Gear Bracket Challenge

Alright folks! It’s time to close out the year with a few best gear of the year recommendations. Instead of just picking, we’re going to let you, the people, decide the winners.

Working with a few different bike-friend networks, and a few industry friends – informed with our own taste-level and focus on road/gravel/cross with one foot in the MTB world – we ran a survey last week to rank a few products on their merits.

We landed on 16 entrants to the bracket based on the results of our 2019 Gear Survey.

1. Abbey Tools Toolbox
   This thing is a > $1,000 toolbox. It has all the most essential tools from Abbey’s catalogue, to which the’ve added their selections from other great tool-makers, all packed in a Pelican case using neat Kaizen foam. Includes nearly everything you’d need to field-service a bike, and with a few bleed- and tubeless-oriented additions, basically everything you’d need to build a bike from scratch.
   
   Strengths: Unassailable quality
   Weaknesses: Expensive!
   

2. Sram ETAP AXS
   Probably the best cycling product launch of the year, if not ever. Wireless options for flat bars, gravel, road, cross. Powermeters. Crazy new designs. Clutches. A new standard for integration inside a flexible set of options.
   
   Strengths: Tons of social-media love; legit step forward for wireless; 1x
   Weaknesses: Expensive, proprietary
   

3. Donnelly PDX WC
   Take one of the best tread patterns in cross, and give it better tubeless performance, a true UCI-legal 33c width, and gum sidewalls…all while knocking off 100g per tire. We love these things – they almost cancel out every advantage tubular had over tubeless.
   
   Strengths: Light, grippy, fast, look great
   Weaknesses: Pretty darn specific to people who need a light, narrow CX tire
   

4. The EF kit
   This is a product that none of us should really be buying, but we included it in the list because it had an impact on the cycling design world. It’s EducationFirst’s pro team kit, done by kit manufacturer and Walton Heir, Rapha. Totally fresh, totally new, and a leap forward for the category.
   
   Strengths: Gorgeous; worn by pros
   Weaknesses: Divisive; worn by pros
   

5. Cannondale SuperSix Evo
   Cannondale’s proper entrant to the aero category, designed around the disc brake, is pretty universally loved by everyone we talk to who has ridden one. Come for full integration, stay for the wide tire clearance and going fast all the time, even up hill.
   
   Strengths: Does what it says on the tin
   Weaknesses: We’re still doing press-fit, I guess
   

6. Shimano GRX
   This is a gravel-specific groupset, with 1x and 2x options, wide and useful gear ranges, and designed to clear the chainstays of wide-tire gravel bikes. Shimano quality and functionality, and works with (most of) your other Di2 stuff.
   
   Strengths: Great gear range; integration
   Weaknesses: “Hello fellow kids.” (Not as cool as ETAP)
   

7. Trek Supercaliber
   A FS bike that looks like a hardtail. It’s not that useful for that many people, but it’s light and it looks amazing. And it’s ridden by some of our favorite pros.
   
   Strengths: Great launch video
   Weaknesses: XC race bikes…are they cool anymore?
   

8. Schwalbe Pro One
   For most of us running road tubeless, these are the choice we make for racing and a fair bit of training. They offer superb cornering grip and low rolling resistance. They’ve been updated this year with even better rolling resistance. A decent eight seed.
   
   Strengths: Everything you know and love about Pro Ones, just better
   Weaknesses: Cullen dislikes them
   

9. Cane Creek Hellbender BB
   We haven’t tried this, and don’t know anyone who has, but it got in the selection on the merits of its design and promise: zero maintenance. The Hellbender uses a bearing cage made of an oil-impregnated polymer, so there’s nowhere for dirt or water to get into the bearings. That probably misses some of the tech talk they’d give you, but it’s close enough.
   
   Strengths: Fixes something we all need fixed
   Weaknesses: Hard to care much about a BB
   

10. Stan’s Notubes Dart
    Stan’s created a better, easier-to-use version of the Dynaplug that we all know and love. It promises better flat-fixing on the side of the road, which we’re all here for.
    
    Strengths: Works
    Weaknesses: Not the sleekest design we’ve ever seen
    

11. Giro Imperials
    These are just plain gorgeous shoes. 215 grams of stiff, meshy, Boa-d goodness. Get them in white, or don’t get them at all.
    
    Strengths: Good God just look at them
    Weaknesses: Who needs 200 gram shoes?
    

12. Bontrager XXX MTB Shoes
    Ellen and the rest of the Trek MTB women have been rocking these for a while now, so we were eager to see if the team-issue colorways made it into production. Bontrager’s shoes are legit, but in the $400+ shoe market, you’re competing against some really, really high quality product. Bontrager differentiates in this vain observer’s opinion on the fact that they offer a WHITE MTB shoe.
    
    Strengths: Great colorways, except for…that one. You’ll see what I mean when you click through
    Weaknesses: Pricey
    

13. Tyrekey
    Tubeless installs are a pain. This innovative lil’ guy makes them easier. Simple.
    
    Strengths: makes a thing we hate doing easier
    Weaknesses: Misspelled
    

14. Cervélo Aspero
    It’s light. It looks like a race bike. It fits 44s (700c) or 49s (650b). Amazingly: no dumb features to annoy riders or mechanics. Superb paint. Gravelmoms and Graveldads, rejoice.
    
    Strengths: Lots. A gravel bike that racers can love.
    Weaknesses: Honestly not that many. BBRight? We still want one.
    

15. Our write-in entrant: Niner’s full-suspension gravel bike
    My industry pals wanted me to include this. I…do not know if I agree, but, it sure is interesting. You want full suspension on a gravel bike, you got it.
    
    Strengths: Less capable and thus more fun than an XC bike
    Weaknesses: Hope you don’t do your own maintenance
    

16. ROKA CP & GP Glasses
    These are great, not-too-expensive, lightweight sunnies. They sponsored CRCA, so they get points for supporting local folks.
    
    Strengths: Not the big-name sunnies that your friends are running
    Weaknesses: Not the big-name sunnies that your friends are running

Those are the entrants. Hit up our ‘gram to vote.