The 2013 Camelbak HAWG NV is tough and well-organised.

Soon to hit UK bike stores is the 2013 version of Camelbak’s popular Hawg NV drinking system and the R and D boys at Camelbak haven’t disappointed us. The excellent build quality we’ve come to expect from Camelbak is clearly present here. With its combination of durability, comfort, and devilish attention to detail, the Hawg NV will be the backpack of choice for any mountain bike guide or multi-day rider.

NV refers to the articulated support system that keeps the pack off your back, and allows a constant flow of air for ventilation. It works really well. The four segments or pods that make up the system felt firm at first, especially at the lumber region, but with a further tug on the chest straps, the snug fit evenly distributed the load along the spine of the bag; this makes for an extremely comfortable and secure fit.

Secure is a word I don’t use lightly in the context of carrying a heavy load. When carrying a full load on your back all day, the fit of the bag is extremely important, especially when the terrain gets bumpy. You need a backpack that fits correctly and offers bags of confidence and comfort, and won’t move around. The HAWG is secure on your back and is held there comfortably without feeling restricted at either the chest or waistband straps.

The three-litre lightweight reservoir features all the latest Camelbak updates: the quarter turn closure works a treat by lining up the finger handles horizontally, and then a flick of the wrist to the 12 o’clock position secures it with a resounding clunk.

You can unclip the tube at the reservoir base for cleaning. The fitting here is leak free so far, and slots together with another resounding click, a bit like a garden hose.

But what’s really neat is the handle drop slot that cunningly holds the reservoir securely in place no matter how much or little water you’re carrying. There’s nothing fancy here, just a simple slot that works really well at holding the base of the plastic closure into place, and no half-empty bladders crumpled up in the bottom of your HAWG.

The external pocket is big enough for a helmet or frequently-used gear like a jacket and spares.

The HAWG NV has an all-up carrying load of 17 litres. This is split between a14-litre main compartment, and three litres of bladder space. The four way compression straps glide neatly into place to allow for variations in carrying capacity. The main compartment is deep and wide enough to carry a full day’s wet weather load of clothing, food and spares, and this is neatly augmented by the overflow bay which sits on the back of the main compartment.

More often than not, I found myself stuffing regularly used gear, like food, a windproof or waterproof top, into the overflow bay and slipped on the handy, day-glow yellow rain cover to keep everything dry and clean, although out of habit I still double bag clothing for added protection first.

I also used the rain cover if the trails were wet anyway. It keeps the HAWG dry and clean, which is especially good if you have to unzip the bag for something. Anything that prevents unwelcome crud getting into the main compartment is good.

The helmet clips on each side of the bag are another straightforward design feature and are simple yet effective. I must admit though, I tend to carry my helmet in the overflow pouch for added protection when transporting my gear around. There’s a handy rear light strap built into the reflective logo and markings on the back; there’s a rear light strap on the rain cover too.

One of the features of the HAWG NV that I took to instantly and went “yep, that makes sense” is the ever so simple D-fit rings that hold the top end of the chest straps in place. The chunky and silky smooth D-rings allow the straps to fall into a natural alignment with your shoulders without any fuss or adjustment. It works so well you don’t even notice it – like a problem solved before the issue arises.

Other finely tuned details include the understated reflective strips on the chest straps; a chunky carrying handle; and a lined media pocket that’s ever so soft to the touch. The media pocket comfortably holds my (empty of cash) wallet and stupidly outsized smart phone, and I can safely squeeze my glasses in there too. Our sample HAWG NV weighed in at 0.97kg, which is not bad for a pack this big.

Verdict

The 2013 Hawg NV is packed with plenty of well thought-out features and has a ruggedness that belies its slim looks. There’s nothing about the Hawg NV that looks or feels like an afterthought or change-for-change sakes, every detail about it makes sense and has an ergonomic, tactile feel with a functional reason for being there.

It’s weird, but after a few weeks of soggy trail riding with the new Hawg NV clinging limpet-like to my back, I still feel that I’ve experienced a dream where I had taken my original, well-worn Hawg back to the design office at Camelbak Towers to explain what I wanted from an updated, fully expedition-capable backpack: “I need compartments like this, I want padding like that, the straps should move like this, but fit like that …”. Well someone got inside my head, because the bagmen at Camelbak have came up with the almost flawless 2013 Hawg NV.

