Eurobike holds a plethora of new and exciting kit and whilst the show may have seemed a little smaller and quieter than last year we still managed to sniff out some new gear, bikes and kit to bring to your screens. Dig in, there’s a new downhill bike from Orange, new bikes from Scott and Lapierre, special Troy Lee Designs shoes from FiveTen, a clever shock from Fox and loads more.
Orange 329 DH bike
Let’s kick things off with this stunner – a new 29er downhill bike from Orange. This shiny beast comes complete with the ability to strap weights to the down tube. The weights fix to the bottom of the downtube via what looks like bottle cage mounts, the theory here is that suspension can work better on heavier bikes, giving more grip and ultimately making the bike faster, it certainly seems the case on the e-bikes we’ve ridden lately. The prototype of the 329 has been seen periodically with people getting a good look at it at Fort William last month – maybe it’s nearer to production now?
661 Reset full face lid with MIPS
The 661 Reset lid was launched last year at Eurobike and it’s back on the stand this year with the addition of MIPS and new colourways. We couldn’t get a look inside the lid but Gareth from the brand told us that the lid uses the new MIPS layer, MIPS-E2 which sits between the liner shell and the features two layers of fabric that move over one another to decrease rotational forces inside the helmet.
Bell Full 9 Fusion helmet
Bell’s Full 9 full face lid has been on sale for a little while now, this year they have introduced a cheaper version called the Full 9 Fusion. Rather than use carbon the Fusion model is made from fibreglass and it doesn’t have the Eject helmet removal system or magnetic cheek pads of its more expensive brother. The Full 9 Fusion weighs about 1kg (a tad ligther than the Full 9) and it will retail at about the 230 USD mark, UK prices to be confirmed.
Bell Spark helmet
Bell also launched a new open face lid, the Spark sits under the 4Fourty in the range and is designed to be an affordable trail lid. It has a fixed visor but still gets MIPS, it’s set to retail at 50Euro’s so we can expect this to be about £50 – looks like great value!
Vaude AM Moab Tech shoe
The Vaude AM Moab Tech shoe caught our eye as a good enduro style flat shoe. The shoe gets features more commonly seen on SPD shoes including a Boa fastening and velcro cover to keep everything clean. The low profile pair will cost between 120-170 Euro’s depending on the model chosen.
Topeak Ninga bottle cage and tool
We’ve tested something similar to this in this Syncros tool and the Specialized SWAT system sees a multitool attached to the bottom of a bottle cage. Topeak has now joined the party with this range of Ninga tools, there are various attachments to use with the compatible bottle cage ranging from a small multi-tool to a reasonable sized hard case pouch.
Thule Rail 12 Pro pack
Thule introduced their new range of backpacks at Eurobike last year, this year they add the Rail to the lineup aimed at enduro rider with a more rigid back, larger waists harness and pockets and extra storage for helmets or chin bars. The Rail 12 Pro comes with a Koroyd back protector too.
Scott Strike eRide
Ride 100% Glenmore glasses
There is a lot of noise over on the 100% stand at the moment about Peter Sagan glasses and although they look good, it was these Glenmore glasses that caught our eye. Tucked away in a glass box, we couldn’t get a proper look but it seems like they will offer a range of lens options and criticallylly they look rad!
Oakley DRT 5 helmet
Designed in conjunction with Greg Minnar, the helmet is the bands first mountain bike lid. It features a glasses mount at the rear, a Boa adjustment dial at the rear and MIPS lining. No doubt with the G.O.A.T.’s name on it, they will sell like hot cakes.
Lapierre Zesty
Lapierre’s trail bike has had a full makeover this year and our Jon has just been on the launch to ride it so we’ll be bringing you a good look at that in the next week or so. Briefly, the bike has 140mm of rear travel, uses 150mm forks and there is a new suspension platform with a Trunnion mount shock. It comes in alloy and carbon and there is also an e-bike version!
FUNN Updown dropper post
The new Updown dropper post is available in 150mm or 125mm lengths and in 30.9 and 31.6mm at the moment. It is a cable actuated dropper with a neat under bar shifter style remote. it will cost 279 USD which seems very reasonable, we will get the UK price to you as soon as we know it. Funn say they have longer posts in the pipline too, so watch this space…
Granite Design Rock’n’Roll multi-tool
Granite Design are a sister brand of Funn, also on display at the stand was a new ratchet multi-tool. The tool includes the rachet and extension pieces, allen keys (2, 2.5, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8) and a T25 bit. There is also an additional pocket for you to store a quick link. We took one of these for test so will let you know how we get on soon.
Fox Live Valve System
Editor and suspension geek Jon took a close look at this new tech so click here for all the information! In brief, this is a shock that uses linked sensors on both the fork and rear swingarm to sense impacts and adjust suspension setting to suit. News will break about this system soon we hope but for now we found it in plain view on a new Scott Genius.
Five Ten Troy Lee Designs shoes
Five Ten have collaborated with Troy Lee Designs producing new colourways for both the Impact Pro flat shoes and the Kestel Pro Boas SPD’s. Buy the current TLD kit and you can go full matchy matchy with these!
FiveTen Sleuth DLX shoes
Also spotted on the FiveTen stand were these Sleuth DLX shoes which we want just for casual wear! They are a bike shoe though, a slimmer version of the Freerider. These are the women’s version but they make them for men too.
DMR Sled
The DMR Sled has been updated for this year with the use of an offset bush to improve handling by lowering the bottom bracket. The brand also has two new build options, a Shimano option and a SRAM one. The Shimano is the cheaper of the two builds with an SLX drivetrain and X-Fusion fork at £2,750. The SRAM build is more expensive at £3,500 which gets you a Lyrik RC fork and an Eagle drivetrain.
Deuter Pulse bum bag
There is another enduro ready bum bag on the market, this time from Deuter. Available in this pink/red and other more muted colours the pack holds 1.5L of water with a load more room for tools and spares.
Dahon folding bike
Quirky but true, this folding gravel bike appears to just fold in half at the top tube and down tube! It looks like it might pack down to about half size but we haven’t been able to see it in action, this looked like a very early, albeit well-polished prototype.
Crank Brothers Stamp pedals and new cleats
Crank Brothers have released a new budget pedal in the form of the Stamp 1’s. These are made of polycarbonate rather than alloy and will cost £46.
Other pedals in the Stamp range get a new injection of colour, plus there is a new signature Danny Mac version (black below).
They have also introduced a new range of cleats that offer a different release angle option (10 degrees) rather than 15/20 degrees as with the cleats you get in the box. There is also a choice of two float options – 0 or 8 degrees, rather than the standard 6 degrees.
Camelbak packs
The Repack is a new and improved bumbag with a wider waistband for extra stability and a Crux LR 1.5L bladder.
There is a brand new M.U.L.E pack, also with a redesigned waist belt that encircles the bottom of the pack. The pack takes on a more minimalist look for 2019 but still with all the inside storage options you’d expect from Camelbak. It also bears the ‘LR’ stamping, meaning Low Rider, you can expect the Low Rider bladder system in operation keeping the weight of the water down low in the bottom half of the pack.
Endura prototype full face?
Lastly, we spotted a wooden lid on the Endura stand and whilst we are sure they aren’t making a helmet out of trees, we reckon this might be a prototype of a new full face lid. It looks to be taking shape like a Fox Proframe so no removable chin bar but still an extremely well vented one. It looks to be using the Koroyd liner like their other helmets too.
