Midweek most wanted: an old school adventure bike, winter tyres, a cyclist’s backpack and more

Genesis Croix de Fer

We've got Genesis's old school adventure bike in for test this week. With a round tubed steel frame and fork and straight-through headtube it's a bit different. You get mounts for mudguards and racks too, if you want to go further than just round the cross course for an hour.

And the spec includes the latest Shimano Tiagra groupset and TRP HyRd hydraulic/mechanical hybrid disc brakes too.

Buy now: Genesis Croix de Fer 20 from Evans Cycles for £1049

Rapha Brevet Winter Collar

Rapha has upgraded the buff, with its merino blend winter collar. It’s shaped to fit that irritating gap at the top of your jacket and comes with a reflective front stripe, to add frontal visibility.

Just what we need for the dark, cold commutes into work.

See the Rapha Brevet Winter Collar here

Bellroy Classic Backpack

We’ve previously reviewed a collection of Bellroy’s pocketable cycling wallets and phone cases. Now it’s the turn of the brand’s 17 litre commuting backpack.

Bellroy says that the Classic Backpack will take a 15 inch laptop and of course, being Bellroy, there is a range of smaller pockets both inside and on the exterior of the pack for odds and ends too.

See the Bellroy Classic Backpack here

Specialized winter tyres

There’s a tyre for pretty much every condition that winter is likely to throw at us in this collection from Specialized, along with 25mm and 28mm widths to keep us comfortable on longer rides.

The Armadillo Elite is claimed to be the most flat-resistant tyre available – now there’s a challenge for us to test.

See Specialized’s tyre range here

Minoura Kagura smart trainer

Proving that smart doesn’t mean you need to take your back wheel off, the Japanese-made Minoura Kagura is a wheel on trainer with a built-in motorised resistance unit, which Minoura says has a very realistic ride feel.

It can also be operated without mains power, so you can cart it off for pre-event warm-ups too.

Buy now: Minoura Kagura Smart trainer at Merlin Cycles for £540

Santini Coral 2.0 long sleeved women’s jersey

Buy now: Santini Coral long sleeve jersey at Ribble for £75.99

Yet more cold weather gear, the Santini Coral jersey is made of thermal fleece, has integrated elastic which should stop those irritating draughts and reflective trimming. We’ll be testing out the two extra side pockets, in addition to the standard three rear ones, to stash away extra gels for our long winter rides.