Weight: 970g
Price: £119.99
More information: Camelbak
UK supplier: Zyro

Fox 34 Talas 160 FIT CTD forks: the Next Big Thing in trail/all-mountain bikes? Quite possibly.

It looks like the ideal fork for the large number of bikes with 150-160mm of travel sold in the UK. We’ve always found the 32 platform lacking in stiffness when bolted to such a bike, and many riders want the extra stoutness of the 36 fork. But the extra heft isn’t so good for the majority of riders who enjoy riding back up the hill as much as they do down.

With 34mm stanchions and a weight that comes in roughly between the 32 and 36 platforms, Fox has filled a niche that previously no fork had really occupied, and filled it brilliantly.

We rode the new Fox 34 forks for the first time at the Cannondale launch in Utah earlier this year. They were fitted to the Jekyll, a 150mm bike previously stunted by the appointment of a 32 fork up front. With the 34, the Jekyll (and all other similarly specced 150mm bikes) finally have a fork capable of releasing their full potential.

We rode the 34 Talas 160 FIT CTD fork, with travel adjustable between 120 and 160mm of travel. A 15mm bolt-thru axle and 1.5in tapered steerer tube contribute further to the stiffness the fork offers.

Fox simplify ProPedal compression adjustment with CTD (Climb, Trail, Descend)

We weren’t able to weigh the forks but Fox claim 4.49lb (2.04kg) with a 165mm steerer tube and star fangled nut fitted.

A new feature from Fox this year is CTD, found on most of Fox’s forks and shocks for 2013. It stands for Climb, Trail, Descend, and is Fox’s simplification of the previous 1, 2, 3 compression adjustment. Our ride started with a climb and here the Climb setting noticeably increased the firmness of the fork, and made out of the saddle efforts less of a chore.

Reach the top and flick to Descend – the wide open mode – and the fork really opens up, devouring everything in its path. For everything else, the Trail mode is a good middle ground; you can happily leave it on this setting for an entire ride if you want.

As a system, it’s far easier to get your head around than the previous numbering and we suspect riders, no matter their previous experience with Fox products, will welcome this change.

On the trail, the 34 feels like the little brother to the 36 that it is. There’s a noticeable increase in stiffness over the 32, it’s far closer to the 36 and pushes close to that fork in terms of performance. The trails we rode consisted of lots of very fast flowing singletrack, rock gardens, big steps and roots of evil. Battering into corners as hard as we could we failed to unsettle the fork, it coped incredibly well. We didn’t think an extra 2mm on the stanchions would make such a startling difference.

The three settings are much easier to get your head around, but we suspect lots of people will just leave it in the middle setting as they did with the previous system. Riding a complete loop of the test trail in the Trail mode revealed that it’s a setting that works well up, across and down with few drawbacks.

34mm stanchions are noticeably stiffer than the 32 platform

Based on our first ride we’re highly impressed. The Fox 34 platform offers extra stiffness with less of the weight penalty of jumping to the 36 platform. That might just make it the perfect hard-hitting UK trail fork. We expect to see it a lot on 150-160mm forks in the coming years.

The new 34 is available for 26er, 29er and 650B/27.5in bikes. Here’s the full line-up and claimed weights:

26 Float Factory FIT CTD – 160mm – 4.30 lbs
26 Talas Factory FIT CTD – 160mm – 4.49 lbs
650B Float Factory FIT CTD – 160mm – 4.38 lbs
650B Talas Factory FIT CTD – 160mm – 4.57 lbs
29 Float Factory FIT CTD – 140mm – 4.49 lbs
29 Talas Factory – FIT CTD – 140mm – 4.68 lbs

Price: £949
More information: Fox 34 forks

What Fox says about the 34 fork

The 34 platform is now available for 26 inch wheels and has extended to 160 mm of trail-eating travel. Each FLOAT and TALAS is equipped with a 15QR thru axle system and a 1.5-inch tapered steerer and crown.

