Core Bike Show 2017: Highlights from Kinesis, Colnago, Gore-Tex, Lynskey, FSA and more

We're at Core Bike Show, an annual gathering of leading bike brands in Whittlebury Hall, a stone's throw from the iconic Silverstone motor racing circuit, and the place is packed with the latest 2017 products. We've been here all day trawling the show to find the most interesting and shiniest new bikes and products, so here's a quick first roundup. More to come soon.

NS Bikes is best known for its aggro mountain bikes, but it unveiled this new gravel and adventure bike at the show with some really interesting details and a sightly different approach to the genre than other more mainstream brands. 

Called the RAG+, it combines an aluminium frame with its own carbon fibre fork, thru-axles and big tyre clearance. Complete bike price is a reasonable £1,650 with a SRAM Apex 1x11 groupset . As well as the more common 700c wheels with 40mm tyres it’ll cater for, it’s also designed to accept 650b (or 27.5” as it’s called in the mountain bike industry) wheels with up to 2.2in tyres. The drive side chainstay swoops down to provide the necessary tyre and chainring clearance in the bottom bracket area, something we've seen on the Open UP and a few other gravel bike frame designs.

The new Kinesis Tripster ATR V2. We’ve already given you the full lowdown on this new bike, we’ve even ridden it on the roads, dirt tracks and streams around the hills of Bath, and it was taking centre stage on the company’s stand. It’s built up with a 650b wheelset with Veetire Rail tyres and looks seriously purposeful. 

- New Kinesis Tripster ATR V2 - Video First Look and First Ride

The CX Race Evo can be bought as a frameset for £550 but you can now buy it as a complete bike for £999, with a SRAM Rival 1 groupset and TRP Spyre disc brakes and a Kinesis CX V4 wheelset.  Ready to race outta the box. 

After getting loads of people asking what mudguards fit the GF Ti Disc frame and fork, Kinesis has decided to develop its own mudguards. There’s no confirmed price yet as they're still finalising the design, but they should be available for next winter. They tell us they'll provide proper clearance for a 30mm tyre and that they don’t rattle or squeak at all.

They’ll fit other bikes as well, but they’ve obviously been optimised for the GT Ti Disc and fork. They'll be adding the provision for adding an extended flap to the rear 'guard as well. 

Here's the Kinesis GF Ti Disc with the mudguards fitted. 

And if you aren’t a fan of disc brakes, you can still get the GT Ti with rim brake calipers. Looks fast with Reynolds carbon wheels and FMB tubular tyres. This complete bike with Shimano Ultegra drivetrain costs £3,299.

Reynolds has been busy. It has updated its Aero range and taken it down from four models to three. It now offers 46mm, 65mm and 80mm rim depths. The former is available only with disc brakes, while the two deeper rims will be available in disc or rim brake versions. 

The profile of the rim has been updated, it’s now wider with a 19mm internal channel, and 28mm wide on the outside, and a tweaked shape that is said to provide increased stability. The rims are all tubeless-ready as well. 

There are new hubs too, developed by Industry Nine to Reynolds’ own specification.

In the rest of Reynolds’ carbon wheel range there are changes too. The Strike, Assault and Attack models have a new sleek black paint finish and don’t worry, it only adds about 9g to the weight.

There are new hubs with straight pull spokes to allow for an equal tension distribution for a stiffer wheel.

A new Tripster Disc TA fork from Kinesis has been developed for “adventure cycling, distance racing, touring, sportives and cyclocross.” Just about everything then. It weighs 463g without the 12mm thru-axle (534g with) and costs £240. 

TRP now offers the Hylex and HyRd hydraulic disc brake calipers in a flat mount version, for the growing number of disc-equipped frames and forks that are adopting the new standard. 

Is this the year of the subcompact chainset? We reckon it might be. There are few options at present.  Here’s FSA’s new SL-K Adventure 386 Evo chainset in 48/32t guise (46/30t is also an option), with hollow carbon fibre arms and a forged aluminium axle and chainrings. Costs £380. 

The Colnago V1-r isn’t a new bike, but hot damn this paint job looked amazing in the flesh so we just had to share it with you all. Disagree, I dare you.

Aimed at making owning a Colnago a more realistic prospect for potential customers, the C-RS is an entry-level carbon fibre road bike featuring some nice details, including an integrated seat clamp with a 27.2mm seatpost and dropped seat stays to deliver more ride comfort. There will be several complete build options,

There will be several complete build options, Shimano 105 will set you back £2,199. 

The new FSA K-Force WE electronic groupset is nearing production. We’re told it’s on track for a May availability but it’s still refining the groupset before it is ready for production.

