Hill climbing and brand-new winter kit — there’s a definite autumnal feel to this week’s Tech of the Week round-up. We’ve also got time for the UCI sticking its oar in on an illegal set-up, this time an upside down seatpost, so some things remain year-round joys. There’s a lot to get through, so let’s dive straight in.
Will this 5.4kg bike win this year’s National Hill Climb Championships?
Andrew Feather 5.4kg hill climb bike (credit: Andrew Feather/Strava)
Four-time national hill-climbing champion Andrew Feather has had a busy week of interviews having made headlines around the world when he beat a certain Tadej Pogačar up a 15km mountain last Sunday (albeit with a five-minute head start and with the world champion in a relaxed mood the day after winning Il Lombardia).
Feather is looking to reclaim his British hill-climbing title from last year’s men’s winner Harry MacFarlane and teased some pictures of a lightweight bike on his Strava ahead of next weekend’s event on Bank Road in Matlock.
Andrew Feather 5.4kg hill climb bike (credit: Andrew Feather/Strava)
That’s 5.42kg to be precise… and yes, he’s sticking with disc brakes…
The perfectly named hill climb extraordinaire is on the Swiss-Italian bespoke carbon bike manufacturer SWI’s Leve (that’s ‘light’ in Latin apparently), a custom Unishell Monocoque frame that is produced via one uninterrupted carbon shell formed in a single mould, something SWI admits is “complex, time consuming and expensive”.
Andrew Feather 5.4kg hill climb bike (credit: Andrew Feather/Strava)
SWI’s website shows Feather racing its bikes in hill climbs before, so we’re not sure exactly when but he’s switched from Cannondale at some point as he won the 2022 hill climb champs aboard a custom Cannondale SuperSix Evo Hi Mod weighing in at just 5.39kg and in 2023 moved to the newer generation SuperSix Evo LAB71.
This 5.4kg Leve is finished off with some of Schmolke’s carbon components, namely cockpit, seatpost and saddle, those lightweight Hunt wheels, and a 1x set-up because who needs a front mech or a big ring for a hill climb? In true hill-climbing spirit it looks like Feather has foregone bar tape too.
Last year MacFarlane and Illi Gardner took the British titles on rim brake bikes, will Feather be able to take the crown back to the dark side next weekend?
Nationa Hill Climb Champs winners (Andy Smith) (credit: road.cc)
A couple of years back, Feather explained his brake choice and told us he definitely doesn’t think rim brakes are dead, just that disc tech is getting better and better (and lighter, crucially) to the point where he’s happy to race (and win) major hill climbs using the newer tech, especially considering he tends to ride his hill climb bikes year round, not just for a few minutes of racing each week in the autumn.
“There are still rim brake bikes around, but if you look at the latest technology it is all disc really”, says Feather. “The weights are coming down and the margins are pretty small”.
Don’t expect those lovely Schmolke bars to get cut down to hill-climbing size in the next week either: “They’re just such nice bars! I’m using the bike as an ordinary bike as well, so I don’t really fancy riding around with bars cut off. It would just look really ugly.”
Another rival on the startline will be newly crowned junior road race world champion Harry Hudson. And yes, his Chinese Quick Pro AR:One will be there too…
Bike at Bedtime Harry Hudson Oct 2025 (credit: Main pic Andy Jones https://www.instagram.com/andyjonesfoto/ inset SWpix.com (t/a Photography Hub Ltd))
> Check out the Chinese bike that Harry Hudson rode to World Champs gold
The spec has been tweaked since that rainbow jersey-winning ride, the weight dropped from 6.83kg to a current weight of 5.98kg.
“It’s already sub-6kg with a few things that we can still change. Not a crazy build, very much an every-day-rideable bike,” Joe Whittingham, CEO of China-based online retailer Panda Podium, who was involved in its development, explained.
Lezyne brings the “revolutionary” Clik Valve to a whole range of pumps
Lezyne x Clik Valve (credit: Lezyne)
If you’re wondering what a Clik Valve is, basically last year Schwalbe launched the new system in a bid to become cycling’s new tyre inflation industry standard. Promising to make inflation “child’s play” the Clik Valve was designed to replace Presta and Schrader, offering much easier attachment and operation, no risk of air loss and 50 per cent more air flow rate. In short, simplifying pumping up your tyres. Oh, and it can be retrofitted to your existing valves with a conversion kit.
