NEWPRODUCTS
104 mbr M AY 2 019
ErgonGE1gripsallowyoutoexactlytunebarsweep
androllfortheperfecthandpositionandhavebeenmy
firstchoiceforyearsnow.Thedesignworksbecause
thegripbarrelis slightlytwistedandthickerattheend,
sorotatingit changesorientationslightly.Thisdesign
is partlyforcomfort,andalsotoencouragea ‘broad
shoulders’attackingridingposition.
If they’resogoodalready,thenwhyhastheGerman
brandupdatedthem?Well,therubbertreadprofilehas
beenrefinedforextratextureandholdwitha seriesof
deeperfinsorridgesonpalm-facingpanels.TheGE1s
nowgripevenmoresecurely,especiallyinthewetor
withsweatyhandswhenridinggloveless.
Myoneconcernwiththisupdatewasthattheinterior
plasticsleevehaslosta cut-outthatplacesmorerubber
undertheheelofyourhandforbetterdampingand
isolation.However,sincethetexturedfinsfeelmore
cushionednowanyway,andthecompoundhasperfect
firmness,it allbalancesoutnicelyandbarfeelis still
great.So,withnoirritatingclampprotrusionsonthe
endinthelockingmechanism,theseare
stillmyfavouritegrips.Theylastages,
andnowthey’reevengrippierwhen
it’sdamptoo.Thepriceis high,but
they’reworthit.
MickKirkmanLook’sX-Trackrangeofcliplesspedals
signifiesa radicaldeparturefromits
previousoff-roaditerations.Goneis the
distinctivetwin-barretentionsystem
oftheoldS-Track,tobereplacedwith
a mechanismheavilyinfluencedbythe
classicShimanotwin-jawSPDdesign.
Infact,thereareseveralsimilarities
withShimano’spedals,includinga
newSPD-compatiblecleatdesign.The
X-TrackRaceCarbondiffersfromthe
standardX-Trackthroughitsuseof
a carbon-reinforcedbodytoreduce
weight,butotherwisesuperficially
retainsthesamedesign.Lookhas
designedtheX-Trackwitha bitofextra
bodywidthcomparedtoothersinits
category,providingit witha really
positiveshoeengagement,helpingto
keeppowertransferandfootstability
toa maximum.Stackheightis niceand
lowaswell,keepingyourshoeasclose
totheaxleaspossible;againincreasing
riderstabilityonthebike.Cleatengagementhasprovedtobereliable
andconsistenteveninthemud.OK,
it’snotquiteasgoodatmudclearing
asa CrankBrotherspedal,oreven
Look’solderpedals,buta quickcouple
ofkickstendtoclearenoughtoallow
solidengagement.Oneotherthingto
noteis releasetensionis onthe
highside.Whilea benefit ofthis
is a reductioninaccidental
releases,it doesmeanthat
manyriderswillneedtodial
downthespringtension
tomakesuretheydo
clipoutwhenneeded.
Thebearings
haveretainedtheir
originalsmooth
rollingperformance
throughouta winterof
testing,butthesamecannot
besaidofthecarbon-composite
body.Whileit doesshedweightin
comparisontometal-bodiedpedals,ERGON GE1 EVO
FACTORY GRIPS
£34.99
SPECIFICATION Weight: 91g pair • Colours: black, day-glo, orange- Contact: extrauk.co.uk
LOOK X-TRACK RACE
CARBON PEDAL
£99.99
SPECIFICATION Weight: 351g (pair) • Contact: zyrofi sher.co.ukBLUEGRASS MAGNETE
LITE GLOVES
£24.99
SPECIFICATION Weight: 41g • Sizes: S-XL • Colours: blue, pink, orange, black, yellow, red, turquoise, brown- Contact: bluegrasseagle.com
If you have a lot of piercings, these are
probably not the gloves for you. Why?
Well, Bluegrass has sewn two small
magnets into the cuff s so that, it says,
you can clip them together and hang
them on your bars, or belt, or nose ring.
Sounds like a gimmick, right? We
don’t really struggle to keep our gloves
in pairs to be honest. Socks? Well that’s
another story — they seem to
have lives of their own, but
gloves never seem to be an
issue. And on a ride, we just
put them in a pocket.
Besides the magnets,
Bluegrass has been
admirably
restrained
with
features.
It’s a minimal
glove with
decent grip from
the faux-suede palm.
However, the stitching
pressed annoyingly against
our fi ngertips, and despite
claiming to be touchscreen
friendly, navigating around an
iPhone proved to be more missthan hit in reality. So, magnets
aside, the bottom line is that there
are more comfortable,
minimal gloves
out there on the
market than the
Magnete Lite.
Danny Milner