Five Cool Things is on the road this week, as we preview a quintet of new bikes, components and curiosities that we’ll be looking to get hold of and review in full over the coming weeks and months. Let’s dive straight in with a gear shifting solution that is electronic, yet mechanical all at once…
Aventon is coming to the UK… and bringing a new take on the electronic shifting conversion kit with it
What if your bike with good old mechanical shifting could become electronic by adding a sensor and a couple of extra buttons? Aventon – an e-bike brand that is pretty huge in the US and is now coming to the UK – was showing off its own take on an electronic shifting conversion kit at the CIN show, already fitted to its Trava ADV urban e-bike that will be priced at £2,499 all in.
It’s not the first time we’ve seen a device that can transmit a wireless signal to your mechanical groupset (Chinese groupset manufacturer L-Twoo will sell you one for around £170), but it’s the first time we’ve seen it on an off-the-peg bike. Aventon is using a transmitter courtesy of Magene, and the shifter button up front is Aventon’s own, so we were told. You can control it all via the bike’s display and Aventon’s app, or turn it off if you’d rather shift mechanically. You can also release the battery cover and deploy a wheel lock via the app or on-bike display.
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When we shared the above clip on social media, a few people asked… why? Why not, would be my answer to that. If electronic shifting is more desirable than not to most people looking to buy a bike, and this contraption brings it down to a nicer price point, it’s going to appeal to some of us – maybe a lot of us.
Assuming Aventon don’t act on our recommendation and start selling the conversion kit on its own, we’ll be looking to get an Aventon e-bike to review so we can assess the 2-in-1 shifting alongside it. The brand also had its Current ADV mountain bike on display with a SRAM Eagle groupset. We were told SRAM wouldn’t allow Aventon to use the conversion kit with its components, so this was only fitted to the Trava ADV e-bike fitted with 10-speed Shimano CUES.
Moon brings the rear radar light to a nicer price point
With Garmin’s excellent Varia Rearvue 820 costing over £250, and even cheaper options from the likes of Magene priced well over £100, lights that give you a warning about what’s happening behind you are invariably much more expensive than regular rear lights. Moon is hoping to change that with the release of the Argus (£69.99) that removes some of the bells and whistles to bring the price down.
There’s no Bluetooth, apps or firmware updates with the Argus – it’s a powerful rear light paired with a detection system and brake light that gives off a very loud beep when a vehicle is approaching, so there’s no need for it to be connected to your head unit. You can actually use it without a head unit, which might be extra appealing to some commuters who don’t need to record their rides.
As a bonus cool thing, Moon also had the new Metis on display, a front light with an alarm system and bell plus an integrated computer mount. The alarm will sound (very loudly) if anyone tampers with your bike, and the bell is customisable with several rings that are much cheerier-sounding than the alarm. The light itself can pump out 1000 lumens on max, and also comes with a wireless remote.
We’ll be asking for both to review, so look out for the verdicts later in the year.
Bryton are also hitting a price point with the super simple new Rider E10
The chap on the stand described this new computer from Bryton as like an old Cateye, but with GPS. Designed for cyclists who just want to know how far and how fast, the Rider E10 won’t connect to Strava, measure your ‘cycling dynamics’ or try to tell you what your next training session should be. It is GPS enabled, has 30 hours of battery life and will show you three data fields per page (maximum 12 functions) all for £39.99, though.
Maybe the mood among cyclists right now is that there’s too much tech, and sometimes, knowing how far you’ve gone while getting a nice loud bleep when a car is coming up behind is all you really need.
Pog’s first bike sponsor is making waves in the UK
Before Tadej Pogacar started to win the odd bike race, he rode for the Rog–Ljubljana team in his native Slovenia. Pog raced on Gusto bikes then, and the brand still sponsors the team. The team is now known as Pogi Team Gusto Ljubljana and Pogacar is personally involved, so both brand and team make the most of the connection – they were even giving out Pogi Team Gusto Ljubljana baseball caps on the stand.
Gusto is a Taiwanese brand, and a big enough deal that the frames are proprietary rather than open mould. There are no direct-to-consumer sales, instead Gusto’s UK arm deals directly with bike shops and small distributors. Usually how it works is that shops who also offer more expensive brands from Europe or the US can point the customer at Gusto bikes if their budget is tighter, according to the man on the stand.
And you get quite a lot for your money: the Cobra EVO endurance bike starts at £1,849 with a Shimano 105 12-speed groupset, and the GTR aero racer starts at £3,049 with Shimano 105 Di2 and carbon wheels. All frames are carbon.
Here’s a link to the current list of UK dealers.
Tannus are back… but did they ever really go away?
I can’t say I particularly enjoyed my time on a Tannus airless road bike tyre when I reviewed one almost nine years ago – but since then, Tannus appears to have made them simpler to fit and added some new products to its range for those who want more puncture protection without the harshness of a completely solid tyre.
Tannus still sells the airless tyres (shown above) but sizes now range from 23-40mm for 700c rims, plus various options for folding bikes, city bikes and wheelchairs. It claims they can now be fitted in around 10 minutes per tyre with a bit of prep.
Tannus has added more products to its line-up in recent years, including Armour tubeless inserts and Armour for inner tubes, and its own range of tools including the P-Type mounting device, and its own tyre levers. The levers are said to be a fair bit tougher than your usual, and have a chain breaker on the other side.
