EUROBIKE’15: Last Call!

With Interbike starting this week we have just enough time before the Vegas reports start rolling in to have one last look back at Eurobike 2015. Today we check out the beautiful, the bizarre and lightweight heaven with gear from Merida, Sportful, Haibike, THM-Composites, C8-Sports and E-vers.

One of the lightest bikes at the show this year was Merida‘s latest flagship model, the Scultura Superlite HD which was tagged as the ‘Lightest Production Bike in the World’.

The Scultura Superlite HD boasted a weight of just 4.5kg in M/L size with the frame weighing a mere 690g. To get the weight down to these sort of levels some serious engineering has gone into the design with the wall thickness of the carbon just 0.7mm in places! The frame is built from over 400 pieces of carbon and is completely hand made.

This ultralightweight frame was then topped off with Sram Red and a host of lightweight products including an exquisite Tune saddle and an ultra-minimalistic seatpost clamp.

Merida-bikes.com for more on the Superlite HD and the whole Merida range.

Some of the most unique bikes at Eurobike every year belong to the guys at Haibike who are never afraid to experiment with new technology or outlandish colors.

Their Affair range was certainly drawing some looks with the top model in the range, the Affair 8.80 and its Shimano Di2, disc brakes and Bike Ahed roadRunner Clincher wheels being a very interesting ride indeed…

The lower models didn’t have the crazy carbon wheels so they instead relied on crazy color schemes to attract the public.

If bright colors aren’t enough to attract attention though you could always opt for their motorized range of roadies that can hit high enough speeds that in most countries you have to register them as motor vehicles – hence the large plate holders on the back.

A big believer in e-bikes and a market force in Germany and many asian markets you can check out the full and slightly crazy range of 2016 Haibike models at haibike.de.

And if you think that turning up at your next group ride on a Haibike electronic roadie would get you lots of attention it would be nothing in comparison with arriving on THM Composite‘s, ‘Project 1865’ prototype.

This is a working, electronic driven bike in the style of a modern day penny farthing…

And if that’s not unusual enough for you, the entire bike except for the brakes, axles and motor are made up of new, high-technology high-performance plastics, specialty foams, epoxy resin and polyurethane materials from BASF.

Go to thm-carbon.com for more on this project and on their standard range of products including their ever popular carbon cranksets and forks.

Sportful had their ever expanding range of high quality clothing on display with some nice new additions for 2016 that included this jacket, the Fiandre Extreme Neoshell.

This is a jacket for extreme winter riding conditions but is surprisingly light and aero utilizing Polartec Neoshell fabrics. Sportful worked very closely with the pros of Tinkoff-Saxo and Polartec to develop this jacket that can handle the harsh conditions but doesn’t turn into a heavy parachute like many standard extreme jackets can do. With Polartec fabrics, an overall light weight, taped seams and a waterproof YKK zipper this jacket looks the goods.

The expansion of the Fiandre range has also included this new pair of bibshorts that use Sportful’s proprietary silicone-treated water repellent fabric…

… and they even have this clever little water resistant flap at the back to prevent that horrible soggy chamois feeling on a wet day.

For continued coverage against the bad weather add in some Fiandre water resistant armwwarmers and cap and you’re set for the bad weather. Being very much a good weather rider myself I can appreciate the thought and science that’s gone into their bad weather ranges and I’m sure Contador, Sagan and co. appreciate it too but I’d prefer to check out some good weather gear so the guys at Sportful showed me this base layer/bibshort combination – the R&D Ultraskin.

An integrated baselayer/bibshort designed for endurance riders that features a double layer mesh for the base layer with great wicking and evaporation qualities. By integrating the base layer into the shorts Sportful have eliminated the bib straps on your shoulders that are sometimes a comfort issue for certain riders and there is also no bunching around the waist of your separate base layer.

All this comes in very resistant to wear materials with a double comfort zipper and their TC-Pro chamois and an extremely light weight. If the comfort is as good as claimed and anything like their Super Total Comfort Bibshorts I tested earlier this year, then this R&D Ultraskin could be a great addition to your cycling wardrobe for long rides in nice weather. Check them out and the whole Sportful range at sportful.com

The guys at HiLite bikes had some of the best machines at the show and getting past the engineering of their frames for a moment I couldn’t help but notice these unique saddles on board their bikes from C8 Sports.

This model is the Constance 8 and is made from one unique piece of carbon meaning that there are no joins anywhere so no weak points and all for just 69 grams. Yep, this is one lightweight saddle and is 100% swiss made from the aerospace engineering experts behind the company.

C8 also have more carbon parts including a very funky range of stems – check them out at C8-sports.com

I’ve already talked about the guys at Konstructive bikes and their new range of very classy bikes but also on their stand was something that stood out; e-vers shoes.

It was the first time I’d seen the brand but I was immediately impressed by the construction and finish being of extremely high standard with a unique and well thought out tightening system. The fastening system is called CRX and tightens two broad crossing straps over the instep spreading the necessary fastening pressure over a large zone to reduce any pressure points. These straps are tightened by rotating the dial and the rotation is gradual and not ‘in steps’ so that you will never have the problem of having your perfect adjustment falling between two steps.

On display was their Primo-ID model which is billed as the ‘Ultimate Solution’ for your road cycling needs. With the feet being one of the most important contact points between a cyclist and their bike the guys at e-vers have done their utmost to make sure that the shoe is adapted perfectly to the foot and that there are no problems of tightness or numbness.

The shoes are available in standard sizes or for the truly ultimate fit, a totally customized shoe just for you thanks to a 3D scan of your feet. Always willing to look stupid for Pez I donned the garishly colored technical socks for the 3D scan and mounted the special machine that takes a 360° 3D scan of my measurements.

Having previously been recommended customized shoes I instead suffer with the cheaper option of off the rack models with which I have a few minor irritations in certain zones of the foot after a couple of hours in the saddle. Interestingly after the 5 minute scan and the subsequent analysis of the information on their computer the e-vers engineer on hand was able to pinpoint those exact problem zones.

A custom pair of shoes is certainly an investment but these ones are certainly some of the best I’ve seen. Check them out at e-vers.com

Well that’s another year of Eurobike wrapped up. Be sure to check out our other reports from the show if you haven’t already done so in Pez Tech N Spec and keep it tuned to Pez for all the latest from Interbike coming soon.