If you couldn’t make it to Rouleur Live at the end of last week, check out 10 of the best bikes that we spotted at the London expo.
There were, of course, loads more bikes that aren’t featured here – maybe we’ll get time to add a few more as the day goes on – ut we hope that this gives you a quick taste of some of the good stuff…
Pinarello Zwift bike
High-end bikes and indoor training don’t always go hand in hand but Pinarello has joined forces with Zwift to unveil a Dogma F in a limited-edition finish. Only 50 of these are available worldwide.
You’re looking at £5,500 for the frameset.
Cannondale LAB71 SuperSix Evo: Richard Carapaz
EF Education–EasyPost’s Richard Carapaz won both the Mountains classification and the overall Combativity award at this year’s Tour de France (and he wore the race leader’s yellow jersey for a day too), hence the King of the Mountains polka-dots on this Cannondale LAB71 SuperSix Evo.
Look KE75 Equipe
Greg Lemond won three Tours de France, the first of them in 1986 after a famous tussle with La Vie Claire teammate Bernard Hinault (who finished second). They rode Look bikes built with Reynolds 753 tubing.
This Look KE75 Equipe, in the Mondrian colours of the team jersey, was one of 500 made to commemorate the victory.
Trek Madone SLR: Alex Yee
If you’re an Olympic champion, your sponsors give you loads of gold stuff – it’s one of the perks. Britain’s Alex Yee won the men’s triathlon in Paris earlier this year, hence this glittering gold-coloured Trek Madone. It was presented to him recently at Trek HQ in Wisconsin, USA.
Trek can work to deliver a finish you fancy through its Project One Ultimate programme.
It looks like Alex Yee uses 165mm cranks, so the short crank trend isn’t just a roadie thing. Oh, and a gold drivetrain because… well, why not? Not everyone is an Olympic champion, you know.
Trek Madone: Project One
Another Trek Madone SLR? Yeah, why not? This one looks rather tasty in a Project One Icon Pantone Dualities finish.
Bastion ArchAngel
Bastion, based in Australia, makes some stunning bikes. This ArchAngel model, unveiled last year, uses 3D-printed titanium lugs and filament-wound carbon-fibre tubes. It’s a limited edition of just 88.
Want one? You’re looking at a 180-day lead time.
The price? You’re sure you want to know? Prices start at AUD 49,800 plus shipping, duties and sales tax. That’s about £25,300.
Seka Spear
Seka says that its Spear road bike’s Wind Eye seatstays expel turbulent air created by your pedalling to reduce drag. It also reckons that the seatpost deflects by up to 17mm to provide plenty of comfort.
A standard Spear frame in a size medium has a claimed weight of 860g while an. unpainted RDC version is said to be a superlight 685g.
Officina Battaglin Roma
Gorilla Firm Cycling was showing the Officina Battaglin Roma (just behind an equally cool Aurum Magma) made with stainless steel lugs and both Columbus GB81 steel and carbon fibre tubes. Pretty, huh?
The fork is carbon, the bottom bracket is threaded (T47) and you get clearance for tyres up to 35mm.
If you’re guessing it’s expensive, you’re absolutely right. It’s £15,200 for the complete bike you see here, built up with a Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupset and various Enve components including SES 4.5 rims on Chris King hubs, or £5,600 for the frame only.
Ribble Allroad Ti
Ribble reckons is Allroad Ti is the future of titanium bikes – naturally – thanks to the use of 3D printing in the seat tube and head tube clusters and hand-crafted finishing to produce seamless tube junctions.
Prices start at £3,499 for a Shimano 105 (mechanical) build with Mavic Aksium 1 alloy wheels
Reap Type 300 K5054 prototype gravel bike
Britain’s Reap was showing what it calls its Type 300 K5054 gravel bike – named after a Spitfire prototype, if you’re interested in such things – that’s intended to be an aero option with clearance for tyres up to 50mm wide courtesy of chainstays that are super-narrow up by the bottom bracket.
The carbon fibre has been blended with a biocomposite material, the idea being to reduce the bike’s carbon footprint, improve comfort, and stand up to impact.
17 thoughts on “10 cool bikes from Rouleur Live: Trek, Cannondale, Pinarello/Zwift & more”
Some nice looking bikes there
Some nice looking bikes there.
One thing about the Look bike, you say “It is the only steel frame made by Look” but that is definitely not true.
You’re right. The sign behind
You’re right. The sign behind says, “It remains the only steel frame made by Look,” but that’s not correct.
Sredlums wrote:
I don’t think Look even made bikes in the La Vie Claire era, Bernard Tapie used to acquire ailing companies to turn them around; AFAIK the ski equipment manufacturer Look adapted a ski binding into a pedal to try and make their revenue less seasonal, the clipless pedal (pédales automatiques) was born, the cycling team was formed to win the TdF to promote it. The main team sponsors Look and Wonder were Tapie owned companies.
