After three solid days wandering the vast halls of Messe Frankfurt at Eurobike 2022, we have assembled here some of the best new Mountain Bikes, Kit and Components for your viewing pleasure. Prototype Upside Down DH forks, Italian-made 4-Piston Gravity Brakes, a 3D-Printed full suspension eMTB, a high-pivot bike with an alternative drivetrain, OSPW derailleur cage upgrades, an MTB Balance Bike for the little rippers, … and the latest insane build from Mr Dangerholm himself. Feast your eyes.
Eurobike 2022 Best New MTB Tech
OK, so we haven’t actually seen that much in the way of new mountain bikes. Predictably, it was eBikes that were ubiquitous this year, coverage of which is coming. On the human-powered side of things, the most fascinating bike for us was the all-new Nicolai Nucleon 16, not least because it is the first production bike to run the Lal Bikes Supre Drive.
The Supre Drive separates out the two main functions of a rear derailleur, placing a hydraulically damped chain tensioner on a pivot concentric to the bottom bracket, bolting the basic gear-selecting function at the dropouts. Its use is limited to high-pivot full suspension mountain bikes and, indeed, the Nucleon 16 is a linkage-driven high single-pivot. The bike can be set up as a full 29er, or with a mixed-wheel configuration thanks to a geometry-adjusting flip-chip. It boasts 160-180mm travel, a 64° head angle and a 78.3° seat tube angle. More juicy details on this to come.
More mainstream, we saw Hope Technology’s new Gravity Stem, which is both lighter and stiffer than their previous AM/Freeride offering. It’s also way better-looking. This one comes in 35mm and 50mm lengths, with both 31.8mm and 35mm clamp options.
Cornelius Kapfinger was at the Trickstuff booth showing off his latest upside down creation; the Intend Samurai CC and XC forks, the former of which he claims is the World’s Lightest 120mm travel fork. Read lots more about that here.
Intend’s Samurai CC fork wasn’t the only upside-down real-estate on show at Eurobike; High-end Italian suspension manufacturers, Extreme Racing Shox, showed the EXT ERA USD dual-crown fork for DH. We were permitted a photo, but the technical details will have to wait for now. The same goes for the prototype EXT Aria, the first air-sprung shock seen from a brand famed for their coil-sprung shocks.
Staying in Italy, a brake manufacturer from Mondovì, Raicam, were showing their new mineral oil brakes; both 2- and 4-piston offerings covering DH/Enduro and Cross-Country.
Scotland’s premier clothing brand for mountain biking, Endura, showed us their chest and back protector which relies upon D3O for dissipating energy during impacts. It completes their collection of protective gear for DH.
Keeping it in Scotland, Intradrive’s Gearbox eBike Motor was sitting pretty on an Orange Phase MX Strange prototype. It runs the same mounting points as Shimano’s EP8 drive system, so bolting it onto the Phase MX didn’t present too many issues to Orange. Product Manager of Orange, Kelvin Lawton, says he sees no reason why the Intradrive system wouldn’t make it onto one of their production bikes in future.
The Phase MX Strange prototype had a very Euro part list, including another of Cornelius Kapfinger’s upside-down forks, as well as his Hover air shock. an early prototype of the Pinnd pedals that are also manufactured in Scotland, Mitas Monarch tires from the Czech Republic and Hope Tech E4 brakes. And let’s not forget that the frame itself is hand-built in Halifax, England.
Downsizing to a mountain bike for the little rippers out there, Kids Ride Shotgun gave us a preview of the Dirt Hero balance bike. It gets proper high-volume knobbly tires from Vee Tire Co, a little standing platform that is removable, and a Magura brake for the rear wheel that has a super short lever reach for tiny hands, ideal for teaching them about two-finger braking. It can take 12″ or 14″ wheels, so as your kid grows, so can the bike. Overall, one of the most well thought-through kids bikes we’ve seen to date.
Lazer showed off their Cage Kineticore, the first of their full face helmets to receive their proprietary rotational impact protection system. It is ASTM certified, and additionally received a 5 Star rating from independent helmet testing agency, Virginia Tech, with a reported score of 11.76. It is one of the first full face helmets to appear in the Virginia Tech database.
A new manufacturer from the Black Forest, Germany, were showing off their 3D-printed concept eMTB. Kamemo have secured investment on the promise that they will deliver a complete eBike that is entirely manufactured in Europe, but mostly Germany. That includes suspension, wheels, drivetrain, and the frame.
They are still working on finding a partner for production of the carbon frame, but are well underway with developing their own proprietary suspension components that will adorn their own-brand bike when it is ready, but will also be offered as an OEM product to other bike brands. Kamemo have great ambition around their suspension products, looking to compete with the likes of Fox and Rockshox in the future.
Rockshox were displaying Casey Brown’s Trek Fuel EXe, built up with the latest Rockshox Super Deluxe Ultimate Shock and Lyrik Ultimate Fork. Two of the models are available for customization in Trek’s Project One App.
CeramicSpeed were showing their limited edition Cerakote-finish OSPW for SRAM and Shimano 12 -speed derailleurs. There are only 100 of these in each color. The Cerakote finish increases the durability of the pulley wheels by a claimed 10-15% over a regular anodized finish.
Italian carbon frame manufacturer, Cybro, were showing their entire range, including the No7 Downhill eBike with gearbox motor.
Austrian pedal manufacturer, Tatze, were showing their latest flat pedal offering that is coming for 2023. The Contact pedal has an aluminum body, steel axle, and 10 pins per side that stand at different heights to deliver a 1.5mm concavity.
Unparralel Sports, a brand better known for the climbing shoes, were showing their latest offering of flat and clipless shoes for mountain biking. The Roost flat pedal shoe has an interesting tread pattern made up with a rubber that is pretty soft and easily deformable.
We have more in-depth information on all of the above, and more interesting tech from Eurobike 2022, to share with you guys over the coming days.
