Singletrack Issue 1 – Long Term Tests

Easton are best known for their aluminium wrangling, but they’ve branched out into carbon fibre rather well in the last couple of years. Carbon posts, carbon road forks (mmm, nice) and these here Monkey Lite carbon bars.

I’ve had a pair on my Soulcraft hardtail for the last year and ridden over 1000 hard miles on them from Boulder to Bath. They were a chore to fit on an ‘old fashioned’ stem – a non-front loading one. Hard to get through the stem without nicking the carbon. You also need to make sure that brake and shifter clamps are smoothed. (I do know one rider who fitted bar ends to them and cracked the bars – that was before the Fashion Police got to him, of course.)

I’ve had no such problems, and I’ve had nothing but confidence in the bars since I got them. I even know of downhillers who use them. They’re 26in wide with a decent sweep (other rises and widths are available too). They appear to do a good job of reducing trail buzz and I’ve never had a grip slip on them. The finish and the look is as neat and classy, as you would expect.

Whether you can justify spending the price of a plane ticket to the South of France on a pair of bars depends on your budget and your own twisted values. Should you decide you have to have some, I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.

Chipps Chippendale

The spangly white 9.0SL groupset sits at the top of the SRAM range. The rear derailleur uses SRAM’s ESP 1:1 cable pull ratio so won’t work with Shimano shifters. We’ve been using it with SRAM’s 2001 9.0 shifters which feature a new light-sprung shift between gears. These have been surprisingly good and won over many an ex-Gripshift user who’d moved back to Shimano Rapidfire in recent years.

 Like many of SRAM’s components it features a mix of plastics and forged aluminium rather than the plastic and steel in some of the lower groups.

 The body and cage is forged aluminium with plastic knuckles and cable guide. It features the DIRT technology bought in from Sachs a few years back so the pivot bolt isn’t sprung like a Shimano derailleur and the whole mech remains in one place with the body and cage moving – great for

Specialized FSR owners as the derailleur doesn’t clatter against the rear suspension pivot.

The jockey wheels use cartridge bearings with the top being offset to allow an 11-34 cassette on a just medium- length cage. Pivots are hardened and held in with circlips. We’ve not had a need to take these off to regrease the pivots however in the seven, wet, winter months we’ve been using it. The jockey wheels have also remained suitably sealed. Shifting has remained superb throughout no

matter what weather we’ve thrown at it with no slop at all.

At 290g in weight and an £82.99 price tag it’s up against Shimano’s XTR derailleur although it’s more down to your shifter preferences as either has to be treated as a system.

Shaun Murray

Yeah, yeah, as worn by the likes of Lance Armstrong and his Postal pals in last year’s Tour de France (assuming you stayed up to watch it). But is it any good? It features less vents than the Pneumo’s predecessor the Boreas and is, to be honest, a roadie helmet.

However, road helmets have often been put to use in mountain biking – anyone still running a Sub 6 out there? And the Pneumo even comes with a small peak to make it look a little burlier – and to keep the rain off your specs.

What you get in the Pneumo is a neat, wonderfully vented lid – with vents you can stick your hand through… Roc Loc 4 head hugging equipment and enough protection to cover all the squishy, delicate bits of your melon. What you also get is the best ventilated helmet in the world. Unless you only ride in the tropics, Italy or the height of British summer, you may want to wear a bandana under this, such is the venting design and power. There’s even a split brow pad, with a little channel to draw air over your temples. And by golly, does it work… It really does feel like it’s colder with the helmet on than off. If you are always overheating, or you want a stylish helmet that’ll still protect your noggin and looks good on- or off-road (though it’s also responsible for the fine helmet-hair in my Editorial picture), or if you want the lid to go with the US Postal strip you just bought, this is the ticket. If you want something more substantial, check out the E2. And now that VAT has come off helmets, you’re in for a lot of air.

Chipps Chippendale

The great feature of these sunglasses is they are modular. By that we mean the arms, brow pad, nose piece and the lenses, are all removable and all available as spares. A removable head strap is also included which replaces the arms and make you look like a skydiver. All these features go a fair way to cushioning the fact that these shades do cost the whole part of £100.

In use, the nose-bridge is extremely comfortable and the rubberised arms distribute the pressure evenly across the temples. The removable brow pad does an excellent job of soaking up the sweat and prevents the agonising blindness of sweaty eyes. However, yes, there is always a however. In fact there are two ‘howevers’ but one is actually a matter of taste. Worn with amber lenses, they do give that special Ali G look, especially when worn with a Buff. Like I said; a matter of taste really.

The second ‘however’ is a little more serious. I’ve used these for all my regular riding for a year and have gone through three sets of lenses. They seem to scratch very easily. This is not a problem in use and is likely due to my own lack of care. I’ve shown the same lack of care for other sunglasses that have clearly faired better. On the whole though they remain my eyewear of choice and for that they deserve my praise. Their size offers the best trail protection of any sunglasses I have used and so long as you look after them better than I do they will serve you well throughout the year.

Mark Alker

The Race Face SYStem features a unique ‘dovetail’ clamp with 2 bolts that squeeze the clamp onto the steerer and holds on with an unrivalled 360° grip. The front clamp slots into the ‘U’ shaped extension so that no stress risers or sharp edges are created on the handlebar. The central body to the stem is CNC’d from 6061 aluminium and then heat treated and bead blasted before being painted or anodised to further increase strength.

Ours has had a set of 27” wide riser bars in, and despite the leverage this puts on a stem, we’ve not had a single squeak, creak or crack all winter.

The clamps haven’t been touched either, remaining firmly in place. It’s available in four sizes ranging from 100mm to 140mm in length with either a 5° or 15° rise and comes in seven colour

combinations. Weight is reasonable, rather than lightweight, at around 200g

– depending on the size. Expensive but well engineered.

Shaun Murray

Mountain bikers fall in to two distinct camps when it comes to roof mounted racks: those who love them and those who hate them. I fall into the former and this rack from Swedish rack specialists Thule, has clocked over 30,000 miles so far, with at least half of those miles actually with a bike attached to it.

The main reason for most riders’ dislikes of roof mounted racks is the hassle of lofting your bike above your head and the three hands you normally need to steady the bike and at the same time fasten the straps buckles and braces. Then there is the wobble factor, which can be quite scary to watch through the sunroof at 70mph on the M6. If that is your experience of roof- mounted racks then the 510 should be a revelation.

Fitting to the roof bars is pretty straightforward and needs no tools. The quick release levers are big and chunky and are inaccessable to tea-leaves when a bike is on board.

For me, being slightly vertically challenged at 5’ 8” [in your cuban heels? Ed], the best feature is the arm locking mechanism that is positioned at the bottom of the securing arm. No longer do I need a bunk up from a mate to fasten the clamp to the downtube.

Out of the box, the rack is rock- solid in use with very little wobble. Over the course of a year it has developed some play but no more than many new racks. In short, ‘cos I am, it remains my prefered method of bike transportation. Perhaps a little pricey when you consider it carries just one bike but you are paying for long lasting quality with ease of use.

Mark Alker