New pedals from FUNN and NEW MUGS!!!!

Yep, it’s your weekly sneak peak through the portcullis of castle MBR to drool at the exciting new products that have been catapulted over the ramparts.

After the delicate chaos of Black Friday we thought we’d tone it down a bit with Arrivals this week. But there’s still plenty of cool kit coming through the doors, especially loads of ‘stocking filler’ type stuff.

For those of you who can’t wait until the reviews come out in the magazine or go up online, here’s another in our new series of pre-emptive peeks into recent test product arrivals.

Here’s last week’s Arrivals for those who missed it.

Funn Ripper pedals

Price: £100.00

From: FUNN

A new double sided clipless pedal from the company that brought you the plus-sized Mamba pedals. The big difference here is the articulated clip mechanism allowing for easier clipping in. There has been a swathe of new pedals using this style (looks like a patent was relaxed somewhere) and Funn are the latest to jump on board. The Ripper features independent tension adjustment and removable traction hardwear – that’s pins to you and I. Like most of Funn’s range they are available in multiple colour options if you want the full matchy matchy.

funn ripper

Granite Design Hex Stand

Price: $79.99

From: Granite Design

This neat, packable bike stand has been designed to use the hollow axle of your BB to support the bike. Hailing from the U.S. of A., the Hex Stand is made of lightweight aluminium tubing but offers a stable base for either propping your bike up at an event or for a bit of general tinkering. It folds down when not in use and fits into a little carry bag so you can take it with you wherever you go. There is a range of colour options and it will fit most brands of hollow axled cranks, with an adapter included for Shimano cranks. Granite Designs ship the Hex stand worldwide from their site.

granite designs hex stand

The stand raises the rear wheel to allow fettling of gears and other bits.

Granite designs hex stand

It uses your hollow BB axle to hold the bike up. Adapters are supplied for Shimano cranks.

And it folds away nicely to carry anywhere. it even comes with a little carry bag.

Morvelo Kuler Jersey

Price: £50.00

From: Morvelo

This is the Kuler long sleeve jersey from the south coast crew at Morvelo. There’s loads of little details such as the eyewear wipe stitched in that make it worthy of attention. The fit is spot on, not too baggy so great for riding the trails without looking like you’ve lost your MX bike. Photos don’t do the colour justice, but it’s a really nice green! You can get it in black/white or black/blue if you prefer.

morvelo kuler

Morvelo RAD shorts

Price: £70.00

From: Morvelo

RAD by name… actually in this case it stands for Rise And Descend. As that name implies, this is a short to do it all. Yes, the weather might be a tad parky at the momement but loads of us are still wearing shorts to minimise the risk of overheating (not very likely!) The RAD short is relatively lightweight, so is pretty comfy, but Morvelo also treat it with a water repellent coating so it should protect the nether regions from those nasty cold puddles. Zipped pockets and a soft, adjustable waistband.

morvelo rad

Morvelo Roots T-shirt

Price: £25.00

From: Morvelo

Just in case you weren’t sure what old time MTBers looked like. Now you can see one every time you look in the mirror (and not just because you’re getting old!). 100% cotton t-shirt with hand printed graphic and a little embroidered tag on the sleeve. Is it too early to say potential Christmas prezzie?

morvelo roots

Morvelo Fork 3 Season sock

Price: £10.00

From: Morvelo

The sort of socks you’d be happy to receive on Christmas morning! As the name implies, these Fork socks are longer and thicker to make them warmer and more protective when on the bike (or in the office). They’ve got an 8″ cuff and are made from SkinLife and Coolmax yarns.

morvelo fork

24 Christmas gift ideas for mountain bikers

Dakine Descent Duffle

Price: £75.00

From: Dakine

We’re already thinking about travelling to warmer places to ride. The Dakine Descent bag is an ideal size to stuff all of your riding gear for a few days in the sun. Separate pockets keep clean and stinky stuff separate or riding and non-riding kit. There’s even a pocket for your holiday literature.

dakine duffle

Dakine Goggle Stash

Price: £18.00

From: Dakine

Much better than relying on just the cleaning bag to keep your goggles protected. The Goggle Stash has separate slots for spare lenses as well as a mesh vented section to help them dry out. It doesn’t take up much more space than the goggles themselves so should be high on the wishlist for all goggle users.

dakine goggle stash

Syncros Matchbox Tailor Cage

Price: £59.99

From: Scott

When is a bottle cage not just a bottle cage? When it’s Syncros’ Matchbox Tailor Cage. This handy side-loading bottle cage not only comes with a neat pump attachment and high volume pump but further surprises. Pull out the pump bracket and out slides a hidden compartment complete with multitool and separate chain tool. In fact the Matchbox holds pretty much all you need to undertake most trailside repairs. And when you factor in the prices for all these parts individually, the Matchbox actually seems good value for money.

syncros matchbox tailor cage

The Matchbox isn’t an ordinary bottle cage.

It packs in every tool and accessory your bike could want.

Syncros XR 1.5 Saddle

Price: £85.99

From: Scott

Arriving to late to be included in next issue’s saddle test, the XR 1.5 is one of Syncros MTB line-up saddles. It comes in two widths to suits many different riders and the 1.5 has titanium rails for added comfort and weight reduction.

syncros xr 1.5

Syncros XR Garmin mount

Price: £24.99

From: Scott

If you ride a Scott bike chances it might have come equipped with a Syncros XR stem. While it’s a properly robust and light stem it’s slightly odd shape makes it incompatible with any topcap based computer mounts. Until now that is. This is the new Syncros mount designed to fit flush with the stem to keep everything as integrated as possible.

Your most stupid Strava segment names

syncros xr mount

Syncros WP550 saddle bag

Price: £17.99

From: Scott

Some of us still use saddle bags to keep those boring items such as multitools on the bike at all times. One of the issues with a normal saddle bag is they get wet. This often results in rusty tools, which is not a good thing. The WP550 is fully waterproof and has a clever ‘zip’ that is more like those plastic freezer bags than a normal zip = almost fully waterproof and no more rusty tools. This one will fit a MTB tube.

syncros wp550

SRAM Mug

Price: Priceless!

From: SRAM

Alex from SRAM popped by the office yesterday to show us some exciting new products. We won’t be able to tell you about those until January but what we can show you are our new SRAM mugs. Made from the finest enamelled metals they are ideal for burning our lips on the finest Nescafe MBR can afford. For those that might be worried about new standards and technology, don’t panic, they still work without batteries and you don’t need an App to make the tea.

And there you have it. Only one more Arrivals before Santa so we better make it a good one!