Carrying on from yesterday’s tech round up, we’ve moved on to bigger things: Bikes and wheels. Same idea – we’re bringing you the things we found genuinely interesting or ground breaking. So without further ado:
Lightweight
There were a few interesting products at Eurobike from Lightweight this year. One of our favourites was the ‘Gold Edition’ Urgestalt frame with matching Obermeyer wheels. There are 24 Gold Editions available, each hand inlaid with 24k gold and they cost? You guessed it - €24,000. Lightweight claims it has already sold quite a few to collectors.
Also exciting from Lightweight was its new Meilenstein Pro front wheel. The spokes and rim bed are reinforced to resist damage in a crash and also to prevent any sharp splinters flying off in the event of a smash. Lightweight was coy about which, if any, team might be using its wheels next year although it was quick to point out that BMC’s Rohan Dennis has been using its disc wheel with great success.
Contact: Lightweight.info
Merida
The showpiece on the Merida stand was the hyper light Merida Scultura LTD. The frame already weighs a miniscule 680g, which combined with a Sram Red groupset, Tune wheels and AX Lightness finishing kit gave a full build weight of just 4.55kg.
Strangely enough Lampre-Merida riders don’t actually get to use the LTD frame as it would be just too heavy – they use the team version instead that still weighs a rather impressive 750g.
Also exciting was its new cyclocross range, which is headed up in the UK with the full carbon Cyclocross 6000. It’s fitted with the Shimano Ultegra hydraulic disc brakes and it’s as on trend as can be with bolt through axles front and rear. Pictures simply don’t do the colours justice.
Contact: Merida Bikes
Ridley
The Ridley Fenix SL was first seen back in April being ridden by various Lotto-Soudal riders in the Spring Classics. The Fenix SL is something of an amalgam of the Noah, the Fenix and the Helium.
Visually it appears like a mix of all three models and Ridley described it as being a core bike in their range. It sees the Fenix SL as a master of all trades with a lean towards endurance thanks to the ability to accept 30mm tyres.
Contact: Ridley Bikes
Rolo
Rolo were particularly excited to show us some wheels and what these wheels mean for disc brake frame development. Shimano recently updated its frame manufacturers hand book with the full specifications for the FlatMount system, and Shimano has said that for a proper chainline on a disc brake road bike, using a 135mm hub, the chainstays should be no less than 415mm, which is quite long.
Rolo intends to use discs on its next generation of frames, but doesn’t want to compromise on handling so it has been experimenting with BiTurbo wheels from Bike Ahead Composites. These wheels are a full carbon monocoque, tubeless ready and weigh approximately 1100g for the pair. Most importantly due to their construction they allow Rolo to use short chainstays while still maintaining the appropriate chainline, althought Rolo did admit it has the disadvantage of locking customers into one pair of wheels.
We’ve just reviewed a Rolo frame in Issue 40 of the magazine that’s available at various outlets on 16th of September.
Contact: Bike Ahead Composites
Check back tomorrow for clothing, shoes and accessories.