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Bike riding is the most enjoyable activity in the world for many people. While some enjoy the escape from the daily grind on the way to work, for many others biking is a sports challenge that releases a lot of adrenaline and endorphins. To learn about the innovations and trends in store for 2011, industry professionals are coming to EUROBIKE, the world’s leading bike trade show, from 1 to 4 September 2010 on Lake Constance.
Aerodynamics save energy
Sophisticated aerodynamics on racing bikes offers valuable advantages in the battle over seconds. This long-recognized fact has been used for some time in bike racing, where frames and components are designed to cut through the air with a minimum of resistance. For the coming model year, more and more racing bike manufacturers are also developing their regular street models in the wind tunnel. The increased use of carbon-fiber composite materials has enabled the implementation of designs that have up to now been impossible with aluminum. Aerodynamically optimized racing bikes require about five percent less energy to maintain a given speed on flat ground. New exemplars in this area are the Megadrive by Centurion and the F01 by Scott.
Back to nature
More and more bicycle suppliers are using renewable materials to build high-end racing and MTB frames. Bamboo is an exotic but totally practical frame construction material. The American manufacturer Boo Bicycles will be exhibiting its bamboo tube frames at EUROBIKE. The bamboo comes from special cultivation fields on their own plantation in Vietnam. Besides bamboo, more and more frame builders are also weaving flax fibers into their carbon tubes. This natural fiber reduces vibrations in carbon-fiber composite materials and is therefore well-suited to absorb the vibrations in stiff carbon frames. A pioneer in this area is the Belgian Johan Museeuw, whose self-named brand will unveil several new innovations at EUROBIKE, as will the Taiwanese manufacturer Merida.
Crossers soon with disk-brakes
Crossers, or cross-country bikes, will once again be a hot trend in the coming model year. With their somewhat wider tires and stable frames, they are not only a robust alternative to racing bikes; they are also a hip mode of transportation for fashion-minded, urban bikers. Due to their light materials, racing bikes with knobby tires often weigh little more than 8 kg. The removal of the ban on disk-brakes in cross-country races by the Universal Cycling Union (UCI) has opened the door beginning in 2011 for crossers to establish themselves as all-purpose bikes. Among other manufacturers at EUROBIKE, Cannondale is showing its Super X model, weighing only 6.6 kg, and Merida is exhibiting its CycloCross Carbon model.
Time-tested and still innovation-inspiring
Aluminum has long been a staple of racing and mountain bike builders. If you are looking for a light-weight and stable sports bike at a comparatively low price, a high-quality aluminum frame will serve you well. For example, aluminum pioneer Cannondale will entice racers with the tenth generation of its CAAD frame technology. With a weight of just over 1000 g, the new CAAD 10 frames have reached a level only attainable two to three years ago by the top carbon-frame models. Merida will also be showing the potential of aluminum frames at EUROBIKE with its Matts Scandium mountain bike model. The result is a 1400-gram frame made out of the aluminum alloy scandium. The integrated system components save even more weight.
29ers experience a breakthrough
For 2011, almost all mountain bike suppliers will carry models with 29-inch wheels in their product lines. The large wheels, which are already popular in the US market, offer many off-road technical advantages. Aficionados will be able to marvel at the S-Works Epic 29 from Specialized or the Superfly Elite from Trek, both of which will be on hand at EUROBIKE.
A bike for everything
Up to now all-mountain models with long-travel suspensions and freeride bikes have generally been built for descending terrain. With a travel of over 150 mm, these bikes mainly specialize in difficult downhill runs. Whether you are looking for the challenge of a tricky downhill that requires a lot of travel or simply want to ride unexplored trails, several bike manufacturers will have a sports bike to meet your needs in the coming year. The key is a variable frame, whose travel can be reduced by up to 60 mm to adjust to riding conditions. Specially constructed shocks with two separate damping chambers provide optimal performance independent of the selected travel distance. The Jekyll by Cannondale and the Genius LT by Scott, among others, are representative of this new trend at EUROBIKE.
The first three days of the EUROBIKE trade show are reserved for industry professionals. On Saturday, 4 September, the show will be opened to the public.
