- 2 days ago
Cycling Weekly test a lot of road bike cycling tech and a lot of it is really good. Most products made today have very little which makes them bad, but there are some products which we feel are universally loved by all cycling journalists the world over.
Sam Gupta has rounded up 8 products which he thinks represent the best of what the cycling industry has to offer us road cyclists.
What else would you add to the list?
Sam Gupta has rounded up 8 products which he thinks represent the best of what the cycling industry has to offer us road cyclists.
What else would you add to the list?
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00:00There's no doubt cycling tech journalists are a pretty lucky bunch. You get to ride and test
00:05brand new kit, often in exotic locations. What is not to like? And while you get the occasional
00:12miss, most of the tech we review is pretty good. It's actually quite hard to make a bad product
00:17these days. It's just a matter of teasing out the small differences that may matter to us,
00:22and of course you, the viewers. However, there are still products which stand out from the crowd
00:28being universally loved by cycling journalists the world over. They may not always be the most
00:34exciting products, but this really is the best of the best. So let's get into them.
00:45If you've spent time reading reviews from the likes of Cycling Weekly or Cycling News or watching them
00:50on this very YouTube channel, then you may have heard us mention the law of diminishing returns.
00:55And by that I mean, basically, the more you spend, the less you get. This applies to lots of products
01:01like wheels, pedals, frame sets, and finishing kit. However, one of the biggest offenders has to be
01:08group sets, which brings me neatly onto the godlike Shimano 105. If you're unaware, 105 is Shimano's
01:16mid-tier group set. There's two versions above and then three that sit below. Crucially though,
01:21105's performance bears a much closer resemblance to Shimano's top-tier Ultegra and Dura-Ace group
01:27sets, while costing much less. And by less, I mean a lot less. Prices can vary depending on region
01:35and whether you're buying online or from a physical store. But a top-spec Dura-Ace Di2 group set will
01:43set
01:43you back around two and a half grand, while mechanical 105 can be found for as little as
01:49500 pounds. If you want to spend a little bit more, then you can get the electronic 105 Di2 group
01:55set
01:55for around 900 pounds. Obviously, being so much cheaper means 105 will be heavier, less refined,
02:03and miss out on some of the bells and whistles of Shimano's higher tier group sets. But again,
02:10in terms of pure shifting performance, it's pretty close. And this newest version looks the part as
02:16well. As you can probably tell, I love 105, and I'd wager you'll struggle to find a cycling journalist
02:22who doesn't. Ask a cycling journalist to recommend you a fast, all-round bike tyre and you're likely
02:33going to get some umming and ahhing before they give you two or three options. Now, those options
02:40may throw up some curveballs, but I bet nearly all of them would recommend the Continental GP5000s,
02:47the successor to the legendary GP4000. Now, the 5000 caused quite a stir when it was released back
02:54in 2018, and since then, it's won many cycling fans over the world. Why, I hear you ask? Well,
03:02it's not the fastest, the grippiest, the lightest, or the best value, but it does seem to offer the best
03:08balance of all of those key factors. A kind of jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none for the bike
03:14tyre world. Despite being such a fast tyre, we've also found it's got pretty decent puncture
03:20protection, no doubt thanks to Continental's newly improved Vectrum Breaker layer. And for such a
03:26popular tyre, Continental have made sure to cover nearly every option that you can think of,
03:32including tubeless, clincher, wide sizes, thin sizes, and tamils. The list really does go on.
03:39Not to mention the special variants like the ASTR for all-season riding, the TTTR for out-and-out
03:45speed, and the STR for more all-round road race situations. So, chances are, there will be a GP5000
03:54to suit you, no matter how niche your requirements are. And of course, being so popular means there
04:00are some good deals to be had if you shop around. So, what are you waiting for?
04:08Next up on our list is another great value, yet high-performing product from Shimano. I am,
04:14of course, talking about its M520 pedals. A quick Google of the M520 pedals will tell you two things.
04:22Number one, they're very affordable, retailing for around £28. And number two, they're pretty much
04:29universally loved with pages of glowing five-star reviews from journalists and paying customers
04:35alike. Pros include their ease of maintenance, durability, all-round performance, and aforementioned
04:42pricing. While these pedals are mainly aimed at off-road riders, we found they suited road riders
04:47as well, particularly for those who like to be able to walk around in their riding shoes, which the
04:52recessed cleat on the M520 pedal does allow for. Lastly, the M520s have legendary mud-clearing
05:00abilities. And it wasn't uncommon to see pro cyclocross racers using them in particularly muddy races.
