If you didn’t make it to the Rouleur Live show in London over the weekend – or even if you did – here’s a whistle-stop look at some of the most interesting bikes and bits we spotted…
Cinelli Nemo Tig gets a gravel makeover
Cinelli has taken its Nemo Tig road bike and given it a huge gravel makeover, incorporating a HiRide suspension system that provides 20mm of travel up front (we first showed you this at Sea Otter Europe a few weeks ago).
The Nemo Tig still uses Columbus Spirit triple-butted tubes, although Cinelli has changed the geometry for gravel riding and altered the driveside chainstay to provide more clearance. It says you can fit a 700 x 47mm tyre in there.
The big change, though, is the addition of the HiRide Sierra fork with elastomer/hydraulic suspension. You can lock it out for riding on smoother roads via a dial at the top of the fork steerer – a little like you can with a Specialized Future Shock system, for example, although the overall design is quite different.
A Cinelli Nemo Tig Gravel frame kit is £2,999. The build you see here – with a Campagnolo Ekar groupset and Shamal wheels, comes out at £6,599.
Cannondale SuperSix Evo looks great in EF Education-EasyPost finish
You might remember that Cannondale announced some of the most out-there paint jobs the peloton has ever seen ahead of the Giro d’Italia, the idea being to promote sustainability.
The EF Education-EasyPost men’s team and EF Education-TIBCO-SVB women’s team rode bikes decorated in “paintwork [that] is entirely recycled or excess paint from our custom paint shop,” according to Cannondale. Hand-painted by Cannondale’s in-house custom paint guru Doktor Bobby, each one is unique.
Bianchi Specialissima RC: lightweight bike has gone (a bit) aero
Bianchi launched its new Specialissima road bike back in September and Rouleur Live was the first opportunity that many had to see it in the flesh.
> Bianchi combines light weight and aero credentials with updated Specialissima road bike
The Specialissima sits at the top of Bianchi’s road range alongside the aero Oltre. Whereas the Oltre is designed to be at its best on flat and rolling roads, the Specialissima is intended to come into its own on climbs. That said, Bianchi says that the addition of aero features to the latest version of Specialissima means it is able to save watts on flat stretches too.
Complete bike claimed weights for the top-level Bianchi Specialissima RC start at 6.6kg. That’s for a size 55 frame.
J.Laverack J.Ack: making practicality look cool
J.Laverack makes some absolutely gorgeous titanium bikes and the J.Ack in this blue and gold finish is particularly lovely.
It’s designed to be a four-season bike that’s capable of handling broken roads and gravel as well as more well-behaved asphalt.
This one is fitted with mudguards and you get rack mounts too.
That’s a dynamo-powered Sinewave Cycles light at the front.
Pinarello Dogma X: it’s all about the architecture!
The Pinarello Dogma X is another model that was launched just a few weeks ago, an endurance bike with space for tyres up to 35mm wide and eye-catching X-Stays at the back.
What’s the point of these X-stays? Pinarello says that it is “capable of absorbing vibrations maintaining a lightweight frame and a very reactive BB stiffness”.
Pinarello has lengthened the chainstays over those of the Dogma F to accommodate the larger tyres and says it has been able to reinforce lateral stiffness without losing the up/down movement. Essentially, the whole aim of the design is to provide side-to-side stiffness without sacrificing comfort.
Complete Dogma X builds are around 7.5kg depending on finishing kit.
£20,000 Lotus Type 136 e-bike: initial run has already sold out
You can’t have missed the noise surrounding the launch of the Lotus Type 136 e-bike last week, and the initial limited first edition of 136 has already sold out at 20 grand apiece. No, really!
> Lotus launches £20,000 performance road e-bike inspired by Olympic gold medal-winning track bikes
The carbon-fibre Type 136 was inspired by Lotus’ track designs ridden by Team GB at the Tokyo Olympics – hence acres of space around each wheel.
The Type 136 features a 1.2kg e-bike motor system from HPS. What looks like a water bottle on the seat tube is, in fact, a battery in disguise. It has a claimed runtime of three hours.
The standard version of the Lotus Type 136 will go on sale in the spring and the good news is that it’ll be cheaper. The bad news is that ‘cheaper’ is a relative term. It’ll still cost you over £15,000.
