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Unless you’ve shelled out a massive chunk of cash on a custom-built bike tailored to your every whim, the chances are that you’re keen to upgrade aspects of your bike once the stock parts have worn out, or maybe you’re building your own custom bike from scratch. In this special issue, we’ve pulled together all the most recent reviews from Cycling Plus magazine on almost every bit of bike kit available. We’ve concentrated on upgrades that you’re likely to make to your bike itself, but we’ve also covered the essential gear you’ll need to ride it. Whether you’re looking for a new helmet or a complete groupset, you’ll find plenty in here for you.…

DEDA SUPERZERO COCKPIT £91.99 (bar) £75.99 (stem) › Aero aluminium setup Weight 326g (440mm bar) 140g (110mm stem) Bar width 400 to 460mm Stem length 90 to 140mm Italian tubing and component master, Dedacciai has a knack of simplifying complexity. Generally known by the Deda abbreviation, the company’s innovative products, particularly its handlebars and stems, are a lesson in classy quality. With the Trentacinque oversized cockpit proving that light weight, rigidity and comfort can coexist, the Superzero aluminium bar aims to offer the advantages of its £199.99 carbon forebear at a far lower price. Labelled as 440mm wide, measured from its outside edges, our Superzero bar is 415mm from centre to centre, and weighs 326g. Deda uses an innovative mechanical forming process to form high quality 7050 aluminium into an…

ALTURA MERINO £39.99 The half-and-half merino and polyester construction combines the comfort of wool with the elasticity of the man-made material helping with a snug fit that’s better for wearing beneath a top layer. It’s not as soft as Madison’s merino top, but fits more closely and still stays fresh all day, though we’d have liked a higher collar. CASTELLI PROSECCO £60 This lightweight, figure-hugging top is designed for temperatures down to 2°C. The Prosecco refers to the top’s hydrophilic treatment that is designed to spread moisture more evenly for quicker evaporation. If you’re looking to ride at 0°C Castelli also does this top with Windstopper, but for cool rather than freezing rides, this is a fine choice. LUSSO DRYLINE £39.99 Made in Manchester from Italian ‘Dryarn’ fabric, Lusso’s Dryline…

B’TWIN 500 £49.99 The king of budget-price cycling kit has delivered with these 606g shoes (pair, size 43). The fibreglass sole doesn’t have the stiffness of rigid carbon, but they’re more than adequate for most of us. Velcro? Old-fashioned maybe but it’s quick, effective and easy to adjust. There’s plenty of venting and the soles take both SPD and three-bolt pedals. BONTRAGER ESPRESSO £119.99 A road shoe that’s not just a road shoe? These two-bolt compatible shoes have more walkability than most manage, thanks to their rubber-protected fibreglass-reinforced nylon soles, and while they weigh 700g per pair (42), they’re great if you mix riding with the need to walk in comfort. The Boa dial is highly adjustable and they also come in black. GIANT BOLT £69.99 The Bolts from Giant…

TACX SHIVA PRO TEAM £5.99 (500ml/72g) Tacx’s Shiva straightfoward bidon is available in 500ml and 750ml sizes, and is the choice of many pro teams. It is BPA-free (Bisphenol A is found in plastic and can leak into drinks and food) and biodegradable, not that we’ll ditch them like the pros. The design comes in a number of team colours, including Team Katusha Alpecin. SPECIALIZED PURIST £15 (650ml/98g) Specialized’s ‘Purist Hydroflo WaterGate’ has a novel USP. The inside of the BPA-free bottle is coated with silicon dioxide just 20 nanometres thick, which means water tastes fresher for longer, so no more unwelcome plastic taste. The drip-free valve gives a good flow, the soft bottle is easy to squeeze and we found it lasts for ages. RACEONE R1 I.GLOO £10.99 (550ml/134g)…

ENDURA XTRACT MITT II £19.99 The Xtracts’ well-finished design includes ergonomic gel pads within the microfibre palm, topped with silicone print to enhance comfort and grip, but there is limited ventilation, so they can be warm in hot weather. Finger tabs make for easier removal, a Velcro wrist strap, terry thumb wipe and Lycra back keep them comfortable and practical. GIRO ZERO CS £29.99 These slip-on mitts feature a thin, ventilated palm made of Cool Skin fabric, with a microfibre heel patch for durability. Their four-way stretch back provides compressive comfort, with a reinforced Lycra wrist section, microfibre thumb wipe and fingertip pockets for rapid removal. Excellent quality and grip without bunching. SPECIALIZED GRAIL £25 Appropriately holey, the Grails look understated. The one-piece synthetic leather palm features Specialized’s ventilated Equalizer…

