Bit of stuff of the weekFinally the new bit of stuff is.......
Magura Durin Marathon forks.  I fitted these forks to my Whyte E120 a few weeks ago and have, so far, been really pleased with their performance. Last weeks(months!) bit of stuff wasAdjustment is via air, for preload, rebound on the bottom of the right hand leg, compression damping platform or 'Albert select' and a bar mounted travel adjust lever. The 'Albert select' on the right hand leg, I have found to be really good for off road climbing. Having previously used a Fox fork with a lockout, I was worried that I would miss it but have found the Albert select is actually better. Mainly due to the fact that the fork still works but stiffens up significantly which works superbly well in combination with the Fox RP23 rear shock adjustments.The bar mounted 'on the fly' travel adjuster is also very good, although it does take a bit of getting use to, I have only used it on quite steep climbs. For this type of climb the fact that it lowers the front end is great to stop the front end of the bike lifting which I had found to be an issue when attempting steep climbs. Overall the forks have worked well straight from the box, seem to be ideally suited to my bike, and therefore possibly any other 120mm travel bike, and are buttery smooth. The adjustments are quite easy to use and understand, unlike some Rockshox that I have found to be a little over complicated for a clubman type rider like myself. The only issue I have had has been an initial period of 'topping out' which has been overcome by adding more preload pressure than instructed for my weight. This hasn't affected the performance in any way and I actually found them a little soft with the pressure as per guide on the fork. A great fork, with smooth action and easy to use and understand adjustability. function 9/10 value 8/10 srp £ 599.00 our price £ 549.00 The Garmin Edge 705 HR & Cad  Having used a Garmin Edge 205 for a while I was aware of how useful the recording of ridden routes is, but due to a visit from the Garmin rep, you could say he did his job, I was pursuaded to upgrade to the 705.
On unpacking my new toy I, as most blokes, didn't read the instructions and just turned the 705 on and found it quite easy to go through the set up proceedure. Having input my details, being honest with my weight for once, the unit was ready for attaching to the bike, another easy activity.
Due to the fact I was riding the evening of the day I received the 705 I didn't have the time, or ability, to set up the heart rate monitor or cadence side and therefore only used the unit to record the route of that nights ride.
I found the larger screen on the 705 compared to the 205 much better and could set it to show upto 8 or so different types of measurement for the ride. I chose speed, ride time, average speed, total ascent, ride distance, elevation and, for when I set it up, heart rate. I almost found myself riding into or off of things I didn't want to just because I was checking out all the information displayed. It was great.
Once I had set up a Garmin connect account on www.Garmin.com it was easy to upload the ridden route and check it out in a few different forms including os map and google earth, even doing a 3d fly through of the route, wow!
All I need to do now is read the instruction manual which is actually on a cd so I need to stop writing this, as I can't multi task, and then I can use the heart rate and cadence functions.
I think, all in all, the Garmin Edge 705 is a great and clever piece of equipment that anyone who wants to take the cycle computer to the next level needs, the route recording and route guiding is very good, and it works really well in conjunction with memory map to give you accurate routing and guidence.
A great product, expensive but comes with a heart rate monitor, wireless cadence and full european road maps, so could be used for car sat nav if required.
function 9/10
value 7/10
A quality bit of stuff !
Our price £ 359.00
SRP £399.00 |