It aims to have several riders from three teams including Astana riding the groupset this season, and it’s already had some riders using it on their training bikes for the past year logging up plenty of development and testing miles. 

In tyres news, Hutchinson has developed a new gravel tyre called the Overide. It’s going to be available in 35 and 38mm widths, the former is aimed at more road and gravel applications, the latter for purely gravel use. Hutchinson pioneered Road Tubeless back in 2006 and the news for 2017 is the first tubeless-ready option, which uses a lighter casing than the full tubeless tyre but requires the use of sealant to seal the tyre in the absence of an inner tube.

Hutchinson did have these two cyclocross tyres that also lean over into the gravel bike market. On the left, the Piranha 2 CS is a 34mm tyre with a chunky tread pattern, and the right, the Mamba 34mm tyre with a very fast-rolling looking design, ideal for dry use. 

Colnago is back in the WorldTour peloton this year, supporting the new UAE Abu Dhabi team, and here’s our very first look at the frame it’ll use. This is the C60 and the paint scheme is loosely based on an existing option but with the Italian flag replaced on the seat tube with the flag of the UAE. The frame will cost £4,199.95. Better start saving.

If you read my review of the new Colnago Concept aero bike you’ll know I was impressed with the performance. It’s available wide range of colour schemes and this lairy one is out of the Art Decor range. 

A new gravel bike from Lynskey, the GR 250. A titanium frame with a 3T carbon fibre fork providing compatibility and clearance for 700c x 42mm or 650b x 2.1” tyres, and featuring thru-axles and a neat chainstay designed to increase clearance for tyre and chainring. Frameset costs £1,799.99 and a complete bike from £4,455.

The Tifosi SS26 Aero builds on the previous SS26 with a more aerodynamic frame design, and possibly one of the best paint jobs of the show. Complete Ultegra build will set you back £2,199. 

Or does this Cinelli Vigorelli track bike take the best award for the best paint job on show? It’s a tough one.

Felt’s venerable AR1 aero road bike. The US company was one of the early adopters of the aero road bike idea and it’s now got a new distribution setup in the UK that should hopefully mean its bikes become a more familiar sight on the road. 

I rode the new VR30 gravel/adventure bike at the worldwide launch a few years ago, and we’re hoping to get one in for a test this year.

This model costs a very reasonable £1,349 and it’s one of the few 2017 production bikes we’ve so far seen with the new FSA subcompact chainset. 

Want to go bikepacking this year? This The Light Blue Darwin One is an “off-road tourer for gnarly terrain” and features a Reynolds 725 steel frame and fork compatible with geared, single speed and gear hub drivetrains. Pictured here with a full complement of Miss Grape bags. 

The Mr Pink from All-City in a paint job you might recognise if you’ve been in cycling for a few years…. It’s the company’s flagship road racer and designed around classic race bike geometry with a Columbus Zona tubes, Whisky carbon fibre fork and Shimano 105 groupset.

We’re going to be testing this bike after the show so look out for more on this smart looking bike.

Hope might be best known for its mountain bike products (including a brand new British made carbon fibre full suspension model) but Hope is now putting its vast disc brake manufacturing expertise into a new road-specific disc brake caliper. IT’s using the flat mount standard and is fully compatible with Shimano brake levers, as pictured here on this Specialized Venge ViAS Disc. They’ll also be compatible with SRAM hydro brake levers too. 

There are also RS4 road hubs on carbon rims and its own road-specific disc rotor with rounded edges and using the same floating design found on its mountain bike rotors. Only available in a 160mm size and in a choice of size colours.

A blast from the past. The Look KG 196 from the early 1990s which though it does look a bit dated, was well ahead of its time. A carbon frame with aerodynamics a key driving force behind the shape of the tubes.

Furthermore, this one is fitted with the first true wireless electronic groupset, Mavic’s Mektronic which was launched in 1999. 

There is lots of new clothing coming later this year from Gore Bike Wear. Since launching the stunning One Active Shakedry jacket, it will expand the range with two new tops, one tailored for women and another designed to be even lighter, trading in the full-length zip to shed the weight.

This is a new jacket aimed more at mountain bikers, and interestingly it’s not a new fabric as such, but it’s using the fabric it normally uses a lining for hoods and pockets. It found it actually offered all the performance - waterproof, windproof, durability - that is ideal in a jacket for off-road cycling. It’s super lightweight and packs very small, making it an ideal emergency option. 

Available soon is the new Oxygen Classic Windstopper jersey and bib shorts. The shorts have a base layer integrated into the top section so you can remove one layer from your outfit, and there’s a new padded insert. The jersey is a very high tech piece, designed purely for function with stretchy and breathable sleeve panels, lay flat rear pockets, flat seams and an external front zipper. 

More details on prices and availability soon.