Eurobike, for us, is a colossal melange of every aspect of cycling, stirred together with 12 Zeppelin hangars, a flat town, no hills, and a previously unknown to me confection called ‘Pork loaf’. This last can be more accurately described as ‘meat foam’. Imagine if cheap white bread was made of pork, instead of – er – bread. And then sandwiched in the middle of a bun. I’m glad I’ve had the experience. But I’m not keen to do so again.
Never mind – still reeling from the whelming culinary experiences Freidrichshafen offers, we’re back in the office, and mainlining vegetables like there’s no tomorrow. Or at least like there’s no vegetables tomorrow (if there was really no tomorrow, vegetables could, I suspect, go whistle. I’d be at the gin).
Please, join me! Grab a carrot or two, and feast, my lovelies! And at the same time, you can peruse the gear we’ve accrued since last we spoke, all those days ago.
It’s Fresh Goods Friday!
Oh, and I nearly forgot! Here is your Teutonic musical accompaniment. All 7 hours of it – enjoy:
One23 Extreme Bright Quatro 1600
4 Cree LEDs, (quatro, see?) lovingly hewn to a 6600mAh battery means up to 4 hours run time on high beam. Should be enough to see pretty much anything in your path, without making any kittens or other wickle creatures you may sweep your intense beam of brightitude across burst into flames. So, win!
£139.99
From: Moore Large
DT XM481 rims
Fresh from our Eurobike story on them come these new rims from DT – the XM481s. They’re aluminium, but the weight is apparently on a par with (some of the heavier) carbon rims. They’re still strong as ‘owt, apparently, and they’re nice and wide.
The 481s here in a 29er flavour have an internal width of 30mm. You can get them in 27.5 flavour too, if you’re of that persuasion.
You need to use the special washers and nipples to assemble them – the washers in particular, as they are key to spreading the load of the nipple tension whilst keeping the rims light. We’re looking forward to building them up!
Price: £89.99 each.
From: Madison
Crank Brothers Mallet-E
Fresh from Eurobike! The Mallet-E is designed for Enduro-types who wanted a platform, but didn’t want one quite as large as the Mallet. 5mm shorter axle, fewer pins, chamfered corners and adjustable grip pads.
Price: $165, UK TBC
From: Extra
Crank Brothers Candy Pedals
More grippy pad bits, and new bearings and weather seals for the updated Candy. They’re 10% larger too, and have a bash bit at the end of the axle – that silver bit. There. Yes. There.
Price: TBC
From: Extra
Unior Press Kit
Perhaps the loveliest press pack we got from anyone was this selection of tools from Unior, It’s essentially to showcase the large number of fabricating techniques at their disposal, from laser cutting to forging to CNC machining to injection moulding. And they’ve even got a foam cutting machine!
Price: Not the foggiest idea
From: Unior Tools
SRAM steel chainrings
Steel thick/thin X-SYNC chainrings from SRAM. So they shouldn’t wear out for aeons. You can get them in a variety of sizes and fitments, too. Awesome.
Price: £16.99
From: Fishers
Torq Snaqs
Oh yeah. luxury snack bars created as ‘an indulgence for the physically active’ in a variety of flavours – dark chocolate and banana chip? Dark chocolate and orange zest? Yum. So I can eat, like, five of them if I walk to the newsagents for 20 Rothmans instead of driving, yeah? SWEET.
Price: Premixed box, £35.80
From: Torq
Truvativ Black Box PadLoc bar
We picked these up from the WTB stand, as they’re specially cut to go with their new grips – see? 750mm wide, 20mm rise. 5 degree upsweep and 7 degree backsweep. And now with grips that can’t rotate! For. The. Win.
Price: estimated £155
From: Fishers
Mystery bar (Actually a Truvativ Boobar)
Another PadLoc specific bar from Truvativ. It’s actually a 335g Boobar, but it’s totally unbranded. Completely stealth, see? Or maybe the decals didn’t show up in time. Anyway, it’s 780mm long with the same back and upsweep as Jerome’s bar ^^ up there.
Price: Well, complete with a pair of grey Commander 30mm PadLoc grips, you can get the bars for $111. No idea on UK pricing yet though.
From: Fishers
WTB PadLoc grips
And here’s what all the fuss is about – WTB PadLoc grips. Essentially, the end of the grip is shaped to correspond to a cut out wedge in the handlebar, so they won’t twist, and you can still run a soft end (which is precisely what they’ve done). They’re available in three different sizes (28 – 33mm diameter), bulged or straight and a variety of colours. We’ll be putting them through their paces and we’ll get back to you ASAP!
Price: $34.99 – UK prices TBC
From: Hotlines
Ritchey Truegrip Comp Trail
And finally, more grips from Eurobike! Old skool non-bolt on grips from Ritchey. Kraton rubber, and available in a wide variety of colours.
Price: £8.99
From: Paligap
Reebok BSO (Bicycle Shaped Object)
This contraption appeared in the office, and no-one knows where it’s from. But seeing as it’s here, it’s going in! You can’t see the stand on the rear dropout, but we’re pleased to see it resolutely cleaving to the old 26″ wheel standard.
The shock is a coil over number, with a significant amount of preload wound on. Damping is, I suspect, performed by that old stalwart, friction. Simple single pivot design keeps the weight down to sub-neutron star levels. Note the white cables, which have been cunningly distressed in the faux-retro style.
Brakes are perched at an angle which can only be described as ‘jaunty’. This is to enable appropriate braking during those times when your body occupies the space below the saddle.
you could get rid of the last 2 words on that sign and it’d still work.
Price: 50p to take it away
From: no idea
And that’s your lot this week! Go out and enjoy what remains of the summer (it’s a bit nippy at the mo, round here). And if that’s not inducement ennough to get you to leave your computer, spend a couple of seconds in the company of a man who really likes the idea of wrapping Roy Orbison in cling film. (Safe for work, don’t worry)
“Apologies, I have ceased answering mail personally because of weirdos.”
Oh yeah.
ST out.
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when your grips are part worn do you have to chop the other side off your bar to turn them around?
£155 (estimated) for a bar, you could buy several Reebok Bso s for that 😉
Naah, just let the lose stem clamp bolt do it for you 🙂
What’s the head angle on the Reebok? And does it come in XXL?
is it just me, are are these grips solving a problem that has already been comprehensively solved? (with a normal bar too…)
I thought consensus over on the forum was those silly notched bars and grips were all hot air and no real world need. Its seems only journos nostril-hair-deep in the koolaid keep puffing them 🙂
Love that the BSO had a speedo at some point…