After seven months of solid riding, we take a look at how Shimano’s new XTR wheels perform.

We put 14 different tyre tubeless tyre sealants to the test.

Back when Cane Creek introduced their Double Barrel Air, it was the most tuneable air shock on the market. It offers external control over the low and high speed compression as well as the low and high speed rebound – each being independently tuneable.

Despite its relatively low weight and fast rolling, high volume casing, Schwalbe’s Nobby Nic has been a bit of a polarising tyre in the past. Those who ride mostly softer and drier terrain have often sung its praises, whilst those in rocky, rooty or wet conditions have often complained about poor grip on wet surfaces or high lean angles.

Spank industries set out with a goal of creating a range of products that find the sweet spot between weight, performance, style and value. In today’s competitive market place that’s a pretty tall order, as engineer and bike designer Keith Bontrager famously said, “Light, cheap, strong; choose two.”

I enjoy getting away for a weekend of camping; it’s always nice to head somewhere peaceful and scenic. If it involves mountain biking too, then all the better. But if there’s one thing that really detracts from the weekend camping experience, it’s packing and preparing. With the family in tow, car packing evolves into a task of epic proportions. Loading up can take the best part of a day and there’s certainly no room to have the bikes inside the car.

The relaunch of the Fox 36 fork may be nabbing all of the headlines but it’s one big unit; offering up to 180mm of travel. While they may be slightly out of the limelight, latest batch of 32 and 34mm legged forks will suit a broader audience of trail/XC riders and they’ve also undergone numerous updates for 2015. Externally these forks look near identical to the 2014 product but there’s quite a bit of change inside.

It’s no secret that Avid, SRAM’s brake department has been doing it tough for some time now. Go back a few years and their twin-piston Elixir models had all manner of quality control and bleed related issues. In some cases – especially on models with the in-line contact point adjustment – it was near impossible to get the last bit of air out. Aside from the problematic setup, the rotors often made ‘turkey gobble’ noises.

Two issues ago we previewed the latest version XTR groupset, Shimano’s flagship component line. Now we’ve had approximately three months of trail time on the new parts, plus the opportunity to pull it apart and see what makes it tick.

When it comes to riding flat pedals good shoes are absolutely essential, and the undisputed king of the flat pedal shoe market is Five Ten. Although their Impact models are popular with the pure gravity set, trail riders have opted for the skate shoe styled Freerider. Other brands have tried to topple Five Ten from their throne, but thus far no-one has been able to match their combination of comfort, durability and, most importantly, grip.

The name offers a clear indication of what to expect from these new American Classic wheels; they’re designed to be light enough for cross-country use, but with a rim width of 29mm inside the bead hooks they offer all the advantages of ultra wide rims (see page 66).

Having cut their teeth in the motocross industry Swedish brand USWE may not be a household name to most mountain bikers, however some of their sponsored athletes certainly are; if you haven’t heard of Steve Peat, Greg Minaar, Josh Bryceland and Anneke Beerten you’ve been hiding in a very dark cave indeed. The F4 is their most popular and versatile pack, with a three litre bladder and enough storage for a very long day in the saddle without being so big you can’t take it out for a quick pedal after work.

Look at the absolute top-end of the market in MTB shoes and you can expect to find features such as carbon fibre soles and heat mouldable bodies that custom form to your feet. You can also expect to part with upwards of $300 to get them.

Fouriers is another brand offering parts to assist with single ring drivetrain conversions. We checked out their CR-DX003 chainring ($87 with alloy bolts included), as well as the range expanding CR-DX004 rear cog ($99).

Playing with fancy new toys on a disgustingly regular basis is one of the terrible tasks associated with product reviewing. As soon as you have to give back the latest widget, someone insists on sending you something even shinier and newer. As a result you become quite hard to impress. Now Magellan has really tried to fancy the pants off of us with their new flagship cycling specific GPS—the Cyclo 505.

The quest for the perfect all-purpose knee guard is a challenging one; they need to be light and airy enough to not weigh you down or turn every ride into a knee-sauna, offer enough protection to justify wearing them in the first place, and be comfortable enough to ride in for several hours at a time. That’s a pretty tough bill to fit, but about nine months ago I managed to get my mitts on a set of the drearily named KG5450 from Troy Lee, which promised all of those things for the very reasonable sum of $89.