PRENDAS THERMOCOOL £7.95 These Italian-made autumn/early winter Thermocool Carbon socks are created from fabrics that are made for warmth and riding freshness, and they really are suited to the cooler riding conditions of those seasons. They’re warm and snug, though compared to the wool-based DeFeets they’re a little bit whiffier after a day’s riding. CASTELLI FAUSTO £13 Who doesn’t like argyle check and a nod to the great Fausto Coppi? This classically-styled-from-Castelli offering is based around Meryl Skinlife yarn, which has silver microparticles designed to keep odours at bay – and it’s effective. Made for temperatures down to 5°C, these are just the job until winter raises its icy head. CHAPEAU! TALL MIDWEIGHT £9.99 Chapeau!’s socks are tighter around the calf than most, plush and soft to the touch, they…

SPECIALIZED AIR TOOL BLAST £45 This 2.32kg tyre setter is 50cm tall with a 1450cc air canister and a stable steel base. Fill the canister to the recommended maximum 140psi via a top-mounted Schrader valve, and flip the side-mounted lever to release air through its hose. It’s effective, seating a 33mm’cross tyre on the third blast, and a 28mm road tyre immediately. BONTRAGER TLR FLASH CHARGER £99.99 Combining a pump and charging canister, the Flash is easy to use, though the plastic handle feels a little cheap, and the gauge isn’t that accurate at low pressures. Forty smooth strokes reach the 160psi limit. Our CX tyre needed additional inflation, but the 28mm tyre seated instantly. SCHWALBE TYRE BOOSTER £59.99 Compact and portable, the 160psi cylinder’s top cap has a Presta…

MET IDOLO £50 › Replicating Met’s high-end experience Weight 255g Size M (52-59cm) Colours Black/white/red, black, blue, fluoro yellow, red, white Sizes M, L MET’s entry-level helmet is designed to replicate its top-end lids, which it does well. It has a neat, racy-looking and compact shape with 15 vents. It feels good from the off and fits using MET’s Safe-T-E midhorizontal fit system that offers a wide range of adjustment and is easy to use. While there’s no vertical adjustment we didn’t miss it. A neat safety touch is the LED light built in to the dial, which is an ideal back up on low light days. The side straps use a snap and lock-down setup, which is a little fiddly at first but works well. HIGHS Light, racy, compact,…

PRAXIS ZAYANTE M30 4IIII £499.99 The 4iiii sensing unit is available pre-mounted to a left crank arm (£375+ depending on model), built into the quality Praxis Zayante chainset (as tested here) or glued onto your own crank if you send it to 4iiii, making it potentially great value. It’s very light at 716g for the chainset or just 9g for the sensor. Overall accuracy is acceptable for a left-crank-only power meter as known imbalances can be corrected in set up, although there’s a doublesided ‘Podium’ version if you want a more precise picture. Bluetooth Smart and ANT+ connection is good and magnet-free cadence is accurate too. It does need recalibrating before each ride and sometimes mid-ride too if the temperature changes significantly along the way. Also it’s not the most…

ELECTRA RINGER £8.99 The Electra is available in numerous designs including plain colours, a flying saucer and an ice cream cone. We went for the RAF roundel/mod design to bring out our inner Bradley Wiggins. It’s an old-school double-ringer, but the large 5cm diameter metal dome makes it louder than the smaller ones of our childhood bikes. LION URBAN £17.95 This is a cycling artefact of almost unbelievable visual and aural loveliness. The chunky nickel sliver (copper/zinc/nickel alloy) bell is assembled in Manchester from parts made in Birmingham and Barnsley and the sound is loud, sweet and pure with a sustain of over 20 seconds. There are stainless steel fittings for stem or bar. BASIL PORTLAND ALUMINIUM £13.99 Also available in brass or black versions, the 5.5cm diameter Basil creates…

UDDERLY SMOOTH £9.99 (227g) Main ingredients such as stearic acid, lanolin and the like are joined here by shea butter too. The name stems from the fact that this was first developed for use on dairy cows. Don’t worry, it contains no ‘milk or bovine products’, but is a thick white cream, long lasting, that resembles Assos’s offering, but this’ll cost you less for a bigger tub. MUC-OFF LUXURY CC £14 (100ml) This pleasant-smelling antibacterial cream contains aloe vera, witch hazel, shea butter and sunflower oil. We found this as good as any at keeping chafing at bay, even during a day-long ride. While this is fairly expensive, it does double up as a moisturiser. Muc-Off’s R&D team has done a good job in diversifying. CHAMOIS BUTT’R £12.99 (227g) This…

