Justcyclingstuff

You’ll be familiar with the Jawbreakers if you watch pro cycling, with the likes of Mark Cavendish and Chris Froome being fans. The frames are certainly not subtle and surround the lens in a kind of ski-goggle style. They look the part when you’re on the bike, but you’d be making quite a fashion statement if your wore these in street clothes. The frame colour makes quite a difference to how they look, with the half-black frame I’ve got looking a bit less extreme than the full white version for example. The fit is good, helped by the adjustable arms, but the highlight of these glasses for me is the lens. The Oakley website makes all sorts of claims for the Prizm lens, but the best thing about it for me is the adaptability. It’s good in direct sunlight but also on overcast days. In fact, unless it’s actually  nighttime I think these are good for all situations. The advantage of the big unsubtle frame is you get really good visibility, even if you’re down in the drops. The Ja...

These full-fingered gloves from Rapha have quite a different feel to any other cycling gloves you might try. Slipping them on you feel like you should be getting ready to drive a classic MG rather than ride a bike. They have a great soft feel, the leather palms in particular are beautifuly made and surprisingly supple. The gloves are thinner and more grippy than most full winter gloves, which definitely helps to give a better feel on the bars and better control of the gears and brakes. Despite the thin construction they are warm enough for most UK autumn and winter conditions, and only when the temperature has been around freezing have I wanted something warmer. There’s not a lot of padding in these gloves, just a small pad on the palm. This suits me as I think it gives a better feel. The gloves also have a close, fitted feel which works well without being constricting or making the gloves difficult to take on and off. The workmanship on these gloves is first rate, with detail...

It’s surprisingly difficult to find a really good pair of reasonably priced plain black bib shorts. The Core range is Rapha’s everyday range (I don’t think you could call it basic) and these shorts are a lot cheaper than Rapha’s other offerings, although still at the expensive end when compared with other brands. They are plain black in colour, with a subtle black-on-black Rapha logo on the side. The overall fit is excellent and the shorts have a quality feel despite being from a supposed “budget” range. I’d describe the Lycra as mid-weight: these aren’t the thinnest or thickest shorts I’ve used. The leg grippers and the bib straps are wide and add to the overall feeling of comfort. The chamois also fits well without feeling over or under padded. They have proved hard wearing with  I’ve used these shorts on all-day 100 mile rides with no issues. These shorts are probably my favourite item of cycle clothing, highly recommended.

So there will be those that say if you are sure you have a correctly sized seatpost for your bike and use the correct torque all will be fine, but sometimes you can do all these things and the post still slips, so what else can you do? Friction paste There are lots of different pastes on the market that are like grease but with some particles added to aid grip. These work well and sort out a lot of slipping issues, but it’s worth noting they are not all the same. Two I have tried are the ones from Park Tool and Finish Line. The Finish Line one is a clear gel with small beads in it. It grips well without marking components, although I have found it can lead to creaking. The Park Tool one has a much finer grain to it and I’ve found it grips very tightly, but it is incredibly abrasive and will take the paint finish off your seatpost if you’re not very careful. Additional seat clamp  This is quite a neat solution that you’ll see the pros use in races like Paris Roubaix. It’s...

These days the likes of Mavic produce some really good wheels that do everything a set of handbuilts can and more, so is there really any good reason to get something built the old fashioned way? Well, a lot of it depends on what you really want to get from the wheels beyond things like weight and stiffness. Objectively, whilst most forum discussions on wheels will quickly get to someone suggesting "get some handbuilts mate", factory-built wheels do a perfectly good job and for a lot of people will be a good choice. There is, however, a certain satisfaction in a component put together by hand rather than in a factory, and handbuilt wheels are typically built with standard spokes and with more spokes per wheel which makes them easier to maintain. If you invest in wheels with good hubs they will typically outlast the rims which can then be replaced. This brings us to these Hope wheels, at the heart of which are the RS4 hubs. The Hubs Hope don't make things...

This jacket from Rapha is somewhere between a windproof and a thicker winter jacket. There are a few different elements to the construction. There is insulated material on the chest, back and arms, a breathable polyester under the arms and a thin showerproof fabric on the lower back and the lower torso. The fit is close and it’s quite short at the front, but it works well on the bike. There are a variety  of colours and I like the visibility on the yellow version. There are no rear pockets as it’s designed to be worn over a jersey. All this adds up to a jacket that is suprisingly breathable whilst able to shrug off the odd shower. This really adds to the usability of the jacket and I’ve found that I’ve used it more than I thought I would.  However, one thing I have noticed is it’s not as warm as you might expect on really cold days. The insulated fabric is good at keeping you warm at the cafe but doesn’t really stop the cold wind from getting through. An extra base la...

