We Noticed: Oakley, Noxgear, DaHänger and Wattie Ink
Four products caught my attention and below I explain why I noticed the Oakley ARO7 helmet, the Noxgear Tracer360 high visibility vest, the DaHänger Dan storage bike mount and the Urban Assault speed suit from Wattie Ink.
Oakley ARO 7 helmet
Before the 2017 IRONMAN World Championships defending champion Jan Frodeno was spotted in a new aero helmet from Oakley and that caused quite a stir. By now several other pros have been seen with the new Oakley ARO 7 helmet including but not limited to Nick Kastelein, Holly Lawrence, Craig Alexander and Cameron Brown. Spotting Cam Brown in the wild actually got my mind back on this helmet and word has it that we regular folks can get our hands on one of them by February 2018. The ARO 7 comes with a Prizm Road and a Clear shield that attaches to the helmet via magnets and conforms to your head internally via a BOA closure system. Aerodynamic data is not publically available but aerodynamic and thermal regulation is promised. One could also surmise that Jan Frodeno who has spent lots of time and energy aero testing himself and his gear would not switch to a helmet that does not give him an advantage. And who knows maybe a white paper is forthcoming. The helmet Frodeno raced with in Kona was a fully certified prototype design that will be made public sometime in 2018.
Colors: Matte Black / Matte White
Sizes: n/a
Availability: February 2018
MSRP: $500
Noxgear Tracer360 visibility vest
With everyone (and that includes pedestrians, runners and cyclists) busy on their smartphones it is a scary time to be riding and running outside. One could thus argue then that if folks are not paying attention anyway that being visible is not that important. But that is actually a pretty lame argument in my view. More visibility is important and the Noxgear Tracer360 vest could be your newest and best friend along those lines. It is actually not exactly a vest, and according to Noxgear 40 lumens from two CREE® LEDs are piped around the entire body with flexible fiber optics – making you visible from over a mile in any direction. It only weighs 7oz and you can wear it when you run, ride your bike or when you walk your dog at night. And they actually do have a system for the dogs too. The Tracer360 system promises to be all season and rain proof so what is holding you back now?
Colors: Selectable multicolor flashing modes
Sizes: S / ML / XL
Availability: Now
MSRP: $54.95
DaHänger Dan bike storage mount
When I set up the “pain cave” in our house I really wanted the bikes to hang on the wall like pieces of art and I achieved that with the Cycloc Hero bike storage mounts. But there were several limitations with these mounts – Speedplay pedals do not work with them, and the original hardware is not up to the task. I made it work but needed something else for the other bikes.
Jürgen Beneke of MTB downhill fame recently introduced a new bike mount called Dan. Basically the figure that is holding the bike in place is called Dan. Beneke had already previously come up with a different bike storage system in 2014 called Shelfie, and he is thus not new to this game. His brand is called DaHänger. The Dan mount works with all common pedals and it is well built and came with proper hardware. Basically it was $100 well spent on these 2 mounts. It took no time to install them and now the last bikes in my home are mounted properly on the wall. The system is very sturdy and it looks sharp. I actually wish now that these DaHänger Dan mounts were available when I first built up the cave, because I surely would then have all 7 of our bikes on them.
The bike is mostly supported by the pedal hook, and the wheel brackets below serve to keep the tire dirt from the wall, and the bike level.
Colors: Red / White / Blue
Sizes: One Dan fits all
Availability: Now
MSRP: $49 (per bike)
Wattie Ink Urban Assault speed suit
People who watched the IRONMAN World Championships likely noticed the unique camouflage kits of Josh Amberger and Heather Jackson. Amberger who was first out of the water had plenty of airtime on that day in front of a worldwide audience. Jackson who battled hard with This speed suit is made by Wattie Ink in California and it is called Urban Assault.
“The design was a collaborative effort between Wattie, the design team and myself. Camo is always in but we wanted to do a new and different twist to a traditional camo. With my biggest sponsors being Herbalife 24 and Cannondale, we leaned my kits towards green but tweaked this year's kit a bit with a teal color way. We are also offering it in Joshie's (Amberger) more traditional army green color way,” said Jackson.
I am in general not a camouflage person, but this kit looks very good. And a fluorescent yellow or green colored helmet and matching fluorescent shoes would surely work well with the Urban Assault kit.
Colors: Various
Sizing: XS-XL M / XS-XL W
Availability: Now
MSRP: $399
Links:
– Oakley ARO7
– Noxgear Tracer360
– DaHänger Dan
– Wattie Ink Urban Assault
