Cyclist
In the Drops: A Fly Castelli jacket, jazzy Wera torx keys, Park Tool’s nifty sealant syringe and Limbo
And just like that, it’s the last In the Drops of the 2023. The week between Christmas and New Year is all about getting in some R&R, so we’ve laid on a steady stream of content this week, centring around our 2023 top picks in several product categories, to keep you entertained while you’ve got your feet up. It’s all now up on our homepage, so check back through to learn more about the kit that got our juices flowing this year, plus other fresh features and reviews.
Just like Cyclist’s top-notch output, regardless of the time of year the flow of products through the brand’s door never ceases, so read on to find out more about our top picks from the latest arrivals.
Castelli Fly Thermal jacket
Castelli says its new Fly Thermal jacket offers serious protection against the winter weather, but while it might look bulky, but it weighs a scant 274g thanks to the brand’s new three-layer Fly fabric.
The internal ply is Gore-Tex’s Infinium Windstopper textile, which should put the kibosh on any remaining cold air that has manage to diffuse through the two outer layers. That said, its porous nature still allows the rider’s body heat to escape.
Sitting on top of the Windstopper is a new fabric Castelli dubs Clima SL, which is a 100% recycled insulation that despite being low bulk is high loft. It adds a good degree of warmth to the jacket, but as it isn’t chunky the Fly Thermal still feels like a much lighter jacket to wear.
Facing the elements is a Fly SL outer layer. Castelli says this fabric also fully recycled and is treated with a water repellent coating that should resist light rain and road spray. This means the jacket is good for use on more than just those clear, cold mornings we get every once in a while, coping just as well on the murky, drizzly days we get far more often too.
Wera Tools Torx L-key set
Torx bolts aren’t the cycling world’s favourite fasteners, but a lot of the standard’s issues can be mitigated with a set of high quality Torx keys. In general, these will last longer and fit more snugly into the bolt head, reducing the degree of angular movement between bolt and key and making graunching fasteners less of a risk.
Wera Tools’ 967/9 TX XL Multicolour HF 1 L-key Set might have a horribly convoluted name, but their function is as streamlined as things get: as each size is colour coded, selecting the correct size key for a given bolt is much simpler. And the vibrant sleeves double as insulation from the bare metal, so the keys are comfortable to use in cold conditions.
Wera affords these keys with its ‘BlackLaser’ surface treatment, to reduce corrosion and durability, and the drive tip on the long arm of the key has been designed to wedge itself into the fastener head, meaning fewer dropped bolts when initially starting to install them. The set comes in a tough, tacky plastic holster so they are easy to keep organised.
Park Tool TSI-1 sealant syringe
As tubeless use continues to grow in prevalence on the road, all aspects of the system – from how easy it is to install a tyre to the performance of sealant – keep advancing. It’s no different for the auxiliary tools required to setup and maintain tubeless either. Park Tool’s new TSI-1 tubeless sealant injector is case in point – although syringe solutions are not new (MilKit has offered a good one for several years already) I haven’t come across a more refined design than the TSI-1 for installing sealant.
The syringe delivers sealant through the tubeless valve (once the core has been removed), so the user can inject sealant into the cavity of a tubeless tyre that is already fully seated. Some sealants with larger particles in their formula don’t play nice with syringes, but Park Tool lists plenty of compatible products on its site.
Where other injectors can be a little flimsy, Park Tool’s TSI-1 uses a sturdy plastic and aluminium construction to ensure the tool is robust over the long term. The reservoir can accommodate up to 100cc/3.5fl.oz of sealant, and there’s a measurement guide on the chamber so installing the correct level of sealant for the rider’s tyre size/use case requires no guesswork.
What we’re into the week: Limbo
I’m not talking about the bar-avoiding West Indian dance, but rather what is arguably the weirdest week of the year, of which we are nearing the end (or at least I think we are? I haven’t known what day it is for a while) – that period of time between Christmas and New Year.
As someone fond of a plan, in years past I’ve found these few days to be quite frustrating. With no routine, no rhythm and no rules, looking back on New Years Eve and having no real clue about how I’ve spent the last week often meant it felt like it was time wasted.
This year however I have been trying to embrace this limbo for what it is – a rare chance to do what I want, when I want to do it. When the other 51 weeks of the year have been driven by schedules and schemes, I’ve enjoyed taking the opportunity to slow down. No doubt it will be back to business as usual in 2024, but thanks to my newfound appreciation for number 52, I feel refreshed enough to take it on.
The post In the Drops: A Fly Castelli jacket, jazzy Wera torx keys, Park Tool’s nifty sealant syringe and Limbo appeared first on Cyclist.