Eurobike 2019 gallery, part two: Fulcrum, Fizik, Hunt, Scapin and more
With over 1,400 exhibitors, it takes a whole bunch of Zeppelin blimp hangers to house the craziness of Eurobike. Broken up into these hangers (halls), each area has a particular regional theme to the brands that typically occupy them. There are multiple German halls, the Taiwanese hall, the American hall and many others. Much of this gallery was shot within an area the Italians were doing business.
In this gallery, you’ll find a mix of new products from well-known brands. One won the Eurobike Best Product award, others are likely to find wide appeal. We take a look at the return of Scapin bikes, too. And we still have a load more content to get through that we’ll be publishing over the coming few days. Keep an eye out,.
Hunt has a new sub-1,300g, low profile aero wheel in the works. It’s a wheel that will feature a filamant wound rim and carbon fibre spokes. Those spokes are replaceable and feature no bonding, but are rather given mechanically-fitted sleeves/nipples.
These wheels are built specifically as a system, where the hub shell, spokes and rim are all produced by a single manufacturing partner. Hunt has found them to be up to 30% stiffer under compression than their 36 Carbon Wide Aero wheels.
Expected to be called the Hunt 36 Carbon x2, the wheels will be 36mm deep with a 20mm internal rim width. Rim brake will be first, and a disc brake version is in early stages of design.
There are two clear themes at this year’s Eurobike. Indoor training and tubeless tyre repair plugs. Zefal is getting into the latter, with its prototype solution designed to fit into the end of a mountain bike handlebar. It’s not the first of its kind, but it’s nice to have choice.
Zefal’s new Pulse Z2 bottle cage is quite interesting. Carbon fibre, made in France, 18g and just €20. What’s not to like?
Remember the days when the same quick release skewer would fit all of your wheels and bikes (at least road bikes)? GW-MFG is the world’s largest supplier of OEM thru-axles. They have well over 1,000 product numbers dedicated to the various thru-axles. Oh joy.
A brand with a cult following that lost its way. Having sold the brand to Olympia Cycles many moons ago, the trademark was bought back a year ago. Scapin is back, but perhaps not as you expect it…
But before I do that, here’s another look at this cobble-munching machine from 1999.
Well, Scapin may be back, but not as you expect. They’re now focussed on ultra-high-end, Italian made E-MTBs. They’ll be launching with two models, each using the same carbon fibre and aluminium frame, but with a different suspension linkage to change the travel and geometry. The bikes use Fazua’s motor system, and the power can be expanded with an additional battery pack that fits into the bottle cage.
Ever seen Pinarello’s recent mountain bikes with more asymetry than two-face from Batman? Well, seems Sapin saw that and said “hold my Presecco”.
There are some seriously nice details on these new E-MTB bikes, and in that sense, it stays true to what people loved in the early Sapin frames.
FSA has long been involved in the e-bike component game, and they’ve now launched their own hub motor system. It’s a 250W system, designed for the remote control to be integrated into the bike’s toptube.
FSA System means the company now has a complete solution to the E-Road world. It means FSA is the only other company after Shimano to offer it all. It’s a safe bet to assume they’ll work out ways to better integrate the WE drivetrain with the e-system.
Weight weenie components maker Carbon-Ti has taken the plung into offering chainrings for SRAM’s AXS Flat-Top 12-speed chain. There are a number of size and fitment options to suit popular lightweight cranks.
Carbon-Ti is currently prototyping titanium freehub bodies. They’re said to add about 10g over the existing aluminium shells, but durability will be far better.
RedShift Sports, best known for its shock-absorbing stems and now seatposts, has completed the package with a comfort-focussed handlebar. It’s called the Kitchen Sink and has more hand positions than a beginner’s rock climbing wall.
A part of the Selle Royal group (Fizik, crank brothers, and many others), Italian clothing company PEdALED is now getting into gravel wear. The new Jary (Japanese for gravel, apparently) collection has a bunch of fancy materials used in well-considered ways to make basic-looking clothing. The line uses plenty of Merino-blends.
The baggies keep a plain look, but feature a one-way-stretch material that changes in its used direction depending on how and where PEdALED want the shorts to stretch. A nice touch is the silicon waist band that’s designed to lock with the optional inner short.
PEdALED uses a bunch of materials from fabric manufacturer Polartec. For 2020, they have a one-year exclusive to use Polartec’s new Power Wool material, something that uses both Merino and synthetic but in a layered construction, as opposed to blending the knit. Doing this apparently gets the best properties out of the materials used. It claims to anti-odour, wicking, insulating and soft like a bunny’s ears (I made that last one up, but it really did feel lush.
