Trickstuff's titanium brakes, Rondo's e-gravel bikeand the world's smallest Topeak shock pump
This week's Five Cool Things from e-gravel to high-end brakes.
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This week's Five Cool Things certainly come from the more niche ends of the off-road cycling spectrum. We've got a pair of very expensive brakes from Trickstuff, Rondo's e-gravel bike, and what might be the smallest shock pump in the world. There's also Fox's Koroyd knee pads and a handlebar that's built for compliance from OneUp Components.
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As always, let's jump into some of the week's top news, features, and reviews before glancing over those cool things. We kicked off the week with Bespoked 2025 as we highlight the best bikes from the world's premier handmade bike show. Then, Outride announced that it was auctioning Matt Beers' and Keegan Swenson's Cape Epic bikes to raise money for charity. Wrapping up the news, Sonder unveiled the latest addition to its range, the Falco – a 120mm alloy hardtail built to bring trail fun to an affordable price point. Oh, and Look also showed off its all-new Trail Roc pedals.
Reviews have been coming thick and fast with Ty delivering his verdict on Schwalbe's Albert Gravel Pro Radial tyre, rubber that features the brand's fancy Radial tech. Hunt's Proven Carbon XC Dynamo wheelset gets a serious 4.5 review for its excellent hub and freehub performance.
Suspension stems are an interesting space with several brands bringing their own versions to the market, but Vecnum's freeQENCE stem uses a parallelogram design that keeps the bar level as it moves through its travel. It got another 4.5 stars for its performance. Finally, Matt brings his thoughts on Guava's Spot Force AXS gravel bike, praising it for its speed, but not its stiff front end.
Rondo IOON CF1
£TBC
2025 rondo ioon.jpg, by Liam Mercer
Details about Rondo's e-gravel bike, the IOON are rather thin, but already, it has received a Design and Innovation Award for its design, functionality, and performance. What we do know is that it runs on Fazua's Ride 60 drive system and boasts Rondo's TwinTip fork, which provides a smidgeon of geometry adjustment.
Apart from that motor, all of the modern Rondo design cues are present, including the space-age-looking frame that was first unveiled on the RUUT, which does away with the straight seat tube we're used to seeing. Rather, it employs a more open design that we're betting adds compliance to the rear of the bike.
As for the componentry, again, Rondo is keeping its cards close to its chest, but we've got a full SRAM suite of shifting and stopping parts as well as a pair of carbon hoops wrapped with Pirelli rubber.
Trickstuff Piccola HD Titanium brakes
£1,100
2025 trickstuff piccola 5ct.jpg, by Liam Mercer
Trickstuff isn't known for creating budget-friendly brake sets. Rather, quite the opposite, and its latest Piccola HD Titanium is no exception. While the Piccola HD has been around for a little while already - a brake that combines the lightweight Piccola lever with the brand's four-piston C42 caliper – Trickstuff has brought what was a prototype lever blade to the market.
As its name suggests, it's a titanium lever blade, but it's 3d-printed. Trickstuff has chosen titanium for its all-out strength, resistance to corrosion and fracture, as well as its lightweight. Additionally, less material is required to achieve the same level of stiffness and robustness that you might find with aluminium, for example.
With that, Trickstuff claims a total system weight (front and rear brakes) of around 442g, whereas the front brake with an uncut hose and with fittings has tipped my scale at 193g.
Fox Racing Enduro Pro Knee Guards
£90
_MG_1622.jpg, by Liam Mercer
Built for enduro riding, Fox's latest Enduro Pro Knee Guards build upon the foundation of the outgoing pad by employing Koroyd inserts, rather than D3O. These pads get more than merely an updated insert, as it's more of a ground-up redesign that features a new 'floating' design that's said to increase mobility and comfort.
That Koroyd pad is held within a minimal sleeve and capped with Cordura for abrasion resistance. There's a huge silicone gripper at the top to keep the pad in place. Lastly, the Enduro Pro Knee Guards meet EN1621-1 Level 1 CE certification.
OneUp Components V2 Carbon Handlebar
£150
2025 oneup bar 5ct.jpg, by Liam Mercer
OneUp's original Carbon Handlebar is one of our all-time favourites owing to its blend of vertical compliance and stiffness along the steering plane. However, for OneUp, that wasn't enough as the brand has taken the bar back to the drawing board, claiming that the new V2 Carbon Handlebar is the most advanced carbon bar on the market.
As before, this new bar uses the oval bar design, but OneUp says it's now more compliant, so it should do a better job of fending off fatigue and arm pump. The bar also comes in more widths and more rises, so that's a 760 and 800mm width and 20, 35, and 50mm rises. Each size passes EFBE's Cat-Five Gravity Tri-Test, with the brand stating that it's approved for all kinds of riding.
Topeak Nano Shock Pump
£30
2025 topeak shock pump 5ct.jpg, by Liam Mercer
Is this the smallest shock pump on the market? Topeak's Nano Shock Pump is a shrunken version of the Microshock, which was already mighty minimal. Thanks to its small size, it's built to be slung into a bag or a jersey pocket for quick and easy suspension adjustments out on the trail, so it's ideal for those serial suspension fettlers.
Although it's only 13.5cm in length, it's not without all of the mod-cons - apart from a gauge. Its braided hose is rotatable, and it uses Topeak's Pressure-Rite valve, said to reduce unwanted pressure release when unwinding the pump from the valve. We're told it delivers 4.7cc of air per stroke and can inflate up to 300psi.
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