Better Than Expected

Summer Surprises

I was looking for some kind of way to tie three disparate product reviews together, but I already used up Ian Dury’s “Reasons To be Cheerful, Part 3” a few gift guides ago, so here we are instead. Here, specifically, are reviews of three things I’ve used this summer that have outperformed my initially skeptical expectations.

Fidlock Twist Bottle System

Let’s start with Fidlock’s Twist Bottle. Right off the bat, I had some trepidation about this. Proprietary systems always make me a little nervous, and when it comes to something as ubiquitous as water bottles, I tend to err on the side of the very traditional and opt for something that can be easily replaced at any bike shop or sporting goods store should my water bottle decide to jettison itself irretrievably mid-trail.

But let’s step back for a second and reinterrogate the old tried and true. The shape of water bottles is generally dictated by the need to hook into a water bottle cage. For the space that a bottle takes up in a frame, it loses valuable capacity because of the indent required for it to stay snug in its cage. Then there’s the fact that cages tend to play merry hell with the finish of bottles, which isn’t really a big deal unless you are afflicted with OCD. A lot of people are afflicted with OCD, myself conditionally included. Meanwhile, even after several decades of experimentation in cage shape and material, bottles still can get launched in rough terrain. Not always, and this can be highly dependent upon cage brand and design, but it happens, even to the best of them. And finally, getting bottles out, taking a swig, then returning bottles to their cages quickly and efficiently while riding can be a challenge. If it’s easy, then that probably means your bottle is more likely to get bounced out in rough going. If your bottles never get launched, it’s probably much more difficult to pull, swig and replace in a rapid fashion because of that snug fit. Thus the case for reinterrogation.

Enter Fidlock. A plastic strip with two dime-sized magnets and a locator post bolts in where the old cage used to go. Then there’s a bottle that has a plastic receiver with two magnetic recesses in it and a pair of spring-loaded teeth that close around the nubs of the “cage” magnets. Bottles are available in a range of sizes and shapes, from 450ml up to 800ml. By comparison, your garden variety Specialized Purist bottle is available in either 650 or 769ml capacities. There’s a decent range of Fidlock bottles that can fit even some of the more finicky front triangles, which is a plus. But still, little magnets and clicky bits just makes my inner caveman nervous. It should also be noted that all parts are replaceable, should a bottle, or a bottle mount, or a frame mount get damaged. For a whole lot of photos and a much deeper dive into the how and what of Fidlock, AJ ran a very comprehensive look 3 years ago.

I’ve been riding the 750ml and 800ml bottles for a couple months now, and I gotta admit, they work. It is much quicker and easier to snag a bottle and relocate it while riding, and I have not yet lost a bottle in spite of intentionally taking the shittiest, roughest lines possible. Pricewise, it’s a roughly 50 USD buy-in per bottle and base combo, depending on size and style of bottle. That sounds steep, but I’m a King Cage diehard, and a stainless steel King Cage runs about 25 US. Stick a $15 Purist Mo-Flo in there and we’re getting close to a level playing field. Yes, it is possible to finagle some sort of cage/bottle combo for substantially less coin, but I lay money you’ll be losing bottles or breaking cages within a couple months.

I’d love to say I’m totally sold on Fidlock, have converted all my bikes over, and am now zealously preaching the gospel. Buuut, there are some bugs to report. The dust cap that fits over the drinking spout is a nice touch, but it gets in the way sometimes. There is no hard closure for the drinking nipple, meaning fluid can spooge out in rough terrain, sneak past the dust cap, and leave the downtube looking like a crime scene. We all have a different tolerance for this. In the grand scheme of things it’s not much different than what happens when using sub-par regular old fashioned bottles, but it’s also something that Specialized and Camelbak bottles absolutely do not do anymore. I like to use electrolyte mix in my bottles, and it bugs the living shit out of me when I have to clean crusted drink/dust scum off my bike. Finally, should you need replacement parts, they are priced high enough that it probably makes more sense to just pony up and buy a whole new bottle/mount combo.

Quibbles aside, I came away far more impressed than I anticipated. I’m willing to use these most of the time. The array of sizes and fits is welcome given the squeeze that some modern frames put on bottle mounting. The ease and speed of use makes bottles feel almost viable compared to backpack bladders again. If Fidlock improved the drinking nipple closure, and maybe priced spares a little more gently, I’d be sold completely. Meanwhile, whenever I use a traditional bottle and cage now, it feels clumsy and weird. Go figure. Or go Fidlock.

Leatt 1.0 Trail Shorts

So, I requested these shorts because the several year old Specialized Atlas shorts I had been riding were finally falling to pieces, but I was expecting to be underwhelmed. One, I had not previously worn or even scoped out anything that Leatt makes. Two, I had, over the past couple years, found myself trying a few different brands of trail short only to come away bummed out about the quality, disappointed at the weight, or completely horrified at the sticker price. I want something light, durable, and moderately affordable. Doesn’t seem like much to ask.