Weight: Starting at 4.30 lb / 1.95 kg
Travel: 6.3 inches / 160 mm
Steerer: 1.5 in. taper aluminium
Lower leg: 15QR thru axle system, post style disc brake mounting

Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre is hosting the 2012 Cycle Show this weekend. We went along for the trade-only day yesterday and went hunting for hidden gems among the obvious wares from Trek, Specialized and the other big boys.

Shows like this remind us how far the bike industry pendulum has swung back to skinny tyres in the last ten years. Today’s shows may not be dominated by mountain bikes, but there was still plenty of fat tyre stuff to look at and we unearthed a few hidden gems by our well-known technique of desperately begging our mates to show us something we hadn’t already seen.

Here’s a few of them, and don’t forget the gallery, where you’ll find lots more.

It wasn’t on display, but Dan from Marzocchi importer Windwave unboxed it to show us: the Corsa SL 29in Carbon fork from Marzocchi boasts nickel-plated stanchions, a deep brace for rigidity and a one-piece carbon fiber crown and steerer.

In a hidden office, down a corridor, with a sign on the door saying ‘beware of the scorpions’, Raleigh had this machine from Haibike. This is the German brand raced to Olympic silver by Sabine Spitz and Raleigh will be importing them from next year.

X-Fusion’s new Hilo SL post is claimed to weigh 100g less than the company’s previous model at 450g. We didn’t have scales with us but it felt not much heavier than a typical mid-grade OEM post.

Intrepid Apparel had a well-recieved new gilet in very light and soft stretch fleece. Jason from Intrepid was just back from taking the Interbike show by storm, though he says Americans just don’t understand why you’d wear a gilet.

Green is a bit of a miniitrend this year. Specialized are on board with one of our must-rides for 2013, the latest version of the Camber trail bike.

To go with your green Camber, how about a matching Tactic helmet, sir? Considering how similar it is to Specialized’s high-end helmets, the Tactic is a serious bargain for 55 quid.

650Bold as love? Raleigh was showing a completely revamped range of Diamondback mountain bikes and the development of the new range is ongoing, as this 2-14 roto 27.5/650B version of the Axis shows.

Trek is still offering top-flight 26ers like the Elite 8.9 hardtail with full Deore XT group, Fox fork and Bontrager Race Lite wheels on a lightweight aluminium frame and with a very cheery paint job.

The UK arm of bike maker Scott Sports spent last week travelling the country showing off its 2013 range to dealers. Bikemagic caught up with the good folks from Scott at the High Wycombe show to get an insight into the range highlights.

With 150mm of rear travel, the Genius 7XX series bike have 650B/27.5in wheels. The five-model range implies Scott thinks the intermediate wheel size has legs.

Scott’s big news is the Genius 7XX range of 150mm suspension bikes. The range comprises five bikes with 650B/27.5in wheels, three in carbon fiber and two in aluminium, and Scott claims the top carbon bike, the Genius 700, has the lightest 150mm travel frame available. There are also 29er versions of all five bikes, with 130mm of travel.

Incidentally, Scott has a new model naming convention. The numbers indicate wheel size (9XX for 29ers, 7XX for 27.5in/650B and 6XX for 26-inch wheels) and position in the range from X00 at the top. The Genius 700 SL is the top model 27.5/650B Genius, then, while the Scale 970 and Scale 670 are the value end of the race hardtail range, in 29er and 26-inch respectively.

The new Geniuses use the linkage and push-shock design Scott introduced on the Spark, abandoning the pull-shocks of old. Scott says the Dual Air Spring shock is more tunable than the old Equalizer2 shock, and its position in the frame means it’s better protected from flying crud.

Like many manufacturers Scott has run into the limitations of wheel travel on 29ers and has settled on 650B/27.5in as the solution. There are both 29er and 650B/27.5in versions of the Genius, with 130mm and 150mm of travel respectively. (The 185mm travel Genius LT remains a 26er.)

The latest version of Scott’s Twinloc lever is longer to make it easier to use.

Scott has an extensive explanation of the thinking behind the size choice on its website, but it boils down to keeping the ride and handling characteristics right. To make a 150mm travel bike with 29-inch wheels would require a longer wheelbase and other design compromises that Scott wanted to avoid.

