KRD visit with more new goodies

Mark Dickson from KRD stopped by our new offices today to show us some new bits and pieces, which are in store now, from e*thirteen, Race Face, WTB, Lezyne and X Fusion. Now these Race Face bars aren’t that new but that funky display thing was new and every time I see anything from Race Face’s SixC line, like these 725mm carbon bars, I go weak at the knees. Plus this was the first time I’d seen any of the 785mm Atlas bars in the flesh and as you can see they’re pretty dope.
KRD have had e*thirteen for a while but we haven’t seen a whole bunch from the Hive collab apart from the cranks. But the Chub hubs are here now and they are pretty damn different. There are three models. The TRS (above) is the trail version, it features a carbon hub with extra large alloy flanges. The large flanges mean shorter spokes as well as a more triangular angle which equals a stronger wheel with less wind up (quicker acceleration). The TRS front hub weighs 175 grams, rear 12mm weighs 352 grams and the rear QR weighs 360 grams. A set will run you $990.

Then there’s the LG1 which is the DH version. The front hub is still 20mm and like the TRS hubs, they are a carbon and alloy mix, but they are fatter and stronger than the TRS front hubs. The rear hubs come in 150mm and 157mm widths, with the 157mm featuring no dish at all. This combined with the massive flanges again makes for a ludicrously strong wheel. The LG1 front hub weighs 215 grams (both 15mm and 20mm) and the rear 12mm weighs 385 grams. A set will run you $1090.

Finally there’s the all-alloy XCX version, 9mm QR at the back, 15mm up front. It still features oversized flanges, but there’s no carbon here buddy. I’ll have weights and prices for all these on Monday… The XCX front hub weighs 166 grams (both 15mm and 20mm) and the rear QR weighs 316 grams. A set will run you $650.

Now I’ve been waiting for these bad boys for a while. Yup, that is a 2.5″ tubeless compatible Weirwolf II 29er tyre! At Spoke we’ve had quite a bit of time on the 26″ Weirwolf IIs over the last couple of years and I personally have been waiting anxiously for this tyre. Its insanely low tread profile and super grippy dual compound is just the business. Oh, I didn’t let Mark leave with it and I’ll be setting it up on the Tallboy when my leg is right.

The same shipment that brought us the 2.5 Weirwolf also held a bunch of these tubeless (TCS) Nano 2.1″ tyres as well.

Both of those bad boys add to the the 29″ tyres that KRD already had, like the 2.2″ Kevlar beaded Bronson, which I’ve been running on and off for the last year and absolutely love!

And rounding out the four tyres Mark had with him is the 2.3″ Exiwolf, a bit of a mix between an XC tyre with trail tyre bite.

Now a while ago KRD picked up X-Fusion but these are the first products I’ve actually seen so far. The AL rear shock on the left is pretty standard and features a lock out while the RCX on the right has four stages of platform dampening. Price wise they are super competitive and a pretty cheap way to upgrade that old shock on yer’ shreddy. Prices on Monday…

Now Lezyne have been bringing the heat consistently for a while now and again this is the first time we’d actually seen their new LED lights in the flesh, and I have to say I’m impressed. I didn’t actually realise they were as small as they are, the two top models both feature their own LiIon battery that charges internally via a USB port on the bottom. You can see from the photo above that the battery isn’t that much bigger than a standard AA battery. The battery on the Super Drive will give you 450 Lumens for an hour and a half.