28 Of The Sweetest Bikes From Eurobike 2017

If you’ve been following our coverage from this year’s Eurobike show in Friedrichshafen, Germany, you’ll have been bombarded with loads and loads of new gear that’s been filtering directly through the newsfeed here. And if you subscribe to our Facebook page, no doubt you’ll have watched about a zillion videos of all the weird and whacky things we managed to shoot video of.

If you’ve still got absolutely no idea what we’re on about, then you might want to check out our explanatory article titled “Yes, But What IS Eurobike?“. That will help explain things. Except for the Eurobike fashion show. No one can explain the Eurobike fashion show.

Although the Eurobike fashion show pretty much made the 36-hour trip from Singletrack HQ worth it, there were other interesting things to see too. Like, you know…err…bikes. Which is what you would expect from the world’s largest bike industry trade show. However, there were far fewer new mountain bikes than you would envisage, given that many brands release their new range of bikes earlier in the season prior to Eurobike. Combined with the fact that e-Bikes almost outnumbered the normally-aspirated bikes meant that it took some serious digging on our behalf to find the gold.

But we kept on digging so we could put together this list to showcase 28 of the coolest bikes we saw at the 2017 Eurobike show. And only one of them is an e-bike. So consider yourselves lucky…

1. Orange Clockwork 137

Orange has updated the Clockwork hardtail series for 2018, making them longer in the reach, and widening the rear dropouts for a Boost 148x12mm hub. This is the Clockwork 137 (in the Mountain Mint colour) that features a 130mm travel fork and 27.5in wheels. There’s also a Clockwork 129 that gets a 120mm travel fork and 29in wheels.

2. Strange Prototype 29er Downhill Bike

Everyone seems to be losing their bananas over 29er downhill bikes at the moment, so to stir up some more bananas, Orange has thrown its hat in the ring with this prototype downhill wagon wheeler. It’s based around the current 324, with an alloy construction and a pierced downtube where the rear shock is bolted onto, but the wheels have been upsized to 29 inches, and the fork has been replaced with the Fox 49.

3. Orange Stage Four

You may have already read our exclusive first ride report of the Orange Stage Four, but although we’ve known about the new short-travel 29er for a while, it didn’t stop us from snapping a shot of this ‘Back To The Fuschia’ one at Eurobike. The Stage Four replaces the outgoing Segment as a 110/120mm travel 29er that comes equipped with a metric-sized rear shock and the new split-style swingarm.

4. Orange P7

The P7 is also brand new for 2018, and it comes with some hefty upgrades for the big-fork hardtail lovers. It’s adorned with a 150mm travel fork, features 27.5in wheels and is built from Reynolds 525 steel tubing. Updates include a move to Boost 148x12mm rear hub spacing, and a lowered top tube that’s reinforced with a bracing tube at the seat tube junction. Geometry revolves around a 65° head angle, a 430mm chainstay length, and longer reach measurements (425mm on the Small, 441mm on the Medium, 457mm on the Large, and 472mm on the X-Large). It’s a terrific looking bike, and we’ll have a full news story coming on the 2018 Orange P7 soon.

5. Pivot Shuttle

Ok, so this is the only e-bike in our 28-strong list of bikes. We promise…

Easily one of the biggest stories from Eurobike was the debut of Pivot Cycles first e-MTB called the Shuttle. Using a full carbon fibre frame that integrates a Shimano 500Wh battery pack into the downtube, the Shuttle is kind of like a mix between the Switchblade, Mach 5.5 and the Firebird. It’s got 27.5+ wheels and tyres, and has 140mm of rear wheel travel courtesy of the dw-link suspension design. The Shuttle will only be available in Europe, and it’ll retail for a not-inconsiderable amount of £8999.

6. Pivot Mach 5.5 10th Anniversary Edition

If you prefer your mountain bikes sans motors, then this gorgeous Mach 5.5 from Pivot will help lower your temperature. It’s the same Mach 5.5 that was released just a couple of months ago, but it’s decked out with a special paint job and a fully custom build kit to celebrate Pivot’s 10th anniversary. If you’re digging the blue, then get your name in quick – there are only 300 of these worldwide!