To see all the latest and greatest cycling products we’re reviewing right now, head over to our reviews section. For more advice before spending your cash, check out our buyer’s guides
11 thoughts on “Intriguing new tech that makes your mechanical shifting electronic, and a more affordable take on the radar light: Five Cool Things from the CIN Show 2026”
“Gusto is a Chinese brand, and a big enough deal that the frames are proprietary rather than open mould.”
Gusto are not Chinese, they are Taiwanese. If you’re going to call them Chinese are you calling Giant and Merida Chinese too?
@Smoggysteve Note that many Taiwanese consider themselves Chinese and would call themselves Chinese (though, another set would not). Also, the government in Taipei calls themselves the “Republic of China”. Both governments in Beijing and Taipei consider the island of Taiwan to be part of China (at least for now, formally).
@Paul J You obviously don’t speak for the millions of Taiwanese – including government of this sovereign state who are concerned about Chinese aggression. Its a totally separate country and I’m sure they would rather continue to treated as such
End of the day, Gusto are Taiwanese, NOT Chinese. Taiwan is in independent sovereign sate as recognised by the UN. Just because Argentina recognise the Falklands as Argentine, are we to go off what they say?
@Smoggysteve Much of what you write is plain wrong.
Firstly, many Taiwanese are ethnically Chinese and consider themselves to be Chinese (and have family on the mainland). Next – while there is an “independence” movement that wishes one day to change this, and it has gained popularity, even held government – the official position of the government in Taiwan is that the island of Taiwan and the mainland are part of one Chinese state. Article 4 of the Republic of China constitution says this:
“the territory of the ROC is the original territory governed by it, unless authorized by the National Assembly, can not be altered.”
The mainland of China is part of that “original territory”. You can argue about grey areas, etc., but Taiwan’s own judiciary has ruled relatively recently that Art. 4 still refers to the mainland.
BOTH governments in Taipei and Beijing (formally) consider there to be _one_ Chinese state, that covers both the mainland and the island of Taiwan. The independence parties in Taiwan may change that at some point, but that is the formal position for now.
> Taiwan is in independent sovereign sate as recognised by the UN.
That is not true. Come on. I don’t know much about Taiwan, but it appears you know even less.
@Paul J Technically, yes the strict constitutional name of Taiwan is the Republic of China (an historical anomaly, when the Republic of China was overthrown by the Communists to establish the People’s Republic of China in 1949 the original name stuck to Taiwan even though the Republic of China no longer existed because that’s where the defeated government fled), but “many Taiwanese consider themselves Chinese” is not accurate, with polls showing that 85–90% of the population consider themselves Taiwanese and separate from the nation of China both culturally and politically. The overwhelming majority of people in Taiwan use Taiwan as their name, and the government in Taipei very definitely does not consider Taiwan to be part of China but is vehement in its insistence that it is an independent sovereign nation.
@Rendel Harris “the government in Taipei very definitely does not consider Taiwan to be part of China”
They consider it to be part of the “Republic of China”. The constitution of which, for now, says this state is composed of the mainland and the island of Taiwan (amongst other islands). They reject the claim of the “People’s Republic of China” to that “China”, though recognise it holds power over the mainland.
I.e., both Taipei and Beijing – for now – lay claim to a Chinese state which is composed of the mainland and the island of Taiwan.
I think you, and others here, are confusing political identities with ethnic ones. I’m not sure which poll you refer to, but the polls I’ve read a substantial chunk consider themselves *both* Taiwanese and Chinese. I think your figure is combining both the “Taiwanese only” and “Taiwanese-and-Chinese” numbers.
@Paul J
A core element of the last election cycle in Taiwan was that of the DPPs stance on Taiwanese national identity. The DPP (current ruling party) are the most supportive of an independent Taiwanese identity, contrary to that of their main opposition) the KMT, who strongly identify with the one-China under ROC stance (rather that Beijing’s view of one China under PRC).
DPP held power in 2024 but slipped from a majority to a minority lead arguably because they refused to make their independent Taiwan stance an official policy, most likely out of fear of antagonising and further inviting attacks (political and militarily) from Beijing.
In summary, your assertion that the majority of Taiwanese people still identify as Chinese (ROC not PRC) may not be wrong, but it is not as definitive as you make it out to be.
@ROOTminus1 I was somewhat aware of that. Hence why my comments have “at least for now, formally” type caveats and I also wrote:
“The independence parties in Taiwan may change that at some point, but that is the formal position for now.”
So we don’t disagree. You are confirming that the formal position has not (yet) been changed, exactly as I referred to.
@Paul J
There’s a difference between “Republic of China” and “People’s Republic of China” though.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Chinas
@Smoggysteve I simply made a mistake, Gusto is Taiwanese. My apologies.
I think someone at the stand said the bikes were made in China and so the word was in my head, nothing more or less to it than that.
@Jack Sexty I fully understand. Thank you for your honesty. Just with the current trend for ‘Chinese’ brands its easy to make them look like another pop up manufacturer (appreciate not all Chinese brands are AliExpress specials).
They are, in fact, a very well established brand that has been around and producing bikes for years in the same way Giant and Merida do which are very well respected and recognised marquis in the cycling world.