There’s a lot more to the new Genius models than just wheel sizes though. Scott has improved its three-position suspension travel technology, which gives you a lock-out option and two different amounts of travel for riding and descending. Not only can fork and shock be adjusted from the same switch, but there are different damper settings in the Nude2 rear shock for each of the two travel lengths.

All the pivots have been made larger compared to the Genius’ previous bearings and the linkage is a single piece for improved rigidity.

The front subframe is moulded in one piece in Scott’s IMP process and all the details are thoroughly modern: BB92 bottom bracket shell, internal cabling, Chainblocker plate and ISCG mounts, interchangeable drop-outs and post mount brakes on the chainstays.

Like a lot of Scott’s bikes for 2013, the Geniuses use predominantly Shimano component sets. Phil Stevenson says Scott were not happy with other suppliers’ brakes, so went with Shimano for stopping performance.

If all this talk of a new wheel size gives you a headache, scroll down to the bottom of the page for  a bit of – we hope – useful explanation of what’s going on.

Gear and clothes: Syncros flies again & more

The Syncros parts range includes some very light saddles, like the carbon-railed TR1.0 here at a claimed 170g.

In January of this year, Scott bought the Syncros brand name from Ritchey, who owned it since 2003 after it underwent a tortuous journey from its Canadian roots thorough various hands.

Scott’s 2013 bikes use plenty of Syncros-branded components, including wheels, bars, stems and seaposts. It looks very much as though Syncros will become to Scott what Bontrager is to Trek, a good-quality house brand for components and accessories. Welcome back.

Scott won an award at Eurobike for the AMT jersey and the matching shorts.

Scott won an award at the Eurobike show for AMT jersey and shorts, which are super-lightweight and easy to pack. There’s also a matching light jacket that weighs a claimed 60g.

Scott’s new Lin and Taal helmets (this is the Taal) feature MIPS, a cradle design that heklps absorb angled impacts.

Anyone who’s ever fallen off a bike knows you rarely land directly on your head in the way simulated by helmet standard tests. Rolling and rotational impacts can do severe damage to your brain, according to the inventors of a helmet design called Multi-directional Impact Protection System (MIPS) that Scott has adopted for two of its helmet models.

In a MIPS helmet, the internal cradle grips your head, but the outer shell can move slightly to absorb rotational impacts. You’ll find it on Scott’s lin and taal helmet models.

Scott’s new Leap eyewear have wide, curved lenses for an uninterrupted view.

For the space between your helmet and your nose, Scott has some new cycling eyewear in the form of the Leap wrap-arounds. They’re available in various dark-lens options, with clear lenses for dark conditions and with photochromic lenses for those days the weather can’t make up its mind.

650B/27.5inch wheels & tyres: what you need to know

There are now three mountain bike wheel and tyre sizes duking it out. Reports of the death of the venerable 26-inch wheel are probably premature, but the wheel size we’ve known since the 70s is definitely under threat.

The danger man is the 29-inch size that’s become popular over the last few years. This uses the same rim size as road bikes, known as 700C or, if you like techie designations, ISO 622mm.

That number is the size of the rim where the tyre sits. Add a 50mm tall tyre and you get a wheel 722mm across in total. There are 25.4 millimetres to the inch so that’s about 28.5 inches in old money, though everyone rounds it up to 29.

A 26-inch mountain bike tyre is ISO 559mm. Add our 50mm tyres and we get 659mm which is almost exactly 26 inches.

Some designers think that 29-inch wheels are just too big, especially for smaller riders and longer-travel bikes. They’ve picked up an old French wheel size – 650B – as a happy medium.

A 650B wheel is ISO 584mm, so actually yields a wheel and tyre combo 27 inches across. However, we’re seeing plenty of fatter tyres on these bikes, so they do end up about 27.5 inches.

The claim is that 650B/27.5in gets you some of the faster-rolling advantage of a 29-inch wheel without as much of the extra weight. If you’re a designer trying to make a long-travel bike it also means you can achieve that without the bars ending up too high, or the wheelbase too long.

Nobody seems to be 100 percent sure what to call these wheels and tyres. The French designation 650B doesn’t mean much to anyone but tyre nerds, but “twenty-seven point five inches” doesn’t trip off the tongue so much as fall on its face and break its nose. One German manufacturer we were talking to recently pointed out that “sechshundert fünfzig beh” was clunky too.

