If you’re a fan of direct sales brands there’s already a good chance that you’ve heard of Alutech, they’ve been gaining popularity over the years due to the rise in buy direct brands and thanks to their commitment to trying out new technologies and ideas . It was even one of the first brands to release a 29er downhill way back before the start of the 2017 WC season!
Alutech Fanes
For Eurobike Alutech’s booth has been solely taken over by the 170mm travel Fane, but we also got to see the company’s latest 29er and hardtail bikes too.
The Fanes has been present in the Alutech range for a good number of years already, and this latest version sees only slight updates to the original suspension platform while the rest of the frame has undergone a serious makeover.
A sloping top-tube gives riders plenty of standover height and with a straight seat tube, it gives you the option to run the longest dropper you can. Interestingly all of the Alutech bikes, including staff bikes, were running the BikeYoke Revive dropper that Andi rated last year.
With 170mm of travel on tap front and rear, the Fanes is likely going to see a lot of action, and it’s nice to see a reinforced headtube area and bury seat stays to ward off even the most enthusiastic huck.
What’s really interesting is that Alutech is testing an NFC identification system that houses a Near Field Communication chip behind the head badge of each frame.
These NFC chips hold data about that specific frame so customers are able to check the model number, year, and authenticity of the frame. We also saw a rather interesting augmented reality app demoed too which gives customers and dealers specification details along with service interval update info. Watch out for a demo video of this app coming your way soon.
Alutech currently offers the Fanes in a range of build kits and are currently even working on a Pinion gearbox version too. The Fanes gets a 65.4º head angle, while reach figures range from just 388mm on the XS to 467mm on the XL bike.
Frames start at 1,299 Euros with complete bikes ranging from 2,799 – 4,799 Euros.
Alutech Tofan 29er
Although Altech only has the Fanes on display, we asked nicely and they also let us see their latest 29er enduro bike called the Tofan. The Tofan shown here is actually Jürgen Schlender’s, the owner of Alutech Bikes, and is one of the first production frames.
Jürgen has built is personal bike up with all his favourite parts including Magura brakes, E*13 wheels, Fox suspension and a 1×12 SRAM Eagle groupset. The missed matched Onza and Maxxis tyres are on there for testing purposes.
Rather than being a complete alloy frame, Alutech decided to go for carbon fibre stays on its 29er which apparently saves 500g over a full alloy build and increases the overall stiffness of the bike.
The head angle is pretty slack at 64º while reach is on par with similar bikes with a medium sized frame getting 440mm, 470mm on a large and 500mm on an XL. Climbing should be good too with a 75º seat tube and with a bottom bracket drop of -30mm we expect the Tofan to rail berms.
Pricing starts from 1,999 Euros for the frame only (no shock) with complete bikes starting from 3,599 Euros.
Alutech Cheaptrick
If you like what Alutech are doing but are a firm believer in hardtails then the Cheaptrick 29er is Alutech’s answer. This frame is designed around a 551mm fork length and has an aggressive 65º head angle.
Even though it runs large 29in wheels the chainstays are incredibly short at 425mm across all sizes making it super easy for manuals, if you can manual that is.
Pricing on the Alutech Cheaptrick ranges from 599.90 Euros for the fame alone, with complete bikes ranging from 1,999 – 2,099 Euros.
All Alutech bikes are available through only Alutech’s website, where you’ll also find more details on these models and more.
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Answer bars? So not changing ing the name to Protaper, which would be stupid since they’ve always been Answer Protapers.