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TECH NEWS

First look: London Bike Show

A quick whip around ExCel, starring Canyon, Cannondale, Boardman, Factor, Orro...

road.cc is at the London Bike Show today and I’m taking a quick break from looking around to share a few pics with you. 

I’ve only got a mo – I need to get back out there amongst it – so this is going to be a bunch of pics and very few words. Think of it as an amuse-bouche (if you get involved in such things).

Canyon Aeroad CF SLX Disc - 1.jpg

Canyon has the new disc brake versions of its road bikes, the Aeroad...

Canyon Ultimate CF SL Disc - 1.jpg

...the Ultimate...

Canyon Endurace CF SL Disc - 1.jpg

...and Endurace.

It’s worth saying right at the start that there are loads of disc brake road bikes here, if that’s your thing.

Boardman SLR Endurance 9.9 - 1.jpg

Boardman has its entire range on display. This is the £5,299 SLR Endurance 9.9 complete with a SRAM Red eTap groupset and Zipp 202 wheels.

Boardman Road Team Carbon - 1.jpg

The Road Team Carbon is more affordable; it was £900 but it’s now £800. It has a largely Shimano Tiagra groupset and TRP dual pivot brakes.

Boardman Air Custom Rio Olympics - 1.jpg

There are a couple of real showstoppers on the stand. This is the Air Custom Rio Olympics.

Boardman Air Custom Rio Olympics 2 - 1.jpg

It’s race winner Alistair Brownlee’s spare bike built up with SRAM Red and Zipp 404s.

Lotus 108 - 1.jpg

The other stunner isn’t a Boardman bike as such, it’s the Lotus 108 that Chris Boardman himself rode to take the gold medal in the 4,000m pursuit at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992. In these times when GB rules the world on the track, it’s strange to think that this was the first British track cycling Olympic gold since the Stone Age (or something).

Factor O2 - 1.jpg

Factor, another British brand, has just become bike supplier to WorldTour team AG2R-La Mondiale. Most WorldTour teams work with brands that produce disc brake road bikes, so will Factor be supplying AG2R with a disc model? Nope. Not yet, at least. There’s nothing imminent.

Cannondale Saeco Cipollini - 1.jpg

Whoa! There’s a blast from the past: a Mario Cipollini Cannondale complete with Spinergy wheels. That's a modern SuperSix Evo under the paintjob, by the look of things.

Cannondale SuperSix Evo HiMod - 1.jpg

More up to date, here’s a SuperSix Evo Hi-Mod Disc Team Di2, and very neat it looks too. It’ll cost you eight grand, mind.

Liv Avail - 1.jpg

A touch more accessible, this is a Liv (Giant’s women’s specific brand) Avail SL 1 Disc with an RRP of £1,149.

Argon 18 Nitrogen Pro - 1.jpg

Argon 18 has some very cool looking bikes these days. We’re trying to convince the brand to send us a Nitrogen Pro to review. You’re looking at just under £5,000 for this model.

Orro STC Signature - 1.jpg

Orro’s Gold STC Signature (£3,599.99 in this build) is another good looking bike, especially in this finish.   

Look 795 Aerolight - 1.jpg

The unusual front end of Look’s 795 Aerolight divides opinion in terms of looks. We’ve not heard many people complain about this limited edition finish, though, designed to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Greg LeMond’s 1986 Tour de France win, his first and also the first on a carbon-fibre bike.

One last bike…

IslaBikes Rothan  - 1.jpg

IslaBikes is here. This is the Rothan. Sadly, not available in adult sizes.

Right, that’s a very quick look at some of the bikes that caught the collective road.cc eye on our first lap of the show. There are many, many more bikes of all kinds here… speaking of which, we need to get back out there to see them.

London Bike Show is taking place at ExCel and runs until Sunday 19 February 2017.

Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.

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7 comments

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dottigirl | 7 years ago
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I've noticed the size of many London-based cycling 'shows' seems to be diminishing. RideLondon is another that seems to have shrunken down, compared to its first year. The variation in offerings is also slimmer.

Is it a lack of footfall, or is it just not worth an exhibitor's time/money?

Avatar
Pantster | 7 years ago
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Have to agree, really wasnt great at all. Seemed to be smaller. Walked around whole show looking for pair of cycling shoes. Asked loads of people, ONE stall had 4 pairs from brand I'd never heard of chucked down the side of their stand and that was it! Really disappointed, theres only so much you can get out of looking at out of your reach expensive bikes. Lots of tents though!

Avatar
Greebo954 | 7 years ago
2 likes

It was crap, you missed nothing. There were more glamping tents than bikes!

A certain shop in Bristol has more to see on any weekday.

Avatar
wingmanrob replied to Greebo954 | 7 years ago
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Greebo954 wrote:

It was crap, you missed nothing. There were more glamping tents than bikes!

A certain shop in Bristol has more to see on any weekday.

 

Yes quite agree, even if entry was free I'd have felt cheated, worst London show by far.

The Birmingham show has already got more exhibiters lined up.

Avatar
trohos | 7 years ago
0 likes

MEKK???????

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sethpistol | 7 years ago
0 likes

NEED - all the Canyons...

Avatar
kil0ran | 7 years ago
0 likes

LeMan's Aerolight heart

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