Fizik won Eurobike’s best product award for this new racing shoe. This Vento Powerstrap R2 Aeroweave is Fizik’s latest pro-grade race shoe and the company’s lightest (400g, EU42) and stiffest offering to date. The upper uses a knit of lightweight nylon fibers with filaments of thermoplastic polymer.
The carbon sole features a new layup that’s stiffer and lighter than Fizik’s other models. The cleat placement is apparently more rearward than before, too – fixing a common complaint of the Italian footwear.
Specialized (with the new Mirror saddles) is not the only company that thinks 3D-printed saddles are the future. Fizik has partnered with 3D print specialists Carbon to produce it’s “Adaptive” saddles that aim to bring in a new level of comfort. Fizik has plans for a custom program, but for now, it’ll offer the technology in a standard form.
According to Fizik, “the padding for the new saddle is crafted by Carbon
using revolutionary Carbon Digital Light Synthesis (DLS) technology which uses digital ultraviolet light projection, oxygen permeable optics, and programmable liquid resins to produce parts with excellent mechanical properties, resolution and surface finish.” Or in other words, it felt squishy in places, and firmer in others.
Fizik has joined the stub-nose saddle trend, offering two models. The Vento Argo is designed with aggressive riding positions in mind and comes in either 140 and 150mm widths.
The Tempo Argo is a similar saddle, but designed with riders who prefer a more upright riding position. This saddle comes in 150 or 160mm widths. According to Fizik, saddle width is directly related to how aggressive the riding position is. That view of saddle width goes against the theories from Specialized, Bontrager, Ergon, SQLab and many others who have openly invested huge sums into ergonomic and biomechanic data and all agree saddle width is related to sit bone width. In other words, I’m a sceptic of Fizik’s approach to saddle fit.
Fulcrum has a whole bunch of new wheels for 2020, and even more new names. The Wind series, previously known as the Racing Quattro series, gets some big updates. The rim brake models recieve just a new name, but the disc brake versions are new from the ground-up. Pictured is the Wind 40 DB, with a 19mm internal width carbon tubeless-ready rim. These wheelsets are still produced entirely in-house within Europe.
The 40mm deep version is complemented with a new 55mm deep version. It features the same drill-free and internally reinforced carbon rim construction as Fulcrum’s other carbon rims.
Fulcrum leaves its carbon rims raw. Simply giving them a polish and a lick of clear coat once out of the mould.
Fulcrum’s Racing Zero DB aluminium-rim wheelset is pretty much unchanged for 2020, however, the company has decided to ditch its convertible axles in favour for a stiffer version that’s dedicated to the existing standard of 100x12mm front, and 142x12mm rear.
Designed specifically for gravel riders, Fulcrum’s new Rapid Red 5 wheels look to be a well-thought choice at what’s likely to be an affordable price. The 23mm internal-width alloy rims are tubeless-ready, and laced with 24 spokes front and rear. They’re available in both 650 and 700c.
Looking for a high style sports jacket that’s ready for safe commuting? Amity jackets feature fold-away reflective panels.
E-bikes have unique demands which are forcing new products and product changes everywhere you look. For example Park Tool’s chain cleaner was designed to work with a back-pedalled chain, but many e-bikes don’t do that (they feature a freewheel at the crank). This new model works in either forward or backward directions. Simply flip the handle to the other side to make use of the feature.
Do you live at the bottom of a mountain bike resort and want to make a bunch of new friends? Buy one of these, maybe.
Colour-coded hex keys are notihng new and have been extremely popular for easy size identicification in many trades. Fabric has put the concept into a folding multi-tool. Funnily enough, so has Topeak, which I’ll cover in a future gallery.
A giant in motorcycle helmets, HJC is still a fresh face on the bicycle helmet scene. While the Furion and Ibex models were still relatively new, the Korean company has released updated versions of both. Pictured are the Furion 2.0 (left) and Ibex 2.0 (right). The Ibex is 25-30g lighter than before, while the Furion is about 10g lighter, now 190g. But there’s a lot more going on.
Both models see much of the internal padding striped away in an effort to make the channeling more effective at carrying air across the head. Replacing the padding is what HJC has dubs the CoolPass, a plastic harness that’s moulded into the helmet.
The retention system is overhauled too. Gone are the dials, replaced with a clever automated (and effective from my brief try) sprung system.
While micro adjustments are no longer needed with the new retention system, larger size changes can still be made. There are five positional holes to choose from on both sides of the helmet (temple area of the helmet pictured).
HJC has a new pricepont road helmet, too. The Atara is priced at just €99 and features an aerodynamic design with deep internal channeling.
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