2023: Cyclocross and Gravel Gear We’ve Been Loving

Over many years we at Cyclocross Magazine have ridden and reviewed many products. Not all of them make it to our pages, but some of the items have come to be our favorites. Sometimes we are allowed to keep the products we review, but sometimes we like the item so much that we purchase it ourselves. As the holidays approach and you are looking for something for the cyclist in your life, here are some things that we’ve really liked and continue to ride.

Essential Kit: Shorts

There are key clothing items every cyclist needs. Shorts, shoes and a helmet are arguably the most important. After that, gloves, a jersey and jacket perhaps. A comparison review of high-end shorts a few short years ago found the Rapha Classic shorts best for long distance comfort. For a more racey fit, the Endura Pro Team SL is a pair I still wear and like.

Thermal shorts are an oxymoron, but I like them a lot for the shoulder season and for cyclocross racing. Combined with knee or leg warmers, thermal shorts are more versatile than knickers or tights. Earlier this year a review of thermal bib shorts showed you can get by for less, but spending a bit more gives you a lot more features and a better fit.  It may seem like I’m a Rapha fanboy, but among the thermal short’s I’ve tried, the Rapha Winter shorts are my favorite. They are pricey but I bought them on sale. A stitch came loose and Rapha repaired them without charge, though I had to send them in and do without them for 4 weeks.

Essential Kit: Shoes

I have grown quite fond of the Quoc Grand Tourer shoe. It is my personal shoe of choice for fit, comfort and detail.

The Lake MX 241 Endurance Gravel is the other shoe I wear in warmer, dryer weather. I’ve had these shoes since the review and still like them a lot. It is super adjustable, with Boa® dials that can be reverse dialed to fine tune the fit on the fly, as well as the usual pull-to-release mode. It has a stiff carbon sole, and is well ventilated. It is not really suitable for cyclocross but for gravel and long rides I find it to be quite comfortable.

I now have the Giro Sector to ride and review. It is also a 2-dial shoe for mountain, ‘cross and gravel. It differs from the Quoc with a mesh upper and the more common Boa® dial system. This iteration of Boa® tightens in one direction and must have the dial pulled to release the laces. I find this a bit cumbersome when adjusting the shoe while on the bike.

The mesh upper has reinforcement for stiffness and durability, but is well ventilated. Despite the mesh, the Giro Sector is 379 grams per shoe, 758 grams for the pair. It has ample padding around the ankle and a robust sole. I find it comfortable, but narrows a bit more towards the toe than the Quoc GT.

Essential Kit: Helmets

Fashion plays a big role in helmet choice after protection level and features.

My favorite helmet at the moment is the Giro Aether Spherical. It is expensive for USD 300 but what is your head worth? At 284 grams for a size M, it is light but not the lightest. It has a narrower profile on your head than some other helmets. Most impressive to me is the Giro Spherical Technology, which is essentially a helmet within a helmet. The upper portion of the helmet pivots over the lower halo like portion of the helmet, sort of like a ball and socket joint. This seems like a good way to decelerate rotational forces to the head when striking the ground, possibly reducing the severity of a concussion.

Giro has other cycling helmets in the line-up that have Spherical Technology.

Another helmet I like a lot is the MET Allroad MIPS. It uses a traditional MIPS system with a sliding liner. Notably, the MET Allroad MIPS has a small, easily removable visor that fits snugly into the helmet vents. I’ve come to appreciate a visor in certain conditions of low sun and rain. I like a helmet visor much better than wearing a cycling cap beneath my helmet. The cap bill is too small and fits too close to my head and eyes, forcing me to crane my neck to see ahead. The MET Allroad MIPS size M weighs 298 grams with the 18 gram visor on it.

Removing the visor improves visibility in other conditions and improves the coefficient of drag. The MET Allroad MIPS also has a back light on the fit adjustment dial, adding safety when on the road in low light conditions. For USD 130 the MET Allroad MIPS is a full-featured helmet.

Essential Kit: Jackets

A good jacket extends your cycling into and past the shoulder season. Avoid indoor cycling, even with good programs like Zwift with a good jacket.

My favorite jacket has Goretex Shakedry fabric. Gore Fabrics will discontinue production of Shakedry fabric, but Gorewear purchased the remaining inventory and will be supplying Goretex Shakedry jackets until it runs out. Too bad, as the fabric is versatile with its light weight, lack of need for a DWR surface coating, and breathability while being completely waterproof. The Goretex Shakedry fabric is manufactured with flourinated polymers which are toxic and Gore is dedicated to being PFOA free in the next two years. Here is a short comparison of the other rain jackets we reviewed recently.

Wheels: The Most Important Bike Upgrade

We ride and review a lot of wheelsets. My personal favorites to this day are the Industry Nine Ultralight 240 TRA Carbon. I liked these so much, I purchased the review pair. They are indeed ultralight, and the aluminum spokes not only address some mechanical shortcomings of traditional steel spoke wheels, but add some lateral stiffness that yields a feeling of precision to cornering. The 24mm internal width hookless rim works well for low pressure tubeless. Industry Nine makes every component in their North Carolina facility except for the rims, which are in partnership with We Are One Composites in Vancouver BC, Canada. These look great on top of everything else.

Lately, the other wheelset I continue to ride is the Lōgōs Components Epoché. Randall Jacobs and his team thought of every detail for this wheelset, from hub performance and durability to rim layup and drilling. The Lōgōs Components Epoché is light and durable for a great price. It is a great value and I cannot recommend this pair enough.