7. Nico Lau’s Cube Stereo 140 C:68

Cube wasn’t officially at Eurobike, as the German mega-company hosted its own private bike launch the week prior. However, Enduro World Series shredder Nico Lau had his race bike on display at the Shimano booth. Lau is one of the new EWS riders rocking a 2x setup, with Shimano XTR Di2 electronic derailleurs and shifters covering off gear changes. Cube has just introduced a new version of the Stereo 140, which Lau is likely to be racing on one come the final EWS round in Finale Ligure at the end of this month.

8. Mathias Flückiger’s Radon Race Bike

Also at the Shimano booth was this superlight, and super-trick Radon full suspension race bike. Belonging to a Mr Mathias Flückiger, this full carbon bike features Fox electronic suspension, Shimano electronic gears, and Bike Ahead sub-300g carbon rims. The race bike has been reported elsewhere as a prototype from Radon, but if you look closely, you’ll note that this is exactly the same as the Stoekli Morion that Mathias was racing on last year – just with a different sticker on it. Still nice though.

9. Rose Granite Chief

Shown here at the Vee Tire Co booth, this dusty Granite Chief from Rose Bikes had ALL OF THE STICKERZ, as well as a Suntour Auron fork and a naked Fox Float EVOL rear shock. The tyres are Vee Tire’s aggressive Flow Snap treads in the Enduro Core version, which comes in at a claimed weight of 1130 grams per wheel. Digging that metallic red paint job along with the blingy gold bits.

10. Haro BMX

Ok, so it isn’t a mountain bike, but this stunning Retro Master from Haro had no trouble turning heads. Not sure we really need to say much about it, aside from stating that it’s freaking badass!

11. Lauf True Grit

If you’re a visitor to our sister site Grit.cx, you’ll have already read the news that Icelandic company Lauf is now making a bike to go along with its crazy leaf-spring forks. It’s called the True Grit, and it appears to be a rather capable for a bike equipped with drop bars. There’s clearance for 700×45 tyres, the frame is 1x specific (unless you run a wireless SRAM eTap front mech), and it comes ready to fit all sorts of bikepacking paraphernalia.

12. NS Movement

We’re deep in non-mountain bike territory now, but why stop when a dirt jump bike looks this good? Distributed by Hotlines in the UK, Polish company NS Bikes had a heap of bikes on show at Eurobike, including these super-sparkly Movement DJ bikes.

13. Aaron Gwin’s YT Industries Tues CF

It’s been shown loads of times before, but our itchy trigger fingers couldn’t help snapping photos of Aaron Gwin’s World Cup-winning race bike. It’s the carbon fibre version of YT Industries’ Tues frame, and it’s joined by a Fox Factory racing package, E*13 wheels and tires, and Gwin’s own signature TRP Quadiem disc brakes. It also has 27.5in wheels. For now…

14. Peaty’s Santa Cruz V-10

Shown here at the ENVE booth is Peaty’s stunning Santa Cruz V-10. Painted by Al at Fat Creations as part of the 2016 ‘Last Order’s race tour, Peaty’s V-10 has been shown plenty of times before, but we never get tired of seeing it – just look at it!

15. Ghost Roket X AL

Now how’s this for a real adventure bike? It’s the Roket AL from Ghost Bikes, and it’s essentially a trail-oriented 27.5+ alloy hardtail built with a 130mm travel fork and a 67° head angle. The frame is built around a Pinion C1.12 gearbox to keep all of the gears hidden inside the transmission casing, and the front wheel rolls on a dynamo hub to power lights and any other devices you need for your next off-road adventure. We dig!

16. Sunn Sham Ann

With its distinctive Z-shaped seat tube, this bright blue Sham Ann from Sunn Bikes was an eye-catcher that drew us into the booth during a stroll to one of the other halls. Made from carbon fibre, the Sham Ann rolls on 29in wheels and is equipped with 100mm of travel front and rear. Thanks to a clever integrated linkage, the rear shock is hidden by the seat tube, though a tidy mudguard shields the rear shock from spray off the back tyre. At the very least, it looks rather nice.

17. Transition Sentinel 29er

While there were very few brands using Eurobike to launch their new mountain bike models, Transition was one such brand, releasing no fewer than five new 2018 full suspension bikes. One of those was the Sentinel – an all-new long travel 29er that features Transition’s ‘Speed Balanced Geometry’. Get the full low-down here.

18. Transition Smuggler

For the trail riders, Transition had an updated Smuggler on display at Eurobike, which has also gone down the SBG route with a custom offset fork, along with a steeper seat tube angle, a slacker head angle and a longer front centre. It’s all-alloy for the time being, though Transition hinted that carbon versions are on the horizon.

