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TECH NEWS
cycling souvenirs espresso mugsTech Roundup: Featuring Quarq, CeramicSpeed, Cycloc, Fly6, 7Mesh...
We have a diverse mix of products in this week's Tech Roundup, everything from bike-related artwork to Grand Tour espresso cups. We kick-off, though, with news of some pretty big price reductions across the Quarq power meter range.
Prices reduced on Quarq power meters
Quarq has lowered prices on its entire chainset-based power meter range.
• Quarq Elsa RS, SRAM XX1 was £1,199, now £1,049
• Quarq Elsa R, Red 22 was £1,199, now £979
• Quarq Riken R was £899, now £799
The SRAM MTB XX1 power meter is built for SRAM’s 1X drivetrains; designed for X-Sync and compatible with XX1, X01 and X1.
Quarq’s Elsa RS power meter is an upgrade for Shimano’s 11-speed Dura-Ace 9000, Ultegra 6800 and 105 5800 group sets. GXP and BB30 versions are available.
The SRAM Red 22 power meter is directly compatible with SRAM’s RED 22, Force 22, Rival 22, Force CX1, and 10-speed Red (Yaw) groupsets.
Elsa R and Riken R work with 130 BCD (bolt circle diameter) and 110 BCD chainrings, both 10 and 11-speed, from SRAM, Shimano (10-speed only), Rotor, FSA, Praxis Works, WickWerks and others.
For more info go to www.quarq.com.
CeramicSpeed launch headset
Danish manufacturer CeramicSpeed is launching new headsets that are compatible with Cervélo and Specialized bicycles.
CeramicSpeed have become well known for their ceramic bearings over the past few years. The claim is that they are very low friction and have a longevity 3-5 times greater than most steel bearings.
“The headsets introduce significantly increased stiffness and extended lifetime, optimising the front triangle of the bicycle,” according to CeramicSpeed.
“The CeramicSpeed Headset adds extra stability to the head tube of the bicycle allowing a smoother and more precise steering. Packed in a set of upper and lower bearings, top cap and spacers, CeramicSpeed Headset tolerate a lot more stress in steering when tracking than regular headsets.”
Pro team Tinkoff-Saxo have been using CeramicSpeed headsets for the past two seasons.
The headsets will be available from May but we don’t yet have prices. For more info go to http://ceramicspeed.com/.
Cycloc release Hero bike mount
London-based Cycloc are just about to launch the Hero that will allow you to wall-mount a bike resting on only one pedal.
Hero is designed to be versatile and is said to be capable of accommodating a wide variety of bikes. As well as road bikes and hybrides, it can handle bikes with wide handlebars, Dutch-style frames, full suspension mountain bikes and even tandems.
One pedal fits into the oval opening while the wheel pads protect walls from damage and keep the bike securely in place.
Hero can also be used to tier bikes on the same wall.
Cycloc say that the Hero is their smallest and most subtle product yet, hardly noticeable when not in use. It’s available in seven different colours.
We don’t yet have a price so keep your eye on www.cycloc.com
7mesh apparel spring collection available
The first clothing collection from 7mesh is now available. We reviewed the Canadian brand’s Revelation Jacket here on road.cc recently.
The range features high-end technologies like Gore-Tex Pro and Windstopper Soft Shell.
As well as outerwear, the 7mesh range includes items like this S2S short sleeve jersey (£99) which uses four-way stretch nylon at the front and lightweight polyester at the back.
The Mk1 bib shorts (£165) are shaped to match your mid-stroke leg position, the idea being to reduce resistance, and the seatpad is from Elastic Interface.
Check out the full range at www.7meshinc.com.
Bike Angel GPS bike tracking seeks funding
A GPS bike tracking system called Bike Angel is currently looking for funding on Kickstarter.
You put a little GPS unit (200g, 25mm diameter, 200mm long) inside your bike’s seat tube and the team behind the project say that it can put your bike on the map in less than 30 seconds.
The device is capable of detecting the vibration that would occur if your bike is stolen and will let you know immediately via text.
A free smartphone app allows you to adjust the settings of Bike Angel. The app will lock and unlock the device via Bluetooth. It will also save a history of the places where you left your bike.
