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TECH NEWS

10 tech highlights from Eurobike 2023

From Campagnolo to Continental, from kids’ bikes to dog trailers, the biggest cycling trade show in Europe had it all…

We’ve taken the weekend to absorb the currywurst and pretzels in our bloodstreams and to take stock of the many (many) road cycling things we saw at Eurobike, which ran in Frankfurt, Germany, 21-25 June. Although it did seem to favour the e-bike and off-road markets, road cycling was still well-represented and a fair few brands made Eurobike their place of choice to launch new products. Here are some of the best bits we saw.

Continental Tyres

2023 Eurobike Continental

Contintental has slowly been working towards becoming more sustainable, using ‘responsibly sourced rubber’ in more and more of their tyres. Their aim by 2030 is to become the most environmentally friendly tyre company, but for now they’ve just launched their Pure Contact urban tyre which has a new formula. A few materials have been swapped out, and now there are things like ash of rice husks.

Campagnolo

2023 Eurobike Campagnolo (2)

Sure, it’s not new new but for some of us at least it was the first time seeing the new Campagnolo Super Record Wireless groupset.

2023 Eurobike Campagnolo (1)

> Campagnolo ditches iconic thumb shifter and goes wireless with new Super Record Wireless electronic groupset... and it'll cost you £4.5k

As a self-confessed Campag fan, it is as beautiful as I’d expected, although the loss of the thumb shifters will be felt long after any technology is trickled down into more affordable groupsets.

Challenge

2023 Eurobike Challenge

Tyre company Challenge announced that road riders can look forward to a new size in their Criterium RS tyre, so if you like to run wider fitments and your bike can handle it, look out for the release of a 30mm later this year.

Thule

2023 Eurobike Thule

The trouble with sending the owner of a hyper border collie to Eurobike is that when Thule announce a new dog carrier, the rest of their presentation goes out the window. It is, however, an interesting move from the brand which said customers can expect even more dog-related products over the next 18 months. My willing pup and I look forward to all the new whacky ways I can get her from A to B without using a car.

Bookman Urban Visibility

2023 Eurobike Bookman Urban Visibility (4)

Bookman Urban Visibility showed off their range of lights and visibility equipment for cyclists. The front lights are mounted via Garmin mounts – but there are attachments so you can still use your Garmin while riding.

2023 Eurobike Bookman Urban Visibility (1)

They use a dial on the side of the light to turn the brightness up and down, and are available in 800 or 1,500 lumen options.

2023 Eurobike Bookman Urban Visibility (3)

They’ve also got a selection of hi-visibility vests and arm or leg bands which they’re aiming at urban riders.

2023 Eurobike Bookman Urban Visibility (2)

They’ll be available from September, although you may have to order direct rather than through a distributor.

Hutchinson

2023 Eurobike Hutchinson road tyres

Hutchinson hinted that there’s a top-secret tyre update coming later this year. The embargo gods will frown upon us if we say anything else, but we can say it’s road-related and we think it will be well received.

Factor

2023 Eurobike Factor

We can’t give you any details but Factor had their new road bike partially on display and from the silhouette (and a brief look inside the box at either end), it looks fast. We’ll have to wait until the 10th July to learn more, but until then we can collectively guess what Landfall means.

Camelbak

2023 Eurobike Camelbak Podium (2)

As well as moving into the gravel and bikepacking market with some new bags, Camelbak presented their newest Podium bottles at Eurobike.

2023 Eurobike Camelbak Podium (1)

They’ve designed them in titanium or steel options, and are aiming at more lifestyle riders. As you obviously can’t squeeze Ti or steel bidons, Camelbak has handily included a straw.

li:on Bikes

Are these new li:on kids bikes from Marcel Kittel and Tony Martin the safest ever?Once you get past the fact these bikes are being launched by two former professionals (Marcel Kittel and Tony Martin), they do look quite sci-fi with the integrated lights and glowing paint.2023 Eurobike li-on children's bikes - 2

They’re also made using what li:on describes as “a high-performance polymer with recycled carbon fibres”. You can read more about the launch of these bikes here.

Elastic Interface

2023 Eurobike Elastic Interface

The people most well-known for making chamois pads have completed their range of products for contact points on the bike with new insoles. They’re called Insoletech and come in three models: WATT D200, which is for high-performance cyclists, WATT D120 for amateur riders who want a multi-density insole with breathability, and the COMFORT D80 which is, as the name suggests, for comfort-focussed riders. Each sole is machine washable and “fully adapts to the foot”.

Rebecca has been writing about bikes for four years, after a typically ill-timed career change pre-pandemic. She's been riding bikes since she can remember, and fell back in love with them after realising it was faster, cheaper, and more fun than getting the bus to work. Nowadays she enjoys all kinds of bikes, from road to eMTB and is training her border collie pup to become a trail dog. 

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4 comments

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ktache | 1 year ago
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Insulated Ti bidon, nice.

Interested to see more of the hiviz stuff from bookman, my summer proviz is a bit small. Hopefully available in bright colours, not just black.

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quiff | 1 year ago
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road.cc wrote:

We can’t give you any details but Factor had their new road bike partially on display and from the silhouette (and a brief look inside the box at either end), it looks fast. We’ll have to wait until the 10th July to learn more, but until then we can collectively guess what Landfall means

I could be spectacularly wrong, but doesn't it just mean that they're launching a bike that's the perfect combination of stiffness / compliance / weight / aero etc, possibly with a fast-sounding meteorological name (e.g. Tornado, Cyclone, or 1,000,000:1 gets you "Water Spout"), which would just make 'landfall' a themed substitute for the more prosaic "launch date"?      

Avatar
Festus replied to quiff | 1 year ago
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No I think they are launching a new type of cardboard box

Avatar
SimoninSpalding replied to Festus | 1 year ago
1 like

In which case it was a typo - it should have been landfill.

 

I'll get me coat...

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