Pick ’n’ Mix
A smorgasbord of summer sizzlers
1 PIRELLI P ZERO SMARTUBE £27.99, velo.pirelli.com
According to tyrepress.com, Pirelli sits seventh in the table of global tyre manufacturers, with Michelin top. In terms of volume, mind, Lego eclipses them all, making 320 million tyres a year. All that might change now Pirelli has the ‘world’s lightest inner tube’ with its thermoplastic Smartube, which at 35g is little heavier than a toy tyre. It’s also 50% smaller than a butyl tube when rolled up, and it’s yellow.
2 SYNCROS WRENCH 2.0 TORQUE €69.95, syncros.com
The reason returning Swedish battleships have barcodes is so they can Scandinavian. And the reason bolts on bikes have torque values is because carbon parts and clamps can be sensitive beasts. So treat yours right with this precision torque wrench set from Syncros, which includes a 1/ 4 in driver and all the necessary bikey bits.
3 TRU-TENSION CLEANING PRODUCTS From £5, tru-tension.co.uk
In a court case in 1911, Anjou vs Boston Elevated Railway Company, plaintiff Helen Anjou sued Boston Rail for having come a cropper on a banana peel on a platform. The court ruled Boston Rail had been negligent in not removing the skin, proving once and for all that a human can slip on a banana skin. And the relevance? All Weather lube is so slippery it’s called ‘Bananaslip’. Prizes for guessing what Muck Monkey does? Yep, it’s Tru-tension’s chain scrubber, and it’s £9.99.
4 MASTER LOCK STREET CUFF £94.99, masterlock.eu
A thousand quid for a limo with no driver? That’s a lot to spend with nothing to chaffeur it. And £95 on a lock? It’s a heap of cash but less than replacing your bike. Plus it’s Sold Secure Silver rated, 55cm long and great if you want to look like a G4S man next time you walk around your bank with a briefcase.
5 AMUNRA PURE PERFORMANCE COFFEE £17.99, amunrauk.com
To quote Jennifer Aniston, ‘Here comes the science.’ Caffeine can boost performance; polyphenols can boost recovery; both naturally occur in coffee (no wonder cyclists like it) so Amunra has developed a blend with Sheffield Hallam University that it claims boasts the perfect amount of both, every cup. That’s 180mg caffeine, 160mg polyphenols, since you ask.