Tire Inserts

We ride on so many different tires, it is hard to recommend any since conditions in your locale vary. However, tire inserts may have some benefits that any rider can appreciate including tire support and rim protection when running low pressure, added tire cut resistance, and possibly run flat capability.

We have a 4-part series of tire insert reviews that outlines some of the most popular inserts available, including a DIY insert that is one of my favorite options. That, of all things, is an inexpensive home-made gift for your gravel and cyclocross enthusiast loved one!

Saddles

Saddles are a personal choice, and we all have our favorites. My current favorite is the new WTB Gravelier. I like its shape and it has just the right amount of support, flex and pressure relief that I want. I like it so much I bought a second one with titanium rails. My other top choice is the Ergon AllRoad Core Pro which was a Cyclocross Magazine Editor’s Choice a couple of years ago.

WTB recently released a new version of the Silvarado saddle. I’ve ridden on a Silvarado saddle for almost a decade. The saddle has stayed on one of my frequently ridden personal bikes for all these years. I asked for a sample of the new version to check out.

The new WTB Silvarado saddle is 13mm wider and 25mm shorter than the old version, but gains 18 grams to weigh in at 191 grams for the carbon rail version. The new Silverado has a longer rail clamp section for more position adjustment. I have only ridden this new version for a month, but find the new dimensions more suitable for me. After riding the Gravelier, I miss the additional flex and pressure relief offered by the open center channel, but it seems fine. Saddles are a wear item and after a decade of riding the old Silverado, it was time for an update.

So many other saddle options exist. We recently received a sample of a Repente saddle, a brand that is new to the U.S. The Artax GL model is a superlight carbon rail saddle that has an open channel similar to the WTB Gravelier. The 165 gram Repente Artax GL is a 132mm narrow road  saddle but has worked OK for cyclocross since I’m not sitting on it for long hours. Even then, for a few hours it is reasonably comfortable. For me, the wider Artax GLM would be a better choice. Uniquely, the carbon rails are replaceable if you can find replacements.

Dropper Post

The dropper post is a big advantage for mountain biking on technical terrain, particularly steep down hill sections of trail. As gravel cycling’s popularity increases, there is more cross-over of drop-bar cycling onto mountain bike trails for some enthusiasts. We see the addition of a dropper post on drop-bar bikes that are more oriented towards adventure gravel riding such as the Evil Chamois Hagar or Nukeproof Digger. After riding these examples, I longed to have a dropper on my ‘cross bike to boost my confidence when using it to ride more adventureous gravel routes.

The problem with putting a dropper post on some ‘cross bikes is the limited amount of exposed seatpost for dropper post extension and travel. Thanks again to gravel cycling’s popularity, there are more short travel dropper posts with 27.2mm seatpost diameter that is more common on drop-bar bikes. One example is the uber-expensive SRAM Rockshox Reverb AXS XPLR. Wireless electronic actuation makes this easy to set-up, install and remove as needed. However, the high price of the post, and the cost of the wireless controller if you do not already have SRAM AXS makes this a luxury item.

I want to have an easy conversion, so an externally operated hydraulic dropper post is the solution. There are posts that have a actuation lever beneath the saddle, but this seems awkward to operate for me. The extension I have available on my ‘cross bike is 160mm from the top of the seat clamp to the saddle rails. PNW components Pine 27.7 has a 90mm travel option that requires only 150mm from the seat collar to the saddle rails. The remote actuation is via cable that runs externally from the post.

I chose a PNW 31.8mm drop bar lever for easy installation and removal. The lever clamp fits on the center section of the handlebars and has a provision for my externally run cables coming from under the bar tape. It comes with cable and housing.This sacrifices ultimate dropper activation convenience, but is a reasonable compromise for me. There are available levers that fit near the brake lever, but require retaping of the bar.

With the same saddle, the entire set-up, including a shim (if required), remote actuation lever, cable and housing, is 365 grams (13 ounces, less than a pound) more than your standard post and saddle. Once set up, it takes less than 5 minutes to install and remove. The entire setup, including a shim for my frame, is USD 265, and you can probably find some of the items on sale.

I have seen other posts like this on the internet. PNW Components brand is easily available in the U.S. and their customer service and advice is superb.

Bargains? We’ve Seen the Light

Yes, we often have to buy our own gear and accessories, and at times are tempted by the overseas deals from companies like Aliexpress and Temu. Sometimes they work out, and sometimes they don’t. Here are two items we’ve been pleasantly surprised by. For less than $30, you can get a light that’s claimed to be 6,000 lumens or more, with a 10,000 mAh hour battery. We have not independently verified such claims, but can claim that it’s been our go-to light for weekly night riding. It only has three four modes (wide, spot, combo, and flashing), but lasts the whole ride while other name brand lights costing triple have long died for the night, or forever. It’s charged reliably, and some models can even charge your phone.

The form factor may not be for everyone, as it takes up quite a bit of real estate, especially on narrow drop bars, but call us pleasantly surprised by this light.

Old Favorites

If you read our component posts, you may notice my current favorite personal bike featured in a few tire and wheel reviews. The 2018 Kona Major Jake is a favorite that I bought after the original review. I like its progressive geometry and reasonable tire clearance. I cracked the chainstay of the original review bike, so Kona offered a crash replacement at a substantially reduced price. The original component mix has evolved over the years. The previous iteration of the Kona Major Jake made our Editor’s Choice award for Best Pro Bike in 2014.

The Major Jake alternates with my Appleman Bicycles Custom CX which was a feature in our print magazine 2013-2014 for the “Going Custom” Series. That year, the Appleman Custom CX made Cyclocross Magazine Editor’s Choice award for Best Dream Bike. I think there was some bias in that award!