One great theme about the bikes we saw at Eurobike (apart from crazy, clashing colours everywhere) is that bottom-of-the-range bikes are getting just as much attention lavished on them by designers as the top-end jobs. Quality parts and designs are found throughout most bike ranges.
Cannondale is one such company, with all of their bikes looking great. Here’s a quick peek at their new Trail SL bike – the low end version costs £450, yet comes with discs, suspension forks, a great looking frame and is ripe for upgrades with a head tube that’ll take regular suspension forks, tapered ones, or 1.5in jobs.
Cannondale Trail SL
We love this new Bad Boy urban bike, below… Starting at £550 too. That definitely fits into the Cyclescheme budget, eh?
The new Rize 140 - the Rize 120 still stays in two models too.Or 'RZ' as it's now known.A carbon Rush and a very 'Socal Custom' paint job. 110mm of travel on a very light high modulus carbon frame.
The new Lefty with brand new one-piece 3D forging upper - it'll come in 100mm up to 140mm versions.
The Cannondale Flash. Super light carbon loveliness. This one'll set you back the price of a small car.
The Flash Alloy model. More affordable, still with 110mm Lefty fork. We like.
Yep, it's a Continental tyre designed for people who spend most of their time in the air, how about that? It's a dirt jump/dirt park (in the US...) specific tyre.Formula has COMPLETELY redone their entire range and all of it looks great. The new ONE brake comes with the R1 lever for ultimate lightweight freeride set ups.Here's the (sideways) ONE lever, which uses the R1 master cylinder.
Not only is it superlight, but the R1 lever is one of the neatest looking brakes we've seen. Not that we've seen any, but we hear that they're up to production speed now.
But wait - there's more. There's a whole new range out - the Oro range is being replaced by the Formula RX brake.
The RX in black.
And here's the Formula RX lever - if it looks familiar, it's because it's a more economical R1 lever.
Tomac Type-X - carbon hardtail. The 'X' stands for Extra Fast.
Tomac Cortez. Aluminium hardtail. We like the white...
Tomac Flint - a 29er hardtail.
Keeping on the weapon theme - the Tomac Automatic is apparently Johnny T's favourite bike to ride. Now with 120mm both ends and, now in white, with non-interrupted seat tube too. There's another new model called the Vanish, which is 160mm travel for an 'all day pedalling bike for rough terrain.' and joins the 140mm Snyper for a full tick box of travel.
A new Ritchey clipless pedal with real bearings in them!
One for the 'cross guys - a headset with integrated cable guide.
Looking way flasher than their mid-price level, the new M161W from Shimano.
Jesus rides too...
Chipps' fave cycling shoe of all time, the MT91 gets another revamp, chunkier buckles and an all-round hiking boot look.
Prototype Commencal titanium 4X hardtail for the Athertons on the Shimano booth.
Pro, the component arm of Shimano, is going to be doing a whole range of Atherton signature products, like this stem.
The burly version of the Pronghorn bike. 160mm travel!
Full carbon Pronghorn, now with unidirectional carbon fibre. This bike was 8.6kg, the frame's 1850g inc shock and integrated seatpost - £2395 for the frame.
Middleburns in pink. No sign of their new fabled integrated chainset though.
Magura is only making subtle tweaks to its range for 2010, having changed so much recently. They do all gain white crowns though.
With 23 years as Editor of Singletrack World Magazine, Chipps is the longest-running mountain bike magazine editor in the world. He started in the bike trade in 1990 and became a full time mountain bike journalist at the start of 1994. Over the last 30 years as a bike writer and photographer, he has seen mountain bike culture flourish, strengthen and diversify and bike technology go from rigid steel frames to fully suspended carbon fibre (and sometimes back to rigid steel as well.)
i wouldn’t like to catch my nads on that shock! seems a strange idea – perhaps it’s the only place you can put a shock these days without infringing any patents?
The Pronghorn shock is less intrusive than you might think. When standing over your bike, you straddle the top tube near the headtube, so the shock is never in the way. If you’re that concerned about the ‘winkie pinching’ nature of the shock, Pronghorn offer a shield that bolts over it, but say that it’s completely unnecessary.
I did a few laps at Bonty 24/12 on a Pronghorn and though it rode really really well. Stiff in the rights ways (up hill and round corners) but still plush for blasting over braking bumps straight into the corners.
My nads didn’t feel at all in danger, or any other part of me.
Oooh like the look of the flash, always fancied a dale racey hardtail – out of my price range tho I bet.
“The ‘X’ stands for Extra Fast” of course it does 🙂
i wouldn’t like to catch my nads on that shock! seems a strange idea – perhaps it’s the only place you can put a shock these days without infringing any patents?
The Pronghorn shock is less intrusive than you might think. When standing over your bike, you straddle the top tube near the headtube, so the shock is never in the way. If you’re that concerned about the ‘winkie pinching’ nature of the shock, Pronghorn offer a shield that bolts over it, but say that it’s completely unnecessary.
I did a few laps at Bonty 24/12 on a Pronghorn and though it rode really really well. Stiff in the rights ways (up hill and round corners) but still plush for blasting over braking bumps straight into the corners.
My nads didn’t feel at all in danger, or any other part of me.
And that white one even looks nice!
I like the Cortez, looks like another updates DB Manitou with the cable in the right place, bet the rear end is still harsh though.
Cannondale looking ace after an indifferent few years. IMHO.
Strangely liking those pink Middleburns. What square taper BB do I need with those?
I remember talking with Joel from Tomac a few years back at Mountain Mayhem, about how much he detested 29″ wheeled mountain bikes…
re. middleburn intergrated chainset
is that “fabled” ‘cos we riders think they manufacture one, or due to the fact they are actually getting onto the task of designing / maching one?…
Oooh like the look of the flash, always fancied a dale racey hardtail – out of my price range tho I bet.
“The ‘X’ stands for Extra Fast” of course it does 🙂