We’re therefore hedging our bets and going with 650B/27.5in.

The Bikemagic crystal ball looks pretty murky when we try and predict the future of wheel sizes, but if you force us to make a prediction, we’d say 650B/27.5in is going to carve a niche in longer-travel bikes, and 29-inch is going to dominate hardtails and shorter-travel rigs.

The new Mallet downhill pedal is bigger and beefier than last year’s skinny incarnation, but still fairly light at a claimed 479g.

Probably most notable for British trail riders are the new Mallet pedals. Crank Brothers’ gravity riders asked for a pedal with a wider platform than the previous narrow Mallets with their polycarbonate hybrid bodies. The broad, beefy Mallet (which by our counting is version 4 of the design) is the reply.

As well as a wider body, the new Mallet has a longer axle to provide clearance for bulkier BMX-style shoes favoured by downhillers and riders who like to be able to walk comfortably when they get off the bike.

The body is extruded and machined aluminium, and with a simple perimeter cage, it’s the least fussy Mallet design yet. There are eight grub screws each side for grip and the four0sided Crank Brothers mechanism nestles in the middle, as ever.

All-mountain wheels with carbon rims were a Eurobike mini-trend. Crank Brothers is on board with the iodine 11 wheels.

Carbon fiber wheels aren’t just for racing any more as everyone looks for ways to save weight on do-everything bikes, and word spreads about the ‘quiet’ ride of carbon rims. Crank Brothers is in the fray with the new Iodine 11 rims which boast a 21mm internal rim width and a claimed weight of 1550g.

While some high-end wheel makers have all but abandoned 26inch wheels, Crank Brothers’Andrew Herrick says they still have plenty of demand for the original mountain bike wheel size, especially from riders looking to upgrade their existing bikes.

New Crank Brothers Gem S and Gem L. Plastic bodies and double-ended valves are gone.

On a smaller scale, Crank Brothers has completely revamped its range of mini-pumps – one of the company’s original product lines. The frankly slightly downmarket plastic bodies of the old pumps are gone, replaced with gleaming anodised aluminium, and the twin-port head has been replaced with a single port design that works with presta or schrader valves.

Crank Brothers admits that the twin-port design was confusing – we could never remember which way the switch was supposed to go either.

The new pump line falls into two categories, the simple, inexpensive Gem series, and the premium Sterling pumps with optional gauges.

Crank Brothers Speedier Lever has a built in knuckle guard so that when a tight tyre finally comes lose you don’t skin your fingers.

If you struggle to get tyres on and off, Crank Brothers new Speedier Lever might be the answer. Its loop handle gives a firm grip and the knuckle guard protects your skin when a tight tyre finally lets go.

At the other end there’s a lip to help lever tyres on to the rim.

We’ve had a quick go with a Speedier Lever and it’s definitely easier to use than a regular lever – worth adding to your tool kit.

More information from Crank Brothers

Crank Brothers wheels and accessories are available in the UK via 2Pure

Look’s S-Track pedal, launched at Eurobike today, boasts improved mud clearing and easier entry and exit according to Look. And you can turn it into a platform pedal easily.

Look claims two main features for the S-Track: the largest pedal-cleat contact area of any clipless system, and a bolt-on platform, called the Cage, that turns it from a compact, cross-country style pedal to unit with more support for your foot.

With the standard cleat, the S-Track has 460mm^2 of contact area between the cleat and the stainless steel skid plate in the pedal. But bolt on the optional Cage platform and that increases to 870mm^2, so you can run softer shoes or ride unclipped more easily.

The S-Track has a torsion bar cleat attachment rather than a spring, which Look says makes for easier entry and exit and better mud clearance.

In fact, the S-Track has clearly been built with mud-clearance very much in mind; even the cleat has mud-clearing channels. We predict lots of heated forum conversations about just which pedals do the best job of clearing the gloop.

The Look S-Track with Cage in place.

Speaking of the cleat, which Look calls a Dynamic Cleat System, it has elastomer pads which both help it stay in place on the pedal and cushion the entry for a slightly softer pedalling feel. Looks says the cleat will Just Work with the pedal with no tuning, but if you want to fine-tune the contact with the Cage platform, there are spacers in the box to fit between sole and cleat.

