iceBike is the yearly springtime house-show from mega distributor Madison. Three days of dealers visit Madison’s vast warehouse in Milton Keynes and in the middle of it all, they let some journos wander around too. The scale of their operation is very impressive. While it’s mainly a sales exercise for their dealers, among the booths and displays, there are usually enough new gadget to be wheedled out for your viewing pleasure. Here are some that caught our eyes…
Genesis will have a Reynolds 953 tubed Altitude in their line up for next year. Steel without the rust!Cowbone components? Sound like they would be a hit with the moo-vers and shakers. OK, can any of you come up with a cheesier caption?Genesis' Ti Altitude almost floated out of Chipps' hands. Frames are in stock now and cost £995. Look for a test in Singletrack this summer...New category alert, new category alert! Epic XC the choice of, yet another, generation. Titec will also have a new version of the Jones H-bar coming out - this time without the riser-bar rise, so it'll look more like the titanium originals.
PRO were showing off this track bar that has roughened ends so you don't need any bar tape. Scary. PRO are sponsoring the Athertons this year so look out for some more mountain bike centric products from them soon.Livestrong helmets from Giro. It would seem everything Lance says turns to, er, yellow.As well as more cycle specific glasses Giro will be bringing out more 'off bike' eyewear. Will Chipps be swapping his eyewear allegiance though?Giro are getting into gloves now, the Remedy glove on the right has D3O pads on the palms. We tried some on and they're the first gloves we've seen for ages that fit every finger well and don't leave a flappy thumb or little finger.The rather natty Ridgeback Solo World - a super simple singlespeed commuting bike with mudguards. We like.
The ladies don't get left out either.Commencal were showing off this carbon Meta 5.5 as a hint at where they are going in the future.Seamless bonding.Commencal make good looking bikes, even their lower-end hardtails look pretty.A while ago Commencal had a range of road and BMX bikes, but scrapped them to concentrate on mountain bikes. Now they are getting in on the commuter market with the Babylon.You may not be able to get the jersey but you can buy the bike that won the World Champs.Juan from Gamut had this waiting for Sim. The final piece in his chain device jigsaw. More about this in issue 48.As well as the usual black and white Gamut had a few special designs on display. And stickers.Odd numbered tooth sizes, the men from Gamut, they say yes! Mark can finally get his 'Prime number toothed' singlespeed built. He reckons it'll save on chain wear.Sim is now considering getting his Meta sprayed Ford Focus RS orange after seeing this.Don't expect to see these any time, these are show tyres only. Some bike manufacturers wanted white tyres for their white display bikes so Continental obliged. Apparently, due to having no carbon in the compound, they have the same level of grip as a plastic chopping board.These Conti tyres have a whole load more grip thankfully. The Rain King is part of Conti's new downhill tyre range, and, unsurprisingly, is aimed at wet courses.The Kaiser is the more all-round downhill tyre. Continental seem to be on form at the moment and we can't wait to get our rims covered in a pair of these.Coming to an art director's head soon, the nu-rave colourway from Bell.Ride to work, sit at desk, plug light into computer and charge for the ride home. A great idea from Electron.Ogio are out to prove that luggage doesn't need to be black.Need to tighten up your 15mm or 20mm Shimano hubs? You'll want these spanners from Park then.Thor had some interesting designs going on. Star camo is original and looks good. Top marks.Sweeties! Kryptonite know how to get our attention.Reads: '3 steps to world domination. 1-Get a tank. 2- Get a tank. 3- Get Cycraguard mud protection (how you use it is up to you)'The Ridgeback Nemesis. With a Shimano Alfine hub it'll give maintenance-free shifting, add disc brakes and you've got a trouble-free town bike for £699.The Light and Motion Stella light now has a smaller battery and tools-free helmet and/or bar mountLight and Motion have the Seca 900 coming out next year, which has been independently measured at 890 Lumens, something L&M are trying to get everyone to do, rather than just quoting the power that it 'should' put out.From the Thor motocross range - pimpy gloves that come with matching grip donuts to smarten bike and rider alike. A prototype Aztec rotor. It's a semi-floating design where the floating bit is still part of the main rotor, this keeps it tight and rattle free.A titanium town bike? Why ever not? It'll probably still cost less than your car.
