Here’s part two of Dave’s trawl of the aisles at Bike Festival Garda for the new, the weird and the tantalising glimpses of what’s coming soon…
First up let’s take a look at this MDE Carve that looks pretty similar to this year’s offering to you look a bit closer at those wheels and tyres. While most plus sized bikes have so far been hardtails or aimed at ‘adventure biking’ here’s the first example of the new wheel size being used on a 150mm travel trail bike. If you’re surprised by this application you’d better sit down because according to our sources there are a lot more plus sized full suspension trail bikes coming, and they’re fast.
Also on the Carve was the most extreme oval ring we’ve seen from FRM. Is this the start of an oval resurgence? Maybe the shame of Biopace has finally been overcome by the new generation of rings which work properly.
Up front is a prototype boost and plus sized Marzocchi 350, DT Swiss are now one of the only fork manufacturers not to have shown a fork that meets the incoming standard.
E-Bikes are big business in Europe, with the Bike Festival even hosting an E-Bike Marathon. Rotwild were proudly displaying this R.Q1+ 27.5 with 135mm of travel in probably the most aesthetically pleasing design we’ve seen. The Integrated Power Unit and Brose Power Unit don’t shout out ‘pedal assist’ and Rotwild claim improved suspension kinematics as a result of the integration.
Danny Mac was on hand for poster signing and gravity defying in equal measures.
Rocky Mountain always have a cool stand
We’re loving the Kwakiutl inspired artwork on the Blizzard, and the Himalayan influence of the production Sherpa. More of this please Rocky Mountain.
Smith were showing the first iteration of MIPS equipped helmets, in this case the road orientated Overtake, although news is a Forefront is on the way too. MIPS Forefronts are expected to be an extra €30 over existing retail of standard helmets.
Hope are one of the few UK companies to make the long trek from the UK to Garda. For once they didn’t have a lot of new product to show, here’s the new limited edition red which will be available across the range of products.
And of course the new Boost 110mm front and 148mm rear Pro2 EVO hubs.
