If you rest you rust, and there’s no rest for the wicked… so no rust on this batch of wicked products then?
Stan’s Flow MK4 Wheelset
- Price: £320.00 front, £675.00 rear
- From: Upgrade Bikes
- Tested by: Ross for 12 months
- Buy from Tweeks save 52%
The USP here is the M-Pulse hubs, specifically the rear. Instead of trad spring-loaded pawls, the M-Pulse system uses pawls with Neodymium magnets instead of springs. This way they can offer high engagement (1.66°//DEG//) without the usual attendant extra drag (when coasting) of sprung pawl system high-engagement freehubs. On top of this, the hubs also benefit from an adjustable preload system to further reduce drag. Our test set weighed in at 1,030g for the rear with XD freehub and 880g for the front, both with tape and valves fitted. They spin up well with fast engagement and roll noticeably well right from day one. The good weight also helps with pedalling and that fast engagement helps on techy climbs when putting a half crank in with instant power and no dead spots. This is also noticeable when getting on the gas and sprinting out of the saddle or out of turns. They strike a good balance of feeling compliant, while never feeling flexy. Perhaps the best compliment I can give them is that I didn’t notice much about them other than how long they freewheel along for. The M-Pulse system works. After 12 months of pretty heavy use, they aren’t showing any major signs of wear. The rims are dent-free. The hubs are still spinning freely and although there is now a slight bit of play in the rear bearings, after ten months this is not unexpected. My only issue has been with the preload system. It’s a simple enough system to install – undo the 2mm Allen bolt, wind the collar out a couple of turns, then tighten the collar once the wheel is fitted to preload the bearings – but the collar has come loose a couple of times causing play in the rear wheel. It’s simple enough to sort but it was annoying and happened more than once. The Stan’s Flow MK4 wheelset offers a great ride feel and efficiency in a tough package, at a decent weight.
OneUp Components Aluminium Pedals
- Price: £139.99
- From: OneUp Components
- Tested by: Hannah for 8 months
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These pedals from OneUp feature a convex main body. OneUp says these will sit in the natural arch of your foot. The pedals are very slim, tapering between 8.3mm to 12mm, with angled edges to help deflect the ground during pedal strikes. I’ve had noticeably fewer pedal strikes with these pedals than others I’ve used. I’ve also not lost or bent a single pin. I’ve found the pins to grip really well into a whole range of different shoes. For me, with my foot arch over the convex area and clear of the axle, I’ve enjoyed excellent grip on even the rockiest of descents. The bearings/bushings come with a little stiffness to them. OneUp says they will loosen over time as the bushings wear, I’ve not yet found them to be super spinny – but I don’t find it a problem. After months of riding and washing, there was a bit of dirt behind the seals, and a tiny amount of discolouration to the grease in the left axle. The right side was immaculate, however, and neither showed any sign of wear and tear to the bushing. Having previously disliked pedals with any kind of bulge around the axle, it comes as some surprise to me that I love these. With barely showing any signs of wear, I expect to be loving them for a long while to come.
Bridgedale MTB Socks
- Price: from £21.00

- From: Bridgedale
- Tested by: Hannah for 4 months
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For me, socks have gone from being something bought as cheap as possible in bulk to something I really appreciate being just right. Socks that are too tight around the cuff – or socks that fall down – are a sensory distraction that niggles at my day. Some socks are weirdly cold and sweaty, others have seams that rub. Bridgedale socks are not those socks. I’ve been wearing their summer and winter weight ‘T2 MTB’ socks. Both have a thicker sole for shock absorption and mapped areas of stretch and compression to hold your foot snugly without any pressure points. The fine seam is under the joints of your toes, tucked away where you don’t feel it and it can’t cause any blisters. They fit snugly all over, but not too snugly – the stretch sections around the heel and ankle help hold the sock up, meaning it’s not the cuff that’s doing all the work. The summer weight ones proved pleasantly wicking and surprisingly cool for their apparent thickness. Whether these are especially brilliant socks for mountain biking, or just especially brilliant socks full stop, I couldn’t say. Activity-specific socks might be a mouthful more Kool-Aid than I can truly swallow but, regardless, these are very, very comfy. Put them on and forget about them, and hope they’re still clean enough to wear again another day, or maybe two because you’ll be sad wearing other socks while these are in the wash.
