In 2023, Team Visma | Lease a Bike were on top of the cycling world. Becoming the first team to win all three Grand Tours in the same season, the likes of Jonas Vingegaard, Primoz Roglic, Sepp Kuss, Wout van Aert, Christophe Laporte and more were all in top form. This year however, it's not quite be...

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CyclistIn the Drops: Blingy Trek disco slippers, fast DT Swiss gravel wheels, smart shades from Boll and the Garmin Edge 1050The August bank holiday truncated this week but that hasnt stopped us from churning out a boatload of content on every working day since.With the Vuelta in full flow, pro racing coverage has dominated the publishing schedule. Staff writer Ewan Wilson looked at the winners of losers of the races first week, but weve also been flying the flag for our home race, the Tour of Britain, which starts early next week.Be sure to check out our information-packed guide to the race, as well as who we think the favourites are, the climbs that might just decide the fortunes of those favourites, and five standout moments from recent editions of the race.Tech-wise, its been an uncharacteristically quiet one, with only comparative look at Specializeds gravel bikes going online. Im doing my best to make up for the dearth of product content now though take a look below at the latest kit to arrive with Cyclist. Its a pretty tidy line-up.Garmin Edge 1050Sam ChallisBucking the more of everything trend battery life, performance features, screen size of recent Edge 10 units, the new 1050 actually takes Garmins flagship computer series in a different direction.As a result, the Edge 1040 Solar remains in our range, says Richard Robinson, Garmin UKs senior product manager. That is for cyclists that value head units with maximum battery life for long adventures, whereas the Edge 1050 introduces a brighter and richer LCD display.Garmin claims a battery life of up to 45 hours for the 1040 Solar, thanks to its built-in solar panels. In contrast, the 1050 is said to offer 20 hours, but Robinson promises it has a host of new features that make it a compelling option if both performance and practical features are of more value than raw runtime.Sam ChallisIt has a built-in speaker that now provides proper prompts rather than beeps, and it can act as a bell, to alert other road and path users. Crucially, the 1050 has contactless payment capabilities through Garmin Pay no more digging through jersey pockets for your phone at the cafe, he says.The vivid and responsive new screen should enrich the devices course creator function, which will build routes depending on a preferred riding surface, and social interaction is facilitated as well when linked to a phone, the 1050 offers in-ride messaging in its Group Rides app, providing live locations of riding buddies. The potential of this feature to increase safety looks to have been well exploited by Garmin, as the 1050 will alert Group Ride members of incidents, as well as pick up user-generated alerts for road hazards such as potholes.DT Swiss GRC 1100 Dicut 50 wheelsSam ChallisDT Swiss was one of the first to take aerodynamic efficiency seriously in the gravel wheel category back 2019 with its original GRC design. Now that many competitors have launched rival models and the niche has developed significantly, DT Swiss has renovated the GRCs, and expanded the line to four wheelsets. There is a lightweight version with a shallow rim and this, the go-fast variant, both offered at two different price points.The GRC 50 is the spiritual successor to that 2019 design, as it too seeks to make the gravel rider faster. DT Swiss says the rim profile works best with 40mm tyres, using a 24mm internal width paired with a 36.5mm external width.Sam ChallisThe brand achieves such a big differential by making the rim wall convex in profile. Apparently, this bulbous shaping improves both the passage of air across the rim and the wheels stability in crosswinds.DT Swiss once again leveraged its now extensive relationship with aerodynamicists SwissSide to develop the profile. It claims that in the wind tunnel, at 37.5kmh, the GRCs save around 2-4 watts and exhibit lower side force behaviours over rival models such as Enves SES 4.5, Zipps 353 NSW and Hunts 42 Limitless Gravel.Sam ChallisThe advantages are slight, but made more interesting in context of DTs choice to reintroduce hooked rims. It bucks the trend of brands going hookless, a reason for which is said to be better aerodynamics. DT says its testing contradicts that notion, and it considers hooked rims safer anyway.The re-addition of hooks takes away any tyre compatibility issues as well, so performance aside, the new GRCs could be an attractive option to gravel racers for that reason alone. Related Posts Big Ride: Land of the green giants on the Lagos de Covadonga Cyclist magazine issue 156: on sale now! Vuelta a Espaa 2024: Route, start list, how to watch and all you need to know Tour of Britain 2024: Route, start list, how to watch and all you need to know Boll Icarus sunglassesSam ChallisIn an age where cycling sunglasses seem only to be getting bigger, Bolls Icarus sunglasses make a good case for a conservative design. They weigh just 24g, which is a good 30% lighter than many more expensive rivals, and their slimmer lens stands little chance of interfering with the lower edge of the riders helmet. However, being frameless they should still offer an uninterrupted field of view.Sam ChallisThis particular version of the Icarus model uses Bolls Phantom photochromic lens technology, promising a reactive tint that provides optimal clarity regardless of the light conditions.Trek RSL Knit shoesSam ChallisThe RSL Knit and RSL shoes help spearhead the synonymous rebrand of Treks soft goods, which were traditionally under the name of Bontrager, the components arm of its business.In the RSL Knits, Trek couldnt ask for a more striking way to convey the change. As if the black/gold colour option wasnt bold enough, the shoes construction is pretty out-there as well, in an attempt to maximise ventilation and comfort.Sam ChallisAttached to a heavily perforated carbon sole is a knitted upper, which differs from similar rivals by focussing purely on providing stretch, rather than support (others try for a bit of both in their woven uppers). Trek says this ensures sock-like comfort, and relies on the dual Boa closures fixing an exoskeleton of structural material around the upper for security. Helping in that regard is the wraparound, suede heel cup.Sam ChallisTrek says the regular RSLs share the same fit and sole as the Knits, but use a more traditional TPU upper. Trek combats the reduced stretch in this upper by building in perforations it dubs MetNet zones, which allows the upper to conform to feet more readily, as well as helping ventilation.In a win for the environment, both shoes use insoles made using Rise by Bloom, which is a naturally derived EVA foam alternative created using algae.Buy the Trek RSL Knit shoes from trekbikes.com (399.99) Related Posts Big Ride: Land of the green giants on the Lagos de Covadonga Cyclist magazine issue 156: on sale now! Vuelta a Espaa 2024: Route, start list, how to watch and all you need to know Tour of Britain 2024: Route, start list, how to watch and all you need to know The post In the Drops: Blingy Trek disco slippers, fast DT Swiss gravel wheels, smart shades from Boll and the Garmin Edge 1050 appeared first on Cyclist.