Tech round up: Schwalbe Pro One x Spartacus tyres, dhb Thrift+ bag, Trek FX Carbon 'gravel-ready' bike, New Rapha kit collections and Tifosi Optics plants trees

If you thought keeping tan sidewalls clean was a challenge, perhaps best not to look too closely at Schwalbe’s latest limited edition run of Pro One tyres – it’d surely take endurance worthy of a world champion to keep them in such a condition

But plenty of time to get on that – we’ve also got dhb’s drive towards a more circular economy for clothing, Trek’s boundary pushing ‘gravel-ready’ flat bar bike – plus two stunning new kit collections from Rapha, in collaboration with  cyclocross star Maghalie Rochette and L39ION of Los Angeles.

Schwalbe Pro One x Spartacus tyres

Fabian Cancellara now has his own signature tyre – a Schwalbe Pro One in pristine white to commemorate his four time trial world titles. Flashes of colour across the casing and sidewall reference his Swiss nationality and other famous victories: he won gold in the Olympic time trial twice, spent 29 days in the Tour de France yellow jersey and won the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix three times each. 

Not only do the red and yellow separately represent Switzerland and the Tour de France but together with the blue they make up the colours of the flag of West Flanders - and of course red, yellow and blue are also included in the rainbow jersey. It works on many levels.

The tyres are so unique that Spartacus says he himself was ignored while cycling fans ogled his white rubber instead: “Everyone checked them out, no matter whether they were roadies or tourists. Then I noticed that nobody was looking at me, like they often do, but all the attention was drawn to my white tyres.”

The Schwalbe Pro One is designed for tubeless use and maximum performance, using the German brand’s Addix compound for low rolling resistance and high grip. The Schwalbe Pro One x Spartacus version is only available in 28mm and is limited to 2,000 pieces. Pricing stands at €72.90 (per tyre) and more details can be found their website here. 

dhb Thrift+ Bag

dhb, the in-house clothing brand of multi-sports retail giant Wiggle, has teamed up with Thrift+ to step up its support of the “circular clothing movement”. Essentially, it’s a way to donate any unwanted clothes, whilst also being rewarded with a 10 per cent off voucher for your next dhb purchase.

To get in on the system, all you need to do is add a Thrift+ Bag to your next order with Wiggle (normally it’d $0.02 / £0.02, but they’re 50 per cent off right now) and fill it with all any unwanted clothes.

They don’t have to be from dhb, but they do need to be in a good enough condition to be resold. Next is just to send the bag back (for free) via InPost or Collect Plus.

As a reward you’ll get a 10 per cent off voucher for your next spend on dhb kit and a warm and fuzzy feeling for having helped reduce clothing waste and contributed to the circular economy. For more information, you can read more on Wiggle’s website here.

Don’t call it a hybrid: Trek releases ‘gravel-ready’ FX Sport Carbon

Trek’s new FX Sport Carbon has been given a complete redesign and now morphed into a “gravel-ready fitness bike”. 

Billed as a “new category leader”, Trek has sought to blend the “looks of an Émonda, the versatility of an FX, and the capability of a Checkpoint” and all at a “more competitive price point than ever before.” Hold that last point, we’ll touch on that later.

The three bikes in the range all come with a 400 Series OCLV Carbon frame and fork, while the two more expensive models both utilise a 1x11 Shimano GRX drivetrain with a non-series shifter for use with the flat handlebars.

Tyre clearance stands at a maximum of 42mm with 700c wheels and the frame comes with mounts for a rear rack and a full set of mudguards. 

Of course, these are all features that can all be seen across various different hybrid bike models, too. The area where the FX Sport Carbon – with its ‘gravel-ready’ credentials – perhaps differs most significantly is in terms of the price. 

The range-topping FX Sport 6 comes in at $2,599.99 / £3,000, resplendent with carbon wheels to match the frame and a largely third tier Shimano groupset (105 level components), save for the Ultegra equivalent GRX RX812 rear derailleur.

Compare that to Canyon’s $2,099.00 / £1,949.00 Roadlite CF 8 carbon hybrid bike, which at least matches an Ultegra crankset to the rear derailleur – although much of the rest of the groupset is 105 level and the wheels are aluminium. But then again, considering the price, you would have plenty left over for upgrades.

Even between Trek’s own models, the pricing does come as a surprise. For $2,299.99 you can get a Procaliber 9.5 (or for £2,150.00, you can get a Carbon Procaliber 9.6) each a hardtail mountain bike with a 1x12 Shimano drivetrain and a 100mm of RockShox front suspension. Of course, a direct comparison with a mountain bike is tricky to do, but it does feel like you'd be getting rather more for your money.

Two new Rapha collections: Rochette and L39ION of Los Angeles

Rapha has teamed up with Canadian cyclocross star Maghalie Rochette to release a limited edition collection of men’s and women’s kit, inspired – quite uniquely – by Rochette’s part-time hobby of bee-keeping.

The almost psychedelic collection of abstract shapes and colours were inspired by the ability of bees to see colours that we can’t. “Basically, it’s just a great vibe”, Rochette said, “it makes me smile and gives me the right attitude to tackle any type of hard training, long adventure, or big race!”

The Rochette collection will be available to buy from April 19th.

Equally, Rapha’s also releasing L39ION of Los Angeles’ new kit to be bought by fans – also in both men’s and women’s fits, and with a portion of the profits going straight back into the team to “help them promote diversity within the sport.”

“The inspiration stemmed from a series of night racing photos that my brother and I fell in love with”, said Justin Williams, Team Manager and Co-Founder of L39ION. “Rapha perfectly executed our design for 2022. I’m thrilled

that we could use this jersey to celebrate the thing we love most about bike racing: chaotic straightways, fast corners, and even faster sprints.”

The L39ION of Los Angeles collection can be viewed over here and is available now.

Tifosi Optics to plant one tree for every sunglass sold next week

Tifosi Optics has partnered with the Arbor Day Foundation – a non-profit conversation organisation which has planted over 500 million trees – as part of its committed to planting one tree for every sunglass purchase made on TifosiOptics.com during Earth Week (April 16-22), this year.

“The health and well-being of our customers and employees is inextricably linked to clean air,” commented Joe Earley, Tifosi Optics CEO. “Bringing awareness and paying it forward during Earth Week is something that Tifosi has championed from day one of the brand”.

For more information, you can visit Tifosi’s website here.