The Selle San Marco Aspide Carbon FX features a carbon shell and rails(Image credit: Josh Evans)
Selle San Marco's Aspide Carbon FX Narrow saddle(Image credit: Josh Evans)
Northwave say the Extreme Pro shoes feature the stiffest carbon soles the brand makes(Image credit: Josh Evans)
The Musette is Cyclingnews’ weekly look at some of the world’s best cycling gear. We’ll take a look at pro-level equipment, bikes and components, alongside some of the most desirable clothing, accessories and more in the sport.
Scroll down for this week’s look at a bottom bracket from Belgian ceramic bearings specialist C-Bear, Astana team-issue shoes from Northwave, a carbon-railed saddle from Selle San Marco, kit from British brand dhb and an updated, go-anywhere adventure bike from Mason Cycles.
British frame designer Mason Cycles began with the mantra of building the ultimate commuting, all-weather bikes that would last seasons of abuse.
A few years later and the brand’s bikes have evolved into being one of the most respected bikes for use in ultra-endurance racing, with wins at the Transcontinental Race across Europe and Italy Divide, plus numerous top finishes in races across the world.
The Mason Bokeh is designed for exactly these sort of races, whether on- or off-road through the ability to run 650bx50mm or 700cx45mm wheel/tyre setups.
The brand builds their frames and forks in Italy through a close working relationship with independent builders and the updated, second iteration Bokeh2 frameset features a new carbon fork, plus additional mounts and fender bosses.
The new frameset also features new cable, dynamo and brake-hose routing to accommodate the latest caliper designs and groupset technology.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Mason Bokeh2 frameset pricing: £1,250 (Euro pricing also available upon request)
Selle San Marco have a long history of racing heritage, most recently proven by Fausto Masnada (Androni-Giocattoli Sidermec) at the Giro d’Italia with a stage victory, plus two stages at April’s Tour of the Alps.
The Selle San Marco Aspide Carbon FX saddle is a carbon-railed, cut-out channel and carbon-shell saddle, offering a lightweight, comfortable and stiff saddle to offer great pedalling efficiency.
Selle San Marco say the waved design of the saddle is recommended for individuals with both a flat back (retroverted pelvis) and accentuated lumbar arch (anteverted pelvis).
The Selle San Marco Aspide Carbon FX saddle has a claimed weight of 147g.
C-Bear is a Belgian ceramic bearings specialist, supplying the likes of Lotto Soudal and the Israel Cycling Academy with various bearings upgrades, as well as Victor Campenaerts’ Ridley Arena Hour Record bike.
The T47 bottom bracket standard was developed in 2015 by Chris King and Argonaut, looking to address the issues associated with press fit 30 bottom brackets and adopting a thread.
Although another bottom bracket standard was initially unwelcome by consumers and manufacturers alike, the standard has become more popular with more bike brands adopting the standard due to it being an open standard for use by everyone, and only this week Trek have adopted the standard on their new Crockett.
C-Bear offers an array of bottom brackets, headset, wheel and jockey-wheel bearings upgrades for a vast range of brands and manufacturers.
Northwave Extreme Pro for Team Astana Pro Team shoes
Partnering with Astana for 2019, Northwave have produced team edition versions of their range-topping Extreme Pro road shoes.
Featuring the iconic colours of the Kazakh team, the Northwave Extreme Pro have two proprietary dial ratchets, the brand’s stiffest carbon sole, arch support and a cat-tongue material heel cup.
The shoes' upper features plenty of perforations for ventilation in warmer temperatures, plus Northwave’s XFrame 2 upper. The upper adopts tape-cable guides instead of plastic guides for a more ergonomic fit in conjunction with the Dyneema cables, ensuring comfort and efficiency for a range of foot shapes and sizes.
dhb is online retailer Wiggle’s in-house clothing brand, and, after two years of development, the brand has launched the race-level Aeron collection, which is raced in by British Continental squad Canyon dhb p/b Bloor Homes.
The dhb Aeron collection includes their Aeron Lab collection, Aeron Speed collection, Aeron Rain Defence collection and more.
Designed in conjunction with the brand’s in-house designers and ‘some of the world’s most innovative fabric mills’, dhb say there have been months of testing and thousands of kilometres ridden in creating their products.
The dhb Aeron Speed jersey is an aero-specific summer jersey, which follows modern jersey trends of a low collar, longer sleeves and an aggressive, race fit. Wind-tunnel-tested Schoeller fabric sits on the sleeves and shoulders of the jersey to disrupt the air – in similarity to a golf ball's dimpled surface – while the main torso has more of a silky finish to slip through the disturbed air.
The dhb Aeron Speed jersey is available in four different colour options seen here, and the dhb Aeron Speed bib shorts are available in black (photographed), black with red trim, black with blue trim or navy blue, and use a proven chamois pad from the widely used brand Elastic Interface.
Like the Aeron Speed jersey, the bib shorts use Schoeller fabric on the outside leg for the same improved aerodynamic performance and a quick-drying fabric on the inner legs.
Wide bib straps should also provide comfort and support.
