PRO's lightest road handlebar, Fizik's new mid

Plus the week's best news, reviews and advice

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By Jack Evans

Published: July 14, 2023 at 7:00 am

As reliably as Mathieu van der Poel has led out green jersey-wearer Jasper Philipsen to sprint victories, we have covered Tour de France tech trends and much more at BikeRadar this week.

On Monday, Factor officially launched the O2 VAM, its latest aero-optimised climbing bike. Both the Endura Hummvee Shorts and the Kast Utopia Y aero helmet scored highly in reviews.

The Alé Strada and Castelli Competizione were among the few bib shorts to gain the approval of technical writer Oscar Huckle’s discerning bottom.

Oscar’s Bike of the Week was the Fezzari La Sal Peak. The enduro mountain bike will be Nick Clark’s long-term review.

We also published a guide to enduro racing, but the front-page mountain story of the week was the arrival of SRAM GX Eagle Transmission. The mountain bike groupset makes direct-mount technology more affordable.

If you’re off on a two-wheeled adventure this summer, our bikepacking bags guide will explain how to carry your belongings. Brush up on how to treat road rash before you go in case you do crash.

Now it’s time to run through the best new gear to appear at the BikeRadar office this week.

The Fizik Vento Omna steps into the place left by the discontinued R5 Overcurve in the brand’s range of road cycling shoes.

Fizik says the Vento Omna can fill these big shoes thanks to its low weight, comfort and ventilation.

The Vento Omna has an identical composite sole to the Fizik Artica R5. On the brand’s shoe stiffness scale, it’s rated 6/10 compared to the 10/10 score of the full-carbon Vento Infinito Carbon 2.

Launched at the Cycle Show in May, the £169.99/$169.99 Vento Omna inherits tech from its more expensive counterparts. The single, unidirectional Boa dial trickles down from the Infinto range and the Fizik Tempo Decos Carbon.

The Vento Omna’s fit is claimed to be more spacious than the R5 Overcurve. The new shoe comes in EU size 36 to 48 (and half sizes from 37 to 47).

Available colours are black, white, navy, gunmetal, red, and cherry (as pictured).

CeramicSpeed’s expanded chain lube range now includes the UFO Drip Wet Conditions and UFO Drip Indoor, for wet weather and indoor cycling respectively.

The UFO product line debuted in 2017 when CeramicSpeed purchased Friction Facts. CeramicSpeed has rebranded its first UFO product, UFO Drip Chain Coating, as UFO Drip All Conditions.

CeramicSpeed has also launched the UFO Bike Wash, which it claims is environmentally friendly and safe to use on all bike components. A 500ml bottle costs $24/€22.

All three UFO chain lubes are sold in 100ml bottles (down from 180ml for UFO Drip All Conditions) for $24/€22.

Although I don’t wax my chains, I appreciate the low maintenance and smooth running that wax-based chain lubes, such as Squirt and Smoove, afford. It’s a different story in the wet, though.

So, I’ll be intrigued to find out whether the UFO Drip Wet Conditions lube stays on longer during grimy winter commutes and cyclocross racing, as CeramicSpeed claims.

The UFO Drip Indoor might appeal to riders whose smart trainer sits on a carpet in their indoor training space.

CeramicSpeed says its indoor-specific chain lube will not cause your drivetrain to drop flakes of wax.

As we reported in September, PRO says the Vibe Superlight Handlebar is the lightest road bike handlebar it has made.

We’ve weighed the 40cm-wide bar at 157g. 38cm and 42cm options are available too.

Paired with the 110cm Vibe Superlight Stem, which weighs 112g on the BikeRadar scales, this makes for a svelte cockpit.

It’s tempting to fit the PRO Vibe Superlight Handlebar and Stem to my Canyon Ultimate CF SLX ahead of the hill climb season.

But the stock Canyon H36 Aerocockpit gives away little in weight. Its flat rather than round shape is probably better suited to the demands of this year’s UK National Hill Climb Championships course. The Struggle, in the Lake District, is a long climb with several speedy sections.

As a result, the PRO Vibe Superlight Handlebar and Stem are destined for my Fairlight Strael 3.0. It’s light for a steel road bike, but the slimline cockpit will partially counteract multiple weight-adding metallic additions, like the Portland Designs Works Full Metal Fenders.

The narrower handlebar will also help my windbreak physique into a more aerodynamic riding position on my audax attacker.

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The Dynaplug Racer Pro tubeless repair kit can hold four plugs, which is twice as many as the Racer model it replaces, according to the brand.

Dynaplug claims the stainless steel and aluminium Racer Pro weighs 26g, just 2g more than the previous generation.

Weight is not of paramount importance in gravel racing. But, as Rob Weaver learnt from riding Dirty Reiver, you do need to carry a lot of spares, so it helps if they’re not too cumbersome.

Dynaplug says snap-on caps keep dirt off the plugs. The standard plug is for typically sized tubeless punctures. The Megaplug can staunch larger perforations in your gravel bike tyres, according to the brand.

BikeRadar and CyclingPlus contributor James Witts has penned a new book about how he mimicked professional training methods to prepare for last year’s Étape du Tour.

The gran fondo follows the route of the hardest Tour de France stage that year. As Witts explained on a recent episode of the BikeRadar podcast, he ascended iconic climbs, such as the Galibier, and accumulated more than 4,000m of elevation.

The self-confessed everyman replicates Team Ineos-Grenadiers’ and Tadej Pogačar’s altitude training camps and nutrition strategies. The goal is to stave off middle-aged malaise and conquer one of Europe’s toughest one-day rides.

Things don’t always go to plan, including on the eve of the Étape itself, but that ensures Witts’ book entertains and informs.

Digital Writer

Jack Evans is a digital writer for BikeRadar.com Jack learnt to ride on rough Cotswold trails before switching to tarmac in his teens. Gravel riding and cyclocross racing (badly) has since taken him back to his roots. Most at home scaling south Wales climbs, Jack more commonly escapes his home in Birmingham via the lanes and bridleways of Worcestershire, riding either his Canyon Ultimate road bike or Canyon Grail gravel bike. He wishes he was as good at riding as he is drinking espresso. But he has completed the 296km Dragon Devil sportive in under 10 hours and finished in the top 100 at the 2022 UK National Hill Climb Championships. Jack is an NCTJ-trained journalist and a former press agency hack with bylines in The Times, Daily Telegraph and Daily Mirror. He was once electrocuted for a Sun frontpage exclusive and taste-tested camel milk for The Times.

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