Bike Festival Randoms: A Hydraulic Drivetrain, Prototype Shocks, A New High-End Helmet, & More - Garda Trentino 2018

Formula had their recently-launched Neopos system. When it launched some of the comments called it an elastomer system, which nowhere near does it justice. The brain child of their head suspension engineer, Luca, it has been a personal project for him that became a company project when he could demonstrate the results. Born out of a search for a better volume token, he discovered that if he used a very sensitive, closed-cell material, it not only provided that end stroke progression, but the way the air reacted with material meant that it reduced some of the inconsistencies of how air reacts under pressure - he claims this helps alleviate one of the biggest downsides of using air vs coil for suspension. We will be getting our hands on a set as soon as we can to see if it lives up to his predictions.

Formula also had their Cura 4 brakes on show - this is an exclusive OE anodized colour for Ghost.

Tucked away on FSAs stand (or at least out of the way for people who don't read road racing press releases), was this - the K-Force hybrid drivetrain. While they won't say anything firm for MTBs, they would tentatively say that we might see these next year and the tech is certainly interesting. It uses several different ideas in combination, to create something unique. The actuation is done via ANT wireless comms - although for this system there are coin-sized batteries in the shifters, with a battery in the middle to drive the front and rear derailleurs (hence the wiring here). For this road system, expect to see it on World Tour-level teams next year, but while they hope to have this for MTB next year, they admitted that the challenges of the added dirt, water and danger needed to be addressed. [update: due to translation issues we previously reported that this system uses hydraulics to shift instead of servos. Apparently that isn't the case.]

While Fizik may be a name better-known on the tarmac and XC-side of things, but they are starting to make moves into more gravity-fed disciplines. The eagle-eyed may have spotted that the Syndicate have been running their saddles recently, replacing their long-standing deal with WTB. At the races, they have been running these carbon-shelled Monte-S saddles with custom colours that tip the scales at just 250g.

To celebrate their 60 anniversary (that itsn't a typo - Scott started in 1958 ), they decided to dig out some of their DH history - including this race bike from the late 90s. While their new DH prototype spotted at Losinj may look good, who wouldn't secretly love it if they went back to producing this kind of twin-shock, twin-seatposted lunacy?

Suntour also had this, which is the burlier end of their range - the Triair, complete with trunnion mount to bring it back up to date. They describe it as being designed for enduro through to freeride use, but also say that it is the same shock Florent Payet raced on at the opening round of the World Cup this year.

Suntour had their trunnion-mount Linair shock on show - they say they are available now.

Abus had their new Montrailer helmet on show - their flagship mountain bike offering. It is absolutely loaded with features, with a MIPS liner, a shatter-resistant lightweight visor, flidlok magnetic buckle, a clever, one-piece adjust system, anti-static liner and many other thoughtful touches. It offers good back of the head coverage and the weight seems impressive. It should hit stores in a couple of months with the basic version selling for 149 Euros, and the MIPS version for 179-199 Euros - there are two options with the MIPS liner - a single colour outer shell and a 20 Euro upgrade for a more complex, 5-part shell that adds some colour to the mix (but does not affect the safety performance).

Effetto Mariposa had this very discrete torque wrench prototype on their stand - it is the smaller one with the taped out logo as the graphics were not finalised. They currently make two models - the standard size wrench you see alongside here and a monster-size one for higher loads. This new, little one is for the smallest bolts and the lightest torques.

In the race for bigger dinnerplates for your rear wheel, Leonardi are a name that has been slightly forgotten - which is a shame as, 1) they were one of the first to get to market with a conversion kit to add more range to your exisiting cassette and, 2) they are 100% handmade in Italy. They offer some nuts spreads too, going up to 11-52 with a claimed weight of 379g. Prices are said to be very close to the 400 Euro mark, which is fairly comparable to the list price of SRAM's Eagle XX1 cassette.

Mike Kazimer has already written about the Bold Uplugged prototype at Sea Otter - what you did not see there is a prototype DT Swiss trunnion-mount shock. They weren't saying much at this stage, but if DT are happy for photos to circulate, we would assume the secretive Swiss feel it is fairly close to being ready.

EXT won a couple of "Best in Show" awards yesterday. Here, Daniele models what has to be the biggest damping unit at the show. It is built for off-road buggies where the suspension works as an integral part of the chassis also. Feel free to add your own size jokes.

EXT also won the prize for the most expensive/coveted damper at the show. This may not look like much, but it is from the series they produced for Williams F1 in the late 90s - they say this is from the same series that Jaques Villeneuve used on his way to his F1 title. Oh, and if you fancy one, they are around 8000 Euros per damper and for an F1 car you'll need 6 - 4 for the wheels and 2 for the chassis roll.

Sadly this wild rear brake mount on the Trickstuff stand is simply a demonstrator to let you test their pad compound vs the stock Shimano pads, and not the Mad Max-style double brake system I hoped it was.

This is one of the highlights of the show for me - it is not new, but in terms of value for money, this Propain Tyee was very impressive. Propain are a small, German, direct sales brand who don't have the same profile as brands like YT or Canyon. On their site, they have a configuration tool - so when I asked whether you can put a piggyback shock on this bike, the answer: "Yes, for a couple of hundred Euros upgrade, no problem." Working it out with their marketing guy, this bike, with a Rock Shox Super Deluxe rather than the Deluxe shown here works out to just under 3,500 Euros, which puts this a couple of hundred Euros ahead of many of their competitors with a spec that looks race-ready.