The battery allows daily usage for up to six weeks before you need to recharge it via micro USB. You get a removal tool with the device that will apparently allow you to remove the battery in a matter of second without turning your bike upside down.
You need to pledge €85 or more to be in line for your own Bike Angel if the funding target is achieved.
For more info go to www.kickstarter.com/projects/bike-angel/bike-angel
New print from Victory Chimp
Victory Chimp – an outlet for the cycling-inspired prints and products of Ryan O’Reilly, a bike-riding designer and illustrator based in Northern Ireland – and cycling clothing company Galibier.cc have teamed up to offer a limited edition print called Up! Up! Up!.
According to Victory Chimp, “Up! Up! Up! is inspired by the pivotal moment in a bittersweet love of climbing when one final effort is made before enjoying the spoils of your labour; the feeling of deep satisfaction and quiet as you crest the summit and roads unknown are laid out for exploration. A feeling that's only achieved under your own steam and one that has us seeking out more of those roads twisting into the sky while we can still feel the last in our legs.”
Up! Up! Up! is printed on 300gsm recycled stock and is available in a limited edition of 100, each one individually signed and numbered. It measures 40cm x 50cm. It is sold unframed although it is designed to fit IKEA frames.
Up! Up! Up! is priced £30 and is on sale now at www.victorychimp.com/ and http://galibier.cc/.
Pedal Wrencher notification when components wear out
Pedal Wrencher is a free service that notifies Strava users by text when their stuff is likely to have worn out.
You sign up and then Pedal Wrencher tracks your Strava mileage. Once you reach a designated maintenance interval, you get a text message telling you that it’s time to change your chain or whatever.
Pedal Wrencher currently tracks four commonly replaced parts by default: chains, cables, bar tape and brake pads.
Any of the defaults can be disabled and you can create any new notification you’d like.
“We use simple industry rules of thumb for how long a given part will last,” says Pedal Wrencher, so no account is made for different weather conditions or terrain.
For more info go to www.pedalwrencher.com.
Grand Tour espresso set
Purveyors of fine bike-related gifts Cycling Souvenirs are offering a new Grand Tour-inspired espresso cup set.
You get four cups, one with a yellow stripe for the Tour de France leader’s jersey, a green stripe for the points jersey, a polka dot stripe for the mountain category, and a pink stripe for the Giro d’Italia leader’s jersey.
The stripe continues into the inside of each cup.
The cups are thick walled and measure 6cm in height. The saucers are 10cm in diameter. They’re dishwasher safe.
A set of four costs £50 from www.cyclingsouvenirs.com.
Fly6 price dropped to £99
Cycliq have dropped the price of their Fly6, a rear light with a built in HD camera. It started out at £179 and was £109 when we reviewed it at the end of last year. Now it’s down to £99. This isn’t a sale price, it’s the new price.
The Fly6 offers up to six hours of camera and light function. Check out our review to find out how we got on with it.
For more info go to http://cycliq.com/ or order at Wiggle.
Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.
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19 comments
The BikeAngel kickstarter video is pretty extraordinary...
Gopro Hero £99
Fly6 still 3x too pricey
The Hero rack looks good but not sure it will work with Speed play peddles.
I thought that and so have asked them. They've said "...the Hero will work with some of the Speedplay range but not this [sic] round options". So I interpret that to mean not my SP Lights. A shame.
Does ceramic really offer significant friction decreases? Especially compared to the hideous prices?
That's a really good price point for the Fly6, I'm glad to see they've adjusted. I own one (v2 at preorder price), and although I'm happy with it, I wouldn't have bought it at the previous full retail price.
I still have mixed feelings about the Fly12. I don't think it's as simple as it being expensive, but that it appears to be targeted at the sports/weekend rider. That's fine, but I hope they produce another front camera targeted at the daily commuter market who might appreciate a single quickly removed device a little more.
I plonked some money down for the fly12, it seems perfect for commuting to me - if it's still as easy as simply clip on and turn on like the fly6.
There's nothing wrong with it for commuting, it's just over specified and thus priced too high. Commuters don't need a six hour battery life, nor do they need a 400 lumen beam (AKA "dick lights"). I'd like to see them (or someone else) make something a lot more affordable for that market.
