Condor, Bianchi, Storck, Boardman, Genesis, Ridgeback, Lightweight, Van Nicholas, Cannondale, Simplon, Rose Bikes highlights from Cycle Show 2016

The 2016 Cycle Show has opened its doors to the public today at Birmingham's NEC and showcases the latest bikes, equipment, accessories and clothing from many of the hottest brands from the UK and abroad. Here are some of the highlights of the show including new bikes from Condor, Bianchi, Storck, Boardman, Genesis, Ridgeback, Lightweight, Van Nicholas, Cannondale, Simplon and Rose.

Remember, if you want to attend the Cycle Show you can get a discount on us by using the code roadcc when buying your tickets.

Bianchi

The brand spanking new Bianchi Oltre XR4, which now boasts CounterVail vibration damping material in the carbon fibre layup. You can read our review here, and you can see it at the Cycle Show. Here it’s pictured with the new Shimano Dura-Ace 9100 groupset. Shimano on an Italian bike, that’s just not right in some people’s opinion. But what do you think?

The Bianchi Intenso Dama is designed for endurance and distance riding, and it’s available in a women’s version. It sits below the Infinito in Bianchi’s endurance range and the main difference is the absence of that bikes CounterVail technology.

Bianchi is the oldest bicycle brand in the world and it has long been involved with professional cycle racing, and it’s rightly proud of this history. Its stand at the Cycle Show is decorated with some iconic photographs from years gone by, definitely worth a few minutes of your time to admire and appreciate. 

Storck

We saw the brand new Storck Fascenario.3 at Eurobike, and you can see it at the Cycle Show. It’s boldly billed as the German company’s best road bike in the world, and while that might be up for debate, there’s certainly a lot going for it. The frame and fork have been designed to minimise drag, it’s built for comfort with a new F.3

It’s boldly billed as the German company’s best road bike in the world, and while that might be up for debate, there’s certainly a lot going for it. The frame and fork have been designed to minimise drag, it’s built for comfort with a new F.3 seatpost, and the frame weighs a claimed 770g. It’s also got the heady title of the most expensive frame at the Cycle Show, with a price tag of £5,500. Just for the frameset. 

This is the ‘standard’ model, if any Storck can be called that, with Shimano Dura-Ace 9100 and DT Swiss wheels, but over in Las Vegas where Interbike is currently taking place, it’s showing the Aston Martin version of this bike, a limited edition build with some real exotic equipment that gets the weight down to a claimed 5.9kg. And the price up to about £15,000. Yikes!

The Aerfast TT is a new bike that is designed to be suitable for people that dabble in time trials and triathlons. It’s an existing frame but uses a new seatpost that pushes the saddle forward with a set of clip-on extension bars. The complete bike will cost £2,999. 

Here’s the regular Aerfast that the Aerfast TT is based on, with a regular seatpost and standard handlebars. 

Rose Bikes

Rose’s Xeon Team CGF is aimed at sportive and distance cyclists wanting comfort with a taller head tube and shorter top tube providing a less aggressive and stretched position. The rear brake is placed under the chainstays to allow the seatstays to be super skinny so they can do some flexing, and it’s also designed the carbon tapered steerer tube to offer some flex as well. 

The Aero Flyer is a serious looking speed machine.

The Xeon CW is a new aero road bike that is a bit more affordable than the  X-Lite CW it’s based on with a slightly modified carbon fibre layup that helps bring the price down a bit, with only a small weight penalty.

It’s one of the few aero bikes that can be specced either with disc brakes or rim brakes, with just a different fork required.

Cannondale 

Got £5,999.99 to spend on a new race bike? This is Cannondale’s SuperSix Evo Hi-Mod with the brand new Shimano Dura-Ace 9100 mechanical groupset.

With its gloss black paint finish and chromed logos, it was one of the sleekest looking bikes at the show.

The new SuperSix Evo frame that was introduced back in the summer is also available in a women’s version, pictured here in a £1,699 Shimano 105 and Mavic Aksium build.

The Slate, the innovative 650b-wheeled bike with a Lefty 30mm suspension fork, is now available with a rigid Lefty fork which helps it lower the entry price to the platform. This is the Women’s Apex model (£1,699) picked out of the stand to photograph because we love the Mulberry with Acid Strawberry paint job.

Here's a closer look at the rigid Lefty fork. Funky isn't it.

