Eurobike is the world’s greatest bicycle commerce present. And it’s actually monstrous with actually 1000’s of stands.
I walked previous each single stand so as to see the most recent 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 plenty of strolling… and plenty of speaking too.
I received the chance to speak to the engineers and product managers behind the manufacturers and received test-ride greater than 30 distinctive bikes too. This info will all drip out over the subsequent 12 months or so.
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My five-part tech gallery from Eurobike 2023 (coming quickly):
In-Depth Reporting From Eurobike 2023
Superior Belt Drive
Superior claims that their belts will final so long as Gates, are suited to all climate situations, can be utilized on e-Bikes, and can run simply as quietly and effectively.
In accordance with Superior, the most important benefit is which you could run their belts at a decrease pressure than Gates, because the drivetrain will tolerate extra side-to-side body flex whereas biking. This implies rear body triangles don’t need to be engineered to be tremendous stiff, which is able to enable the belt drivetrain to go well with a broader number of bike frames.
You’ll be able to examine my expertise with Superior belt drive HERE.
Busch & Muller
B&M was exhibiting a brand new entrance dynamo gentle referred to as the Busch & Muller IQ-XL E dynamo. It has a handlebar change that means that you can change the beam sample between a low beam and a excessive beam.
Regardless of dynamo hubs offering solely a modest quantity of energy, this gentle can run a excessive beam as a result of it has a really giant inside capacitor feeding the LEDs.
This gentle is alleged to provide a monstrous 300-lux utilizing a StVZO-compliant beam (ie. it gained’t dazzle oncoming riders) and 250-lux when within the excessive beam mode, which might be accessed from 12kph/7mph.
You may assume the excessive beam ought to have a better lux (brightness) measurement. However the distinction in lux might be attributed to the sunshine being distributed over a bigger floor space with the excessive beam, leading to much less gentle brightness per unit space.
The IQ-XL is alleged to hit 150-lux by 15kph/9mph, which is mighty spectacular.
A brand new dynamo hub USB charger referred to as the Ok-Werk was introduced too. It has a built-in 5000mAh buffer battery, which is able to step in whenever you cease driving, or are driving too slowly up a hill. As soon as your plugged-in machine is full, all charging energy shall be diverted to the battery once more.
The utmost output is 9.5 watts (5V at 1.9A) on the USB plug. Nonetheless, primarily based on earlier B&M charging merchandise, I believe that’s at speeds past 50kph/31mph.
An important USB output numbers are discovered at common touring speeds anyway (ie. 12-25kph), so we’ll have to attend for the impartial take a look at outcomes to search out out whether or not it’s a very good charging product.
The Busch & Muller Ok-Werk shall be accessible on the finish of 2023 for €179.
Effigear
This stunning Wheel Dan gravel bike is constructed across the Effigear Mimic gearbox. These 9-speed gearboxes can pair properly with each SRAM highway shifters (proven above) and Campagnolo highway shifters (proven under). They’re additionally suitable with SRAM set off shifters.
In contrast to most different gearboxes and inside gear hubs, the Effigear Mimic has variable gear steps. Primarily, the step between every gear begins massive on the Mimic, however as you get to larger speeds, the steps are smaller, which higher means that you can discover the proper gear.
One other benefit of the Effigear Mimic is that there are extra engagement factors contained in the gearbox. Whereas Pinion gearboxes supply between 14 and 22 engagement factors relying on the gear chosen, the Mimic has 48 engagement factors in each gear. This implies the drivetrain will interact faster whenever you begin pedalling.
You’ll be able to learn extra in regards to the Effigear Mimic in my useful resource HERE.
Enduo
The Enduo drivetrain was initially developed as a method of lowering chain friction. However nowadays, it’s very a lot pitched in the direction of cargo, commuter, touring bikes, in addition to bike fleets.
Quite impressively, the producer claims 3.5X longer put on life than a daily chain (ie. 20,000km/12,000mi).
The key to its longevity is that the chain hyperlinks ‘lock’ in place after they interact with the sprockets. There may be merely much less put on as a result of the chain hyperlinks rub and grind on the sprockets a lot lower than a daily chain. You’ll be able to really really feel how little motion there’s whenever you lay the chains on the sprockets.