There will be three versions of the S-Track pedal, and two variants of the Cage, available in november. At the moment all we have is pricing in Euros.

The basic S-Track has a chromoly axle and composite body and deflectors, and will retail for €59.90.

Next up, with aluminium deflectors, a better grade of chromoly axle that Look calls chromoly plus and a carbon reinforced body, the S-Track Race will be €129.90.

At the top of the range, for weight-weenies, S-Track Carbon Ti costs €249.90 and has a carbon fiber body and deflectors and a titanium axle.

The two Cage variants will cost €19.90 and €59.90 respectively for composite and aluminium.

Check out the gallery for more pics and tell us whether you want a modular, mud-clearing pedal in the comments.

The Nukeproof Mega TR is one of two new Nukeproof Mega models. With 130mm of rear travel and 150mm up front, it’s intended as a burly trail bike that excels downhill but can still be ridden back up.

The annual Eurobike trade show and jamboree is underway in Friedrichshafen Germany, on the shores of the Bodensee.

After a planes, trains, boats and automobiles trek across Europe, the Bikemagic krewe had a quick jog round the opening day Demo today and a few things caught our eye, in particular some beefy new trail and downhill bikes from Nukeproof.

Lots more tomorrow, but meantime, here’s a gallery of things we spotted today. Check out Stevens’ take on a super-light rigid 29er, Polygon bikes from an unexpected new player, Indonesia, nifty details of Ritchey’s Superlogic stem, and a bike that shows gearboxes aren’t just for downhilling. Enjoy!

Get in touch with your inner Jaroslav Kulhavy when the national cro0ss-country series holds its final round at Hadleigh Farm, Essex. Image: Phil O’Connor/British Cycling

The choice of venues gives UK riders a chance to race on two world-class mountain bike courses, says British Cycling.

The five round British Cross Country Series includes races for riders from under-12s to over-60s and remains the pinnacle of domestic mountain bike competition.

All events have been submitted to the UCI for classification, allowing British riders the opportunity to qualify to race world cup events.

The format for the series weekends will be unchanged from 2012, with practice on Saturday and racing on Sunday. Online entries will open later in the year and there will be an early bird discount for the full series.

The 2013 British Championships will serve as a test event for the 2014 Commonwealth Games. The building of the planned trails at Cathkin Braes, Glasgow is already well under way and is due for completion later this year. The Championships will be run by Scottish XC in collaboration with Scottish Cycling and Glasgow City Council.

Venues

After the familiar season opener at Sherwood Pines, the series visits Cornwall for the first time. The Fully Sussed team of Jay and Maddie Horton are the local promoters at the United Downs site near Redruth, which offers a huge variety of all-weather trails. You can get a flavour of what’s in store by viewing the video of their regional event earlier this year.

Round three in June returns to Hopton Woods in Shropshire, in partnership with Pearce Cycles, while July’s fourth round sees a return to the popular Margam Park in South Wales.

2013 British Cross Country Series

Round 1: 24 March – Sherwood Pines, Notts.
Round 2: 28 April – United Downs, Redruth, Cornwall
Round 3: 2 June – Hopton Woods, Shropshire
Round 4: 7 July – Margam Park, Port Talbot
Round 5: 18 August – Hadleigh Farm, Essex

2013 British Cross Country Championships: 20-21 July – Cathkin Braes, Glasgow

For more information see the British Cycling website.

Exposure’s Reflex Mk 1 light adjusts its brightness according to your speed.

The flagship of the 2013 Exposure range the Reflex Mk 1 puts out a claimed 2,200 lumens from its three XML LED emitters – more than the previous top-of-the-range Six Pack –  but at 252g weighs less than 2012’s number two model, the Maxx-D.

But more light and less weight isn’t the whole story, welcome though that is in any light. Exposure has built two very clever new features into the Reflex Mk 1.

The first is Reflex Technology, which uses a combination of accelerometers and temperature gauges to estimate your speed and therefore how much light you need. Because the Reflex has an aluminium body that reacts quickly to cooling from air flow, John Cookson of USE says that this gives a usefully accurate indication of your speed.

