Ridley 2016 bikes

Flandrian brand Ridley sponsor UCI WorldTour outfit Lotto-Soudal, and their pro-tested bikes are eye-catching to say the least.

The Fenix SL, the brand’s all-rounder, earned a spot in this year’s RCUK 100 but that is just one string to the Belgian brand’s bow, with the Noah SL built for sprinters like Andre Greipel and the Helium SL the bike of choice for the climbers.

Of those, the Fenix SL is the newest addition, having being tested at the Spring Classics by Lotto-Soudal’s pros and then officially launched in the summer.

A marriage of the Helium SL’s super-light back-end and the aero profile of the Noah SL’s front end, the bike is built for endurance, but without too big a concession when it comes to weight or speed.

Fenix SL

Four Fenix SL models are available, starting with the Shimano 105-equipped £1,799.99 Fenix SL 50 Disc. The Ridley Fenix SL 30 (£2,099.99) was the bike featured in the RCUK 100, and comes with Shimano Ultegra, while the Fenix SL 20 is Shimano Ultegra Di2 and the price goes up to £3,199.99.

The range is topped by the Ridley Fenix SL 10, costing £4,999.99 and dressed in Shimano Dura-Ace, but Lotto-Soudal are sponsored by Campagnolo meaning their bike of choice will better resemble the Super Record EPS-equipped model, complete with Campag’s Bora Ultra wheelset, on show in Milton Keynes.

Women, ‘cross and custom colours

Ridley’s 2016 range also includes the women’s specific Ridley Liz Carbon, featuring a geometry optimised for women thanks to a shorter reach and lower stand-over height.

New for this year, meanwhile, is the X-Night bike which the brand – who have their roots in cyclo-cross – market as their machine for the discipline.

Ridley, as it happens, actually have every base covered with the Ridley Arena for track cycling and Ridley Dean Fast built for time-trialling also in the line-up.

Also catching the eye in Milton Keynes, meanwhile, was the brand’s Customizer project – think Trek Project One – and the two examples on show at iceBike.

“Ride Your Dream” is the brand’s tagline, and you can choose a whole host of colours – simply select them online and hand your choices to your Ridley dealer.

To showcase the Customizer, Ridley put the burnt-orange Fenix on display, while their Belgian champion colourscheme on the Helium also turned plenty of heads.

Ridley’s Dreambuilder means you can swap out components and groupsets too – handy if the Campag-equipped Fenix SL above has taken your fancy.

Saracen Avro

Saracen are better known for making bikes built to go downhill fast, or thrash through the woods if you prefer, but their Avro road bike range has grown for 2016.

Following a clear brief of a UD Carbon chassis weighing roughly 1,100g and cross-over tech from mountain biking like bolt thru axles and disc brakes, the end product – Saracen claim – is a light, fast, responsive road bike with ‘unparalleled braking and pin-point accurate control’.

Two bikes make up the range, with the Avro 01 at the lower-end of the scale with Shimano’s Tiagra 4700 groupset and a price tag a penny under £1,700.

Trickle-down tech means Tiagra is a great groupset in its own right now though, and Saracen have also kept costs down by keeping their cockpit components in-house.

Built around a custom unidrectional Toray carbon frame – complete with mudguard eyelets and boasting Di2 ready ports – the bike also boasts a full carbon fork with tapered steerer.

Saracen’s alloy handlebar, wrapped in their own-brand suede tape, and clamped by their 6061 stem make up the cockpit, while the brand also supply their own alloy seatpost and custom road saddle.

Alex alloy rim wheels and Maxxis Re-Fuse 28c tyres complete the off-the-peg build – though generous tyre clearance means you can opt for something even wider if you desired.

The Avro 02, meanwhile, adds £400 to the pricetag but for that you get Shimano’s 105 groupset and RS785 hydraulic disc brakes.

Garmin Varia

American tech giants Garmin had a busy 2015, launching four new GPS bike computers in all – the Edge Explore 1000, Edge 520, Edge 25 and Edge 20 – and the Vector 2S power pedal.

And they are showing no signs of slowing, with their Varia smart tech set to hit the shelves next month, including radar-equipped rear lights and smart glasses.

The new Varia range is built to help make the road a safer riding environment for cyclists and is packed with neat technological features to aid your riding and boost safety.

Take the Rearview Radar, for example, which can warn of vehicles approaching up to 140 metres behind and displays the infomation on either a dedicated head unit or compatible computers (so far, the Edge Explore 1000 and Edge 520).

Varia Smart bike lights, meanwhile, can adjust automatically to changing speed when paired with a compatable device and adjust their levels accordingly.

If you are riding faster, the front light will beam higher – lighting the road further in front of you – while if you are going slower it focuses the beam nearer to the bike.

At the back, the rear light increases its brightness as you slow down to warn vehicles behind you and both will also adjust to changing light conditions when paired with an Edge device boasting an ambient light sensor.

And that’s not all – fit two rear lights, one on each chainstay, and the headset remote and they will also act as indicators – smart, eh?

Finally, Garmin have launched their own lighter, less compact rival to the Recon Jet sunglasses.

Varia Vision In-sight Display attaches to your sunglasses and displays relevant information when paired with a compatible device – the idea being it keeps your eyes more on the road.

