The latest gear drops include a faster Liv EnviLiv aero road bike, a ready-to-ride steel gravel build from Officina Battaglin, and a limited-run Ornot sweater.
(Photo: Tom Joy Photo)
Published March 12, 2026 07:00AM
Liv ENVILIV Aero bike gets faster using a women’s aero dummy
Last week the women’s specific Giant brand, Liv launched an update to the premier aero bike in the brands’ portfolio. At a time when other companies have moved away from gender specific bikes, Liv is leaning into it. This bike isn’t about size or color, it’s about being fast and supporting women.
In this case, one of the ways that works is through aerodynamics. More and more it’s hard to squeeze any change in aerodynamics out of a bike after years of optimization. One way some brands approach the problem is through a systems approach. Not only wheels, tires, handlebars, but also the rider and that means an aero dummy. Women aren’t the same as men so Liv engineers built “Georgia,” a 3D-printed, fully articulating mannequin with moving legs to simulate how moving limbs disrupt airflow around the seat tube and rear wheel. The dynamic testing resulted in a bike that saves 8.62 watts —translating to about 1 minute and 55 seconds saved over 40 kilometers at race speed.Beyond the wind tunnel, that complete-system approach also hit the scale. The fourth-generation EnviLiv Advanced SL frameset dropped roughly 120 grams (a 7.7% reduction) while simultaneously bumping pedaling stiffness by nearly 15%.
(Photo: Liv)
A huge chunk of that weight savings—and the bike’s new silhouette—comes from the introduction of Liv’s Vector Integrated Seatpost. It completely ditches traditional seatpost hardware to smooth out the ride and create a more direct load path to the bottom bracket. They also widened tire clearance to 32mm and overhauled the front end with a new one-piece aero cockpit and a D-shaped fork steerer.
Curious how that integrated seatpost actually works, or want to see the exact geometry charts for the new sizing? Check the Liv website for more information.
(Photo: Officina Battaglin)
Officina Battaglin Milano gravel bike skips the custom waitlist
Italian framebuilder Officina Battaglin is well known for building one of a kind bikes. It’s a beautifully romantic concept until it’s time to scale up. Every custom builder faces this challenge at a certain popularity level and the only options are going uber expensive or compromising on fully custom. Officina Battaglin is choosing to keep things on the affordable side of the fence with the new Officina Battaglin Milano gravel bike.
With the launch of the new Milano, the brand is pivoting to something entirely different: a complete, ready-to-ride steel gravel bike that arrives fully assembled right out of the box. That doesn’t mean mass produced though. This new bike is faster to arrive but it’s still a hand built bike that’s made in Italy. Alex Battaglin describes it by saying “The Milano is a different kind of Officina Battaglin,” and going to explain “We wanted to offer a bike that gets riders on the road as quickly as possible, without compromising on where it is made or how it is built. Every Milano is still entirely made in Italy, and that was never up for discussion.”
To make it all work, the company invented a new production model. The Milano is still TIG-welded from custom double-butted Columbus steel but it’s assembled by builders the company refers to as “carefully selected local framebuilders from the Marostica area.“ Buyers will select from three color options and five sizes, then choose between Campagnolo Ekar GT (mechanical, €2,500*), Shimano GRX (electronic, €3,000*), and the Milano SRAM Rival (electronic, €3,500*).
The Milano is positioned as an option for “bikepacking, multi-day touring, and long endurance rides on both tarmac and dirt.” To support that you’ll find 700×50 tire clearance, dropper post compatibility, support for an additional 35kg of load, front and rear rack mounts, a third
bottle cage mount, a top tube bag mount, and triple-boss cargo mounts on the fork.
For more information visit the Officina Battaglin website.
(Photo: Ornot)
Ornot’s new Alpha Sweater is 50% lighter than your favorite fleece
San Francisco-based Ornot just dropped the Alpha Sweater as part of the brand’s “Special Projects” division. It’s the first time we’ve seen Polartec Alpha applied to the kind of casual, off-the-bike silhouette that Ornot nails better than anyone else. If you aren’t familiar with Alpha, it’s a wonder material that insulates by trapping air in a fuzzy layer of recycled fabric. That reliance on trapped air is the magic that makes it “50% lighter and more compressible than traditional fleece,” according to the brand.
Adding a bit of special sauce to this particular release, it is sewn by hand in California using 100% recycled premium deadstock fabric. The catch with deadstock is that once this current run sells out, this exact piece will never be made again.
If you want a highly versatile layer that moves seamlessly on and off the bike, don’t wait too long. More information available on the Ornot website.