19. Transition Vanquish

Not long ago, Transition introduced two new carbon hardtails called the Vanquish (29in) and the Throttle (27.5in). In typical Transition style, the two hardtails aren’t for XC racing – these are trail bikes through and through, with slack angles and big forks. We particularly liked the look of the orange Vanquish shown here with its super-tight rear centre and bulbous carbon tubing.

20. DMR SLED

The SLED isn’t exactly an old bike having only been released back in January of this year, but DMR has already updated it with a whole host of improvements in the complete bike spec. In the DMR booth at Eurobike, there was also this custom-built version of the SLED, which came complete with MY18 X-Fusion Sweep forks and a coil Storia shock from Extreme Racing Shox.

21. Pipedream Moxie

Scottish brand Pipedream Cycles didn’t have a booth at Eurobike, but Alan from Pipedream was seen lurking about the Scottish Industry stand and the Funn Components booth with this hot-pink prototype hardtail. You can find all the details about the prototype hardtail here, which is easily one of the longest trail hardtails we’ve ever seen thanks to its 510mm reach and 65.5° head angle.

22. Yeti Cycles Limited Edition ‘Richie Rude’ SB6

Yeti Cycles didn’t have any brand new frames on show at Eurobike, but it did have a couple of brand new bikes that included this drool-worthy SB6. It features a limited edition factory build kit that’s affectionately known as the ‘Richie Rude build’. Fox factory suspension, Shimano XTR groupset, DT Swiss Spline One wheels and a Renthal cockpit complete the package. Full story here.

23. Yeti SB5 LR

Another new 2018 build option from Yeti Cycles was the ‘Lunch Ride’ version of the SB5. The 127mm travel SB5 has been a thoroughly popular model for Yeti since it was first released, but Yeti wanted to up the capability stakes by bolting on a bigger Fox 36 fork, wider rims, fatter tyres and a bigger handlebar – basically how most UK mountain bikers would build an SB5 anyway.

24. Stoll R1

New brand Stoll Bikes turned up to Eurobike with two insane-looking carbon fibre mountain bikes, including this ridiculously lighweight R1 29in race hardtail. Designed in Switzerland and manufactured in Germany by Bike Ahead (they make the superlight carbon rims and 6-spoke carbon wheels), the Stoll R1 is claimed to weigh just 780 grams for the bare carbon frame. Check out our story to find all the details.

25. Stoll T1

Also in the same booth was the T1 trail bike, which was fitted with a set of biturboRS wheels from Bike Ahead. These wheels are claimed to weight under 1.2kg despite being rated for proper trail riding. The frame itself has a dual-link suspension design with 135mm of rear travel, and it can be setup with a 130-140mm travel fork, depending on your tastes. Check out more on the Stoll T1 trail bike here.

26. Rocky Mountain Pipeline

Canadian brand Rocky Mountain had officially launched its new Pipeline and Instinct models a week prior, but Eurobike was the first opportunity for press and dealers to get a look at the full range of alloy and carbon options. This model here is the carbon Pipeline plus bike, which gets 140mm of travel front and rear, and an updated Smoothlink suspension design that runs on ball bearings throughout. There’s loads of nice details on the new Pipeline, so check out the story for the full rundown.

27. Rocky Mountain Instinct

Also new is the 2018 Instinct 29er. Using the same frame and fork as the Pipeline, the Instinct is a trail/all mountain 29er that’s designed for proper hard and fast riding. It features a 9-position geometry adjuster that also allows you to fine-tune the suspension feel, and it comes with an integrated top guide that sits over the chainring.

28. Rocky Mountain Instinct BC Edition

Also in the Rocky Mountain booth was this tank-green and orange Instinct. But it isn’t just any Instinct, it’s the BC Edition. Like Rocky’s other BC Edition builds, this one gets pumped up with a bigger fork (a 160mm travel Fox 36 in this case), along with a piggback Fox Float DPX2 rear shock and fatter 2.5in Maxxis WT tyres. However, it also features a custom linkage that ditches the Ride-9 geometry adjustment in favour of a fixed position that works with the longer stroke shock to increase rear travel from 140mm to 155mm. That makes it the biggest 29er that Rocky Mountain has ever made, and word on the street is that we’re likely to see this one on the EWS circuit soon…

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