Fast XC Bikes, Dropper Posts, Suspension Wheels, Tiny Seats - Eurobike 2016
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Nino's Spark
Is this the fastest cross-country mountain bike in Germany? More like the world, actually. You're looking at one of the Scott Spark race bikes that Swiss beast Nino Schurter had been racing aboard during the 2016 season, a year that's seen him add a bunch of World Cup wins to his resume, as well as another National Championship and a gold medal at this little cross-country race that went down in Brazil not long ago. It's probably fair to say that Schurter is happy with how 2016 played out.
His 100mm-travel Spark race rig is a big departure from the full-suspension bike that he raced last season, and it's even bigger step away from the hardtail that we used to see him on so often. He's been on 29'' wheels all year, whereas we'd usually see him on a 27.5'' wheeled bike before the Spark was released. As you'd expect, Nino's bike is kitted out with mega-light carbon wheels from DT Swiss, as well as a fork and shock from the same people, and a SRAM Eagle drivetrain. This machine is running standard cross-country race rubber, but another of Nino's bikes on display at Eurobike is sporting a set of custom made Dugast tubular tires that glue onto the rim. I bet he doesn't skid much on those bad boys.
Ritchey's Dropper Post
Who isn't debuting a new dropper post at this year's Eurobike show? This is Ritchey's entry, the WCS, that comes in an internally routed version only and with 125mm of travel. The WCS features mechanical internals that offer three positions: fully dropped, fully raised, and a 30mm drop setting for when you might still need to put down the power. The WCS's remote is a super super thumb paddle that's long enough to provide a good amount of leverage, and the remote comes with mounts to bolt to either Shimano's I-Spec or SRAM's MatchMaker shared lever/shifter mounts.
![Eurobike 2016]()
Ritchey knows that the air-sprung WCS isn't breaking any new ground, but they explained that they focused on reliability and ease of service rather than pushing the limits of design. With that in mind, the WCS can be disassembled with basic tools, and the low air spring pressure (as low as just 15 PSI) puts only minimal stress on the system's seals. It seems like a lot of dropper posts are becoming much more reliable than what we had to deal with a few years ago, so another one that doesn't blow up after a few days of riding can only be a good thing, assuming that the WCS runs as well as Ritchey claims.
Ritchey's WCS dropper weighs 449-grams (without the remote), and it will retail for between $300 and $350 USD when it becomes available in January of 2017.
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The SoftWheel
Three shocks inside a wheel have to be better than no shocks inside a wheel, right? Okay, so the SoftWheel isn't really for us mountain bikers, but it's interesting enough to take a look. The company says that putting the shocks inside of the rim ''allows the hub and suspension to 'react' inside the wheel,'' which minimizes vibrations being passed up through to the rider. You know, like how suspension does... To be fair, it looks like the SoftWheel system is designed for bikes that don't have any suspension, and it's actually pretty clever. The shocks aren't metric, by the way.
The shocks extend as well as compress, so as the bottom shock goes into its travel the two above it extend, thereby letting the hub actually move down towards the rim. SoftWheel offers sizes for all sorts of bikes, but also for wheelchairs. Their website even says that they're developing an automotive version.
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SDG's I-Fly Jr
Kids have some pretty great machinery these days, and it's only going to get better, but they're often spending their saddle-time sitting on an oversized (to them) adult seat or, even worse, a BMX seat that was never really made for anyone to spend much time perched upon. With smaller dimensions that are proportionally correct, SDG's new I-Fly Jr is made specifically for little people who need a seat that won't scare them away from mountain biking. The scaled-down, $39.95 USD I-Fly Jr also has padding of a different, softer density to work better for lighter weight bodies.
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First that's not even new (comes from 19th century), then your going to loose energy at every wheel revolution, no matter if it's rough or smooth, not very clever for human propulsion and bad for motor efficiency.
Unless they add lockout to each shock...
I can guarantee you that this is not even close to being the dumbest product trying to be sold in there.
In fact if someone wants a bullet proof idea is just going around Eurobike taking pictures of dumb stuff then putting it on a poster with a caption and sell it as a motivational poster. Like: if they have confidence in thinking someone will buy an hydraulic handlebar you can ask that girl out.
it would only work for .5% of the population in chairs. you may as well let the air out of a wheelchair users tires and tell em to push cause thats what it feels like.
I have a bike that will take a 170mm dropper (just) but it's an XL bike with a 490mm (straight) seat tube, which is rare (it's a Nicolai). I don't know too many other folk where it'd work on their bikes.
All these new companies coming on the market are fighting for a smaller slice of the pie, and almost no OEM (which all goes to RS and KS), so 125mm and 150mm, where the bulk of need is, is going to be the best option. Even 150mm will be pushing it for many.
While I've wanted a 170+ post, all I can foresee is less and less reliability. I'd be just as happy and comfortable if bike manufacturers made seat tubes longer, at least in the XL size. Then I'd have no problem with a 150 post.
Currently 495mm~ is pretty common seat tube length in XL. Specialized, commencal, and a couple others are at 525mm~a little over an inch longer. At 495mm STL with 150mm post I can't quite reach good leg extension, and the post is at its minimum insertion depth(where top tube meets seat tube, not post manufacturer suggestion) and just looks ridiculous. When it's dropped though, it does feel out of the way enough.
So....longer, more unreliable posts or longer seat tubes with less standover height? Anybody else feel similar? I feel the masses don't have this problem and they just want more dropper travel to get the seat lower and more out of the way.
For Manual wheelchairs I can see this being a good solution, though likely expensive.
The only benefit I can see is that you can put them on any wheelchair, and not have to buy a suspension wheelchair frame (those probably exist but I have no idea).
Simple & elegant solutions win out, complicated ugly ones don't. Especially in cycling.
www.pinkbike.com/photo/13894785
Im well up for progression within my sport but the need to create the next big thing seems more important than anything else, and forget the grass roots guys who just want good quality reliable gear .
Rant over.......
The head moved - didn't matter at all . Know alls killed it .
Mine still works great after 4 + years
/s