A Review of the Best Bike Gear

from Team Endurance Nation

In addition to a great bike fit, there is a lot of gear on the market. Endurance Nation athletes are no strangers to testing out bike gear, and what better way to get a leg up on the competition than to know what to purchase? These products are tests from real, non-sponsored athletes.

We recently asked our athletes a fairly broad question: “When it comes to your bike, what is your favorite gear? Whether it is for the actual bike, the bike itself, nutrition, how you carry things, safety, kits, etc…”

Safety

• Bontrager Ion Pro RT Front Bike Light
• Knog Lights
• Turn signal helmet This helmet is sure to make sure traffic around you know where you are going. With a turn signal flashing arrow!
• Garmin Varia Rearview Radar – helps with situational awareness of cars coming up from behind, with a loud beep and visual representation of traffic
• Garmin Varia Vision – lets me follow a few key metrics (e.g., current power, lap power, lap time) and Varia Radar traffic info without glancing down at my bike computer

Fuel

• Xlab Torpedo Versa 500 BTA hydration system – aero and easy to refill. Maybe the best feature, the computer mount puts the bike computer well out front where it is easy to see. I did replace the bottle cage with a Gorilla cage for a more secure hold
• DarkSpeedWorks Speedpack 483D bento – simple, aero attachment with bolts to top tube; good capacity and easy to access mid-ride

Speed

• Wax Chain
• Silca latex tubes – really any latex tubes will get you to lower rolling resistance, better comfort, and flat resistance, but Silca’s (made by Vittoria) supposedly have even lower resistance, and they leak air more slowly than most latex
• Tririg Omega X brake – recently installed this on the front for the aero benefits, but I have also been very pleased with its braking performance and ease of adjustment

General Ride Gear

• A miniature patch kit (Park Tool GP2)
• A tire boot (Park Tool TB2)
• An 11-speed quick connector chain link
• A Presta-Schrader valve adapter
• Specialized Emt 12 bike tool with chain break
• Xlab Aero Pouch 300 – convenient, aero storage for a flat kit. Mine is connected via a Delta 400 and Torpedo cage (best not to use a very strong cage or the bottle is hard to get out)

• Spectrum Rudy Helmet comfort, protection, and lightweight – and now, three different sizes and did lots of ventilation.

Comfort

• Chamois Creme – Zealios One of the best we have tried and comes in small packets easily put in jersey pockets for that pit stop.
• Castelli Bike Bibs – Comfortable and durable, basically all we need from a bib!

Let us know what you would add to this list and why. We value all opinions and the best way to make sure we are all safe and prepared is to take in all advice.