I’m happy to be corrected, but many riders in that era had their own frame builders, the steel Look bikes were made by Cyfac, and the early butted carbon tube ones were made by TVT.
I think you are correct, but
I think you are correct, but I (and I think that goes for the author of this article too) was speaking in broader terms, as in ‘a Look branded bike for sale to the general public’.
Sredlums wrote:
Yes, I agree, and thanks for replying, what I was trying to say (badly) was that Look wasn’t really a bike company back then.
I ended up doing a fair bit of research over a few years when I was putting this old thing together for Eroica Britannia which subsequently disappeared, hopefully to return one day:
That bike is awesome. Always
That bike is awesome. Always like the Mondriaan-esque style, so bold and recognisable.
Saw a YT video on Friday
Saw a YT video on Friday night about 10pm. Booked ticket, went on Saturday. Needed to ask about wheels, tyres, lights, goggles, shorter cranks for my 2018 Ultegra Roubaix. Got exactly the information needed from relevant stands. Well worth the entry fee.
Clearly, £900 max for wider internal rim for 35mm tyres was not what they were at the show to… show. Just one stand had goggles in £60 – £90 range (I bought a pair plus a helmet that they clip onto). Showed my 30-year old Campag top and logo at the tiny Campag stand tucked away in a corner (back in the day, they’d have been the biggest stand), sad and quite teary (I only ever had 980 and Veloce). Lezyne lights were helpful. FSA might help me swap 165mm for my 2018 Ultegra 172.5mm – I’m old but convinced shorter is best based on track riding.
Caught end of Lemond and commentator chats. Missed the others due to visiting stands, asking questions, making notes.
Rouleur magazine and the wall to wall Dura Ace made it very clear that, like the Guardian Lifestyle pages do, I and my acquaintances are not in the target market for such an event. Merely on the fringe looking in while picking up the odd scrap like a free can of beer, a Topeak key ring, and information about, but not touching, the wheels I’d like to try
E6toSE3 wrote:
Have you had your cranks checked under the Shimano recall scheme? I ask because I took Mrs H’s 2016 Roubaix into the LBS for the free check on her Ultegra chainset recently, their take on the recall was that even if the cranks display no signs of imminent failure Shimano should be replacing them anyway (as they did in N.America) so they would send them in and get a replacement. Would she like the same chainring sizes and crank length or different? Actually yes, could you ask for 170mm cranks instead of the current 172.5? No problem…so she’s getting a nice new Ultegra chainset with different length cranks for nowt, worth checking if you haven’t had it done already.
Rendel Harris wrote:
They’ll get put on the naughty step by Shimano!
No names, no packdrill, you
No names, no packdrill, you note!
Missed the Ultegra recall, do
Missed the Ultegra recall, do you have a link or know the parameters of the recall?
Gbjbanjs wrote:
Full details here DA and Ultegra cranksets manufactured June 2012-July 2019, all serial numbers on the link. Take the bike to a participating dealer and they will do a free check and say if they think your cranks need replacing. Worth asking around locally if you can to find the attitudes of different shops: some will only send back for replacement if they can find clear faults, some (as mine did – sorry but I can’t name them for obvious reasons!) take the attitude that even if they can’t find a fault the risk is clearly there (hence why Shimano recalled all cranks in the USA for replacement without preliminary inspection) and so will send for replacement anyway. My dealer even said we could ask for different crank length and chainring sizes if we wanted, so we did. Spanking new Ultegra cranks and rings for free.
My dealer even said we could
My dealer even said we could ask for different crank length and chainring sizes if we wanted, so we did. Spanking new Ultegra cranks and rings for free
Damn! If only I hadn’t listened to HP and had a time machine…
What’s the diff atween a cool
What’s the diff atween a cool bicycle and a hot one? I’ve tried feeling at them but they seem to have a temperature that varies with the surroundings and how sensitive my mit is at the time. Perhaps I should’ve thrust a thermometer up a tube for a more objective datum?
How does the cool or hot (or lukewarm, freezing or other temp) affect their function as a bicycle? ….. But hang on! Perhaps I yam getting to the nub now. The temperature’s nothing to do with the cycling function but rather to do with the glow-factor felt by the buyer because of fashion-adherence and the hoped for envious glances of poorer albeit more sensible cyclists lacking the cool/hot thing!
Yet this still requires an answer to the original question. What’s the diff atween cool and hot bikes? Someting of this modern argot seems to have passed me by.
If you’ll allow stretching
If you’ll allow stretching the definition of “bicycle” (or maybe not?) I have you covered for “hot cycles” (literally). (Also here)
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Loved the Bastion in the
Loved the Bastion in the flesh but Lemond’s bike has the soul. Nice event and met some friends and contacts but like the magazine, it does promote the the elitist nature of our sport which people love to buy on sale.