Suplest Edge+ Performance shoes
€249 (approx £213), suplest.com
Unsurprisingly from a brand that cites ‘Swissness’ as one of its three guiding principles, these off-road shoes from Suplest are all about exacting performance.
Designed for aggressive off-road riding, the Crosscountry Performance’s carbon composite outsole has been made in collaboration with Suptraction, a Swiss rubber outsole specialist, to create a stiff platform that also has plenty of grip when you’re unclipped.
At the top of the shoe, the foot is held snugly in place by the Anatomic Wrap closure system that aims to adapt to any foot shape, while an extra layer of carbon in the upper works to evenly spread the pressure across the top of the foot. It’s finished off with a Boa dial for an adaptable fit that can be altered on the go.
On the inside, the shoe is shaped around Suplest’s ‘competition’ last, which aims to maximise power transfer without affecting comfort, and can supposedly reduce the risk of injury – unless, of course, you ride headlong into a tree.
£1,645, sram.com
Zipp says a number of its road wheels
– the 303 Firecrest, for example – can tackle gravel just fine, but it has taken until now for the Indianapolis-based brand to release a dedicated wheel for the rough stuff. The 101 XPLR wheels plug that gap and use technology borrowed from Zipp’s 3Zero Moto mountain bike wheels in an attempt to meet the specific needs of gravel racers.
The wheels’ design is hinged around the rim’s single-wall construction, which means there is no cavity as found in a box-section rim. Zipp says this allows the rim to twist from side to side under off-centre impacts, a feature it dubs ‘ankle compliance’. This movement absorbs some of the energy from any skewed contact between wheel and terrain, leading to improved comfort, better traction and a reduced risk of pinch flats. Inspiration for the single-wall construction comes from motocross, where the concept is widely used.
Somewhat counter-intuitively, the 101 XPLR rims aren’t as light as you might expect despite the shallow, single-wall construction, coming in at a claimed 1,665g for the pair (700c version). Nonetheless, Zipp insists the increased compliance still makes for the fastest wheelset over rough terrain.