It has been just two years since the Berlin-based urban bike specialists at 8bar Bikes first ventured away from only singlespeeds and fixies with their aluminum Kronprinz road frameset. That bike proved popular with their customers and also ended up being a stepping stone to develop other geared bikes like their all-road Mitte tourer. But now it is time for the Kronprinz to get an update, so 8bar will soon be taking preorders for an all carbon version that they gave us a first look at while we were at the Berlin Bike Show. Take a closer look at this preproduction Team edition bike after the break…
Details on the Kronprinz V2 are still a bit thin before the frame goes into final production. What we could gather was that it will be an affordable light carbon road option, working with one of their regular asian carbon partners.
The Kronprinz for 8bar has been their proper road race bike, but was designed to include plenty of spacing for fatter road tires for training and racing on rough surfaces. The V2 carbon bike is designed to offer a bit more forgiving ride than its 6066 alloy predecessor, and uses appropriately thin and flattened seatstays to that effect. That said it is not going to be a gravel bike, with that duty being left to their disc-brake Mitte that still has just over a month to go on Kickstarter, but has already surpassed their funding target.
This preproduction version of the Kronprinz V2 was fitted with 24mm tires and had plenty of room around the seatstays and fork, but it tighter at the chainstays. While the alloy bike has room for 28mm tires with plenty of room to spare for dirty roads, this carbon version would likely fit the same tires, but with less breathing room. The bike does stick with a standard threaded bottom bracket, and gets internal cable routing throughout.
8bar did tell us that the carbon Kronprinz would eventually replace the alloy version of their road bike. With the new bike expected to be available towards the start of the fall, expect the aluminum bike to be phased out at the end of 2016. So, if you want to get in on the bright green alloy frameset for under 700€, this spring and summer may be your last chance.
The preorder process is expected to start up sometime around the beginning of May, with orders being taken until mid summer. Delivery of the new bike is then slated for September 2016. Pricing is planned to be about 1200€ for the frameset, including frame, fork, headset & seatpost clamp. That pricing will likely be for a simplified stealth black decals on clear coated carbon finish, but this 8bar Team paint scheme will be available as well. We’ll keep up to date when 8bar officially announces the bike and its preorder, likely with an early sales discount.
