This week, we're going to check out YT Industries' expansion into protective gear, Orbea's trail hardtail, Northwave's latest shoes and some biodegradable knee and elbow pads from G-Form. It's been another massive week for news, too, so we'll kick things off with a look back at what happened throughout the week.​

• Team ORCC '23 | EP.01 - We're back!
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Starting with our features, we sat down with Dan Brown, the man behind the Atherton Project to learn about him and the Atherton family. Our Lance highlighted five mountain bike setup mistakes that beginners often make to help you get the best MTB setup and we brought you the best mountain bike helmets of 2024.

Then, in a very exciting move, Gates announced that it'll award €100K to the first person to win a UCI Downhill World Cup on a Gates belt-driven mountain bike. This could make history for the brand and kickstart a new design race on the DH circuit. RockShox retired the Revelation fork, replacing it with the Psylo and Vittoria expanded the Mezcal range with the Peyote.

Perhaps the biggest news of the week is that Pinarello marks its return to cross-country mountain biking with the Dogma XC and we even managed to have a go on the bike ahead of its release. Check out our Pinarello Dogma XC Hardtail first ride review for some early impressions.

But before getting onto the Five Cool Things we've got for you this week, this is your last chance to enter our Michelin competition that puts you in with the chance of winning a pair of Michelin Racing Line tyres of your choice as well as some Peaty's Holeshot Biofibre sealant. Four lucky folk can take home the win in this competition and it ends on Monday, so enter now to set yourself up properly for a good summer's riding.

YT Industries Trail Knee Protection

£60

YT Industries has been crushing it with both its bikes and its expansion into mountain bike accessories. We loved the Gravity Cordura pants, so were excited when the brand announced that it would also bring gloves and these knee pads to its range.

The YT Trail Knee Protectors promise breathability, comfort and protection all in one package and that's done with the addition of D3O's new Ghost insert. It's a super-slim version of the non-newtonian material but although the pad is very minimalist – it still exceeds CE Level 1 certification.

As for its construction, it features an abrasion-resistant knee surface, silicone cuff detailing for security and breathable mesh inserts. There's a calf strap to further boost stability and as you can see, YT's branding is super subtle. 

• yt-industries.com

Orbea Laufey H-LTD

£2,700

The Laufey is Orbea's trail hardtail and the brand says that it's built to 'squeeze every last drop of fun from every ride'. Part of that has been realised through some interesting design features, most notably what Orbea calls Powerspine. With this, the brand has sprinkled a helping of vertical compliance into the frame stating that a bit of bend that aids handling and composure when the going gets tough. On top of that, it gets Lockr, Orbea's downtube storage solution.

Geometry on the Laufey is certainly modern but, for a hardtail, it's rather unique. It gets a 475mm reach on a large, a 64.5-degree head angle and a 77-degree seat tube angle, which is all pretty normal for a rad hardtail but where it gets interesting is in its chainstay that measures 440mm. That's pretty long for a hardtail, where most brands take full advantage of the lack of a linkage and tuck the rear wheel as close to the bottom bracket as possible. But as always, the proof is in the pudding.

The spec on this bike looks pretty good, too, with a Fox 34 Performance fork handling 140mm of squish and a Shimano XT drivetrain matched with an SLX shifter. There's a pair of Shimano M6210 disc brakes that slow Race Face's AR 30c tyres that are wrapped with a pair of Maxxis Dissector 2.6in EXO tyres.

• www.orbea.com

Northwave Corsair 2

£103.49

The Northwave Corsair 2 is a clipless trail shoe that benefits from the SLW3 dial that's been developed by X-Dial. It breaks the mould of other dials as it offers incremental loosening of the system by simply pressing a tab.

This shoe gets an EVA midsole that balances a lightweight with shock absorption and the upper is constructed of a combination of PU and ripstop fabrics. There's a TPU abrasion-resistant insert placed around the toe.

Underneath the shoe, there's a large area for the cleat that should allow for easy clipping in and the Corsair 2 gets Northwave's Damp Evo sole. This sole has been shaped to offer pedal grip for control through rough terrain but, while stiff, it's flexible enough for comfort when walking and over long rides.

• www.northwave.com

Clarks CRS C4 hydraulic brakes

£175

Clarks is best known for offering top-performing budget friendly consumables but, last year, the brand launched a new range of brakes including this one here, the CRS (Clarks Racing Series) C4. As expected, it's not terribly expensive and it gets a CNC-machined build which is quite attractive, too.

Its caliper features four 16mm self-adjusting pistons with machined piston heads for less friction. The brake pads come with handy cooling fins and the levers are sorted with toolless reach adjustment. Running on mineral oil, a pair of 180mm floating rotors are included in the box as well as a full suite of hardware spares including full bleed and installation instructions.

• clarks.bike

G-Form Terra and Mesa RE ZRO knee and elbow guards

£85 - £120

G-Form's range of protectives might look unassuming at first glance but there's some interesting tech going on here. Each of the products pictured here uses a new RE ZRO pad, that's similar to the D3O in YT's pads but is fully biodegradable and recyclable. That might not seem too important but think end of life – the less stuff going to landfill, the better.

The Terra pads are the lighter, more trail-focused pads that get a simple slip-on design. It's complete with abrasion-resistant areas where needed and it gets silicone printed grippers. These comply with CE EN16121-1 Level 1 protection.

The Mesa pads take things up a notch with a design that better caters to the demands of enduro, downhill and e-MTB riding. These also get the RE ZRO pad but they're capped with a flexible hardshell that makes for a sliding surface. They're built from a DuraTx fabric which is claimed to be tear-resistant and there's a soft inner foam to improve comfort. There are a tonne of closures here, including a zip and three velcro straps per pad and the Mesas meet CE-1621-1 Level 2 certification.

• g-form.com

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