My empirical market research certainly supports that. Since buying the Fly6 I've had quite a few people ask me about it, but all those asking as commuters thought it was too expensive for them. I think these devices could go very mainstream as a cheaper more basic unit.
It's the same as the GoPro today, you can pay £300 or £100 depending on your need.
Agreed, eventually it will come to that.
In the meantime, I can see why Cycliq have chosen to go this way on their first outing - it could be as simple as responding to consumer feedback. I say this, because I emailed Andrew at Cycliq during their initial stages about their Fly12, asking if they'd consider making it head mount compatible, but they said they didn't want to follow the cluttered market of 'adventure' camera makers like GoPro. I can only assume they're focusing on what made the Fly6 so popular, a camera and light combo that doesn't take up too much space and works well. This approach may change, like i-phone making a u-turn with bigger smart phones.
As for the Fly12, to use a further example, it's like having an Exposure Joystick light, and a Diablo. There are moments, particularly in winter, when you need that little bit extra, that goes a little bit further like a Diablo packs over the Joystick. In much the same way, I think the Fly12 will be able cover the commuter and the weekend warriors needs, and because of that, most of everyone in between. Just like the first GoPro, we need to see it's first outing is a worthwhile solid-build investment, before we can accept or consider anything less.
I'm sure there's also some considerable investment, not just of finance, but of R&D et cetera, needed to bring about further model options. So far Cycliq continue to be the only ones pushing this area of innovation.
Here's to safe cycling for everyone.
It's classic marketing department meets engineering; bullshit ahoy.
To quote JasonK from the bikerumour post on the ceramic speed headset:
Technically, CeramicSpeed is not wrong to claim that their ceramic balls are stiffer than steel balls. But this is such utter BS that it makes me gag.
Silicon nitride has a Young’s modulus of about 300 GPa, or about 50% more than steel’s 200 GPa. So, in theory, the headset balls will deform 50% less. (The steel races will deform a bit more with ceramic balls than they would with steel balls, so the improvement will be less than 50%).
But your steel headset ball bearings deform infinitesimally…so little it would be extremely hard to measure in the real world.
Using hand calcs for Hertzian contact, it’s easy to learn that a 2mm steel bearing/race combo deforms about .0062 millimeters under a 75-Newton load, which is roughly equal to what the most highly-loaded ball would see when you’re really pulling hard on the bars. .0062 mm is 0.00024 inches, for those of you not metrically inclined.
A steel race with a silicon nitride ball under the same load deforms about 0.0056 mm. Better, yes, but an improvement of 0.6 microns (µm), or 600 nanometers. That’s a fantastically tiny improvement.
For comparison, spider silk is about 3–8 µm in diameter. CeramicSpeed is claiming that riders are telling them that they can feel a decrease in flex *an order of magnitude smaller* than a single strand of spider silk.
I have no doubt that riders said nice things, but this is obviously the placebo effect in action. Individuals will report all sorts of improvements that are physically impossible if they think they've got better gear. This is what sells golf clubs, audiophile stereo equipment and now, sadly, bicycle headset bearings.
If indeed there are any engineers at CeramicSpeed and if those engineers have an ounce (gram?) of engineering integrity, CeramicSpeed would not claim that this infinitesimal increase in headset bearing stiffness is perceptible.
This is not a minor technical claim being spun by the marketing department–this is lying with statistics.
I think I can live with steel...
Ah, ok, that makes sense.
Wait, how can Tinkoff Saxo have been using those Ceramicspeed headsets if they're only just about to become available to the general public?
Most new equipment is tested out by the pro teams before being released to market. The manufacturer has to ensure that the parts are available to the public within a certain timeframe of them being used by the Pro teams. I think the timeframe is 18 months?
So what happens if the manufacturer folds after the team wins? Does the team get stripped of their win?
Yes. And their families are put into the gorilla cage at the zoo. Probably.
I think Pedal Wrencher are missing a trick. Surely an alert when you've got a puncture would be more useful ?
I notice the Fly 6 is now £87.12 at Wiggle, time I hit the buy button I think. Just need the Fly 12 to hit the stores now.
Classic bike industry BS from Ceramic speed there...and Pedal Wrencher recording your mileage and telling you things need servicing...really?