Eurobike 2013: More show randoms.

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It’s almost time for Interbike, but we’re still wading through thousands of Eurobike shots, so here’s the next selection of stuff that made us sit up and pay attention. Enjoy!

Thule

Thule had a buzzing stand – possibly due to hiring the services of the world’s third best barista to supply caffeine shots to all – but also there was a load to see. The biggest news is the new Roundtrip case range. The travel case melds two things that Thule does well: racks and roofboxes in a new way. There are two cases, the Pro and Elite; the Pro is a soft sided case and the Elite is a hard plastic case – both actually cost the same, so you make your own choice.

The heart of the system is a fork and BB-mounted click-rail. This clips into the base of the cases, giving a sturdy base for your bike. The wheels live in their own bags and everything should be as protected as possible. When you get to your destination, three aluminium supports slide out of the bag and become a workstand for those pre-holiday tuneups. The Roundtrip will be €599 for either the hard or soft case. Expect them to appear in the spring.

BB and fork-mount mechanics’ stand comes with the case.
A simple strap around the BB holds the back end in place.
The soft bag has removable supports so you can stash it when you get to your destination.

Thule also showed a new road-specific fork-mount rack called the Spirit. Not only is it super-aero, to match your bike, but it will torque-out when it gets to the right tension, to prevent you over-cranking it and damaging your carbon dropouts.

Just spin the aero nose to secure

Thule’s Pack ‘n’ Pedal range continues to grow, with a huge amount of bike-mountable clips and straps to keep every gadget secure.

Mission control
Sturdy rack mounts don’t even need rack bosses.
Ready for the milk round?

 

The other news from Thule is that it has now taken over the Chariot child-carrier range. So, if it was Chariot, it’s now Thule. There’s a huge range of carriers, from tandem jogging-buggies to ski-mounted ones.

This Thule Ridealong chair will take up to 45lbs on a seat tube mount.
A coffee-master at work
Back window racks work with whole cars too.

 

And now for something different. The KCNC brand is still keeping the ’90s modding trend alive with a huge range of lightened and coloured aftermarket bits and pieces.

Coloured gear cables anyone? Even if no one ever sees them, you’ll know.
A full ‘pimp my bike’ boxed set
Brakes too, and minimalist rotors.
Cantilevers for your ‘crosser
And press-fit BBs
Here’s a quick bit of cyclocross pr0n for the fans.

Polish Planetary

A Polish due were showing off a prototype three-speed crank-based gear system. It’s currently built into a cheap, steel crank, but there are plans to have a more polished (excuse the pun) aluminium version soon. The system uses a planetary gear system, like SRAM’s Hammerschmidt, but it takes up much less space and should be far cheaper to make, so they expect to get it specced on cheaper trekking and town bikes.

Simple three speed on a twist shifter
The jubilee clip on the chainstay isn’t its best feature.

Magic Milk

Magic Milk comes from OKO, a UK company that is the only NATO-certified supplier of tyre sealant. The company has been going since 1977 and produces a selection of tyre sealants: Puncture-Free which will seal up to 4mm holes and X-Treme, which will seal up to 7mm(!). It now has Magic Milk, which uses a synthetic latex which should last 6-12 months without drying out. We’ll try to get some in soon to give it a try.

Magic Milk – around a tenner for 250ml

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Chipps Chippendale

Singletrackworld's Editor At Large

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.)

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