Eurobike 2010 - so many components that its hard to know where to start. Here is just the first selection in a whole line of products which caught our eye while wandering amongst the endless stands.
Inside you'll find photos and info on:•
Hope's jaw dropping one piece cassette and free hub body - lighter than XX!•
A beautifully finished steel BMX race bike in the GT booth•
New DX shoes from Shimano•
A bar, stem, and pedals from Crank Brothers•
Thomson direct mount stem•
Hutchinson's new DH mud tire•
Beautiful Tune hubsRead on...Hope always has something trick and fresh from the CNC machine up their collective sleeve in Barnoldswick, UK. This time the main attraction for our eyes was this super nice integrated freehub and cassette assembly. Lighter than XX and the ability to run smaller than standard 9 tooth cogs! Whilst aimed at the lighter end of the market, the cassette was just too nice to pass on by.
The green anodized part is one piece of machined aluminum with the last five gold cogs being the machined from steel and bolted to the aluminum block. Replacing both the freehub body and cassette in one swoop manages to save approximately 20g over a SRAM XX setup, as well as being roughly fifty bucks cheaper. That weight saving should increase further by the time production models make their appearance. Whilst not likely to be available until early summer 2011, they are ensuring full compatibility on all hubs manufactured from January onwards and will offer a low priced conversion kit for reverse compatibility on existing Pro 2 & Pro 3 hubs too, something not often seen in the bike industry. The revised hubs will be differentiated by 'Evo' markings. Available in both 9 and 10 spd, there will be a range of ratios on offer in each to match the gearing to a riders preferred setup.
Have a look at this trick display unit in the Hope booth. They do love their CNC'ing it seems!
GT may have been covered elsewhere in our articles this week, but what it didn't show was this awesome steel race BMX frame which had been polished, masked and then sandblasted to leave an amazing contrast of finishes. The neat retro wings logo on the headtube finished the whole frame off perfectly. Beautiful and the highlight of the show for most of us!
Spotted hiding away at the Shimano stand were these new look DX SPD shoes with a fresh design, new lace cover, and most importantly a return to black. All those who spend their time trying to get white shoes back from the muddy film that covers them from the very first ride can now breathe a sigh of relief.
There wasn't a great deal on offer from Crank Brothers for the gravity fraternity that hasn't already been seen before, but this gorgeous carbon all mountain stem and bar is a neat setup that should suit the 5-6" travel market well. We got a chance to ride one on the '11 GT bikes in Les Deux Alpes last month and it impressed in an unobtrusive way, being light and having a nice comfortable shape and a good width.
Also on offer for the lighter scale were these clip on plastic bushes which are designed to sit over the ends of the Egg Beater pedals. This means that the bottom of your shoe will now not have to rest on the spring bars and can instead do so on the plastic bushes, minimising shoe wear and also reducing the amount of free play in the pedal. These plastic parts simply clip over each end and should take a matter of seconds to install.
Another piece of trick engineering work was this finalised but not quite yet in production direct mount stem from the guys at Thomson, not the first look for most people, but nice enough to show again and again! At a claimed 160 grams for the 55mm version shown here, the stem certainly doesn't have a weight problem. The aim is for the finalized model to go into production in December or January. Also on display but not pictured were a pair of final prototype 1.5" stems. There are ongoing discussions over how short and low they can go with a shorter version of the direct mount. 30-35mm long and with a zero rise would seem to be the holy grail for Thomson. The direct mount will be within EUR 10+/- of the current stems.
It was a hoop of rubber next which caught our eye and that was this downhill spike from French manufacturer Hutchinson. Feeling soft and very sticky, it should give plenty of grip over the roots and rocks still found in even the gloopiest of mud. So many tyres on offer now to compete with the venerable Wetscream from Maxxis, this appears to add a further option for riders looking to ride and race in the worst weather. Available in both 2.1" and the 2.35" sizes, the weight comes in at a respectable claim of 1240g with a reinforced casing called Hardskin.
Tune parts may be a rare find in most countries, but they really put out some seriously impressive components, managing to combine high quality and some very neat design. No surprise that they are another German brand. Here is the Kong, one of their many rear hub offerings, which features an aluminum freehub body with 45 engagements and weighing in at a scant 190g. Inside you'll find stainless steel bearings and ceramic pawls letting the engagement mechanism run without any form of lubrication. Very cool!
This is another rear hub from Tune, impressive yet again. A feature over their previous downhill offerings is the upgrade from 15mm to 17mm axle to improve strength which still keeps weight to a very respectable 230g. There is also an ultralight 20mm front hub available, as well as the plethora of more common sizes.
Stay tuned for more Eurobike coverage!
and the steel gt race frame looks amazing
the head tube deatail/logo is top notch