So what do you get for the cyclist in your life if a bumper pack of energy gels won't quite cut it? Chain link cuff links Subtle and not (too) cycle-geeky   www.recycleandbicycle.co.uk Road ID bracelet Quite romantic in a way, as the person you buy it for will always have your name and number on their wrist. Less romantic is the reason for it is so the paramedics know who to call if that person  crashes their bike and knocks themselves unconscious. www.roadid.com Personalized top cap If you're reading this as a non-cyclist then the top cap is the circular bit on top of the steering tube, so you spend a lot of time looking at it when you're riding. Putting a personal message or picture on there is a nice touch. www.kapz.com Socks It may sound like a boring present but cyclists love socks, especially really nice ones like these. www.rapha.co.uk www.pongolondon.cc

If you want to run 28c tyres or more on a rim-brake road bike you'll probably need deep-drop calipers. Whilst you can get some pretty decent ones, they're not generally as good as the best short-drop calipers from the likes of Shimano, Sram and Campagnolo. But before you say "should have bought a disc-brake bike", there is another option. These replacement brake blocks offset the fixing bolt from the braking surface giving you about a centimetre of extra drop. It’s such a simple and effective idea I’m surprised you don’t see more of these. Fitting is slightly more fiddly than normal blocks because of the offset, but once done they work really well. I fitted them to my Ultegra 6800 callipers and they feel just the same as with regular blocks. They certainly feel better the long-drop callipers I’ve tried that can give a bit of a spongy brake feel. One thing to watch is that you don’t get the same overall clearance around the tyre as you do with the purpose-des...

Rapha aren’t kidding when they call this jacket flyweight, it’s seriously light, but more importantly it packs down into its own tiny built-in pouch, so it’s easy to carry in a jersey pocket. Despite this lightness this is not a flimsy jacket, the thin fabric is surprisingly robust and the seams have stood up well to continued pulling on and off. A jacket like this could easily be annoyingly flappy, but that’s not the case here as the fit is great: close but not restrictive. The jacket is very short at the front which looks a bit strange when you stand up but works really well on the bike. The jacket is good at what it’s designed for: it will shrug off a light shower, keep you from getting cold on a long descent and will prevent you getting shivery at the coffee stop. However, it’s not a substitute for a proper rain jacket as the water will come through after a while and it’s also not that warm. I’ve always found one of the strengths of Rapha products to be their breathability...

It wasn't long ago that a decent front light cost a fortune and relied on a heavy battery system. Modern LEDs have come on enormously in the last few years and it's amazing how much brightness and run time you can get out of a small and relatively cheap light these days. On its brightest setting this light is bright enough to light the way on a country lane on the flat, although I do have to back off a bit on the downhills. There are cheaper and smaller lights in the Lezyne range but it’s definitely worth going for this one if you’re doing any riding on unlit roads. The "race mode" is a nice feature which lets you toggle easily between full and medium brightness if you're switching between dark lanes and lit streets. The run times seem to be pretty close to Lezyne's quoted values, although they do drop a bit in very cold weather. You get plenty of warning when the battery level gets low and the light switches to a lower brightness when the battery i...

The Gabba is the jacket that redefined what poor-weather clothing should look like. Rather than beng a flappy waterproof shell, it has a close and stretchy fit that does a good job of being waterproof and windproof at the same time as being breathable. The Rapha Pro Team Softshell is one of a number of jackets from different manufacturers that are looking to to take on the Gabba. I've ridden a lot in both, so how do they compare? Fabric At the heart of both these jackets is the breathable waterproof fabric that defines how they work. Whilst I'm sure there are lots of technical differences, they feel very similar in terms of weight and texture and perform in a similar way on the road. The Rapha jacket's seams are better sealed and it's probably warmer overall but there's not much in it. Fit I've found the jackets size differently: I'm an XL in the Castelli and a large in the Rapha. For me the Rapha is a better fit overall: I like the high collar a...

Veloforte bars are a relatively new energy bar to the market, so what are they like? The packaging on the early bars was a kind of greaseproof paper which added to the innovative, homemade feel. It's a bit of a shame they've now moved to a more conventional packaging, but it does make the bars easier to open on the move. There are now a number of different flavours to these bars, so I'll focus on the overall taste and texture rather than the individual differences (although the chocolate ones are my favourite). The bars feel quite heavy in your hand (for an energy bar anyway!) as there's quite a lot packed in to them. The taste is rich, the nearest thing I can compare it to is a bit like a Christmas pudding or a rich fruit cake, although that really doesn't do them justice. They are quite filling, so you probably don't need as many of them as you would other energy bars. They are a nice balance between sweet but not sickly so I've found you can quite ...