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Eurobike is the world’s greatest bicycle commerce present. And it’s really monstrous with actually 1000’s of stands.
I walked previous each single stand in an effort to see the newest merchandise within the touring and bikepacking house! My iPhone says I did 15,000 steps per day (for 5 days) between the completely different halls. That’s a whole lot of strolling… and a whole lot of speaking too.
I bought the chance to speak to the engineers and product managers behind the manufacturers and bought test-ride greater than 30 distinctive bikes too. This data will all drip out over the following yr or so.
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My five-part tech gallery from Eurobike 2023 (coming quickly):
In-Depth Reporting From Eurobike 2023
Kinekt
In case you’re after some entrance suspension consolation in addition to additional bar rise, try the brand new Kinekt 50 Diploma Consolation+ stem. It presents a bunch of rise (25mm/1″) earlier than you even get to the suspension mechanism.
There may be additionally a 30 Diploma model (within the background) in addition to a 7 Diploma mannequin.
Klickfix
On the Klickfix / Rixen & Kaul stand was a motorbike setup with bikepacking luggage. All of those luggage are absolutely waterproof and have small mounts to maintain the luggage secure when you journey.
The handlebar rack with a cinched dry bag is faraway from the bike with the contact of a button.
And the cargo cage luggage will slot on and off with ease too.
Miss Grape
On the 3T stand was a gravel bike setup with Miss Grape bikepacking luggage. The luggage all appeared actually sensible, but it surely was the brand new Miss Grape Ilcoso handlebar cradle that was of essentially the most curiosity to me.
This minimal mount stabilises your entrance baggage so that it’ll not wobble about. It additionally prevents your cables from getting crushed, stops bag-to-frame paint rub, and it presents further house for equipment corresponding to GPS units and lights.
The mount weighs simply 320 grams, and when you’ve bought the accent bar to a spot you want, the cradle might be tilted at 4 completely different angles.
Moreover, there may be an 8 or 16-litre dry bag out there, relying on whether or not you utilize flat bars or drop bars (much less house for a dry bag).
Previous Man Mountain
Previous Man Mountain was exhibiting not solely their traditional racks… however 4 all-new merchandise.
The minimalist Previous Man Mountain Ponderosa panniers are 13 litres every, absolutely waterproof, and use compression straps to suit your rack. They connect so solidly that they’re mentioned to be just about silent on the path.
There may be additionally a waterpoof trunk referred to as the Previous Man Mountain Juniper that attaches with compression straps on prime of your rack. It makes use of a roll-top design to simply entry your gear.
The Previous Man Mountain Axle Pack will convert any fork right into a cargo-carrying fork! This may very well be perfect for a lot of carbon forks that don’t pair nicely with hose clamps, and have shapes that the standard cargo cage adapters won’t cater for.
The Axle Pack will deal with 5kg/11lb per aspect and it’s even potential to suit it on the rear seatstays too, supplied you could have sufficient clearance in your heels.
The final product is the Previous Man Mountain Flip Cage. The cage itself matches any cargo cage mount, however the magic is within the mini pannier having a rotating lever that may slide into the Flip Cage recess – locking the bag in place. The underside of the bag presents a decrease cage hook that can maintain the luggage rattle-free.
Omnium
Allen at Omnium instructed me he doesn’t actually see their titanium bike as a cargo bike.
His reasoning is that the bike is light-weight (beneath 15kg/33lb), makes use of only a few proprietary elements, and rides identical to a motorbike. I did check journey one and might verify, it rides identical to a motorbike (though with a turning circle that it’s essential to get used to).
To show its versatility, Allen shall be driving this titanium Omnium within the Silk Street Mountain Race in a couple of weeks. He makes use of aero bars to provide his fingers, arms, neck, and again a relaxation on lengthy biking days. Pringles are clearly his meals of selection.
Rondo
With body shapes like this, the Rondo bikes are actually distinctive. This mannequin is the upcoming Rondo Ruut V2 gravel bike.
I personally just like the design ethos behind a mannequin referred to as the Rondo Mylc. Whereas the aesthetics aren’t for everybody (simply have a look at that head tube!), the body geometry is tweaked particularly for gravel descents.
The Mylc presents an extended wheelbase and slacker head tube angle to extend the size of the entrance portion of the body by 70 to 90mm (3-4″). This basically makes the bike extra secure at pace, and far tougher to pitch over the handlebars.
The Mylc comes with a brief stem to accommodate the longer prime tube size. I really choose the steering traits of shorter stems on gravel bikes (it’s a extra direct feeling), however the draw back is that you just don’t have as a lot stem size wiggle room when optimising your bike match.
Extra loopy carbon body shapes on the Rondo Mylc. This actually units the bike other than different ‘cookie cutter’ carbon gravel frames (all of them kinda look the identical).
SON Nabendynamo
On the SON stand was a lightweight show to indicate a brand new prototype entrance mild. This mannequin can have each a low and high-beam mode and a built-in USB charger – all managed with a small change close to the grips.
SON Nabendynamo is aiming to make this mild/charger essentially the most highly effective possibility out there. At 20kph/12mph they wish to pull 10-20% extra energy from a hub than different market-leading dynamo USB chargers, however all whereas getting a minimal quantity of drag.
The sunshine physique is barely bigger than traditional, but it surely shouldn’t look too misplaced.
Additionally, a brand new straight-pull spoke hub is within the works, and it’s mentioned to provide fewer vibrations. This one remains to be a good distance off manufacturing although.
Weathergoods Sweden
I seen some good rain ponchos on the Weathergoods stand.
This small family-run enterprise presents a spread of trendy city merchandise, however the Imbris poncho may very well be first rate for bike journey because it has hand straps, good reflectivity, a waistband, and is kind of lengthy. It’s out there in two sizes and three colors – inexperienced, copper and black. The load is round 500 grams.
My five-part tech gallery from Eurobike 2023 (coming quickly):
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