These Leatt 1.0 Trail shorts, I am happy to report, check all three boxes. They are lightweight, which is an important consideration in summertime. They are simply constructed and just a little bit stretchy – there’s a button and hook closure and a fabric closed fly where a zipper would usually be, a basic Velcro/elastic waist cinch does the job of tightening them up, and there are only two zippered side pockets (big enough for a modest sized phone, one pocket with an elastic key loop sewn in) and they are each sewn all the way into the short ­– with very few frills or extra bits tacked onto them that inevitably either add weight or fall apart. Retail cost for a pair of these shorts – including a highly breathable removable inner liner with a thin chamois – is a very reasonable 75 USD.

They’re really comfy. The dual density chamois is just padded enough to do the job and otherwise stays out of the way, and the inner liner elastic is wide and supportive. Liner and shorts hook together with a loop and snap setup that also plays well with the loops on my usual go-to Specialized SWAT bibs, and the outer short is otherwise well enough supported that it can play well with the inner or bib short of your choice without slipping around all over the place. Cut is knee length and slim, but there’s room for light knee pads, and the lower hem of the short is a welded seam instead of sewn, making for very unobtrusive pedaling. These have become my summertime daily drivers. I’m so stoked on the fit, feel and overall quality of the garment that I’ve ordered up a pile of other Leatt gear.

Sweet Protection Primer Helmet

Once again, this is a case of my cautious and finicky nature putting the cart way before the horse when it comes to expectations. I have one of those long oval fore-aft heads, and when I find a helmet that fits right, I am loath to change. I am also something of a MIPS skeptic; my experience over the years has been that it adds weight, girth, expense and an assortment of creaks and rattles to the whole helmet wearing thing. Being bald as an egg hasn’t helped. Since my head is usually in direct contact with the helmet liner and pads (unless I am wearing some kind of do-rag, in which case I often need to go up a size, and therefore consign myself to larger bobblehead syndrome), many of the various previous incarnations of MIPS have not been the most pleasant feeling against my scalp. The last helmet that fit me was my beloved non-MIPS POC Tectal. It disappeared in the great truck heist of 2023, and was replaced with a Smith Forefront. The POC was awesome. The Smith was/is decent, but it does not fit me quite as perfectly as the dearly departed POC. Thus, when the opportunity to try out this Sweet Protection Primer came about, my response was a cautious “maaaaaybe.”

Frabjous day, callooh callay, as the man said. From the moment I placed the woodland hued Primer on my head I was smitten. Wholly smote. The M/L size fits my alien head almost perfectly, and MIPS Evolve is one of the lowest profile, most unobtrusive variants I have ever seen. My scalp approves. No rattles, no creaks, bobblehead syndrome kept to a very tolerable minimum.

This is a 150 USD lid, and the quality of finish and materials is good enough at a glance to strut alongside the $200 and up price point helmets that I was wearing prior. The plastic shell wraps fully around the liner, and the integrated visor can ratchet through three positions to indicate the culturally appropriate amount of bro-aspiration while leaving the lowest position still high enough to avoid signaling hopeless kookdom to the world. This is a considerate and, in some circles, important touch. Sweet’s 360 Occigrip ratchet thingy is height adjustable and the ratchet band is comfortable against the back of my skull. The strap cradles clear my ears and the straps fit comfortably under my jaw, which is fortunate, since there is not much that can be done in the way of adjusting them. WYSIWYG. Stylingwise, between the slim half-shell dimensions and the understated colors, the Primer comes off much more on the Rebel Alliance end of the spectrum than it does the Empire, or even the Mandalorian, side of things. I’m old. I appreciate both Star Wars nerdery and unobtrusive helmets.

13 vents do the venting, and even though that number of vents is several fewer than on the Smith or POC that preceded it, the Primer has proven very tolerable on brain melting hot days so far. At 390 grams, it’s about 40 grams heavier than the POC and 30ish grams lighter than the Smith. Totally acceptable. According to Sweet, the Primer is also “pony tail compatible”. This does not apply to me, and just reading those words induces a strange feeling somewhere between nostalgia and resentment. Your mileage may vary.

As for things to complain about, I really can’t find much. It’s hard to achieve any of that sunglass perch style that other helmets seem to have built in to them, but since I’m still pretty new to that game I usually just resort to dropping my sunglasses on the trail and losing them. The visor does seem to be almost a little too easy to click between the three levels of bro-dom. Depending on your riding clique, that may or may not be an issue. Other than that, seriously, I got nothing to complain about. This is a damn good lid.