ALTURA NV2 VEST £49.99 Featuring a semi-fitted cut and made with Altura Shield wind and shower-proof fabric, the NV2 breathes well. The clever bit is the Darkproof technology in the fabric, which gives it a glowing appearance when light shines on it. A silicone waist gripper holds the gilet in place. The lower back panel features a single zipped pocket with a storm flap. GORE C3 WINDSTOPPER LIGHT VEST £89.99 The C3 is made with Gore’s own Windstopper fabric, which is highly breathable and water repellent. A more generous cut makes it perfect for long days in Lycra as well as a commute in civvies. It features two generous rear pockets and a zipped chest pocket, plus subtle reflective piping. ENDURA FS260-PRO ADRENALINE RACE GILET II £64.99 Based on the…

TOPEAK REDLITE AERO 1W £36.99 On paper there’s nothing remarkable about Topeak’s Redlite Aero 1W but it’s always the one that’s ready to go and never failed us out on a ride. Four modes max out at a 55 lumens (two-hour run) with a low battery indicator. Different back pieces and bands fit various shaped tubes/posts, the single LED strip is angled and it charges in two hours. LEZYNE ZECTO DRIVE MAX £48 Versatile clip mount for straps or tubes plus a bombproof construction make the ZDM a bikepacking winner. Eight modes max out at a 250-lumen daylight flash (nine-hour runtime). It’s heavy (69g) and sideways visibility is limited. The switch is awkward to find in gloves and there’s no waterproof rating, but we’ve dropped and hosed them without issue.…

ELITE BYASI £7.95 This completely weatherproof 750ml bottle has a drop-in 60mm deep cup that nestles in the top to prevent smaller items like patches, a multi-tool or keys from dropping out of sight. The 200mm tall main body can carry a couple of 35mm tubes, tyre levers, and if you choose to omit the top cup, a good mini pump too. DEDA BIKE TOOL STORAGE BOTTLE £14.99 This semi-rigid EVA case is 210mm tall, and water-resistant only, as the top cap’s fabric zip isn’t protective. It will swallow a heap of spares, plus a pump, and carry them without rattling, but there’s no recess to lock it on to cages, and the zip pull will tap against the frame unless orientated away. RACE ONE PR-1 BOX £17.99 Race One’s…

TACX £1.59 Despite their spindly looks, these tyre levers from Tacx, sold in a pack of three, are very stiff, but don’t hold up well to being dragged along the rim as some other options. The tip on the levers is far too short and aggressively hooked to get a reasonable purchase on the bead of the tyre. TOPEAK LEVER SHUTTLE 1.1 £3.99 Topeak’s longstanding Shuttle levers are made from ‘engineering grade plastic,’ whatever that may be, but it feels very stiff and hard wearing. The rounded shape feels good in the hand and the spoke hooks are a useful and generous size. If you’re looking for something with a little more oomph, consider the larger Lever Shuttle 1.2. SKS £2.99 The sharp, chiselled tips of the SKS levers make…

SELLE SAN MARCO SHORTFIT C RACING £114.99 › Truncated racing perch Weight 205g Length 173mm Width 140mm San Marco’s Shortfit saddle caters for riders whose seated position doesn’t change much while riding. This Racing model features San Marco’s waved profile, where the saddle’s top line curves by more than 5mm. Although its claimed width is 144mm, ours measures just over a still wide 140mm, but its 250mm length is short compared to an average saddle’s 275mm or more. The ‘big hole’ in the saddle is 173mm long and 12mm at the front and 38mm wide towards the rear. That equates to a large portion of the carbon fibrereinforced nylon shell’s surface area, and along with the Xsilite rails keeps weight to 205g. The wedge-like shape means that you immediately find…

URBAN LIGHTS Urban lights are about being seen. Sub-500 lumens won’t let you see far, but if used in a wide spread you’ll still stand out in traffic. As it’s likely to be a turn on and go deal avoid fancy displays and remotes you won’t use. URBAN BLACKBURN DAYBLAZER 800 £54.99 Blackburn’s slimline Dayblazer uses a combination of GoPro-style tabs and a rubber band strap to mount it almost anywhere. The 800 lumen ‘Blitz’ mode picks out trouble in the darkest alleys and gutters. The TIR lens, with diffusing side cutouts, gives a good ‘see me’ spread, with flash and pulse modes for daylight running. There’s basic battery info and the 1.5-hour runtime at max power can be USB recharged in four hours. It’s submersibly waterproof and Blackburn’s lights…

+ All-in-one tool kits with their collections of colourcoordinated, neatly arranged equipment are a wonderful thing. But while they may be nice to look at (and cheaper than buying all the necessary bits and pieces individually), few of these sets contain the right combination of tools to contend with all the latest components that are being bolted on to bikes. As such, gradually building up a toolkit based on what you actually need is a smarter route towards homeworkshop heaven. But just what are the tools you need to repair and service today’s bikes? And what workshop equipment is it worth investing in if you want to bypass the bike shop entirely? ESSENTIAL TOOLS You can easily cover all the Allen key, Torx wrench, screwdriver and chain splitter essentials on…

