This week we've been looking at reasonably priced bikepacking kit from Pro, as well as some more parts for our gravel build, this time hover bars from Specialized. There's also been a drop of Marin bikes at the office, with a carbon adventure bike and a hardtail for under £500. Dig in...

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Specialized Hover Alloy Flare Bar

These are technically road bars but we reckon they will be bob on for our gravel and adventure build. With a shallow drop and a 12-degree flare they also have a 15mm rise which Specialized says will to help accommodate a wide fit range.

• Bar - £48
• www.specialized.com
  
   

Specialized S-Wrap handlebar tape

To top things off we've got some of the brand's holographic reflective bar tape which if just going to look rad, even more so on a black and Ti bike.... we can't wait to get this thing built.

• Tape - £42
• www.specialized.com

Pro Bike Gear Discover set of bikepacking bags

New from Pro Bike Gear is this set of bikepacking bags, and they won't break the bank either. Fully waterproof and made of what looks like super tough material, this set will be getting some hard treatment from one of our testers soon.

The full range is as follows: 

Pro Discover Seatbag 15L - £79.99
Pro Discover Frame bag 5.5L - £59.99
Pro Discover Handlebar bag 8L - £69.99
Pro Discover TopTube bag - 0.75L -  £34.99

• www.freewheel.co.uk

Marin Bobcat Trail 3

Marin are currently releasing their 2020 range of bikes and we've got a Marin Bobcat Trail 3 in on test. This bike score pretty well when we last tested it and we reckon this one might be even better. The sub £500 hardtail gets 120mm of travel from a Suntour fork, Shimano Altus gear and Tektro brakes. The bike gets smaller wheels for the smaller sizes with those riders opting for a medium sized bike getting the choice between 650B and 29er and with reach on this medium bike hitting 445mm, we are keen to hit the trails.

• £495
• www.marinbikes.com
  
   

Marin Headlands 1 carbon gravel bike

Brand new from Marin this year is a carbon all-road gravel bike named Headlands, there are only two bikes in the range, the Headlands 1 and the 2, the former, less expensive one we have here. Built to fit a 700x45c or 650Bx50c tyre/wheel combo and aimed at Marin's "Beyond Road" riders, this bike looks fit for a long adventure. It gets a carbon frame and fork, more mounts than we care to count and in this spec some decent kit for the money too; SRAM Apex with hydraulic brakes for £2,200. It's worth keeping an eye on those bottle mounts though as there's a rumour going around that Marin is beavering away designing their own bike packing bag standard to use these mounts without the need for straps. 

• £2,200
• www.marinbikes.com
   

TruFlow Easitrax 3 track pump

A penny under £25 gets you a hardy track pump that can inflate tyres up to 160PSI. There's not too much else to say here, it's no-nonsense pumping at a reasonable price. 

• £24.99
• www.freewheel.co.uk

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