Alpkit Floe Trousers
- Price: £79.99
- From: Alpkit
- Tested by: Benji for 3 months
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Despite being described as being ‘softshell’, the Floe trousers are actually lightweight and rather breezy little numbers. Don’t order a pair if you’re after softshell jersey performance for your legs. These are not those kind of trousers. Essentially, the best way to think of the Floe pants is as a tough windshell for your legs. They aren’t very capable of withstanding rain or trail spray but they do keep wind chill at bay, and if they do get damp, they dry out very quickly indeed. The tailoring isn’t the super-tapered calf-stranglers of other brands but they are definitely not-baggy. You can wear knee pads under them with no issue. Bonus points to Alpkit for the three leg length options by the way (I have 34in legs and tested the long length). In use, I got along with the general minimalism of the Floe (more elasticity, less plastic buckle stuff). Having said that, the side vents are pointless, as with any on non-waterproof trousers, and the zips of the vents can be all too easily confused with the pocket zips. Aesthetically, get the black versions as the blue ones can look a bit ‘Aladdin’ on slimmer folk.
Industry Nine A35 Stem
- Price: £160.00
- From: Lyon UK

- Tested by: Benji for 15 months
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Stems, eh? They don’t vary greatly. You can possibly make claims about ‘stiffness’ or something but back here on Earth in the Real World of short stems, such claims are bunkum. You can weigh them (134g on my scales for this 32mm length). You can comment on how crisply made they are. You can maybe discuss bolt quality. You can definitely talk about stack height (42mm in this instance). And also rise (+/-9° / 5mm). And also price (£160!) What about value? This stem is incredibly poor value. You can get a stem with these stats for less than half the price. Yet… And yet, the Industry Nine A35 is the nicest stem I’ve ever encountered. I think it is aesthetically perfect; not harshly squared off blocky, nor naffly curvaceous, the stainless chamfered bolts are just right, the etched branding/logo is just enough. Would I buy one? Nope. Well, maybe I would as part of a bike build that had already spiralled way out of control/budget. Would I ask for one as a present? Yep. Am I giving it back? Nope.
SKS Mudrocker Mudguard Set
- Price: £66.00
- From: ZyroFisher
- Tested by: Benji for 2 months
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Although seemingly one of the more basic and olde worlde products in cycling, it is still really rare that mudguards are done well. Take this Mudrocker set for example. It is a classic example of a company simultaneously thinking too much about something and not enough about something. Starting with the decent aspects: the reusable hook-and-loop straps work fine, the angled rubber anchors for the rear guard are a nice bit of design (they afford enough angle adjustment and are kind to paintwork), the front mudguard keeps filth off your face well and is one of the more stable of the bolts-to-fork-brace designs out there. But there are a few problems with these ’guards. The cutouts on the wings of the front ’guards are unfortunate – they wilfully do not keep muck off your suspension stanchions/wipers. Just odd really. The rear ’guard is very noisy – it constantly slaps the rear tyre when off-roading due to its flexy nature. The rear comes with a couple of extension inserts. A forward one for keeping muck off your rear shock/pivots. This is fine. There’s also a rearward one. This makes the ’guard usefully longer (the ’guard as it is, isn’t long enough for 29in wheels) but the fit is not secure enough. I kind of cured it for a while with a bit of Gorilla tape but the tape doesn’t stay stuck due to the inevitable soaking it receives. At the end of the day, there are simply better designed ’guards out there (usually from UK brands for some reason).
RockShox Pike Ultimate Charger 3.1 RC2
- Price: £1,049.00
- From: SRAM
- Tested by: Ross for 6 months
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I tend to ride longer travel bikes so it had been a while since I’d spent time on a Pike. This 140mm Ultimate is the top model and so features all of RockShox’s latest fork tech. In the right leg is its most up-to-date damper: the Charger 3.1. This offers separate high- and low-speed compression adjustment along with low-speed rebound adjustment. Inside the left leg, you’ve got the new Debonair+ air spring. In the bottom of both legs are RockShox ‘Buttercups’; small pucks made from elastomer-like stuff that are designed to reduce vibration. With an initial 20% sag and low- and high-speed compression adjusters set in the middle, on the very first ride it was noticeable how supple the fork was off the top. I did try reducing the low-speed compression (LSC) but the fork was so sensitive that more LSC was better to keep it from moving too easily. This is not a fork you leave fully open in terms of compression damping. The Pike flutters across small, repeated washboard ripples and bumps. Rocks and roots are also taken in its stride. Its chassis tracks and holds a line through all sorts of janky stuff. There’s plenty of mid-stroke support, whether that’s on steep technical trails, or hitting high-speed turns. It does a great job of holding you in the sweet spot, without blowing through the travel. I rarely bottomed the fork out, even after riding it on ‘enduro bike’ terrain. It never felt harsh or unwilling to give up its travel – it just manages it well. The RockShox Pike Ultimate seems to deliver on pretty much everything. It’s amazingly buttery off the top, supportive, stiff enough and has a proper range of adjustment that makes it usable for a wider spectrum of riders than before. There’s a lot to like, and not a lot to dislike. If you are looking for a mid-travel trail fork then this would be it. Recommended.