05:07So, if this £28 pedal is good enough for the pros, then chances are it will be more than good
05:14enough
05:14for us. There's no doubt owning and riding a fancy carbon race bike is one of the true pleasures
05:25of cycling. What's less pleasurable is what you do with said carbon road bike when the weather turns
05:32nasty. Sure, you can keep riding it while keeping on top of the cleaning, but many of us don't have
05:38that kind of time. And as most carbon race bikes don't come with mudguard eyelets, finding something
05:44to keep you and your bike clean can be tricky. Fortunately, though, SKS have you covered with
05:50their clip-on raceblade mudguards. While clip-on mudguards of the past would often just be flimsy
05:56and need constant adjustment and be prone to braking, the raceblades are rock-solid and are made of strong,
06:02stiff plastic. They're also easy to fit and will work on frames with both round and
06:08aero tube profiles. It's worth noting they won't offer quite as much mud protection as a dedicated
06:14eyelet-attached mudguard, with a bit of spray usually managing to work its way up your backside,
06:20but they will protect your bike, and surely that is the most important thing. Finally, if you like
06:26your tyres wide, then SKS has you covered with their XL model, which works with 700c wheels,
06:33up to 32mm on the rim, and disc-spray bikes.
06:41Sometimes, the best cycling products do their job so well that you hardly ever notice them at all,
06:47and nowhere is this more apparent than with your bottle cages. The best bottle cages will do exactly
06:54as they should, namely, hold your drink no matter the surface you're riding on. The worst will fill
07:00you with doubt as you never know when you might lose a bottle during a ride. And if you want
07:05the best,
07:05then I think you can't go wrong with Elite. They have a huge variety to choose from and cater to
07:11different budgets. You can also choose between carbon, metal, Elite's eco-friendly material and
07:17their fibre reinforced material. So again, lots of options. A quick look online will tell you
07:23everything that you need to know with lots of five or nearly five-star reviews. When we tested their
07:29Vico Carbon Bottle Cage, we found it provided a firm, rattle-free hold while weighing just 28 grams.
07:37Costing only £26 at the time of testing, it also represents fairly decent value for money,
07:42considering it's made out of carbon.
07:49Search online for cycling socks and you will find an almost limitless array of styles,
07:55colours, lengths and thicknesses to choose from. So, which do we recommend? Well,
08:01if you like your socks in either white, black or grey, then you can't go wrong with Raffa's
08:06Pro Team socks. They've been around in some form or another for a long time, which goes to show how
08:12popular they are with cycling journalists and everyday riders. My personal favourite are the
08:19standard socks, but for taller riders, there is an extra long version for that trendy high cuff look.
08:25Socks may not be the most exciting of products, but these really do the job quite well, keeping your
08:31feet cool during the summer months and not slipping down your legs during riding. It's worth noting,
08:37the Raffa have you covered in the colder months as well, as they have a winter version of the Pro
08:42Team
08:42Sock. So, what's not to like?
08:49Supercas makes a bold statement on their website, and I quote,
08:54We boldly claim that Super Sticky Kush is the best bar tape ever, and that's backed up by being the
09:00world's number one selling bar tape. Now, whether or not that's true, well, I don't know. But what I do
09:07know is that it's an incredibly popular product loved by riders the world over. As you'd expect,
09:15it's seriously grippy stuff, even when wet and not wearing gloves, so you shouldn't need to worry
09:20about slipping from the bars. It's also quite thick at 3.2mm, so will be well suited to riders who
09:27value
09:27all-day comfort. Thick bar tape can sometimes be trickier to wrap, but we found the Super Sticky
09:34Kush tape didn't present us with too many issues. Finally, it's available in a wide variety of colours,
09:40so you should be able to find something to match your bike.
09:48Last on our list, but by no means least, is Park Tool's P-Handle Hex Wrench Set. Now,
09:55these hex keys, or allen keys, depending on where you come from, have the distinction of being loved
10:01not only by cycling journalists, but also by bike mechanics, and they're a familiar sight in workshops
10:07the world over. As you'd expect, they're made from super high-torque industrial steel that will
10:13last for years to come. They're also available in all the popular sizes for when it comes to working
10:19on your bike, and there's a small ball head right there on the long side for those hard-to-reach
10:24places. Lastly, you get a neat wall hanger mount thingy, meaning no more rummaging around in drawers
10:30or toolboxes. So, there you have it, eight products almost universally loved by cycling journalists.
10:37But, do you have any recommendations of your own? As always, let me know down below.
10:44My hands aren't in shot here, are they? You can't see that?
10:46No.
10:46Good.
10:47Okay.
10:48Right, ready?
10:49Yep.
10:54What a muppet.
10:56What an absolute muppet.
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