This week we've broken back into our shed, tested geat budget bikes and have also got excited about heading to the NEC cycle show tomorrow! There's a load of cool gear in on test too with Frame Juice from Juice Lubes, new mountian bike gear from ASSOS, a rear seat pack you ca use with a dropper post from Tailfin and a power meter from Team Zwatt. 

• Your complete guide to SRAM MTB drivetrains, from AXS and XX1 Eagle to NX 
• The best trail and enduro mountain bike wheelsets, tried and tested
• How to choose the best dropper post for your mountain bike

 

Juice Lubes Frame Juice

Perfect for polishing your helmet (their words, not ours!), Juice Lubes Frame Juice smells like blueberries and leaves a lovely finish for those matt paint jobs. It's biodegradable, it apparently doesn't smear and it costs £8.99 for a rather large bottle. Sounds good to us, just need to find a matt test bike to test it on now....

• £8.99
• www.juicelubes.co.uk
   

Assos mountain bike clothing

Assos (normally of road cycling ) has recently branched into mountain clothing, with trail jersey,s both short and long sleeved in a more relaxed fit than we've seen from the brand before. on There are also new bib shorts, the likes of which our Jon has been testing for a while now, rumour has it he likes them so much he's yet to take them off.....

The long sleeve jersey is particularly interesting, it's relatively lightweight but features reinforced protective strips on the arms below the elbows. 

And because it's premium kit it comes in a premium box....

• XC bib shorts womens - £175
• Trail women's short sleeved jersey - £80
• Trail women's long sleeved jersey - £105
• Trail women's cargo shorts - £105

 

Granite Design steerer tube Stash tool

We took a look at the newest "Stash" tool from Granite Design earlier this month and now we;ve got one in for test. The ever-expanding (shrinking?) world of on-bike kit storage has seen a new arrival, with Granite Design's new Stash Tool System that neatly uses your steerer tube to hold a multitool but doesn't require any threads to be tapped, unlike existing systems. It's a bit like the product of the love child of the OnUp Components EDC tool and the Specialized SWAT Conceal Carry Tool. 

 

 

• $55 USD
• www.granite-design.com

 

Team Zwatt Carbon Power Meter

We usually leave these kinds of things to our friends at road.cc but as you might be aware Jon here has been enduro training so we are guessing that his power curiosity has been piqued. This on from Team Zwatt has software algorithms that are designed for mountain bikes, the brands says that trail riding means they get some means crazy vibrations, bumps, jumps and drops where road power meters would “spike” in those conditions and their system allows for this. 

• €599
• www.teamzwatt.com

 

Tailfin Aeropack

We took a look at this when the Kickstarter campaign was launched back in July 2018. Tailfin AeroPacks are attached to your bike via a rigid structure and engineered pivots, joints and connectors. The brands saythis eradicates the ‘tail-wag’ that plagues many seat pack systems, ensuring your gear is held solidly in place, especially when climbing out of the saddle or descending at high speed, offering a confidence-inspiring ride quality. It can be used on any type of bike including mountain bikes with dropper posts. Dave at road.cc currently has this on his commuter bike, we are looking forward to seeing how he gets on with it once he uses it on a fat tyred bike. 

 
This pack is the Aeropack S Rigid Seat Pack.

• £349
• www.tailfin.cc

 

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