and CO2 inflator. There are also tyre levers on each with the one of the BC18 also becoming home to a tubeless repair kit. Both accessories can hold a CO2 cartridge and the Bottle Cage Kit can hold one of Crankbrothers' mini pumps in its place if that's more your style.

The TS2 Tube Stash+ takes the form of a bolt-on kit strap so it can carry an inner tube or whatever else you would like to strap down but it's also home to that tyre lever that's kitted with a tyre repair kit.

www.crankbrothers.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.