LIFELINE ESSENTIAL £4.99 (40g) Wiggle’s cycling bits and bobs brand Lifeline has come up with this elegant, bright design. The Essential is made from a tough polycarbonate plastic, comes in four glossy colours – black, blue, red and white. It does what you need it to, keeping your bottle secure even over rough and cobbled roads, and represents very good value. LEZYNE ROAD DRIVE ALLOY £22.99 (43g) A little bit heavier than most, but this does include a Velcro strap and mounts designed for Lezyne’s excellent Road Drive mini-pump. (And works just as well with other, circa 17mm diameter, mini-pumps.) Bottles are held firmly, but are easy to grab and replace, and the pump fitting is very useful. It comes in six colours TOPEAK DUALSIDE £14.99 (47g) Available in just…

GUY MARTIN PROPER CLEANER £6.50 2X750ML Motorcycle maestro Martin has a novel, carbon footprint-reducing take on the humble bike cleaning fluid (biodegradable, of course): you get a 750ml bottle and two soluble cleaning tablets. Drop one in the bottle, leave it for 20 seconds then shake it up, and Bob’s your uncle. It shifts crud well, though requires a little more brushing than some other fluids. JUICE LUBES DIRT JUICE £7.99 1L Another UK-made biodegradable cleaner, Dirt Juice is designed to work in just a couple of minutes and we found it did its stuff quickly and efficiently even after wet and dirty rides. It has a slightly more chemical smell than some, but was extremely effective and if you buy it as a super-concentrate – diluting it 10:1 with…

FWE ALUMINIUM £9.99 Small didn’t prove to be beautiful for this 86g, 17.5cm-long pump that has a secure push-on reversible head. After 220 strokes pumping up a 25mm tyre we’d reached around 70psi, which will get you home at a push. Getting closer to 90psi or more will require a lot of effort, and the 120psi max feels well out of reach for the less muscular rider. BIRZMAN VELOCITY APOGEE £29.99 Birzman’s chunky push-on head works with Presta and Schrader valves – and links securely if enough Presta valve is visible. It weighs 104g and is 19cm long, but its 13cm stroke will get you to 60psi in around 170 quite easy strokes. It takes more effort after this but we reached over 90psi in 250 or so. Very good…

TOPEAK AERO WEDGE (sm) £13.99 These come in three different sizes and with clip-on or buckle fittings. Our small 98g buckle-on bag has a 0.66L capacity and is made from tough Cordura coated with Teflon. We’d have appreciated reflective details on the sides as well as the rear, but that’s the only downside on a sturdy bag that’ll take two tubes, a multi-tool and more. LEZYNE CADDY (MED) £24.99 The 0.5L Caddy weighs 98g with an extra 42g for the saddle attachment. It’s a doddle to unclip the Caddy, which is chock full of features for such a diddly bag: external multi-tool pocket, internal dividers and a water-resistant zip. Enough room for the essentials – tube, tools, CO2 – good build quality and easy carry-and-go portability. DEUTER BAG 1 £15…

FWE T-SHAPE HANDLE HEX/TORX KEY SET £29.99 Evans Cycles’ hardened steel tool set is great value, with 2-8mm hex keys, a T25 Torx, and wall or bench mountable steel stand. In lengths of 140, 200 and 250mm, there’s useful reach, ball ends on the five largest keys, plus ergonomic hard rubber handles. They’re a snug PEDRO’S MASTER SET £144.99 The woven nylon hanging pouch holds seven hex keys from 2-8mm and T10, T25 and T30 Torx keys. Each 6150 steel alloy tool has three identical hardened tips, with three-position, non-captive, sliding T-handles for great versatility. Ranging from 125-250mm long for great reach and leverage, they’re superb to use, but the pouch can be fiddly. BIRZMAN T-BAR SET & STAND £59.99 These satin chrome-finished chromoly tools include ball-ended hex keys from…

SOCKGUY ARCTIC WOOLIGAN £13.95 Made from ‘Turbowool’ – a 50/50 mix of wool and polypropylene – nylon and spandex these have thicker material in the foot section, lighter-weight cuffs and perform excellently. They’re warm, the wicking is excellent and after a whole day in them, they’re pleasingly fresh, which suggests they’ll be good for autumn and spring too. DEFEET WOOLIE BOOLIE £17.99 DeFeet’s merino, nylon and Lycra Woolie Boolies are our go-to winter socks for whiff-free wicking warmth, and they last for ever. The bulkiest pair here are also the warmest, but you can wear them pretty much all-year round. Their warmth comes from air trapped in the fibre, though their thickness may make them a tight fit in some shoes. NORTHWAVE EXTREME These tall, well-priced socks have a fleecy…