Cycle Show 2009 Event Report
Earls Court October 2009
Back for another year the
ever popular Cycle Show returned to Earls
Court London for another consecutive year,
and of course we were there to find out
what's what in the world of MTB for the 2010
season...
As previous years only one hall in Earls
Court was in use for the show, but this year
the hall was well packed out again with lots
of exhibitors and displays.
The show had demo arenas for test riding
various styles of bikes and there were also
regular displays from some of the Worlds top
BMX/DJ riders, and chat show style events on
stage with some of the biggest names from
all walks of life through the Cycling World
including
Victoria Pendleton, Nicole
Cooke, Lizzie Armistead, The Atherton Family
and many others too.
The bike show is always a good excuse to
spend a day exploring what manufacturers
have on the cards for the following year and
this year did not disappoint with plenty of
shiny bikes to look at. In terms of what is
new for 2010 the best way to describe the
advancement is evolution not revolution,
there are several subtle changes (mainly in
paints schemes) with manufacturers refining
existing designs, several of the big players
had new XC bikes out in 09 and therefore
little has changed for 2010. An area which
companies seem to have jumped on this year
is the commuter/ hybrid bike market, with an
increased variety of exhibitors displaying
new and expanded line ups, possibly a sign
of the current recession where this sector
of cycling is thriving as people look to
ditch the car for a cheaper mode of
transport.
Whyte Bikes
Whyte had a fantastic display of
their full range of bikes including the 19
series, the E-120 series and the 905 series
range.
The Whyte's for 2010 are sat in some
fantastic colour schemes, and sporting some
superb new components, most noted being the
new Sram XX groupset.
The best Whyte on display for us was the
brand new Carbon Fibre 19 Carbon Works XX.
This is the flagship carbon XC Race hardtail
featuring full XX groupset and full Easton
composite finishing kit. The bike was set
off with a stunning carbon, lime and white
highlighted paint scheme along with the new RockShox SID XX 100mm
fork with remote lock out control.
With a retail of £3999 its
dear, but were sure it will be finding its
way onto a race circuit or two this coming
season.
For more details
www.whytebikes.com
Hope Technologies (& Empire Cycles)
Hope Tech had a great deal
to showcase this year. The main items on
display were the new 20th Anniversary range
of parts. This new range for the show was
displayed in a very different yet stylish
limited edition bronzed anodised finish.
Other neat parts and
accessories on the Hope stand, were as
always, a fantastic array of perfectly
crafted CNC-ed parts including headsets,
seat clamps, brake calipers and new brake
levers. A new range of anodised colours are
available too. Some nice new lights are also
on Hopes stock list along with some very
tasty Hope downhill race gear.
Also sat on the Hope stand
was an Empire Cycles AP-1 full build bike
sat in striking Hope green/grey/white paint
scheme. We have featured an article on the
EC AP-1 once before on bmtb. If your not
familiar with this bike, the reason we are
is that its a whole new concept technology
to the MTB market. The AP-1 is a cast ally
frame, a high-pivot swingarm,
full-complement needle bearings. The bike
features a beautiful one piece main frame
and a hollow, section sand-cast aluminium
swing arm. Also featuring on the frame are
adjustable dropouts, incorporated cable
routing, the custom graphics and even
motocross-style brake carrier, the AP-1 is
an engineering masterpiece.
http://www.hopetech.com/
http://www.empire-cycles.com/
Bianchi & Ducati Bikes
Bianchi has a
great name for Road Bikes throughout the
World, infact I would be surprised if you
hadn't heard of them. However they also make
Mountain bikes as well, and these are worth
talking about too...
Bianchi had a full range
of their Road and MTB Alloy, Ti and Carbon
fibre masterpieces on a huge stand right as
the centre of attention in the Earls Court
Arena.
Along with the Bianchi
branded bikes there was another bike brand
on display along side, this name is more
well known for its Italian style and purring
V-Twin engines, the name, if you hadnt
guessed already, Ducati.
Bianchi have been
producing for Ducati a line of Road, MTB,
Street, Junior and frame only Ducati Corse
Bikes. The Ducati bike range includes 3 road
bikes, 4 mountain bikes, 2 street bikes, and
4 Ducati Monster Junior Bikes.
In the Mountain Bike range there is the
Scrambler XS, Monster 900 Carbon, and the
Monster 800 and 700 models. Scrambler and
Monster are the names of the 2 most famous
Ducati Motorcycles.
On display at Earls Court this year was the
Ducati Monster 900 Carbon Fibre XC Hardtail.
Propped up on its stand it sat next to a
very domineering Ducati 1198 Motorcycle.
You may remember our review on bmtb
previously of the Ducati Corse Scrambler 140
Alloy full suspension bike, available still,
but as frame only.