Touring is the next big thing. You heard it here first. It’s definitely due a fashionable comeback and Cannondale is ready for the resurgence with this Touring model. Aluminium frame, 650b wheels like the slate, Shimano RS785 hydraulic disc brakes and Ultegra groupset.

Simplon

Simplon, an Austrian bike brand, are now available in the UK. We picked this Pavo Granfondo out of the stand, a carbon fibre bike built for going the distance with some modern details, such as the disc brakes and thru-axles, internal cable routing and integrated seat clamp.

Boardman Bikes

One of our favourite bikes from the show is probably this Boardman SLR Titanium 9.2 costing £2,899 and featuring disc brakes and thru-axles. Boardman has never produced a titanium frame before but this is a cracking effort with a gorgeous paint job that we reckon some custom frame builders would be envious of.

The Boardman SLR Endurance Disc 9.9 gets the latest SRAM eTap hydro disc brake groupset. The Cycle Show is probably the first place to see the new groupset, which combines SRAM’s existing hydraulic disc brake technology with its wireless electronic drivetrain.

SRAM has done an impressive job of keeping the shape and the size of the hoods close to the regular mechanical versions. Price hasn’t been confirmed for this bike yet.

Boardman is the first bike brand to be offering FSA’s new Powerbox crank-based power meter on a bike. The Powerbox is based on the Power2Max system.

The power meter upgrade will be offered on all elite and performance level models, including the Air 9.2 pictured here. 

You can now get your Boardman with a custom paint job. You can choose from a wide range of colours and up to three colour combinations, and the process takes six weeks. It’s available on all Elite level bikes. It’s just launched a new website and you can customise a bike very easily, just follow this link to have a play at customising your own. https://www.boardmanbikes.com/gb_en/custom-elite/

This new custom paint shop was used to create the special bikes that the Brownlee Brothers rode to success in the Rio Olympics, and more recently at the final round of the Triathlon World Series in Cozumel, Mexico.

For years we’ve been banging on about the versatility of cyclocross bikes and their suitability for winter cycling with a set of mudguards and road tyres fitted, but now it looks like the new adventure bikes are better fulfilling this market. Anyway, Boardman’s CXR 9.0 Winter is essentially an aluminium cyclocross bike with a set of optional SKS Bluemels mudguards and Vittoria Rubino Pro Control G+ tyres. It costs £1,299.

The Boardman Road Team Carbon Women’s bike, with a carbon frame, Shimano Tiagra and FSA groupset and £799.

And here's the famous Lotus Type 108 bike that Chris Boardman rode to 4,000m pursuit victory in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

Genesis Bikes

We’ve already told you about the new Zero Disc from Genesis Bikes, we’ve even reviewed one of the new bikes. Based on the regular Zero, the carbon bike raced by the Madison-Genesis pro team, but with disc brakes, thru-axles, flat mounts and modified geometry, mainly longer chainstays. Four models to choose from, this one costs £2,899 with Shimano UItegra 6800 and Fulcr from the Cycle Show here.um Racing 5DB wheels. 

At the other end of the spectrum is the Tour de Fer, fullly kitted out for any size adventure you have planned, with racks, a triple chainset and dynamo-powered front and rear lights.

A bold new colour for the Equilibrium Disc 30. What do you think? Answers in the comments below…

Liking the Clement Strada LGG 28mm tyres with tan sidewalls look extremely smart.

Loosely based on the Datum carbon adventure bike is the new Vapour Carbon CX model. The geometry has been refined for more off-road and racing purposes and there is increased mud clearance.

Ridgeback

Ridgeback has always made some very nice bikes but often goes under the radar a bit. The 2017 range is looking really good. How about this Panorama touring bike which now gets disc brakes and comes with everything you need, including mudguards, racks and lots of bottle cages

Want an adventure without the premium price tag? Perhaps one of the most interesting bikes at the Cycle Show was this new Ramble adventure model from Ridgeback. The frame is made from chromoly, there’s a chunky carbon fibre fork, lots of clearance for wide tyres with Challenge Strada Bianca 33mm tyres fitted, TRP Spyre disc brakes and a Shimano Sora groupset keeping the price reasonable at £999.99.

Just fit some bikepacking bags, as pictured, and head off into the landscape for an adventure.

Ridgeback also had this Velocity Tandem costing a very reasonable £1,299 and well-specced with disc brakes and low ratio gears.

Condor Cycles

Condor has updated the Acciaio Stainless with a new 44mm head tube, so it now accommodates a fork with a tapered steerer tube - the frame previously used a 1 1/8in straight head tube but getting carbon forks in that size is increasingly difficult, and customers apparently want an oversized front-end.

