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Giro finale
Photo ©: Bettini


New Arrivals – August 3, 2006

By John Stevenson & James Huang

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Welcome to New Arrivals, a section showcasing the latest equipment that's landed on the Cyclingnews tech desk. Look out for reviews over the next few months when we've clocked up some saddle time with this stuff.

Ciclosport's HAC 4 Pro Plus
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Ciclosport HAC 4 Pro Plus computer

Ciclosport describes the HAC 4 Pro Plus as the 'ultimate data acquisition system'. That might sound a bit hyperbolic when applied to a mere bike computer, until you read the list of specs and capabilities and realise that this is no mere bike computer, but an altimeter, heart rate monitor, wireless bike computer, stopwatch and calorie counter with a USB interface that allows you to download your ride details to your PC.

If that weren't enough, the HAC 4 Pro Plus can be switched between two bikes with different wheel sizes and comes with a wrist strap so you can use it as a regular watch too, though that does sound to us like using a hydrogen bomb to demolish a garden shed. (Kidding - the idea is obviously that you can use the heart rate monitor for running and skiing etc.)

At AU$799 in Australia, and more-or-less currency-and-tax equivalent prices elsewhere, the HAC 4 Pro Plus is probably the most expensive bike computer around, without going to power-measuring or GPS functions, but it looks to be solidly built and to provide a huge pile of data for cycling numbers junkies./JS

More information: www.bikesportz.com.au; www.ciclosportusa.com; www.ciclosport.de

Orbea offers 29er users
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Orbea Alma 29er

Two-niner proponents were drooling over Orbea's new Alma 29 frame when it was but a rumor, if only because it represents a serious financial commitment to the alternative wheel size made by a major manufacturer. At 1300g for a medium size frame, they may be justified. The monocoque carbon fiber chassis utilizes some unique tube shaping, including a cartoonishly oversized downtube (with integrated fender, no less), Orbea's Four Point rear triangle, which is said to increase vertical compliance while also enhancing lateral rigidity, and some unusual dropouts. Our test bike weighs in at 24.05lbs/10.91kg without pedals and suggested retail is US$4400 with our decidedly premium parts spec./JH

More information: www.orbea.com; www.orbea-usa.com

Tifosi Fototec lenses
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Tifosi Optics Fototec eyewear

In the last couple of years we've seen a wave of new cycling eyewear with light-reactive lenses that get darker in bright sunlight and lighten when you go back in the shade. The idea isn't new - photochromic technology for regular glasses has been around for years, but early photochromic lenses darkened too slowly to be really useful for cyclists as we can find ourselves constantly dipping in and out of the sunshine, especially when riding off road.

Pictured here is the Forza model, and like all Tifosi Fototec glasses it's available with one of three lens types: 'backcountry orange', with 45-15 percent light transmission, intended for mountain biking; 'high speed red', with 35-12 percent transmission for road riding and the self-explanatory 'light night' at 85-19 percent transmission.

As we've come to expect from Tifosi, the Watsonville Georgia company's entry into the photochromic cycling eyewear fray is reasonably priced. Recommended retail for the Forza model is just $59.95./JS

More information: www.tifosioptics.com

In addition
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Gore cycling apparel

From the fabled land of waterproof and breathable nirvana comes a complete line of Gore Bike Wear cycling clothing. Included in our test wardrobe are Gore's Power Bib shorts, Xenon short sleeve jersey, and Thermo knee warmers, as well as its Helium vest, leg warmers and arm warmers made from their excellent Windstopper fabric. Topping it off is a pair of Gore-Tex cycling socks. Technical fabrics aside, a variety of cycling-specific features are also incorporated such as complex cuts and a stretch chamois.

MSRP for the shorts, jersey, and vest is US$99.99, US$89.99, and US$85.99, respectively, and the knee, leg, and arm warmers carry price tags of US$39.99, US$59.99, and US$45.99. Need the socks, too? Tack on another US$39.99./JH

More information: www.gorebikewear.com

Titus Modena

Titus Modena
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Stylish cut-outs
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As well as some of the most highly-regarded suspension mountain bike frames around, Arizona bike maker Titus also manufactures a range of road bikes featuring clever use of mixtures of metals and composites.

Titus' Exogrid and Isogrid bikes always attract attention at trade shoes for their striking combinations of titanium and carbon fiber in the frame tubes, and also for their slightly alarming prices - the titanium/carbon Vuelo frame, for example, retails for a shade under four grand. That's comparable with other super high-zoot frames, but for many of us it's still a rather wallet-clenching figure.

The Modena is Titus most affordable frame, and for its construction Titus uses perhaps the most 'traditional' metal/composite mixture: carbon fiber tubes with aluminium lugs. Nevertheless, this isn't just a bunch of carbon pipes lobbed into square-cut castings like such frames of yore. The Modena's lugs are nicely styled and tapered, with diamond-shaped cut-outs and a striking one-piece head lug.

The Modena frame comes with a Reynolds Composites Ouzo Comp fork and our test bike is built up with the new Shimano 105 group, Bontrager wheels, Continental tyres, FSA bar, stem and seatpost and Fizik saddle. Recommended retail for the bare frame and fork is $1360/JS

More information: www.titusti.com

Need a little bit extra?
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CeramicSpeed bearings

Michael Rasmussen, Tyler Hamilton, and other top pros have enlisted the services of Danish bearing manufacturer CeramicSpeed in search of that 'extra edge'. The silicon nitride loose balls and cartridge bearings, also offered in conjunction with FSA, are said to not only reduce friction, but are allegedly much more durable than standard steel bearings. We're augmenting our ceramic bearing test fleet (which already contains a FSA ceramic MegaExo bottom bracket) with a pair of ceramic bearing-equipped Tacx derailleur pulleys as well as a set of silicon nitride loose balls. If all goes to plan, we'll be able to produce our own set of friction measurements to see exactly what a handful of ceramic gets you in the real world.

If you must go faster, bring your checkbook: our test pulleys fetch US$130 while the complete set of loose balls for a pair of Dura-Ace WH-7801-SL wheels carries a price of approximately US$250./JH

More information: www.ceramicspeed.com

Formula’s new Oro Puro
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Formula Oro Puro hydraulic disc brakes

After a brief hiatus, Formula re-enters the ultra-lightweight hydraulic MTB disc brake market with what it claims to be the "most powerful two-piston brakes on the market". The Oro Puro features a two-piston, two-piece caliper paired with a compact aluminum master cylinder that includes an integrated tool-free pad contact point adjustment. A carbon fiber lever blade along with a full set of aluminum and titanium hardware brings the weight of the complete system to just 356g for a complete front assembly or 372g for the rear (including 160mm rotor, full-length hose, and all required hardware and adapters). Swapping in a 180mm rotor up front adds an additional 32g but the pimpy gold color comes standard regardless of rotor choice./JH

More information: www.formulabrakeusa.com; www.formula-brake.it