Gear Watch Wednesday is a weekly update on the latest mountain bike gear releases and products that Singletracks has received for test. Have gear news to share, or products you’d like us to check out? Email [email protected].
Vitus Bikes now available in the U.S.
The 100-year-old Vitus Bike brand has long been available for European customers and now it will be available for U.S. customers through a distribution site in Salt Lake City. Vitus is known as a value-driven direct to consumer brand with trail, enduro, and e-bikes starting as low as $1,700 for their trail bike.
- Price: Starting at $1,700
- Buy from us.vitusbikes.com and Chain Reaction.
Scott Lumen lightweight eMTB
The Scott Lumen is not a bike light, though it is a light bike, and batteries are included. Featuring the same integrated, hidden shock design as the new Genius and a compact motor plus battery, it sorta looks like a hardtail if you squint your eyes.
Like the Trek Fuel EXe, the Scott Lumen uses a TQ motor which is designed to be quiet and compact while offering a standard Q-factor for pedaling comfort. Scott says the light-duty trail bike offers 130mm of rear travel and weighs less than 35lb with a 360Wh battery.
Salsa updates Horsethief colors for 2023
Salsa updated their Horsethief trail bike with some striking paint updates and build options. The bike comes in two aluminum build options with Shimano Deore and SLX builds and then two carbon options: an SLX and XT build. The aluminum Deore build starts at $3,449, the same price as the carbon frame.
Canfield brings in new colors on Tilt and Lithium
Canfield Bikes, based out of Colorado’s Western Slope, has two new colors on their Tilt and Lithium bikes. The bikes are available in new “Rolling Chassis” options, which allows customers to add “steeply discounted” wheelsets from e*thirteen, Atomik, and RideFast Racing to frame and fork packages. Customers can then transfer their older groupsets to a new bike.
The Lithium enduro bike is now available in Gnarigold and Blue Velvet powder coats and the Tilt is available in Pinkle and Sandstorm powder coats.
Commencal picks up the T.E.M.P.O.
It’s been a while since Commencal has had a short-travel bike in its lineup (if they ever have?), and the new T.E.M.P.O. looks like a great way to get in the game. The all-new bike has 125mm of rear travel, a 140mm fork, and, naturally, is all-aluminum. The bike starts at $3,200 and that includes a helluva build: Spank wheels, a RockShox Pike fork, and a SRAM SX drivetrain.
- Price: starting at $3,200
- Buy from Commencal.
Giant brings a new Reign in 2023
Giant Bikes revised their long-standing Reign enduro bike. The new version will start at $3,600 with an aluminum frame with prices for builds going up from there with premium components and carbon frame options. The bike will have a three-position flip-chip, downtube storage, 29-inch wheels, and 160mm of travel with a 170mm fork. The bike is mixed-wheel compatible and should be available in early 2023.
- Price: starting at $3,600
- Buy from Giant dealers.
RockShox Flight Attendant Upgrade Kits
SRAM announced a new RockShox Flight Attendant automatic suspension system upgrade kit that works with select bike models and suspension setups. Each kit comes with the main fork hardware unit, a Rock Shox fender, DUB pedal sensor, battery, and battery charger. Upgrade kits are currently available for a handful Canyon, Specialized, Trek, and YT models and builds. Fork and shock not included.
- Price: Starting at $2,799
- Available from authorized SRAM dealers.
Insta360 GPS Action Remote update
Insta360 has a new GPS remote for their Insta360 X3, ONE R and ONE RS cameras. The Bluetooth 5.0 remote can be mounted to your handlebars and can wake the camera to start recording on one or more cameras. It also adds GPS location and timestamp data to your videos to produce a map overlay.
- Price: $79
- Buy from Insta360.
Warm up with TinCup’s 14-year-old whiskey
Vanilla, sugar cookie, caramel, and butterscotch. They all sound nice after a ride in the snow, right? TinCup’s latest Fourteener bourbon has notes of all those flavors and might be the worth keeping close for a warm up, whether it’s in the middle of a ride or right after.
The bourbon, named after Colorado’s tallest peaks is aged for 14 years in white American oak barrels, then cut to proof with Eldorado Spring water.
- Price: $70
- Available: TinCup, select liquor stores
