Bluegrass Vanguard Core full

Plus the top news and stories on BikeRadar this week

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By Luke Marshall

Published: August 18, 2023 at 7:00 am

Welcome back to First Look Friday. In case you missed any of our top stories this week, here you’ll find our highlights reel and some of the latest kit that’s landed on our desks.

There were a couple of big product releases this week. You can find out all about the new Canyon Endurace endurance road bike and how it rides. Also, don’t miss our guide to the best endurance road bikes.

RockShox also released its brand new Vivid shock with a newly designed damper. Expect to see this being specced on plenty of gravity-focused bikes going forward.

Robyn Furtado passed on the essential lessons she learned while riding her first 1,000km gravel race, Norway’s Bright Midnight.

Thursday brought reviews of Stan Portus’ long-term bike, the Ridley Noah Disc Essential and the Shokz OpenFit wireless earbuds, which deliver audiophile quality without compromising road safety.

If you’re like us and weren’t able to take your eyes off the World Champs, check out the five XC tech highlights from last weekend’s race. You can also read our take on whether cross-country hardtails’ days are numbered on the race circuit.

There’s plenty of advice on site this week, with our guide to how to dress for summer cycling and an explainer on kids’ bike sizes. Mountain bikers, we’ve got you covered too, with the best wheels and best brakes buyer’s guides.

There are also plenty more reviews and stories to enjoy on our site, our YouTube channel and the BikeRadar podcast.

Bluegrass has expanded its helmet line with a new lightweight, downhill-certified full-face helmet.

The Vanguard Core is designed for riders looking for full protection but wanting more breathability and less weight. It’s ideal for enduro riders, ebikers and anyone getting wild outside of a downhill race – although it can do that too.

The helmet meets or exceeds downhill ASTM F1952 and ebike NTA 8776 safety standards. This has been achieved through the use of a polycarbonate shell in-moulded around an EPS foam liner to absorb impacts.

The Core also features MIPS to help reduce the effects of rotational impact forces.

These features mean it scores a 5-star rating from Virginia Tech.

The helmet is a one-piece design with a fixed chin bar that is claimed to be able to deform up to 30mm in an impact.

The peak is also set in a fixed position, but is designed to break away during a crash so as not to increase rotational forces to the head.

There are 24 vents to help cool the Vanguard Core. The swappable cheek pads are C-shaped and designed not to interfere with the airflow through the chin guard.

They come in 25mm and 35mm thickness to help tailor the fit.

There’s a 360-degree cradle to keep the helmet in place, that tightens with a dial at the rear. This is also height-adjustable to fine-tune the fit. A Fidlock buckle locks everything in place.

There are four colourways to choose from, and our medium test sample weighed in at a very respectable 717g.

Saddles aren’t glamorous, but are one of the most important components on a bike to help improve your ride experience. As such, finding one that works for you is a must.

DMR’s latest Stage 2 saddle takes the brand’s learnings from Ben Deakin’s signature OiOi saddle and packages it in a more subdued design.

It follows the same contours as the OiOi saddle, with a 147mm width and 278mm length. It uses a low-profile shape and stubbed nose to enable easy weight shifts and maximise climbing space.

The depressed foam channel is designed to help relieve perineal pressure for long days out and the base features a flexible spine to improve comfort.

CroMo rails balance weight and strength, and the thin, with firm padding designed to make it a low-profile but comfortable perch.

The Stage 2 weighs in at a reasonable 276g, and for only £40, could be a smart choice for many mountain bikers.

Velocio, better known for its high-end gravel and road gear, has brought out a range of mountain bike kit. Here, we’ve got the Delta Trail jersey and Ultralight Trail shorts.

Claimed to be mountain biking’s most versatile shorts (a bold statement), the Ultralight Trails blend a minimalist feel without sacrificing fit or function. Using a polyamide and elastane fabric, they offer a very stretchy but tough material.

These are designed to be used with the brand’s ARCADE belt (included), so the shorts forego any waist-adjustment details. Fortunately, the belt is low-profile and elasticated.

There are no pockets on the front, but two laser-cut pockets on the sides of the shorts that hold essentials against the back of your legs when riding, with the goal of reducing cargo movement.

The panelling and stitching have been designed to improve comfort and minimise failure points. These are very lightweight at 201g with the belt (size small).

It’s a similar story with the Delta Trail tee, which is intended to improve riding comfort. It uses Polartec’s Delta fabric, which comprises a fine grid pattern. This is designed to lift the fabric slightly off your skin and creates airflow channels for better cooling and moisture evaporation.

The jersey offers a relaxed fit with an extended rear hem and articulated shoulders for improved riding comfort. This is a lightweight summer jersey and weighs in at 132g (size medium).

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Apidura’s new Packable Visibility Vest reinvents the hi-vis jacket as we know it and is claimed to provide 360-degree reflectivity. The eagle-eyed dot-watchers among you may have spotted this vest being tested at last month’s Transcontinental Race.

It is a legal requirement to wear reflective clothing at night in many countries, and a lot of audaxes and ultra-endurance races specify a certain grading of hi-vis in order to participate.

The jacket is certified to EN17353:2020, which is the European standard that covers protective clothing, and is stipulated for Paris-Brest-Paris (which starts tomorrow). You may have heard of the older EN1150 and EN2041 standards, which EN17353 incorporates.

There are few things worse than having to pull a heavy hi-vis layer on in place of your preferred cycling jacket and Apidura’s offering is designed to be both lightweight and fit neatly on top.

Apidura says its aim was purely to add visibility rather than warmth or waterproofing.

Adjustable straps with eight positions are said to allow an optimum fit for a wide range of body types and the vest packs down neatly into its own pocket. My minimal size-small/medium sample weighs 101g, 9g less than the claimed weight.

Technical writer

Luke Marshall is a technical writer for BikeRadar and MBUK magazine. He's been working for both titles since 2018 and has over 20 years of mountain biking experience. Luke is a gravity-focused rider with a history of racing downhill, previously competing in the UCI Downhill World Cup. Educated to a degree level in engineering and with a penchant for full-throttle speed, Luke is more than qualified to put every bike and product through its paces to bring you informative and independent reviews. You'll most likely find him on a trail, enduro or downhill bike riding the off-piste tracks around south Wales and the south west of England. He often makes an appearance on BikeRadar's podcast and YouTube channel.

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