Pick ’n’ Mix
Kit to help engage your hidden motor Words JAMES SPENDER Photography ADAM LANGDON
1 CINELLI COTTON CAP
£15.99, chickencyclekit.com They say you can’t hear a pterodactyl in the toilet because the p is silent, but that a Cinelli cotton cap is so loud you can hear it in a vacuum. Designed in collaboration with notable artists, designers and riders from across the globe, these classic madein-italy casquettes will be sure to turn a few heads from atop yours.
2 MUC OFF NTC NANOTUBE CHAIN
£109, muc-off.com One day Nanotube will be a website featuring clips of tiny grandmas getting into hilarious knitting accidents, but until then it remains the secret micro-particle lubricant that helped propel Wiggo to the Hour record in 2015. Here it’s been applied to a stripped and recoated Dura-ace chain, which Muc-off promises offers up to a 10 watt saving across a range of conditions, and is good for 400km between re-applications.
3 APPLE WATCH 3
From £329, apple.com Want to shed a few grams? The Apple Watch can help as it can handle calls based on your existing contract so you can leave your phone at home. The feature list is mind-boggling, but highlights include the ability to run apps such as Strava, a barometric altimeter, increased heart rate accuracy and the opportunity to behave like Captain James T Kirk. Beam me up, Siri.
4 WHEELS MFG ROAD HUBS
$620 (approx £470), madison.co.uk On the inside of a rainbow’s curve the violet light is travelling the shortest distance, and on the outside the red light is travelling the furthest. Since it all ends at the same point (by the pot of gold), and speed equals distance over time, red is scientifically the fastest colour. Which is just one of the reasons why Wheels Mfg’s new hubs, with wider stance bearings and redesigned, stiffer flanges, are just so damn quick. £29.99, alwaysriding.co.uk Freddie Mercury’s famous scat-style singing in the Queen/ David Bowie collaboration ‘Under Pressure’ was allegedly down to the fact that Mercury had failed to write his half of the lyrics. Portland Design Works, however, is an outfit that doesn’t leave things to chance, hence its high-pressure CO2 cartridge inflator has an inline pressure gauge and handy plastic cover to stop the cylinder freezing your hands on discharge.