A semi-floating rotor should allow the rotor to expand when it gets hot, hopefully without giving the rattles that other floating rotors can at lower speeds. At least that’s the idea – I think they’ve made two so far… 🙂
Didn’t Cy from cotic do a sample 953 last year (?) but said it wouldn’t be suited for MTB due to fabrication & subsequent strength issues, or am I making that up? Maybe Genesis have nailed it (hope so).
I think that Meta is a 4x. I say that because the Meta 4 has its shock attachment on the seat tube whereas the 4x is attached to the top tube. Also because of the plates on the top/down tube juncture with the head tube.
But I could be wrong.
I like the look of the Commencal Babylon though i don’t know how long it would stay looking likr that with all the crap on the roads. Any idea on price for it?
Didn’t Cy from cotic do a sample 953 last year (?) but said it wouldn’t be suited for MTB due to fabrication & subsequent strength issues, or am I making that up? Maybe Genesis have nailed it (hope so).
It was back in 2007, and still no mtb 953 tubing from Reynolds yet. Shame. Maybe with Madison pushing for it they’ll change their minds. The tubing looks really nice built up, it’s just not for us off-road peeps yet.
Reynolds are now making thicker-walled, larger diameter 953 tubes than they were then, this prototype was made before those tubes were available in order to try out the ride feel of such thin wall steel tubes in comparison to 853 or cr-mo. It’s tricky to work with but the potential is definately there, it’s not going into production anytime soon though.
Shame the 953 will rust! Bet is flippin light though
What the hell is the point of a ‘semi-floating’ rotor?
Is that a meta 4 or a 4x? The one with the Pikes.
Why do you say the 953 will rust?
953 is just super tough steel isn’t it? I can’t find any mention of it being rustproof although that would be a very nice feature.
I want, no… NEED a pair of those Giro gloves in Stormtrooper 🙂
Reynolds 953 is stainless steel.
A semi-floating rotor should allow the rotor to expand when it gets hot, hopefully without giving the rattles that other floating rotors can at lower speeds. At least that’s the idea – I think they’ve made two so far… 🙂
Looking forward to the Altitude Ti review.
Didn’t Cy from cotic do a sample 953 last year (?) but said it wouldn’t be suited for MTB due to fabrication & subsequent strength issues, or am I making that up? Maybe Genesis have nailed it (hope so).
stainless steel still has the ability to rust…….just less so than other less chromium based steels……
I think that Meta is a 4x. I say that because the Meta 4 has its shock attachment on the seat tube whereas the 4x is attached to the top tube. Also because of the plates on the top/down tube juncture with the head tube.
But I could be wrong.
Good feature on “another website” about the 953 Genesis….
And that Ridgeback Solo looks a lot like my Genesis Skyline funnily enough….
Looks like a Meta 4X, but seems to be missing the adjustable head angle.
Any mention of an Alfine Flight town bike?
I like the look of the Commencal Babylon though i don’t know how long it would stay looking likr that with all the crap on the roads. Any idea on price for it?
Sandwich – there is a Flight 04 in the 2009 range which is Alfine and disc brake equipped.
The orange Meta is an Atherton special 4X frame. No adjustable head tube saves weight.
My Stainless Steel knife set from Argos definitely has the ability to rust!!
Hey Mark, you coulda built that prime numbered single speed over a year ago if you’d mentioned it. e13 do all sizes from 32t to 40t.
Didn’t Cy from cotic do a sample 953 last year (?) but said it wouldn’t be suited for MTB due to fabrication & subsequent strength issues, or am I making that up? Maybe Genesis have nailed it (hope so).
It was back in 2007, and still no mtb 953 tubing from Reynolds yet. Shame. Maybe with Madison pushing for it they’ll change their minds. The tubing looks really nice built up, it’s just not for us off-road peeps yet.
http://www.cotic.co.uk/news/archive2007#953
Bring back the mighty Freewheel catalogue, online or hardcopy, always was a classic read
Odd numbered tooth sizes, the men from Gamut, they say yes!
Bit like e.13 have been doing for a while then..
Reynolds are now making thicker-walled, larger diameter 953 tubes than they were then, this prototype was made before those tubes were available in order to try out the ride feel of such thin wall steel tubes in comparison to 853 or cr-mo. It’s tricky to work with but the potential is definately there, it’s not going into production anytime soon though.