After a very brief hiatus, Five Cool Things is back and we've got all the kit to help get you through a wet winter's riding. There's a Yamaha's all-mountain e-bike, bearings from one of the best bearing manufacturers as well as Continental's mud-specific tyre and wet weather kit from Gore. Of course, we'll also highlight this week's best stories.

• The Rules of Faff - A mountain biker's guide
• Gravel bike racing – everything you need to know
• Mountain bike size guide - how to get the perfect fit

Last weekend the mountain bike racing season culminated in dramatic scenes at Canada's Mont Saint Ann. Racing was fierce and, although he finished far from first, Schurter secured his ninth World Cup title in dramatic final. The downhill event saw rookie, Jackson Goldstone take his second win of the season – the only rider to do so this year. In other racing news, Red Bull Rampage kicks off today and, to get the juices flowing, follow William Robert's in his Red Bull Rampage story.

This week has been strong on the features, too, as we started off an all-new series dubbed Industry Insider. In this series, we sit down and chat with some of the industry's top professionals to find out how they got where they are today, and what makes them tick. In the first edition, we chatted with four-time 4X Champ and 2010 Nation DH Champ come coach to the big names, Katy Curd.

With 2024 quickly rearing its head, Suvi has outlined all of the best UK gravel events so you can get filling your calendars early. Team ORCC is back with Racing the Southern Enduro Champs - Team ORCC '23, where you'll follow Liam on his feature race, the Southern Enduro Champs in Minehead. We've also brought you our buyer's guide on the best MTB shoes and Best mountain bike jackets.

Gore Endure Gore-Tex Jacket

£250

Gore is renowned for creating some of the best waterproof membranes and materials on the market, and the Endure Gore-Tex Jacket is a case in point. While it gets a baggy cut, it's designed for all kinds of riding as the brand says it's lightweight, packable and completely waterproof.

It's packed with features, too, including a dropped tail for extra protection and Gore-Tex's Paclite Plus two-later fabric. This features an abrasion-resistant outer that's laminated to a Gore-Tex membrane. Its hood will fit over a helmet and there are zipped front pockets to keep any essentials secure.

• www.gorewear.com

Yamaha Moro 07

£4,150

Yep, the brand known for earning Valentino Rossi four of his nine MotoGP Championships makes e-mountain bikes. Believe it or not, Yamaha launched the world's first e-bike back in 1993, so the brand should know a thing or two about electrification. In 2022, the brand announced its Switch ON strategy which confirmed Yamaha's entry into the world of electric personal mobility and, earlier this year, it launched three new bikes and this is the burly, off-road going MTB.

It's called the Moro 07 and it's designed as an all-mountain e-bike that runs on Yamaha's PW-X3 motor, one that we've seen on bikes before such as the Haibike AllMtn2. This bike is powered by a 500Wh battery. Its 160mm of front suspension is delivered by a RockShox Lyrik Select fork, while the 150mm of rear suspension is damped thanks to a RockShox Super Deluxe Select+.

The rest of its build kit is proper, too, with a Shimano XT drivetrain and Magura MT5 brakes. As for geometry, this large frame gets a 482mm reach, a 66.3-degree head angle and a 70.3-degree seat tube. Oh, and it rolls on 27.5+ wheels. 

• www.yamaha-motor.eu

Enduro Bearings MAX bearing

Enduro Bearings is one of the world's top suppliers of bearings for cycling applications. Here we've got one of the MAX bearings which are designed specifically to solve premature bearing failures in high load, high impact and low rotational speed MTB suspension.

While generally an unexciting component, there's a lot going on here. This bearing gets rid of the ball retainer in order to make space for extra balls which increases load capacity up to 40%. This increases bearing life while fitting in the same space as a normal bearing. This range uses 52100 chromium steel and 440C stainless steel along with black oxide, head and cryogenic treatments, too.

• endurobearings.com

Continental Hydrotal

£80

The Hydrotal is part of Continental's recent Gravity range. It's a mud-specific tyre for downhill riding. It gets speak tapered and supported knob elements that have been shaped to make the interaction between knob and soil easy. The result should be huge mechanical grip and excellent mud clearance.

This is aided by an open pattern design that'll help those knobs dig in while leaving space for muck to be flung away. Its knobs are also well supported, which should mean that there's good stability when cornering hard as those knobs shouldn't deform as freely.

This tyre is only available in Conti's DH Supersoft carcass and rubber compound.

• www.conti-tyres.co.uk

TRP Spyre mechanical brake caliper

£70

We're up to something pretty exciting here at off.road.cc and it has something to do with these TRP Spyre mechanical brake calipers as well as the bike frame pictured here. These calipers offer superior performance and easy set-up. They use two pistons at each end which translates into even pad-on-rotor wear.

To make fine-tuning the brake simple, there's a single barrel adjuster and relatively wide 40mm caliper claimed to weigh 146g. The pair also works with any drop bar levers on the market.

• trpcycling.com

You might also like:

• Best mountain bike pumps and CO2 inflators
• Best gravel tyres 2023 - grippy rubber for all conditions
• Buyer's guide to mountain bikes - get the best MTB for you