Random Products Part One - Eurobike 2011

Shows like Eurobike always bring out companies that you don't know much about. Details were few on this little slopestyle bike from District8, but killer looks, a clean and elegant design and this stealthy grey surely count in its favour. It may still be in prototype stage, but it's certainly got our appetite whetted.


Flat pedals for the all mountain rider can regularly be a totally different ballgame to those fitted on the big gravity rigs. Here is the lighter weight Funndamental from Funn. The 365g pedals feature twin grease ports located above the pedal's needle roller bearing which combines with a bushing and another cartridge bearing to support the axle and keep everything running smoothly. Heavy relieving keeps a concave shape and will help the pins to bite into your shoe despite a platform that isn’t in competition with the big gravity designs.


Also on display at the Funn stand was this prototype carbon crank. The production model will be all carbon with aluminium inserts for both pedals and the axle spline. No exact timescale but it marks the first carbon crank for Funn and a departure from their previous big hitting aluminium designs.


Who cares if it isn’t a downhill bike, the brakes on this cyclo-cross bike looked sick. And no wonder when you see that the bike is sat on the Hope Technology stand and is of course resplendent in trick Hope products – these hydraulic convertors for drop bar brake levers aren’t new per se, but they do show one of the neatest integrations we’ve seen.


The hydraulic shifting system from Acros has already been featured on Pinkbike, but is now available with a long and short cage rear derailleur option to complement the existing medium. At €1599 (US$1999) for a full system it could never be considered cheap, but does offer the compelling advantages of both light weight (circa 200g against SRAM X0) and no cables to clog up with mud in bad weather. It’s of course currently a bit of a boutique item, but with German engineering behind it there’s some confidence that it should go the distance. It certainly feels slick when we tried it out on the rollers and will shortly also be available with different shifter clamps to provide more placing options on the bars.


On the Trick Stuff stand was this newly revised hydraulic Gyro system that feels really solid in comparison to some other offerings which have been displayed by several companies previously. Trick Stuff is another German brand that really produces some well thought out items. Lever feel remains solid and has negligible influence on the steering – even when squeezing as hard as you can at the lever, far beyond what you’d realistically do in real world circumstances.


Also on show at Trick Stuff were these intricately machined Cleg brakes. Both four and two piston designs are available which utilize the same split clamp lever. We’re looking forward to putting these through their paces in the real world, but for now one of the neatest features has got to be their use of off the shelf brake pad designs. The four pot utilises readily available Shimano 4 pot XT already used by Hope among others whilst the two piston brake takes pads from an Avid Elixir. Details like this should go some way to alleviating concerns over spares when using a relatively low volume product like this.


Another nice item from Hope. When will these cranks be available? They’ve been a work in progress for a while now and we can only hope (no, not intended) that they will be able to grace one of our test bikes soon. Alongside their own bottom bracket which has already been available for some time now are the also as yet unreleased pedals, in obligatory green of course. They spin smoothly, are low profile and have a wide body to provide maximum real estate to stamp your feet down on. A large inboard bearing takes care of the biggest loads while allowing for that body to remain thin elsewhere.


Pinkbike didn’t manage to find out any real info on these rotors. Carbon floating center sections certainly look pimp, but are almost certainly intended for light trail use rather than any real heavy duty alpine shredding. Not that any of that stops you staring for a minute or two.


Oh so Euro. A carbon recumbent may not be high on the average gravity rider's wish list, but there was no denying that this was a pretty cool bit of kit to look at as you wandered past.


That front end is how low?! Stealthy grey paint hid an stunning looking carbon frame that integrated so many features. Aero wheels, aero tubing and of course that aero front end, it’s a pretty no nonsense time trial bike. Subtle and understated in a clearly very pricey way!


It might just be because we were finally outside but this TR250 looked stunning as it sparkled in the sun with its pearly purple paint. It’s been around since about this time last year, but that doesn’t matter to us – it’s a killer bike to ride and it stood out well on their stand. A neat piece of metalwork and no mistake.


For the girls amongst you is this all mountain Diva from Orange. This 14” frame is available in both short and long top tubes to give a bit more flexibility and allow girls to get a bike that fits like a glove. Based around the proven chassis of the Five, it’s a pretty sweet option if you’re after a small all mountain frame with some neat touches that cater to girls.


Not much to say on this really. It’s one of the new Orange Patriots with 180mm travel front and rear, controlled out back by the not quite yet released Cane Creek Double Barrel air. Oh, and with a nod to the John Player Special Lotus’ of old. What’s not to like?


A pretty drastic departure from their usual fare was this road bike from Orange. Sat right out on the front of the stand there was no missing it with striking graphics over a carbon frame - monocoque front and lugged rear. 18.5lb, £1900, a full 105 groupset and a full Easton finishing package including wheels left things looking pretty good to us. Orange themselves describe it as a mountain biker's road bike – and there are plenty of downhillers and otherwise extreme riders out there who are definitely closet roadies, despite public protestations to the contrary! This is a low volume run, but if it proves successful then others will surely follow...


Development of this tyre has been no great secret with heavy Atherton involvement leading to what you see here. The Rammstein from Continental has a much closer block spacing than their current Kaiser and Baron offerings as well as coming in slightly smaller with a 2.4” casing. Of course that superb and super soft Black Chilli compound is wrapping things up and should provide significant grip without any wear rate penalty if our experience with their existing tyres is anything to go by.


Accurate measurements are important in the industry, and especially when talking about bike geometry. Here measurements are taken Will Longden style on the Hotlines stand...'it's this big'!


Stay tuned for more from Eurobike 2011

Posted In:
Reviews and Tech First Looks