The 12 most anticipated cycling products of 2017

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The Rawland Ravn is an all-road adventuring machine(Image credit: BikeRadar)

This article first appeared on Bikeradar

I was lucky enough to be one of the first people to ride the new Specialized Ruby road bike back over the summer of 2016. Aimed at the endurance road cyclist, it features women-specific frame geometry and Specialized’s new Future Shock, the coil spring suspension system built into the headset. Along with the vibration-absorbing CG-R seatpost, the idea is to suspend the rider and smooth out the ride, to create more comfort for longer distances. I’m looking forward to giving it a good, intensive test ride along some of the ‘wonderfully’ uneven roads around my part of the UK. There are plenty of them!

I'm most excited about the new Shimano Dura-Ace Di2. The current Di2 is my favorite road group. I love the feel, speed, tunable functionality and dependability. One thing that bugs me, though, is the junction box. On most bikes it comes rubber-banded around the stem, which looks clunky and is annoying when you grab the bike by the stem. (On my bike I zip-tie it to the bottom of a Garmin mount to get it out of the way of my hands and my eyes.) With the new Di2, you can tuck the junction box inside a handlebar, which is slick. On a broader note, I'm eager to check out the power meter — Shimano's first — with the new Di2 group.

A bit of a late one this, but I’m rather excited about Canyon adding disc brakes to its entire road bike range. If money were no object, I’d choose the Ultimate CF SLX Disc 9.0, which features Shimano’s newest mechanical Dura-Ace groupset, DT Swiss PRC 1400 Dicut Disc wheels, and the Canyon H36 Aerocockpit. It’s quicker than I’ll ever need, but I have been a good boy this year (promise).

I'm excited to get my hands on Dura-Ace 9100 because there's a good chance it's going to be excellent, even if I'm still on the fence about the aesthetics (I think 9000 is one of the prettiest groupsets ever made). Integrated power meters and the Di2 version will likely grab more headlines, but I really like Shimano's approach to mechanical shifting feel, and I have a lot of faith in the brand's ability to make stuff that just… works.

I’ve just come back from the launch of a new DT Swiss wheelset, the ERC 1100 S, part of their new range of endurance wheels. This one is deep and quite wide – 27mm wide, 47mm deep – and they’re exciting because they’re tubeless-only. They’re part of a five-wheel range: the second part we’ll see in May next year, and the third part much later. I’ve had a ride on them already and first impressions are very good.

Fresh from Steamboat Springs, Colorado is this racy take on the Routt 45 gravel bike. The Moots Routt Race Super Light (RSL) is described as the “ultimate gravel and mixed surface machine”, with aggressive race fit geometry on a lightweight titanium frame that's just asking to be hammered down broken roads, dirt roads and rock-strewn double track. There’s 38mm of tyre clearance, a new full carbon CX fork, 3D printed dropouts and slightly shorter chainstays, for a snappier ride.

Our hugely experienced tester Guy Kesteven recently described the Bokeh as the most holistically perfect bike he’s ever ridden. Set that statement aside and the Bokeh’s ability embodies everything I’ve enjoyed about riding this year. Whether you call it an adventure bike, road plus or gravel bike, the Mason Bokeh is forward thinking and most importantly, versatile. It’s the versatility with not much compromise that excites me most about this bike, and it looks damn good too.

At first glance, the Rawland Ravn appears to be pretty far out of the left field, thoroughly into the realms of cycling niche-dom. But on closer inspection, it becomes clear that it is designed to be hugely versatile bike that will take on any guise with ease. Supplied with either (gasp) 26”x55mm or 27.5x42mm wheels and veritably bristling with braze ons, I think this plump-tyred adventure wagon will be my go-to bikepacking rig for 2017.