The down tube has also been revised with a larger diameter to improve frame stiffness, using a Columbus XCR tubeset. The frameset, with a Columbus Grammy carbon fork, costs £2,999 and it built to order in small batches. We really liked the details on this frame, such as the simple seat clamp and polished rear stays. A SRAM eTap groupset frees the frame of any cable routing guides.

The Super Acciaio is a beefy steel frame designed for racing and performance usage. The tubeset is custom drawn by Columbus for Condor and the combination of a tapered head tube and oversize bottom bracket ensures the frame provides a high level of stiffness. Condor arguably started the trend for race-ready steel frames when it first launched the original version of this frame several years ago, and it’s good to see it’s still in the range for 2017. 

Updated last year, the Italia RC is a very fine looking aluminium road bike which features a new tubeset with the carbon fibre stays of the previous model confined to the history books. There’s still a lot going for aluminium even in this era of ever-cheaper carbon frames, and we’ve not seen any that are dressed with such a pretty paint job. 

The iconic Paris Galibier is back. First produced in 1947, it’s now being manufactured by Italian tubing suppliers Columbus, who have managed to faithfully recreate the original. More than just a vanity project, Condor has already sold four of these bikes, so there’s clearly a bit of demand for its unique appearance.

The bike was designed to try and overcome the lack of stiffness in steel frames built at the time and used two small diameter top tubes and an oversized main tube. There're some very intricate lug work and elegant fork crown details.

The Paris is a recreation of a bike known as the Tour de France produced by Paris Cycles, founded in the 1940s by Harry Rensch, who was known for his unique frame designs at the time. The new bike remains true to the original but has been brought up to date utilising modern frame build technologies. 

One gear is all you need, right?

It continues to be Condor’s best-selling model, the Fratello is your classic touring bike design ideal for commuting, winter training, Audaxing and, of course, cycle touring. It’s available with rim or disc brakes, with Condor telling us it sells even numbers of both, and that there’s still a healthy interest in conventional rim brakes amongst its customers. 

The Heritage Disc is a heavy duty version of the Fratello, built for surviving any distance bicycle ride. The front triangle is actually the same as that used on the Fratello, but it uses a different rear triangle and Tange steel fork to make it more rugged. Disc brakes, clearance for 35mm tyres and full rack and mudguard compatibility.

Lastly from Condor is the Leggero, the carbon fibre model raced by the JLT Condor professional team. It’s made to be aerodynamic with teardrop shaped tube profiles and a Kamm Tail seat tube and flattened seat stays, all aimed at reducing drag.

Lightweight 

The people that look after Storck in the UK are now dealing with Lightweight, the uber lightweight and reassuringly expensive German carbon fibre wheels.

This is the new Wegweiser C Disc that was launched at Eurobike last year. It’s interesting because it’s manufactured using a new automated process, still in Germany, but which helps to lower the price compared to its handbuilt wheels. The rims are 36mm deep and 24mm wide and compatible with tyres between 25 and 31mm, and come in at 1,450g for the pair.

The carbon hubs have DT Swiss internals and are compatible with all current quick release and thru-axle standards. And before you ask, the carbon disc rotor is something that has just been mocked up for the show, they’re not actual working disc rotors.

Not a brand new wheel but the first time we’ve seen is from Lightweight is the Fernweg C VR 60. It joins the existing 80mm rim in the Fernweg range with a 60mm rim that saves some weight and improves cross-wind aero performance, and can be used on the front with the 80mm Fernweg on the back. They cost £5,549 (yes, that’s not a typo) but does weigh just 625g for the tubular version, and 705g for the clincher model.

Van Nicholas

Van Nicholas is going to be offering a disc version of the new Boreas that it launched last year, but it didn’t have the bike at the show.

So, here is a photo of it in the brochure. 

And here’s the regular Boreas with rim brakes and an Ultegra mechanical

Not a new model, but the Yukon titanium touring bike looks ideal for this time of year, with its mudguards and geometry focused on comfort. Liking the matching bar tape and saddle very much.

In other Van Nicholas news, the company is now offering a click and collect service, allowing potential customers to buy a bike through its website and have it delivered to the nearest Van Nicholas dealer. All new Van Nicholas owners get very slick owners manual and this titanium head badge key ring. Fancy. 

More highlights from the Cycle Show here.

Remember, if you want to attend the Cycle Show you can get a discount on us by using the code roadcc when buying your tickets.