Eurobike Demo Day- Ratzenried, Allgau, German
Ham and Cheese and Electric bikes! I’ve only been in Germany for one day, and already I find myself full to the brim with Ham ,Cheese and Electric Bikes! Although Eurobike proper only starts tomorrow I already know that 2011 is going to be the year of the Electric Bike. Man, they’re everywhere! Some look like full-on DH sleds with a motor- that’ll solve the uplift problems in the UK! Nicolai were showing a neat one that was DH orientated;
Talking of Nicolai, they had a sweet full-sus with the new Pinion gearbox (more news on this tomorrow, hopefully);
On the UK front, the boys at Hotlines were showing off some rather nifty new stuff. First off, the Nukeproof Scalp- nothing new about this I hear you say? Before now it was only available as a frameset, now it will be available 2 full-builds also, the Comp and the Pro. Look for the Comp to come with a RockShox Vivid shock, Sram X9 groupset and Boxxer Races, and the Pro to come with a CaneCreek Double Barrel shock, full X0, and Boxxer WC’s- Stacked spec or what! BUT, the best thing is that these should be coming in at £2500 for the Comp and £3500 for the Pro! Wowser!
New, however from the Hotlines stable are some incredibly nice full-sus’s from Ragley. Best known for their beautifully designed, aggressive geometry hardtails these full-bouncers look every bit as nice. There are 3 models to choose from- the “Ten-Four”- a 100mm rear/130mm front frame, the “Ten-Four Big”- a 29″ big sister and the “G-Six”. It is this G-six that will probably interest us gravity-drawn riders, coming with a 160mm rear/130mm front travel frame and available in full X7 or X9 builds. Looks perfect for the new breed of Enduro-type races or just a nice frame for blasting the downhills whilst still being able to climb to the top.
Parts now, and Crank Bros had an impressive line-up with all-new Mallets and 50/50 pedals. The pedals will come in 3 flavours, the “1″ featuring a polycarbonate split pedal body and bushings, the “2″ having a split Poly/Alu body and the “3″ also having more machining-out for weight savings and needle bearings.
Also new are the Crank Bros bars, these look really nice and are available in Sage (freeeride) and Opium (DH race). The Opium is slighly lighter but both bars feature a 30mm rise and, importantly, a width of up to 780mm.
Eurobike always shows up some weird but interesting products, this time it was gloves made from Kangaroo hide! Swiss company Hirzl, were showing off their Grippp gloves that unlike other leather-type gloves actually stayed grippy in the wet! Should be a good thing in Scotland! Although not DH-specific I am looking forward to trying these on the trails and seeing if they put up with downhill rigours. Remember kids- no glove, no love!
Untill next time, over and out,
Big Mac.