Updates for Fizik Vento Powerstrap and Vento Ferox shoes
Fizik’s Vento Powerstrap is a shoe that certainly divides opinions, but it has established a following and even four stars in our review.
We spotted some snazzy new colourways (including the all-time favourite all-white option!) that the shoe is going to be offered in soon, and also learnt that there are tech updates to the kicks, as well, including a lighter weight and different outsole.
The same goes for these colourful Vento Ferox’s which feature a few tech updates, and a very pleasing new bright colourway.
Scott helmet and glasses available in new colours
These new colourways for Scott’s glasses and an all-new helmet will hit the shelves soon.
Classified unveils new G42 gravel wheelset
Quite a few brands decided to time product launches to coincide with Rouleur Live and Classified was one of those. The brand was showcasing its all-new G42 gravel wheels at the show and told us the hoops are available in limited quantities on 3T and Ridley bikes.
The rims are 42mm deep, 25mm wide internally and 30mm externally and laced with 24 spokes. The wheelset is claimed to weigh 1,350g without the Powershift hub.
The wheelset alone is to set you back 1,500€ (£1,300) or if you want the Powershift hub included, you’re looking at 2,799€ (£2,425) .
Argonaut launches off-the-shelf Supernaut
The off-the-shelf Supernaut from US brand Argonaut was new for the show. This is the road version although the Supernaut is available as a gravel bike too.
Argonaut says that its patented High Pressure Silicone Molding (HPSM) process “eliminates fibre distortion, voids, pinholes, and structural flaws out of the carbon layup equation”.
Built up with a Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupset and Argonout’s 43mm-deep tubeless wheels, you’re looking at a price of $15,000 – which is about £12,075.
Loads more exciting stuff
We’ve already told you about a lot more new bikes and bits exhibited at Rouleur Live, including the super-cool Reilly Reflex titanium gravel bike, the Paul Smith Edition Factor Ostro VAM road bike, POC’s new Omni Beacon helmet with an integrated rear light, MET’s new Trenta 3K Carbon Tadej Pogačar limited edition lid, and Lake’s new CX333 and MX333 shoes. You can find out about all of those here.
You can also find out about the Ribble Allroad Ti prototype here and get the details on the Ribble x Vic Lee urban e-bike (above) here.
12 thoughts on “Check out 10 highlights from Rouleur Live: Bianchi, Lotus, Pinarello, Cannondale, Fizik and more”
Is it just me or is that a
Is it just me or is that a big chainring for a “practical” bike?
Maybe you should specify
Maybe you should specify which bike you are talking about.
Whilst it’s a very nice paint
Whilst it’s a very nice paint job, painting titanium bikes defeats one of the benefits of titanium bike, imo.
I’ve had several titanium
I’ve had several titanium bikes that were painted. Looks good to me. Just because they don’t rust doesn’t mean they should not be painted – carbon fibers don’t rust but carbon frames are painted. And what about aluminium frames or magnesium frames and so on. I can’t see your point.
I think the benefit he means
I think the benefit he means is that a bike without paint (and yes, that could indeed also be a aluminium frame etc.) remains looking good much longer.
My 1994 ti mtb sure has some nick’s and scars, but all in all it still looks remarkably good. That would not have been the case had it been painted.
Sredlums wrote:
Yes, that’s exactly by point. No worries about paint chips etc.
I only ride my ti bikes
I only ride my ti bikes because they are unpainted and I confidently expect to impress others and compensate for penile insufficiency. 15 years with ’em and noone impressed. Perhaps Mr. Cugel or someone could clarify this mystery.
I find a rolled up pair of
I find a rolled up pair of socks does the trick for a lot less money.
I prefer a cucumber, but the
I prefer a cucumber, but the aluminium foil plays havoc at airport security.
I still ride the ti mtb I
I still ride the ti mtb I bought in 1994 and while it has impressed no one, the fact that it survived all I’ve thrown at it over those almost 3 decades and still is such a joy to ride thoroughlt impresses me. And that’s all that matters.
the front derailleur killer –
the front derailleur killer – “The wheelset alone is to set you back 1,500€ (£1,300) or if you want the Powershift hub included, you’re looking at 2,799€ (£2,425).” that’s a pretty expensive front derailleur
That Lotus is extremely
That Lotus is extremely expensive but at least it does look extremely expensive. You wouldn’t want to spend that amount of money and get something discreet.