The additional thick sprocket enamel and extensive chain width should play a task too.
MyBoo
Bamboo gravel bikes are a fairly area of interest area. However at Eurobike, one can find them!
This one seemed fairly decked out with fenders, dynamo lights, and a rear rack.
Optibelt
Optibelt Twin Monitor is a brand new belt drive system able to compete with Gates.
This German firm equally makes use of eight carbon fibre tensile cords for power, together with a centre observe to maintain the belt on. With this design, the sprocket enamel really penetrate proper into the belt, they usually’re a bit deeper than Gates as properly.
You’ll be able to learn extra about Optibelt Twin Monitor in a separate article HERE.
Pinion
Pinion was exhibiting their new Sensible Shift system. It’s primarily a shifter wired as much as a battery and a motor unit on the gearbox (only for the shifting).
Shifting takes simply 0.2 seconds on the push of a button, and the system will change gears whereas pedalling, when stationary, and below load.
On a full battery cost, the shifter will make roughly 10,000 shifts, which in keeping with Pinion, will final over 100 hours of driving. The battery is waterproof to IPX7 and might be mounted both contained in the body or outdoors. The battery is absolutely charged in below 3 hours.
There’s additionally a brand new digital drop bar shifter set from TRP. This has received to be one of the simplest ways to pair a gearbox and belt drivetrain with a gravel bike – the TRP HYWIRE digital shifters have a superb form and really feel.
You’ll be able to learn extra about Pinion Sensible Shift and why I feel it’s a giant deal HERE.
And there was this loopy Pinion gearbox touring bike with stuff (junk?) hanging off in all instructions. I’m actually glad my bike doesn’t look this messy, it’d stress me out…
Racktime
Racktime was exhibiting a brand new mini rack referred to as the ViewIt. It mounts onto the steerer tube by way of two small bolts.
This mini rack isn’t supposed to hold a heavy load. As a substitute, it’s designed to maintain your handlebar pack from wobbling about, touching your entrance wheel, crushing your cables, or scratching your paint. You’ll be able to clearly put a lightweight load on it too, simply don’t go too loopy.
Schwalbe
The largest information is the Schwalbe Inexperienced Marathon touring tyre is utilizing 70% recycled or renewable supplies!
That is potential due to Schwalbe’s large tyre recycling program – Schwalbe says 400,000 tyres had already been recycled by their seller community in Germany as of December 2022. The Inexperienced Marathon can also be produced totally from Honest Rubber.
You may assume that this is able to have an effect on efficiency and sturdiness, however Schwalbe informed me that this model is at the least pretty much as good because the common Marathon, if not higher.
Supernova Lights
The Supernova M99 DY Professional is a new-ish gentle from this South German gentle producer. It’s their brightest dynamo gentle ever, providing 200 lux in each high-beam and low-beam modes, though that’s at fairly excessive speeds – assume 60kph/40mph.
Excessive-beam is especially vital when cornering, because it lets you see by the nook moderately than simply the patch in entrance of your wheel. It additionally higher accounts for suspension fork motion, and means that you can see hanging branches and upcoming indicators.
In contrast to the Busch and Muller gentle, you will want to hit 20kph/12mph with the intention to unlock the high-beam mode. You’ll be able to entry this mode when it’s signalled by the indicator LED on the excessive beam button.
Veer Belt Drive
Veer is finest recognized for his or her cut up belt design, which lets you break their belts in half and retrofit them to any bike. However with so many bicycles now being designed to suit one-piece belts, Veer has seen a possibility to launch some non-splittable drivetrains.
There may be the Tremendous Belt Professional for high-power electrical motors and off-road mountain bike use. Veer claims that is essentially the most sturdy belt available on the market, particularly for high-power motors. Then there’s the Xpert Drive, which balances efficiency and worth and is permitted for low-power e-Bikes and concrete use.
You’ll be able to learn extra in regards to the new Veer drivetrains in a separate article HERE.
Veer was additionally exhibiting a small belt tensioner and a brilliant loopy two-speed sprocket idea (see it on my Instagram).
My five-part tech gallery from Eurobike 2023 (coming quickly):