“There’s been lots of product development time in this,”  John tells Bikemagic over the phone from Exposure HQ in West Sussex. “Lots of test runs with a back up light on the handlebars just in case.”

No need to remember what the functions do; they’re summarised on the body of the light.

“We’ve now got it working really well, to the point where you almost don’t notice it happening as you ride. You crest a hill and start to accelerate and the light just brightens so you can see where you’re going. Get to the bottom and slow down and it dims to conserve battery power.”

As well as reacting to your riding speed, the Reflex Mk 1 can be set to behave differently according to the type of riding you’re doing. Exposure calls this Optimised Mode Selector (OMS) and it provides no fewer than 11 different modes that give run times from 2 to 36 hours for a range of uses from commuting to dark-of-the-moon off road night riding.

To set the mode, “you don’t need a USB cable or anything like that,” says John. Instead, you switch mode with a single button on the back of the light, and a numerical display tells you which one you’re in. You don’t need to remember what they are or carry round a manual either as there’s a simple list printed on the underside of the light.

Initially, only the Reflex light will get Reflex Technology, according to John. “It will no doubt
filter down the range in the future,” he says.

Numerical LEDs indicate the mode you’re selected.

Most of the 2013 Exposure range will get the OMS function though. “This will be in the range right down to the Joystick,” says John. “It’ll raise most of the maximum outputs by 25% and provide a better output selection to make the lights more adaptable to a number of potential uses.”

The Reflex Mk 1 will be available at the end of August.

For more information see Exposure Lights.

Three XML LEDs pump out a retina-searing 2200 lumens.

Genesis highlights include a full suspension model, the Grapil; a range of Genesis 29er hardtails dubbed Mantle, derived from the Genesis Core aluminium hardtails, and three steep 29ers, the High Latitude range.

On the Saracen side, the Zen trail hardtail ggets 650B wheels, the intermediate wheel size that’s currently making waves and might well be where the industry settles for longer-travel and all-purpose bikes that need to be a bit more nimble.

Among suspension Saracens, the biggest news is that after months of supply problems, the highly-regarded Ariel trail bikes will actually be available at last after months of factory supply issues.

Here are some of the highlights, and you can see lots more detail in the gallery.

Saracen Zen

Understated and stylish, the new Zen takes the old machine’s hardcore hardtail credentials up a wheel size to 650B. The complete bike, as seen here, will retail for £1599.99. 

Saracen Kili Elite

The Saracen Kili series goes big wheel with a move up to 29er rubber. This is the top model Kili Elite at £1449.99, with a custom-butted 6066 aluminium frame, RockShox Recon fork and Schwalbe Rocket Ron tyres.
One of the oldest model names in mountain biking, Kili refers to Kilimanjaro, the mountain Richard and Nicholas Crane rode up on Saracen bikes way back in 1985.

Saracen Ariel 143

With 140mm of travel, the Saracen Ariel trail bikes have been well-received – by riders who could actually get one. Supply problems should be sorted for 2013. This is the £3249.99 Ariel 143 with Fox shock, Shimano SLX gears and brakes and a bold new colour scheme.

Saracen Mantle

Mantle is the new Genesis range of aluminium-framed 29er hardtails that share DNA with the Core range of 26ers. This is the £1,299.99 Mantle 30 with triple-butted 6069 aluminium frame, RockShox Recon fork and Continental X-King tyres.

Genesis Grapil

Genesis adds a cross-country suspension bike to the range with the new Grapil. With 120mm of travel and geometry for a 140mm fork, the Grapil is intended to be a simple, versatile single pivot trail bike. Price TBA.

 Genesis High Latitude

The top model of another new line of 29ers, this is the £1,549.99 Genesis High Latitude 2×10 in Reynolds 520 chromoly.

 Genesis Vapour Disc

Fancy a bit of modern cyclo-cross action? Of course you do! Here’s the new Genesis Vapour Disc with a fat 44mm head tube, race geometry, carbon fork and, of course, Avid BB5 cable discs.
While Genesis has designed this as a raceable crosser, Dom Thomas realises people uses crossers as super-commuters and has kept it versatile with rack and mudguard eyes.

Want to see a whole lot more detail? Check out the full gallery, below