Cyclist
In the Drops: Silca luggage, posh Finish Line lubricant, Hutchinson’s racy new tyres and The Gentlemen
Fridays are always good, but this one is officially Good. Why? Because we’re publishing another edition of In the Drops, of course.
This week we continued with the onslaught of thermal bibshort reviews, publishing tests of Pas Normal Studios’ Mechanism Deep Winter Thermal, Sportful’s Fiandre NoRain Pro Thermal, Le Col’s Pro Thermal II, Endura’s FS260 Pro Thermo and Café du Cycliste’s Cecile Thermal models. Anyone would think we were trying to put together a comprehensive thermal bib shorts buyer’s guide. Oh, wait a minute…
Pro-wise, as the spring races continue apace, we appraised the potential of this year’s Dwars door Vlaanderen, produced a guide on the Tour of Flanders and looked at what it’s like to be a WorldTour soigneur too.
Several juicy features went onto our Rides hub too, but those are for subscribers’ eyes only, so I’ll leave the veil of mystery down for our lucky members to throw back themselves. If that sounds interesting, be sure to head over and sign up.
As ever, more fresh products arrived with the Cyclist team too, so here are a few of the highlights.
Hutchinson Blackbird tyres
Hutchinson has jumped back into the mix at the pointy end of road riding with its new Blackbird tyres. The French brand says that thanks to a new tread compound and casing design, the Blackbirds roll 10% faster than the Fusion 5s and last for up to 4,000km, which would make them pretty durable for a racy tyre.
The key thing in that suppleness, so says Hutchinson, is the Blackbird’s ‘SwiftEasy’ casing structure, whereby the carcass is bonded directly to the puncture belt under the tread, rather than the layers overlapping. This is claimed to make the structure more pliable, and the tyres do feel pretty supple when given a wiggle in hand, so there’s reason to believe this’ll be the same on the road, too.
The Blackbird’s Mach 3 rubber compound is said to be tougher than the 11Storm recipe used on the Fusion 5 tyres, and is also wider so it can offer more surface area (and therefore grip) with wide modern rims.
The Blackbirds are offered in 26, 28, 30mm widths and come in both tubeless and tube-type flavours, though sadly the 30mm size only comes in black. The tubeless 28mm version is damned competitive on the scales though, clocking in at 270g per tyre.
- Buy the Hutchinson Blackbird tyres from windwave.co.uk (£61.99)
Finish Line Halo Wax lubricant
Finish Line is the latest brand to get involved with the technique of immersion chain waxing. Those in the know have been doing it for years but it has been gaining in mainstream popularity recently. Is it widely accepted the immersion waxing reduces drivetrain friction and wear to extents that traditional lubes can’t match.
There will always be a tranche of riders who can’t be doing with the fuss of it though, myself included. We recognise and desire the benefits of immersion waxing, but are lazy. Therefore, we want way to get many of the benefits without the hassle. Enter slack/drip/emulsion waxes, which purport to provide many of the benefits but are applied in a quicker, more conventional way.
Finish Line claims its Halo Wax lube uses three ingredients to provide immersion-esque performance, which are shared with its new Hot Wax full-fat immersion product. Paraffin is used as the base, with spherical tungsten and ceramic boron nitride platelets added in to further reduce friction and wear. Finish Line does provide a more scientific explanation as to how those modifiers go about their business, but I’d be lying if I said I understood it properly. Posh additives are all very well, but my favourite part of the Halo product is its natty application head, as it promises to make application even easier than normal.
- Buy the Finish Line Halo Wax lubricant from freewheel.co.uk (£29.99)
Silca Grinta bikepacking bags
Silca’s new Grinta models are the brand’s first foray into proper luggage. Comprising a 2 litre bar bag and 2-5 litre roll-top seat pack, they take inspiration from the brand’s Mattone saddlebags. That is evident in the seat pack’s closure mechanism, which uses a pair of Boa dials to secure the bag sturdily to the seat post and saddle rials – there shouldn’t be much bag wag to be found here, even when riding out of the saddle.
The bar bag gets a YKK Aquaguard zip and both bags are constructed from a recycled PET fabric that has been welded at the seams, so Silca says they are fully waterproof. Handily, the seat pack has an air release valve to stop the bag from puffing up when its roll-top is secured.
The barrel bar bag is larger than many competitors but thanks to its structured shape, still sits fairly neatly between the bars, and the rider should be able to use its stackable foam tokens to create a snug fit on most bar shapes.
- Buy the Silca Grinta Handlebar bag from saddleback.co.uk (£109)
- Buy the Silca Grinta Roll-top Adenture saddlebag from saddleback.co.uk (£179)
What we’re into this week: ‘The Gentlemen’
Guy Ritchie classics such as ‘Snatch’ and ‘Lock, Stock…’ were some of my favourite films growing up, so I’ll always have a soft spot for his distinctive editing style.
‘The Gentlemen’ is a rare TV series from the director now streaming on Netflix and has proved an entertaining watch for fans of Ritchie’s work.
It contains all the man’s hallmarks: darkly funny themes surrounding gangsters, drugs and violence, performed by a charismatic cast.
With the plot played out over eight hour-ish long episodes rather than one feature length film, the pace isn’t quite as frenetic and choppy as Ritchie’s movies but that’s no bad thing, as it affords the storyline greater depth and variety. It’s definitely worth a watch.
The post In the Drops: Silca luggage, posh Finish Line lubricant, Hutchinson’s racy new tyres and The Gentlemen appeared first on Cyclist.