Rounding up some places to sit and ways to haul gear on everything from your commute to your next adventure we have some new highlights from Brooks, Restrap & Silca. New Cambium saddles get organic & lighter, plus a couple of new urban backpacks. Then Restrap releases new dry bags, saddle bag, rack collabo, plus actual weight of Silca’s upcoming Sicuro titanium bottle cage…
Brooks Cambium Organic Light rubber saddles
Brooks has added a new family of saddles to their Cambium rubber saddle line-up with the new Cambium Organic Lights. Using the same molded, natural rubber construction as the rest of the Cambiums, these swap in an organic cotton fabric that holds it all together. Besides the new materials of the saddle top, the Lights drop the heavier steel or alloy bases of the standard Cambium and All-weather saddles, and replace it with a molded composite piece and lighter alloy rails.
The difference is that the new mid-width C17 Cambium Organic Light weighed just 371g on our scale (down from 445g on a same size All-Weather, up from 264g for the carbon railed version.) No word yet on official pricing, but it should fall closer to the 140€ standard saddle than the 200€ carbon one, and come in a few different color options & several widths.
Brooks Pickwick Reflective & Tech Linen backpacks
Brooks’ simply designed Pickwick urban bike backpack now has a new premium option available in leather with perforations to reveal full reflectivity below. Available in the same 12L or 26L sizes as the regular canvas packs, the Reflective Leather versions aren’t too easy on the wallet at 350/400€
Inside the snap-down, roll-top bags there is a bit of simple storage organization with a zip pocket and laptop sleeve.
On the light, natural fiber bag front, Brooks has new versions also made from a lightweight and water-resistant natural linen fabric they call Tech Linen. Both their Pickwick backpacks (above, in two sizes, 220/250€ respectively) and the Camden Tote are available in the new fabric, with on-or-off the bike features and a few colors.
Restrap dry bags, saddle bag, panniers & Pelago rack collaboration
We already knew that Restrap was working on producing their own drybags in-house for their saddle pack and handlebar pack harnesses. Now we know more why. Bringing the dray bags in-house gives them the ability to seam-seal all types (and more importantly, all shapes) of bags, which is something they have been wanting to do for a while. And it’s pretty much the last production step that was outsourced removing any scheduling hurdles.
So the resulting dry bags are now going to be tapered & shaped specifically to fit tightly into the harnesses, making them both easier to get in-and-out and more secure.
The new £45/52€ saddle bag was created to give waterproof storage and performance in a small, compact package. Equally at home on commutes or on more expedition rides where there is plenty of storage elsewhere on the bike, the roll top bag features 4L of carrying capacity.
Last autumn we got an early preview of Restrap’s upcoming front pannier bags to fit on front racks, but before those are even quite ready they will have a paired set of rear panniers as well. The rear bags will share a similar construction, with the same quick release rack mounting, but here with a simplified wide-opening roll-top waterproof design.
Restrap had been working on producing their own front rack, but realized that a collaboration with Pelago and their existing rack would lend a secure, lightweight & more affordable setup. To work with their quick release magnetic attachment points on the two sizes of Randonneur bags, Restrap developed a special bracket for Pelago’s standard rack.
Silca Sicuro titanium bottle cage
Details remain hard to come by on Silca’s upcoming Sicuro titanium bottle cage, welded by hand, by some laser automation (however that works.) But we do know that they are supposed to be available to order any day. And now we know how much the tubular ti cages weigh – 29g on our scale.