The Ducati range is
available worldwide, but through a very
specific dealer network.
More info on Bianchi and
Ducati
www.bianchi.com
Sram XX Groupset
One of the top components to
be seen on the new high end bikes was the
new Sram XX. This appears to be the
most desirable MTB groupset on the market at
the moment, and the XX setup is starting to
appear on road applications too.
The XX range two-piece
insert-moulded carbon composite construction
crankset comes in at 694 grams. The
oversized chain rings are CNC machined 7075
Aluminium blanks which are 2mm thicker than
the competition. Other features included
increased Bolt Circle Diameter and a
two-piece insert-moulded carbon composite
construction. The XX chain rings are also
very posh - prototype after prototype was
built, ridden, and analyzed until Sram got
it right. The outcome is a new
lightning-fast and accurate front shifting
design called X-Glide. We rode the demo
setup version at the show, and yes the
shifting is top notch indeed.
Front mechs to me are
never that exciting, however this new XX one
has been redesigned from the ground up and
does deliver superb shifting, however again
its had a lot of thought put into the
design, and it has the daintiest of light
weight mounting brackets to really help with
the weight saving and fine tuning during
fitting. Several mounts are available and it
looks a tidy unit too.
The all new 2 piece forged
magnesium XX brake calipers allow for
greater stiffness and performance in an even
more well refined lighter weight package.
The XX calipers feature oversized pistons
for more stopping power with less lever
pull, which is claimed for easy one finger
braking. Weight per brake is 288g with a
direct Mount and a 160mm rotor. Light,
powerful and good looking, if the price is
right, they should be a major competition
for Shimanos ever popular XTR groupset.
For more info on the Sram
XX range and other ranges visit
www.sram.com
Felt Bikes
Felt bikes are another great
name in the MTB industry striving to go
higher in the market and their bikes are
certainly doing that job for them.
Felt had a very impressive stand including
various road, time trial, commuter and
mountain bike variants on display.
The Felt bikes across all
cycling genres are sporting very impressive
components and very eye catching paint jobs
to boot.
One model that did catch
our eye (pictured opposite) was the Felt
Virtue model.
The Virtue is an all mountain/XC
Enduro/all day bike running the Felt
Equilink XC-trail full suspension. This is a
7005 double-butted aluminium frame with
hydroform top tube and a very neat carbon
fibre rear triangle. 130mm rear travel. 3
variants; the 1, 2 and 3 are available under
the Virtue title, all as you would expect
with varying spec from entry level MTB right
through to a full on Fox 32 XT groupset
machine.
Lapierre Bikes
Here we find
another company with huge interest from the
public, you, the riders.
Lapierre is also a name
you have probably heard of. Danny Hart, one
of the Countries best young Downhill racing
talents won the 2009 World Cup Junior title
aboard a Lapierre DH.
Lapierre has a fantastic
range on offer for 2010 with everything from
base level XC hardtails right up to and
including full on Downhill Race level
machines. Now you might think this isn't
something new, most companies can offer
this, but the Lapierre's come in at a
very high quality with fantastic specs,
superb level of detail and good prices to
match.
The models under most
interest from the punters at the show
included the Froggy and the Spicy.
Both are freeride/all mountain machines. The
Froggy being the bigger brother with
variants including rear coil shocks of 160
or 180mm of travel with heavy duty 180mm
long travel single crown forks. The Spicer
comes in with a Fox rear air shock with
160mm front and rear travel.
All the Lapierre bikes
were of a superb design and a great
attention to detail has been made during the
design and manufacturer. A lot of the show
bikes were displayed with many anodised
parts throughout matching the paint jobs and
decals to be found on each model. A very
nice touch indeed.
For more info click over
to
www.lapierrebikes.com
Cube Bikes
Cube Bikes, a
German company, were also on display, infact
they had a huge display, showcasing every
model in their range including all MTB and
road variants.
MTB models of interest
were the Reaction XC Hardtail series
including carbon and 7005 alloy variants.
These were extremely tidy hardtails
including a very nice tidy semi-frame
incorporated seat tube clamp.
The frames run 100mm travel and the bikes
were running components from DT Swiss, Sram
X9, Avid and Rockshox on the lower end
models, with Fox 32s, Formula R1 brakes and
Sram X0 on the high end models.
Also of interest were the Sting,
Stereo and Frtizz models. These
were the longer travel XC Enduro/All Day/All
mountain bikes featuring 120mm travel (front
and rear) on the Sting Teamline Racer, and
110-150mm travel courtesy of Fox 32s (Stereo
model) and Fox 36s on the Fritzz Model). The
Fritzz carbon fibre long travel (150mm front
and rear) model is shown opposite.
