For the new year, 8bar bikes out of Berlin has plenty of new gear. Offering updates to three of their most popular bikes. The affordable aluminum Kronprinz Road gets a version 2 update for better all around performance. Their most popular Fhain urban track fixie gets minor updates but a new fork & wider sizing. Then the steel Neukln gets renamed and pulled into the same urban track family as the Fhain Steel.
KRONPRINZ Road v2 aluminum geared road bike
Outwardly the alloy Kronprinz Road gets the biggest updates with an all new triple butted 6066 aluminum tubeset and improved details, over the original bike we got a sneak peek at way back in 2014. Tube shaping gets updated a bit. The frame features a new flattened aero toptube to match the shaped downtube, and also improves ride comfort at the same time.
Then in the details, v2 makes the jump to internal cable routing for a cleaner setup. Geometry remains untouched on the new frameset starting at 648€ for the base colors. That’s a bump up of 40€ over the original generation for black or raw. But the special colors stay at the previous 688€ pricing.
With the new bike 8bar has added two new color options, replacing the lemon yellow with new Space Blue & Red, in addition to the standard black and polished raw finishes. Otherwise the bike specs remain the same with a claimed 1650g frame weight & 350g fork, a tapered steerer, 27.2mm post & threaded bottom bracket. The Kronprinz Road v2 is available as separately as a frameset. Or there are Pro complete builds with new Ultegra from just 2100€, or a new Tiagra build from only 1460€.
FHAIN v3 aluminum fixed gear urban track bike
The Fhain fixie gets similar finish updates over the last iteration, also adding the Space Blue & Red options. As to the fundamental bike changes, 8bar has moved to a new 45mm offset aluminum fork that they say give a more comfortable & stable ride for most buyers tackling the city streets. They now also offer an optional carbon fork upgrade that brings rake all the way back to 36mm for a proper aggressive ride for racing. (The previous generation bike split the difference at 40mm offset.)
In addition to the fork, the new bike adds a fifth size for even smaller riders, down to just a 48.5cm seattube/52cm toptube. Otherwise frame geometry stays totally the same for the carry over sizes. Base pricing for the 6061 alloy frame and matching alloy fork stays at 388€. The special colors add on another 40€, plus another 40€ if you want the low offset carbon fork.
Complete bikes can be built up from around 810€ for comp builds, up to say 1800€ with a more premium spec.
FHAIN STEEL CrMo fixed gear urban track bike
The Fhain Steel looks to just be a rebranding of the Neukln that we tested back in 2016 when it came out. It keeps the same Reynolds 520 steel tubeset that builds up a nearly indestructible city bike.
Starting at 388€ for the black frameset with a ~1900g frame & another ~900g for the lugged steel fork, it is no lightweight. But ours has managed respectably well to double as an urban fixed commuter, with the occasional playing in circles at the local outdoor velodrome. It does have a forgiving ride and we have beaten & locked ours up around town and it’s no worse for the wear a year and a half on.
All of the new bikes are available direct from 8bar now. 8bar offer several only in small quantities, so act quickly to get some discounted pricing and full color choice.