All are due to hit the shelves soon.

Madison

Madison do not just distribute other brands’ products, of course, but also boast their own in-house clothing range.

And they also now produce their own helmets as a budget alternative to riders looking for something a little more affordable than Lazer’s top-end offerings.

First up, though, their apparel, and iceBike allowed the hosts plenty of opportunity to showcase their new and upcoming kit.

We’re not going to feature every little bit of kit, but here’s a little taster of what’s on offer – starting with this long-sleeve jersey and gilet, pictured above.

Part of the expanded Road Race Light range in the new spring-summer 2016 collection, we’re hoping the weather will mean these are more for the shoulder seasons than the heights of summer but, this being Britain, these could become a very handy bit of kit.

Designed with input from the Madison-Genesis pro team, the jersey boasts the standard three rear pockets and zipped pockets and is designed to keep you cool thanks to bonded seams and wide cuffs.

The gilet, meanwhile, is built for breathability with panels on the back designed to enhance exactly that.

Looking even further ahead, Madison look set to expand their excellent waterproof jacket range, with a few Autumn-Winter 2016 items on display too.

As affordable winter jackets go, Madison have a wide range of great waterproof, warm options.

On to the new helmets, anyway, and the road range is nothing exciting – but then, that’s the exact point of it.

Madison already distribute for Lazer, and so the new helmets are not designed to go toe-to-toe with the likes of the Z1 and Blade but rather offer an entry-level alternative.

Think of them as the head protecting accompaniment to the Madison Sportive Starter Pack jersey and bib shorts and you’ll be on the right lines.

Pearl Izumi

Pearl Izumi’s new Pro Leader III road cycling shoes were the pick of the wares on display at their stand.

The brand say they are aimed at competitive riders looking for maximum response, and they feature a 3D printed, seamless 0.9mm Second Skin Upper.

A dual BOA closing system (or in other words, there are two BOA dials) ensure a great, micro-adjustable fit and that sits atop a 1:1 Integrated Power Plate – or full carbon plate in layman’s terms.

They weight in at 235g for the pair (European size 43) and will set you back a penny under £250.

And if the eye-catching red colour here is not your thing, these also come in black.

Genesis bikes

We brought you the best bits of Genesis’ 2016 range back in the summer, and the response to the new bikes, say Madison, has been incredible.

Having expanded their carbon road bike range with the launch of the Datum, to join the Zero used by Madison-Genesis, Genesis’ decision to start working with the black stuff instead of their traditional steel has clearly paid off.

And it’s easy to see why too – crafted from a combination of 30T/24T carbon fibre, Genesis call the Datum their ‘large-tyred, ruffty-tuffty carbon road disc bike’.

It’s a balance, therefore, between comfort, reliability and endurance and features three models in the debut range alongside a frameset only option for £999.99.

The Datum 30, in its fetching white ‘oyster’ colour and eye-catching decals, is dressed in full Shimano Ultegra Di2 and comes with Fulcrum Racing Sport DB CX wheels wrapped in 30mm Challenge Strada Bianca tyres. Yours for £3,199.99.

Other options in the range are the Datum 20, with Shimano 105, for £2,099.99 and the Tiagra-equipped Datum 10 for £1,799.99.

For more information on Genesis’ 2016 range check out our detailed launch article or check out the gallery below too see more of the steel Equilibrium Disc range, the Zero (and Madison-Genesis’ Zero Team) range and their dedicated ‘cross bikes, the Croix de Fer.

DT Swiss wheels

We featured the new DT Swiss RC28 Spline C Mon Chasseral wheelset in the RCUK100 but that’s just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what’s on offer from the brand this year.

Boasting 28mm rims, the Mon Chasseral wheelset has also been given an entirely new resin compound which, all told, delivers improved braking.

All of DT Swiss’ wheels for 2016 are tubeless ready and a tubular version will soon be added to the clincher version pictured here. The wheels start at a penny under £2,000.

DT Swiss also make their own hubs and spokes, with the Mon Chasseral wheels built around a Spline 180 hub with 20 straight pull spokes at the front and 24 radial spokes at the rear.

Elsewhere in the 2016 range, the road cycling wheels can essentially be split into two categories – Spline and DiCut.

The RRC 65 DiCut was developed in conjunction with IAM Cycling and put through the wind tunnel to ensure ‘perfect aerodynamics, good performance in crosswinds and top-quality braking performance’. The 1585g pair start at £1,799.99.

If that’s a little more than you like to shell out on a set of hoops, at the other end of the DT Swiss DiCut range are the RR21 DiCut (£649.99 a pair).

The aluminium wheels weigh in at just 1,415g for the pair with DT Swiss priding themselves on the stiffness-to-weight ratio the wide, asymmetric rims offer.

If aluminium’s your thing, but you prefer the Spline hubs, the £224.99 R 24 Spline will be more up your street.

Built as the brand’s premium training wheels, the bladed spokes and alloy nipples are combined with another brand new, super stiff, aluminium rim and weigh in at 1,725g for the pair.

See also: Ian Stannard’s Team Sky Pinarello Dogma F8 at iceBike* 2016