Taipei Bike Show: new kit from Controltech

After being impressed yesterday by their Cockpit Carbon clip-on aero bar that won a design award here at the Taipei Cycle Show, we paid component makers Controltech a visit at their stand today to find a bunch of other interesting new designs.

They have a new double bottle cage design (main pic) made as a carbon-fibre monocoque and primarily intended for long-distance triathlon. It fits to your saddle rails so your bottles are tucked away behind your butt/legs, out of the wind. Cervélo, for example, have told us many times that this is the most aerodynamic position for carrying water bottles aside from between your aerobars.

The cage feels strong and secure although this isn’t the final version: Controltech reckon that’s still a couple of months away.

You get two threaded holes in the top for screwing in CO2 cartridges and that larger hole in the middle is intended for a spare inner tube. As this isn’t the final version, ControlTech don’t have a product weight yet, nor a price.

The Tux unidirectional carbon seatpost is new too. With that hole underneath the clamping area, it looks vaguely similar to the existing Ipost and Wepost in the Controltech range, although there’s a larger space here.

If the hole makes you nervous, Controltech say you don’t need to worry: it passes all the safety standard tests. There are slots in the top of the post that allow you to adjust the angle of your saddle and those two bolts are easy to get at with an Allen key. The Tux will be available in 27.2 and 31.6mm diameters and there’s a matching stem to go with it.

Finally, titanium… What do you notice that’s unusual about this stem in the 2012 lineup? I’ll give you a clue: welds. Look carefully and you’ll see that there aren’t any.

Controltech call this TiMania, the first monocoque titanium stem, made using a new manufacturing process. That’s 6/4 titanium, by the way, and ControlTech reckon this is suitable for both mountain biking and road riding.

The stem comes in a 5° angle, the steerer-clamping bolts are offset from one another to distribute the load, and it comes in 90-120mm lengths. The 120mm version weighs just 138g. Despite those huge windlows around both clamps, Controltech reckon it’ll prove to be incredibly durable.

The Timania seatpost – made from 3/2.5 ti – uses CNCed clamping surfaces and a carbon fibre cradle. As you can see, there’s no layback here – the centre of the clamp lines up with the centre of the post.

It’s available in 27.2 and 31.6mm diameters and 350mm and 400mm lengths with weights starting out at 190g.