It turned a lot of heads very quickly and we’re now starting to see it appearing in other brands’ pumps, such as SKS offering a Clik Valve version of its Air-X-Plorer track pump. Lezyne too has embraced the tech and has released an entire range of its pumps and accessories featuring the potentially game-changing valve. Track pumps, mini pumps, and even a Clik Drive CO2 cartridge, Lezyne’s Clik Valve range is certainly a vote of confidence in the potential.
Schwalbe CLIK VALVE-7 (credit: road.cc)
The prices are currently in dollars but we’re expecting the Clik Valve products will be available here in the UK before the end of the year.
Some pricey winter kit from Santini
Santini 2025 autumn and winter kit (credit: Santini)
Santini has some new kit out for the change of the seasons and unsurprisingly is pretty confident it’s “designed to deliver outstanding performance, protection and comfort”. There are three items, the new long-sleeve jersey, a windproof jacket and bib tights, Santini saying that the items combine into a “coordinated clothing system engineered to accompany cyclists from the first cool days of autumn through the onset of winter chills”.
Santini 2025 autumn and winter kit (credit: Santini)
The £160 windproof jacket is aimed at temperatures between +5°C to +15°C and features a performance-oriented fit. There’s also a double-slider zip that opens from the top or bottom, handy if you start to overheat on a climb, as well as reflective detailing. The long-sleeve jersey [pictured above] is also priced at £160, while the bib tights are £190, so all-in the ‘system’ isn’t cheap, at £510, even if Santini would undoubtedly vouch for its quality.
Reynolds offers discounted offer on wheels for riders affected by CSS Composites shutting down
2025 Reynolds ATR gravel wheels rim (credit: Reynolds)
CSS Composites, the carbon rim manufacturer which was behind Forge+Bond and had other partners such as Bontrager, Revel Bikes, Chris King and Evil Bikes, shut down earlier this month. With the news came the extra blow for customers that warranty and crash replacement support would disappear too, prompting Reynolds to step in and offer riders affected a helping hand.
Effective immediately, Reynolds is offering crash replacement pricing on complete Reynolds wheelsets to any rider who owns wheels manufactured by CSS or Forge+Bond, or the other brands that sourced rims from them. “This offer applies whether the rider’s wheels were damaged in a crash, are out of warranty, or they simply no longer wish to ride a product with no long-term support,” Reynolds explains.
The brand’s director of wheel development Todd Tanner said that while “we didn’t create this problem”, Reynolds “can help solve it”.
“Reynolds has always stood behind its riders, and when we saw the uncertainty facing owners of CSS-built wheels, we knew we could offer a fair, good-faith solution. Our priority is to keep riders rolling on wheels they can trust,” he continued.
Eligible riders are asked to contact Reynolds directly if interested, or to go through an authorised dealer to verify their wheels and access crash replacement pricing on new Reynolds wheelsets. All the info is on Reynolds’ website.
Jan-Willem van Schip goes full aero… and gets disqualified by the UCI (again)
Jan-Willem van Schip wild aero bike set-up at Tour of Holland (credit: TNT Sports)
You might have seen this on the website earlier in the week, but we couldn’t let Tech of the Week pass without another shout-out for Dutch pro Jan-Willem van Schip’s latest bonkers set-up. It’s not the first time, of course, Van Schip previously using the bars [below] which saw him chucked off the Baloise Belgium Tour a few years ago.
2021 Speeco ABB side (credit: road.cc)
His latest tech choice found himself disqualified from this week’s Tour of Holland after the UCI chiefs got involved to overrule the race commissaires, who were initially convinced by his argument that he’d used the same equipment previously and it had all been approved.
Jan-Willem van Schip uit NIBC Tour of Holland gezet vanwege ‘fiets die afwijkt van UCI-regels’
Het zou gaan om zijn zadelpen. Zo zag deze er drie weken geleden uit bij Arno Wallaard Memorial pic.twitter.com/iOFOZEri5J
— Julian Dubbeld (@Julian_Dubbeld) October 15, 2025
It was actually the seatpost, being used upside down, which the UCI cited as its problem with the set-up, the appeal of Van Schip and his team to get him reinstated unsuccessful. Never change, Jan-Willem…
In case you missed it: