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Plenty of big bike brands – Giant, Specialized and Trek, to name a few – have long since forgone a presence at industry megashow Eurobike, favouring independent release dates for their important bike launches.
Consequently, big unveilings at this year’s event were scarce, but that isn’t to say the show was bereft of lustworthy designs.
There was the opportunity to get up close and personal with recently released bikes like the Scott Foil RC, physical samples of which have until now been thin on the ground.
There was also the opportunity to learn about bike brands with less of a presence in the UK such as Stevens, which produces world-class bikes that are very popular in continental Europe.
There’s always a few showstoppers on display too – Ironman triathlete Kristian Blummenfelt’s Cadex Tri bike was being shown off, as was Felt’s equally radical IA 2.0 bike.
And then there’s still the odd event exclusive to boot. Basso used Eurobike to launch its new Diamante race bike, and magnesium specialists Vaast launched its aero-inspired R1 bike too.
Factor even gused the show to give Cyclist a sneak peak of something extra special that is still under wraps, so you’ll have to check back soon for more news on that particular release.
Once you’ve taken a look at our bike round-up be sure to check back on any of the galleries you may have missed. We’ve covered the latest gravel gear, apparel highlights and the best componentry at the show too.
Launched just before the show, the new Scott Foil RC promises to be 20 percent faster, 9 percent lighter and 10 percent more comfortable than the outgoing model.
Scott says it has exploited the changes in UCI rules on frame design to overhaul the design of the Foil, which looks to be heavily inspired by the brand’s Plasma TT bike.
The brand says it worked with UK-based aerodynamics specialist Drag2Zero to look at the interplay between the bike’s frame, the components bolted onto it and the rider as a system, to save an effective 1 minute and 18 seconds over 40km compared with the old Foil, based on testing at 40kmh.
The Foil’s new carbon layup apparently involves fewer separate pieces, thereby decreasing the number of joints in the frame by 30 percent, Scott says this has resulted in a 9 percent reduction in the bike’s weight despite the gains in speed.
Scott says the gain in comfort have been made in the componentry. The patented Syncros Duncan SL Aero CFT seatpost may look deep but the actual load-bearing part of the carbon post is a slender portion at the front.
There’s a detachable section in the cut-out that completes the post’s aero profile which can be used to mount a light, and according to the UCI, definitely isn’t a fairing...
The Diamante was launched on the morning of the first day of this year’s Eurobike. It’s the eighth edition of Basso’s race bike, which it’s had in its range for over 22 years.
The headline story with the new bike is its weight loss. Basso says it has pared over 200g off the frame weight, with a size 53 frame weighing just 760g. That should allow builds that come in comfortably under the UCI’s 6.8kg weight limit.
In a move to buck recent trends, the Diamante maintains a relatively traditional look, with plenty of round tube sections to be found in its frameset.
Basso says that this comes out of its own research on how to achieve the best performance from the carbon frame and helps ensure its torsional rigidity while reducing weight.
In search of increased stability in the new bike, Basso says it has relaxed the head tube angle to increase the bike’s front centre.
Stack and reach have also been made a little less aggressive, meaning a wider range of riders should be able to find a comfortable fit on the bike.
FSA had a frameset on its stand at this year’s show, but that doesn’t mean the brand is now the first component maker to move into producing compete bikes.
The bike is a prototype, according to FSA, and serves to explore where bike design could potentially go in future.
The frameset was of course outfitted with the brand’s latest K-Force WE 12-speed semi-wireless groupset and its design was governed by thinking about a normal bike that used completely integrated technology.
As such the stem features an integrated bike computer, and the front end of the bike – which uses an integrated stem/bar/fork arrangement – is said to be inspired by motorcycle design.
Of course, aerodynamic efficiency shaped much of the frame’s geometry. The bar tips that protrude horizontally from the ends of the drops are airfoil in profile, resembling an aeroplane's wing.
FSA says they improve aerodynamics (although they didn’t say how or by what amount) as well as offering yet another hand position for the rider.
It was impossible to walk by the Felt stand at this year’s Eurobike without taking a close look at it IA 2.0 triathlon bike.
The radical frameset uses reasonably organic-looking tube shapes to integrate storage compartments in the top tube and seat tube.
The hump in the top tube behind the cockpit is there to infill the space left between the riders’ arms, meaning there is less of a gap there that can potentially harm aerodynamic efficiency.
The extension of the seat tube is said to act as a mini-tail to help smooth and direct the airflow coming off the rider and bike, in a bid to minimise turbulence.
Apparently the frame revision over Felt’s IA 1.0 predecessor design makes the new bike 4% faster.
The distinctive chessboard appearance of the frame’s carbon composite is thanks to liberal use of TeXtreme’s ‘spread tow’ fibre material.
According to TeXtreme, the woven composition of the material makes more efficient use of carbon fibre, packing more of it into the same space. That means less resin is required, so the TeXtreme composite can be up to 20% lighter than other composites.
Felt says that TeXtreme allows its engineers to significantly reduce weight and increase stiffness in the IA 2.0 relative to conventional carbon composites.
Stevens isn’t a name many people in the UK are familiar with but its gargantuan stand at Eurobike was testament to how big the brand is in other territories.
Like Canyon, Cube and Rose – names UK riders are more likely to recognise – Stevens is German. Its development HQ is in Hamburg and its bikes are fabricated in the Far East.
The Arcalis is Stevens’ aero road model, but despite claims of aero efficiency, Stevens’ says the frame weight remains competitive at 1,030g (painted, size medium).
That relatively low weight plus features like 30mm tyre clearance should mean the Arcalis would prove to be a reasonably versatile road bike.
On its site, Stevens’ lets riders configure their own bike builds, so they can choose their own balance of price and performance.
Vaast makes bike frames from magnesium, and the R1 is its latest model.
Vaast says magnesium alloy as a frame material is much kinder to the environment than carbon thanks to how readily recyclable it is.
Magnesium is obviously easily corroded, so to render these frames durable Vaast has applied a plasma electrolytic oxidation coating to the metal.
The R1 is said to be ‘aero-inspired’, so while not strictly speaking an alloy aero bike in the same way something like the Specialized Allez Sprint is, the R1 does use an extended, flat backed down tube and aerofoil-esque seat tube and post.
The welds at the tube junctions are chunky, but the frame itself is said to be not unreasonably heavy at 1,250g.
What’s more, magnesium is said to have a unique ride quality, offering better levels of damping than most alloy frames.
Just like Felt’s IA 2.0, Cadex’s new Tri frameset is a head turner and prompts interesting avenues of discussion for how bikes might look if the UCI’s rules for road and time trial bikes weren’t quite as regimented.
The frame’s front ‘triangle’ (or what’s left of it) is what grabs attention initially. The exceptionally deep down tube hides integrated storage compartments that can easily be removed to facilitate keeping things clean.
Things are just as extreme in other areas of the bike. The seat stays are horizontal for much of their length, and both these and the fork blades adopt an exceptionally wide stance in a similar way to Hope’s HBT track bike, for aerodynamic purposes as well as stiffness gains.
The dual fork crown front end bears some resemblance to Specialized’s Shiv TT bike.
The fact that this SuperSlice is actually a new iteration of the design is entirely overshadowed by its paintjob, which the EF Education – Easypost team are using at the Tour De France at the moment.
The design is a result of another collaboration between Rapha, EF Education–Easypost's kit sponsor and Palace Skateboards.
The brands’ first collaboration was for the 2020 Giro d’Italia, and it produced similarly wild results.
This time the motivation for the design was to celebrate the Tour de France Femmes, which begins the same day as the 2022 Tour de France finishes. EF Education–Easypost's female counterpart, EF Education–Tibco-SVB will be using the same kit at that event as well.
As if the paintjobs weren’t lairy enough, it is said that each one contains easter egg design elements that relate to the personality and style of the rider using the bike.
Photos: Sam Challis and Emma Cole
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