Made by cSixx, this chainstay protector features heavy-duty rubber reinforcement, so in addition to protecting your frame, it also does a good job at silencing your bike. It’s made to suit oversized chainstays and can be trimmed and adjusted to suit most bikes.

Don’t leave your bike laying around at your next 24 hour event, the JetBlack Race Rack lets you keep your camp organised and looking pro! Made from lightweight aluminium, the Race Rack is easy to disassemble and comes with its own carry bag. It uses heavy-duty UV resistant resin end caps and everything clicks into place with spring loaded buttons.

Specialized now has a women’s specific version of their LoDown glove. This lightweight XC/trail oriented glove features proportional sizing that caters for the average female palm width and finger length. Designed to offer excellent control and feel, the LoDown uses a non-padded single layer Clarino palm.

SRAM certainly stirred things up when they introduced their XX1 and X01 drivechains, but they aren’t the only company with dedicated single chainrings that eliminate the need for a front guide. Race Face now has a chainring with alternating wide and narrow teeth, but unlike the SRAM chainrings, they use a regular 104mm bolt circle and will a wide range of standard cranks.

Designed to combine the best traits of XC race shoes and the more recently evolved all-mountain variety, the S-Works Trail shoes are quite an interesting creation. Weighing around 740g a pair, they are as light as many XC race shoes.

England has a reputation for shoddy weather and mud, so it’s to be expected a product like this would originate from the UK. Muckynuts has designed a range of compact fenders that can be fitted at various points on the bike (down tube, rear wheel, under the saddle and so on).

Many mountain bikers are familiar with Frameskin. This Canberra based company makes protective kits that are custom shaped to suit all manner of bikes; from Avanti to Yeti and just about everything in between. Originally these adhesive patches came with a clear and glossy finish. While this mated well with gloss painted frames, it didn’t sit so well with matte finishes.

Zeal Optics pitch themselves as a boutique sunglasses brand. Their design team is based in Boulder, Colorado and their product line is directed primarily at the outdoors market, with sports oriented wrap around eyewear and goggles, as well as more casual sunnies.

With the recent appointment of a new distributor, we can expect to see more Answer products on the Australian market. The ProTaper Carbon 780 is their full-width carbon all-mountain bar.

If we pay attention, mountain biking teaches us a lot about ourselves. Quite recently it taught me that I’ve got a rather aerodynamic head; out of three testers in the office I was the only one who didn’t find the Lithos helmet a bit squeezey at the sides.

XD Driver bodies are now available for wheels and hubs that use the DT Swiss Ratchet System. This is what you’ll need if you want to run an 11-speed SRAM MTB cassette on your existing DT wheels.

Pivot may be renowned for their suspension bikes, but the cleverly named ‘Pivot Les’ may change this perception. The Les is a carbon hardtail that converts easily between geared and single-speed setups using their tidy looking ‘Swinger’ adjustable dropouts.

Want trim some weight from your SRAM X.9 or X.0 cranks? Well, FRM has released a SRAM compatible version of their ‘NS’ style chainring system. Machined from 7075 alloy, the main chainring mounts directly to the splined crank arm while the smaller chainring bolts directly to the big ring.

With the increasing popularity of tubeless tyre systems and the accompanying trend towards wider rims, it’s entirely feasible for mountain bikers to run their tyres below 30psi without encountering issues with tyre squirm or ‘burping’ (for example, I weigh 65kg and happily run 25psi). Even with tubes and narrower rims, it’s unlikely that you’d need to run much more than 37psi.

Designed in New Zealand, the Gloworm X2 is a compact twin LED light that is said to produce 1,200 lumens, and that’s meant to be the measured output, not just a theoretical figure. The machined alloy light head weighs just 79g, making it a good option for helmet mounting but the standard kit also comes with a handlebar fitting.

Swedish brand Poc has a strong following in Europe and having passed Australian standards testing, their distinctive MTB helmets will soon be available Down Under. Aimed at the trail and ‘gravity enduro’ market, the Trabec Race MIPS places priority on protection but does so without neglecting weight and ventilation.