This week has seen the announcement of new products from the likes of Ritchey and cool new finishes from Moots and Wolf Tooth, but the big news here at road.cc HQ is that we’ve managed to get our grubby hands on Shimano’s new 105 Di2 R7100 groupset…
Shimano 105 Di2 review is on the way
The brand new Shimano 105 Di2 R7100 groupset has arrived at road.cc courtesy of British bike brands Orro and Moda, meaning you’ll be able to read a full review very soon.
It’s a month since Shimano announced details of its new 105 groupset: 12-speed, Di2 (electronic shifting), and disc brake only. The trouble is that supply within the bike industry is hugely challenging at the moment, especially as far as Shimano is concerned.
New Shimano 105 R7100 groupset goes 12-speed, Di2 and disc brake only
Step forward Orro and Moda. Each of these brands already has stock of Shimano 105 Di2 so you can buy their bikes built up with the new groupset right now.
Handily for us, they’ve both lent us bikes that arrived this week, so we’ve got our man Stu on one and Dave on the other getting ready to report back with their findings.
The Orro bike we have is the Terra C 105 Di2 priced at £2,999.99.
The Terra C is a hugely versatile gravel bike that can be used as an all-round road/rough road bike, depending on the gearing and the tyres, and we loved it in a Shimano GRX800 build early last year. As well as the 105 Di2 groupset – with a 50-34T compact chainset and 11-34T 12-speed cassette – our new review bike is built up with Fulcrum Rapid Red 900 wheels and 40mm Continental Terra Trail tyres.
The Moda we have is a Finale – a bike that’s very different from the Orro Terra C but a similar price. £2,979, to be exact.
The Finale is an aero road bike with slim, deep tube profiles designed to reduce drag, super-skinny stays, and a new fork. It is fitted with Mavic Ksyrium 30 Disc wheels and Continental Ultra Sport tyres in a 28mm width.
The fact the bikes are so different will allow us to judge Shimano 105 Di2 in diverse situations for a full picture of its capabilities.
In terms of appearance, there’s not a lot to separate 105 from Shimano’s higher level Ultegra components, the longer rear derailleur cage – designed to work with sprocket sizes up to 36T – being perhaps the most obvious difference.
Stay tuned to road.cc over the next few weeks for our full review.
Ritchey introduces WCS Zeta GX gravel wheelset
Ritchey has released a new Zeta GX wheelset for gravel and adventure riding.
Based on Ritchey’s existing Zeta wheels, these use 6066 aluminium alloy tubeless-ready rims with tubeless tape applied. The inner rim width is a generous 25mm, with a suggested tyre size range of 30-50mm.
Check out our review of the Ritchey Classic Zeta wheelset
The new WCS thru-axle hubs feature sealed bearings and Centerlock rotor mounts, while the freehub is a star ratchet design with 36-point engagement – so it’ll engage at 10° when you start to pedal. All the usual Shimano, SRAM and Campagnolo freehubs are available, and the wheels come in 100/142mm and Boost spacings.
You get DT Competition double-butted (2.0mm/1.8mm) spokes – 28 front and rear – that are designed to provide plenty of strength.
Ritchey says, “Designed for durability and to perform in rough and rugged conditions in remote locations or close to home, the WCS Zeta GX wheels are built to be strong, dependable, and ready to rip, carve, and cruise through all of your gravel adventures – and reliable enough to make sure you can do it all again tomorrow.”
Ritchey claims a 1,840g weight for the 700C wheelset and 1,740g for the 650B version.
The Ritchey WCS GX gravel wheelset is priced at £506.90.
Fend Super foldable helmet SMASHES Kickstarter target
A foldable bike helmet that’s equipped with lights has currently achieved 1320% of its target on crowdfunding site Kickstarter with a fortnight still to run.
The Fend Super helmet features removable front and rear lights and you can fold the sides inward when you’re not wearing it to halve the amount of space it takes up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_bn5mf_8-g
To be in line to receive a Fend Super helmet, you need to pledge at least $89 (about £73). Pledging money on Kickstarter is not the same as buying through a retailer.
Ribble launches new website and updates custom Bike Builder
Ribble Cycles has redesigned its website with improvements to its popular Bike Builder tool.
Bike builder allows you to select a bike and then customise the spec and choose different colourways for certain components to suit your taste and budget.
Stolen Goat introduces Goat Coins customer rewards scheme
Cycle clothing company Stolen Goat has introduced a new customer rewards scheme called Goat Coins – and we’re fully behind that name.
You can now earn a Goat Coin for every £1 you spend with Stolen Goat which you can put towards your next purchase. 100 Goat Coins are worth £1, so if you buy a Stolen Goat Men’s Grohl Orkaan Hoodie for £100, for example, you can get £1 off another purchase within the next 12 months.
“It’s our way of saying thank you to our community for choosing Stolen Goat and becoming part of our herd,” says Stolen Goat. “For existing customers, we’ve backdated Goat Coins from 1st January 2020 so anyone who has shopped with us before can find a nice stash of Goat Coins ready waiting for them.”
Moots introduces new Apex finish
US titanium specialist Moots has introduced a new finish called Apex that’s available on all its bikes for $825 (around £680).
“This beautiful bright anodised treatment is carried out in a cool blue hue and gold fade to achieve the look and feel of speed. The seat tube carries the number 81 to denote the year that Moots was founded.”
Moots’ UK distributor is Saddleback.
Wolf Tooth offers new anodised colour option
Another US brand offering a new anodised colour option is Wolf Tooth, the colour in question being a rich brown that it calls espresso.
Wolf Tooth now offers nearly all its aluminium components – including headsets and seatpost clamps – in nine different colour options from red to gold.
Artist and environmental activist Coco Capitán collaborates with Cowboy
London-based artist Coco Capitán has teamed up with Belgian e-bike brand Cowboy for a limited edition T-shirt with all proceeds will go to Cool Earth, a non-profit organisation working to protect the rainforest and fight the climate crisis by supporting indigenous communities.
The T-shirt features Coco’s prose in her signature handwritten style, is made from organic cotton and is GOTS, Fairwear and Oeko-tex certified. It’s priced £40.
In case you missed it earlier in the week…