More info
www.cube.eu
Specialized
A name you all know. High end
bikes and kit. For 2010 we are not let down.
The MTB and road ranges look great for 2010
even if there are some odd colour and
graphic options available. Sadly one of the
carbon colour schemes looks really cheap
this year on some of the Epics and Stumpy's.
The demo 8 II sat in the
red and black colour scheme picture opposite
was my bike of the show. I know its not a
new design, its been out for a few years,
but to me its the pinnacle of useable
downhill bike design and desire. The
matching 50/50 Specialized Monster race kit
was also very cool.
As always Specialized also has a very
impressive range of helmets, clothing,
footwear and accessories for 2010.
www.specialized.com
RAW Bamboo Bikes
For those of
you who like something different, how about
a custom made bike made out of Natural
Bamboo with hemp fibre lugs.
Each frame is unique and built to order.
Bamboo is used to a light and strong
alternative to metals, and the bamboo
natural qualities give a natural vibration
dampening ride when constructed properly
into a frameset.
Available as complete bikes, s/s or frame
only. Road of MTB versions available.
More info
www.rawbamboobikes.co.uk
FSA (Full Speed Ahead)
FSA have been making superb
quality parts for years and for 2010 there
is still no exception.
FSA had a great stand
showcasing their produced delights very
well.
Top of the viewing list
was as always the K-FORCE Light Carbon
Crankset (see right). The K-Force light
crankset includes
Monocoque carbon crank construction with
hollow arms and oversized bearings,
integrated 24mm spindle. The carbon is 3k
weave with an attractive gloss finish, and
the weight for all this bling, only 750g
including the BB.
FSA also had various CNC-ed
headsets, chain rings and so on on display
along with various carbon fibre and alloy
finishing kits including bars and seatposts,
external alloy bearing cups, 100% CNC-ed
chainrings
Some very nice carbon
fibre saddles were also on display,
including full glossed carbon and and a
leather covered carbon version also.
www.fullspeedahead.com
Randoms
& Interestings
Now we all
know any kind of show reveals the sensible,
the latest safety gear, the latest
technologies and the best new kit for our
racing and riding seasons. However shows,
including our humble Cycle Shows also
include some superb 'random' features. Top
on the list of the day was a custom bespoke
diamond clad chopper bike by Ben Wilson. The
photo doesn't do the shine justice.
Also on the 'interesting' list was a company
called QP offering bespoke tailored riding
shoes, but not just any shoes. These were
full leather 'dress shoes' with the option
of cleat fittings for the fancy dressers
amongst us.
Also at the show were
Early Riders a local Henley based
company manufacturing wooden bikes without
training wheels. Many feature a custom
motorbike style which is very cool. Their
stand at the show was also very impressive
with a 'wooden panel theme' with wooden
workbenches and the little bikes were held
in place by wooden vices.
www.earlyrider.com
Other small yet cool
things at the show were a huge variety of
incredible cool electric bikes and trikes, I
would have to write a entirely separate
article to cover most, but there were some
incredible designs, some good looking,
others, erm, not so... but its great to see
there are still many designs and uses for
the humble bicycle with leads me on nicely
to the display or historic and famous bikes
from the Penny Farthing right through to
machines such as the carbon fibre Lotus
built time trial bike from 1992.
Overview
So for us the
Cycle Show '09 comes to an end, if your
reading this tonight the show is still on
tomorrow Sunday 11th October so be quick...
For me the standout kit for 2010 is SRAM
XX, the first groupset to be designed solely
around a double set up. For racers this will
certainly appeal, the set up is light,
reduces the overlap in gears between chain
rings and removes (when used with BB30) the
chain line issues associated with running
42x32 or 22X11. The groupset isn’t just for
racers though, and the 10 speed cassette (a
work of machining art) has a 36 tooth cog,
which allows creates similar ratios to that
of a Triple and an 11-32 cassette. For those
who are SRAM fans you will certainly like
the new offering, and for those more
familiar with Shimano you will possibly find
that shifting is not quite as smooth but
there is no doubting that’s in its latest
offering SRAM has raised the bar, it will
interesting to see how Shimano responds and
what developments they bring to the table
when the next generation of XTR is released
(although we may have to wait until 2011 for
that)
The show was a great
success, a really busy day at Earls Court
showcasing the best cycling has to
offer at the moment.
There were plenty more
fantastic bikes, parts and accessories along
with cool stands and gossip from the day
that I haven't covered in this report, and
to that I must apologise, but if I covered
every part and bike I had seen I would still
be typing this....
...and typing.... and typing...
However do check back over the next few days
as we will be adding more photos and
manufacturer reports shortly.
So hears to the Cycle Show
2009, a great job done by all, and lets roll
on Cycle Show 2010.
Regards
Scott
BMTB
