The Scott Addict Gravel, SDG's Tellis V2 and more
With Sea Otter just around the corner, it's been a huge week for tech news and we've got one or two fresh cool things to show off this week. We'll take a deep dive into Wren's aero drop handlebar that's built for bikepacking, Scott's Addict Gravel, new grips from Prologo and DMR's gravel-commuter flat pedals. But before we get into the juicy bits, let's take a look at a few of the most exciting stories to hit the site this week.
- When should you replace your bicycle helmet?
- Your complete guide to SRAM gravel bike and drop-bar disc brakes - all you need to know
- Mountain bike icons - the Gary Foord story
This week has been monumental on the news front with the Fair Cycles Drop Best taking top spot as perhaps the strangest bit of kit of the week. It's a seatpost add-on that allows the rider to shift the whole saddle forward and rearward, opening up a wide level of adjustment. Of course, moving through the week, things got very e-bike flavoured with Cannondale's Synapse Neo, Norco's new Range VLT and Sight VLT, as well as the all-new Mondraker Dune.
As for bikes, Liv overhauled its Intrigue X, gracing it with all of the geometry adjustment and Yeti refreshed its long-legged SB165. Then, things took a turn towards componentry with Fox unveiling its new 32 Step-Cast fork, on top of three brand new dampers and Marzocchi brought fat stanchions to the Super Z fork.
In terms of reviews, it's been all about the bikes. We kicked off the week with Matt's review of the Canyon Lux Trail CFR and Pat took a look at Fara Cycling's F/Gravel Apex XPLR AXS gravel bike. Matt also looked at the Orbea Oiz M-Team AXS, rewarding it with an excellent four stars.
And perhaps the biggest news of the week, we've joined forces with our mates at Silverfish who are offering four lucky winners the chance to pick one of four Michelin and Peaty's Sealant bundles. One of those four winners can pick any two tyres from Michelin's whole off-road range. Click here to enter - 4 x Michelin tyres and Peaty's Sealant bundles to be won!
Wren Perseverance Adventure Dropbar
£200
Like it or not, aero gravel is now a thing and, for Wren, welding an aero loop onto its Perseverance Dropbar doesn't just mean aero gains, it also means more real estate for huge bikepacking epics. The brand has done its best to blend the wants and needs of gravel riders, equipping this bar with a very wide width of 530mm which should add heaps of stability when the terrain gets questionable with a 250mm long aero loop.
The combination of the bar's monumental width and aero loop adds another advantage: more hand positions. With that, Wren states that the bar will help to reduce wrist, elbow and shoulder fatigue over long distances, as well as back fatigue as the loop allows the rider to stretch out more.
As for the bar's geometry, as well as that 530mm width at the hoods, it's equipped with a six-degree backsweep, a 105mm drop and a reach of 70mm. There's then a flair of 29-degrees and the aero loop rises by 70mm. And as you can see in the picture, we've got the bar with Wren's Perseverance Armrests which is an optional extra with a £130 price tag.
Scott Addict Gravel 10
£5,800
Taking a slightly different approach to gravel is Scott's rather fetching Addict Gravel 10. This platform has been sculpted to do a bit of everything very well from Tarmac roads to rougher terrain. It's sorted with 45mm tyre clearance and it's promised to be light, much like the road going Addict and that's been done through the bike's carbon layup and by reinforcing certain zones. We're told that the frame tips the scales at 930g and the fork adds another 395g on the Tuned model of the bike. It then comes with fender mounts and numerous gear mounts.
This Addict Gravel 10 uses Scott's HMF carbon fibre and is sorted with SRAM's Force eTap AXS 24-speed groupset. That drives a set of DT Swiss GRC1400 carbon wheels which are shod with Schwalbe's G-One Bite Performance tyres. The rest of the build comes from Scott's components company, Syncros.
As for the geometry, it's rather racy coming with a 71-degree head tube angle, a 73.5-degree seat tube angle and a 425mm chainstay on this size medium. There's a 398.2mm reach and a 578.5mm horizontal top tube.
Prologo Proxim X-Shred grips
£24
Best known for its comprehensive range of saddles, Prologo has extended its hand into the world of mountain bike grips with the Proxim X-Shred. Prologo cites that these are high-performance grips that use silicone and cone polymers in the rubber compound. The silicone is said to provide cushioning and softness whereas the polymers encourage blood circulation to minimise numbness.
The X-Shreds come with a conical, or tapered shape and its Lock System 'guarantees a perfect fixing'.
SDG Tellis V2 dropper post
£200
The eagle-eyed out there might have already seen the SDG Tellis V2 on some other bikes such as YT Industries' latest Jeffsy but, just this week, SDG has brought the Tellis to the masses. It's constructed with IGUS bushings and a sealed Wintek cartridge. There's also a Trelleborg main seal and SDG boldly claims that this dropper has eliminated maintenance problems found on other droppers by employing fewer moving parts.
The Tellis V2 ushers in a brand-new head that's built with a lower stack that's 10mm lower than before and it combines a stronger, 26mm stanchion to boost stiffness and durability. It uses polycarbonate keyways that come with copper shims, again for durability and to keep the head solid. The post's travel can be adjusted, too, thanks to travel adjustment shims included.
As for sizes, this new dropper comes in 75 up to 230mm travel options and, 30.9, 31.6 and 34.9mm diameters.
Surly Dirt Wizard tyres
£85
Surly is best known for its functional steel-framed road, touring, trail and cargo bikes, however, the brand also offers a vast range of componentry, including its well-named Dirt Wizard tyres. They're built to provide traction over all kinds of terrain thanks to the aggressive dual-row centre tread with bevelled and siped knobs. Its shoulder knobs are crafted to bite into corners.
Coming in 29 x 2.6in, 25.7 x 2.8+, 27.5 x 3.0in and one of the few 29+ tyres around, it's a tyre that's directed more towards those with a penchant for fat rubber. However, we're assured that it'll work very well in trail and enduro applications. With its plethora of fatter sizes, the Dirt Wizard is made to play ball with external rim widths of 37mm and up and it comes with either black or grey sidewalls, both of which get 60tpi construction.