Eurobike 2018, Day 3: Final 4 from the trade show floor
A De Rosa commuter bike, a means to ride a trainer for eight hours and more
As Eurobike 2018 winds down, here are four notable items from Friedrichshafen.
De Rosa Metamorphosis
De Rosa is continuing to collaborate with Pininfarina. The first project between the two companies was the sleek SK. The latest De Rosa bike to receive the Italian design house’s touch is Metamorphosis. It’s a fancy carbon urban bike with a belt drive. It has an eight-speed internal-gear hub from Shimano’s Alfine group. The drive-side seatstay has a removable piece to allow you to unhook the belt for tire and tube repairs. If you want a slightly sportier bike, the Metamorphosis also comes in a drop-bar model.
CycleOps by Saris Platform
Saris, which makes such trainers as the CycleOps Hammer and new M2 (formerly Magnus), has been developing a device that brings better road feel to your pain cave rides. Right now, it doesn’t have a name. It’s simply called the Platform. The black, top board can accommodate any trainer, not just units by CycleOps. It can tilt side to side and shift backward and forward by a few centimetre. Several years ago, Saris started working with Michigan Tech to study a cyclist’s and a bike’s behaviour on the road. The university revealed that a big part of road riding features fore and aft movement. If you think about a sketchy rider on a group ride, you’ve seen these fore-and-aft shifts. The sketchy rider might stand out of the saddle and send his bike back toward your front wheel. CycleOps took the Platform to the bio-engineers at Trek Bikes. The trainer company found that Platform reduce saddle pressure by almost 50 per cent. It also helps to lower pressure on the feet and hands. More anecdotally, the trainer rider at Eurobike easily spent more than eight hours riding a trainer affixed to the platform. The next day, she was on a regular trainer setup. She could do more than two hours [!]. She demanded to get back on the Platform, and then rode for six hours more.
Biemme Graphene
Graphene, a carbon-based material that seems be get imbued with mystical properties, has made its way into a garment by Biemme. Yes, graphene: it’s not just for Vittoria tires. Biemme says graphene can conduct heat throughout the jacket. To keep the heat from dissipating, the company has added an insulating membrane. Since the jacket is a prototype, it will see further testing this coming winter. Biemme has proposed a late 2019 release date for the Graphene jacket.
Briko Stinger
You can channel your inner Mario Cipollini with the Briko Stinger sunglasses.
