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In the hyper-connected post-pandemic world of webinars and virtual product launches, a show like Eurobike brings with it fewer surprises, as more and more brands choose to release products independent of such hub events.
That said, a few nuggets still wait to be unearthed among the Eurobike’s halls each year, and this year was no different.
FSA chose the show to release its most recent K-Force WE semi-wireless groupset, and there were never-before-seen saddles from both Selle Italia and Selle Royale too.
Elite had some neat little updates and even though the brand wasn’t formally exhibiting, Hunt chose Eurobike to flash some unreleased wheelsets as well, suggesting there’s life in the show yet.
Read on for our picks from Eurobike 2022.
Fulcrum’s latest wheelset was on show this year. The Speed 25 is a disc-brake climber’s wheelset, with a claimed weight of just 1,285g.
Despite their feathery stats, their internal rim width is contemporary at 21mm, and the wheels use a special undrilled rim bed (spoke nipples are dropped in the valve hole and guided into dedicated seats using magnets) to facilitate a painless and secure tubeless setup.
The front wheel uses a normal 26mm deep rim but the rear rim is asymmetrical in order to balance spoke tensions and boost stiffness, according to Fulcrum. The wheelset will retail at £1,999.99.
Italian saddle makers Selle Italia and Selle San Marco were both showing off their first saddles to use 3D-printed padding.
Both Selle Italia’s SLR Boost 3D and Selle San Marco Shortfit 3.0 3D saddles use their brands respective snub-nose shapes and have pronounced central cut-outs, which is claimed to be a winning combination for reduced perineal pressure.
The specific 3D cushioning each brand uses differs in structure, but both claim similar advantages: seamlessly differentiated cushioning areas provide a better combination of support and comfort than traditional foams.
For what it’s worth, to touch the SLR Boost 3D felt the firmer of the two in general, with the Shortfit 3.0 3D offering a good deal more squidge.
This is Bryton’s first foray into lights, and the first competitor for the Garmin Varia radar.
The Gardia, whose name sounds borrows most of its letters from its rival, is a rear-view radar and taillight.
It offers visual and audio alerts, and an automatic warning light that advises road users behind of deceleration.
It has 9 different light modes. The day flash setting affords up to 27 hours run time, while the brightest constant beam reduces that to 9 hours.
Bryton says it weighs 68g and will be available in mid-July or August.
In similar fashion to Shimano’s recent overhaul of its 105, Ultegra and Dura-Ace groupsets, FSA has moved to 12-speed in a revision of its K-Force WE groupset.
It was already semi-wireless, in the same format subsequently adopted by Shimano (derailleurs wired to a central battery, with shifters connected wirelessly), but has now dropped its rim-brake alternative to be available just as a disc-brake groupset.
FSA has chosen to snug up the gaps in its regular-range cassette options with the move to 12-speed.
This is as opposed to doing something more drastic with its gearing logic, such as moving to a 10-tooth little sprocket and smaller chainrings like like SRAM.
Despite the addition of an extra sprocket, the K-Force WE retains its competitive overall weight, coming in at around 2,390g depending on spec.
Elsewhere the changes are quite minor, such as ergonomic refinements to the controls. The new groupset will apparently be available towards the end of 2022 and will retail at €4,280 (UK pricing is TBC).
Hunt’s Limitless wheels already boast an innovative rim construction that uses a low-density polymer insert embedded within the rim to make the rims wide without being unnecessarily heavy, the benefits being good aerodynamics with wider road tyres.
Now the brand has paired its rim technology with the bladed TaperLock Carbon spokes it uses in other wheelsets to great effect.
The carbon spokes are said to offer a weight saving of around 100g despite being 5-10% stiffer than conventional steel spokes.
What’s more, their use doesn’t handicap the serviceability of the wheels. The spokes are mechanically held like normal spokes, not bonded, so are trueable.
The new wheels also use Hunt’s new Sprint SLC hubs, which are made from 7075 alloy. Hunt says hubs are rarely made from 7000 series alloy as it’s expensive, but it makes the hubs very strong for their weight.
To round things out, Hunt says the new wheels even use a better a rim tape. The new design is apparently more pliable, making it less likely to peel away.
Both the 48mm and 60mm rim depths will be launch in late August, and Hunt promises typically competitive pricing.
Elite didn’t have the largest stand at this year’s show but it was packed with all the brands’ latest products.
The new top of the range Justo trainer we spotted at the Tour de France in Denmark was on display. This features side-to-side movement courtesy of ‘Flex feet’ and claimed +/- 1% power accuracy that auto-calibrates.
This as-yet unreleased fan matches the swish new trainer. Elite says the Aria can blast air out at up to 48kmh and is direction-adjustable too.
A neat touch is the carbon-activated filters covering the fan’s intake ports, which are said to prevent atmospheric dust being blasted into the rider’s face. Expect to see the fan on sale early in 2023.
Parents will be familiar with the concept of Elite’s new bottle sterilisation system too. The bottles are placed in a container with a little water and microwaved for a couple of minutes.
Elite claims the steam generated kills 99.9% of bacteria.
The brand also was displaying cages and bottles made of plastics derived from castor oil.
Elite says the production method is more sustainable and uses materials from renewable sources.
Even Elite’s popular Fly bottles haven't escaped an update. They now use a textured finish to improve grip both in the hand and in the cage, as well as obscure the scratches frequent use will inevitably cause on their outside surfaces. A small detail, but very nicely thought out.
In recent years Silca has been at the forefront of exploiting 3D printing for bike accessories, and it has released several innovative (and controversial) products.
The brand had them all on display at Eurobike – from printed tools that are said to be significantly lighter for travelling purposes, to printed cleats claimed to be more durable than conventional ones.
The Bird of Prey bottle opener weighs just 11g and shouldn’t be bulky enough to open bottles, yet it does, and does it well. £38 please.
Silca’s Sicuro Titanium bottle cages were on display too, showing off the brand’s accomplished anodising skills.
The Cosmic Ultimate UST Disc represents the current pinnacle of Mavic’s road wheel technology.
The wheelset is claimed to weigh 1,225g and that weight is made possible through the use of features like continuous carbon spokes that run from one side of the rim, around the hub shells (which are made from carbon fibre too) to insert on the other side of the rim.
The unconventional spokes mean the rim bed can remain undrilled, simplifying the process of running tubeless tyres with the wheels. The Cosmic Ultimate UST Disc wheels retail at £3,200.
HipLok claims the D1000 is the first lock in the world to be able to withstand a sustained attack from an angle grinder, as demonstrated by the display below.
Apparently the secret ingredient in the lock’s construction is a material called Ferosafe, which is made from a graphene composite.
‘It can resist high power angle-grinders due to its unique chemical and physical properties,’ says Hiplok, meaning the angle grinder should give up the ghost before the lock does.
Available in Autumn 2022, the D1000 will cost £249.99.
Photos: Sam Challis and Emma Cole
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