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TECH NEWS
Falkenjagd Hoplit Pinion titanium touring bike 4.jpgThe ultimate touring bike?
Are you looking for the ultimate touring bicycle? One that ticks all the boxes, and then some? The Falkenjagd Hoplit Pinion has just scooped an IF design award at the Taipei International Cycle Show and it's not hard to see why.
Our man in Taiwan has fired back these photos of the most purposeful bike we’ve seen in a fair while. There’s an 18-speed Pinion gearbox nestling in the belly of the titanium frame providing a fully sealed drivetrain with a belt drive minimising maintenance, ideal when you're halfway across some godforsaken desert with no sign of a friendly bike shop.
- 10 of the best touring bikes — your options for taking off into the beyond
The frame is decked out with multiple mounts for three bottle cages, mudguards and front and rear racks, also hewn from titanium. Due to the use of thru-axles the company claims the bike has a payload of 185kg, ensuring you should be able to carry all your worldly possessions with you. And the kitchen sink.
It’s built around 650b and 700c wheels. The former would allow the fitting of bigger volume tyres for increased comfort. The pictured bike is fitted with Continental RaceKing mountain bike tyres for go-anywhere capability.
Also borrowed from the mountain bike world is the titanium riser handlebar with a set of carbon fibre bar ends providing a range of different riding positions.
Like the frame, the fork is made from titanium and to keep maintenance simple when you’re in the back end of nowhere, all cables and brake hoses are routed externally. There’s dynamo front hub, naturally, powering front and rear lights, and a The Plug USB charging port is located in the stem top cap, so you can keep your iPhone (other smartphones are available) topped up with juice so you can Instagram your epic ride. Provided you can get 3G where ever you are.
Lastly, there’s a kickstand so no leaning it up against a wall.
Also spotted in Taiwan this week is the brand new APRO Ranger full-suspension gravel bike.
David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes.
Latest Comments
- fenix 2 hours 20 min ago
That's a hilarious price. I fail to see where the money is going on this. The mojito is under £100 so what makes this three times as much?
- pockstone 2 hours 28 min ago
If they can get out of paying...they will. Insurance is a gamble, until the banker loses... when it becomes a scam.
- Paul J 3 hours 13 min ago
Alternatively the PowerPod was able to give a pretty good true CdA calculation, if it was paired with a /real/ power-meter. *This* was actually the...
- wtjs 4 hours 36 min ago
our thoughts remain with the families of everyone who has lost a loved one in this way Dead giveaway for monumental insincerity and 'who cares?'
- Hirsute 5 hours 22 min ago
Postie delivering, bike: what could possibly go wrong ?
- wtjs 6 hours 43 min ago
Sometimes it's 'only a momentary loss of concentration' (© Lancashire Constabulary Dodging Department)
- Velophaart_95 7 hours 32 min ago
Of all the teams to join, Cofidis........Oh dear. What a mistake........strikes of desparation to be seen in the WT.
- Secret_squirrel 8 hours 19 min ago
The other thing I would say is that be judicious about adding starter packs (bulk follow packs). The lovely Hackney Bike Fit has one but it has...
- hawkinspeter 9 hours 12 min ago
我的媽和她的瘋狂的外甥都 ・ Wuh duh ma huh tah duh fong kwong duh wai shung
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12 comments
Ultimate commuting bike - not far off. Ti so no issues with salt or dirt corrosion. Belt drive so just a jetwash. Full mudguards and racks. Nearly spot on.
Touring bike? No chance.
Also, external cables? Neater inside and far less prone to snagging or catching on luggage or when you lean it up on whatever train or boat you're taking as part of your epic tour.
Very nice but not quite ultimate. Missing items: Drop handlebars; S&S couplings; Brooks saddle; Also, a Tubus Duo would look nicer on the front, but unfortunately as yet only available in chromoly not stainless. And a steel frame might just clinch it
looks like a Brooks Cambium Carved saddle to my eyes.
Finally a proper Ti bike with Ti frame AND Ti fork. Otherwise, a Ti frame with a CF fork is a bike heavier than a full CF, still prone to a fork faceplanting failure. Don't really like though the straight bars, it just cancels it's touring character.
That's a good point. If the Ti brands are serious about its advantages it seems perverse to use a CF fork; presumably just due to easy availability. Mason & Fairlight impress me for specing their own forks, it's a crucial part of the package.
Having ridden carbon forks for a very long time and indeed ride a bike with carbon composite forks that were built in 1990/91, your faceplanting comment does not tally up. I'm sure it occurs but the chances are statistically insignifcant on a well maintained bike.
Ti forks on a bike are simply a load of additional weight for no gain, I'd also rather have carbon bars for touring. Don't mind ti seatposts (and I have one fitted in my ti bike) but a CF one offers just as good properties.
As for this being the ultimate in touring bikes. Well if that pinion gear and/or belt goes ping anywhere outside of a sizeable town you're going to be screwed. It certainly doesn't tick any box relating to aesthetics, it's a bit fugly/ungainly.
How many of the village blacksmiths we hear about can repair a steel bike anyway?
My bike is 853 so it'd have to be heat treated as well. I'd have titanium if I could afford it because it's just so damn beautiful.
I would say most. And if it's just a repair weld then no need for heat treatment.
Titanium not ideal as few places can repair/weld if needed. Also, would be better with 26" wheels for ease of replacement tubes and tyres.
I wonder if that's still true. It used to be so a few years ago but it's increasingly difficult in Europe and North America and if you do find replacements they might not be the best quality. Further off the beaten track (Africa, Asia etc) it may be so that 26" still rules.
Similarly, building a bike with parts you can easily find replacements for is often prudent in some parts of the world which is why people avoid gearbox hubs, pinions, belt drives and generally anything that isn't Shimano.
If that pinion drive failed or the belt snapped, there's no way you'd be able to repair it in-the-field or bodge it so it doesn't win as an 'Ultimate tourer' for me.
Then again, it's much easier to order online and have a brand new one couriered out to anywhere in the world overnight than it's ever been.
I suspect people will think that you're on an e-bike!
The usb port is an extremely good idea. Nothing to do with instagram - more for powering your garmin on long trips and keeping your phone charged for emergencies.
The mtb fashion police will probably be out to get anyone riding this due to the combo of riser bars and bar ends, but in this case it doesn't actually look too strange IMHO because the rise is quite low and the bar ends quite short.
Could be a new excuse for going out... "I just need to charge my phone..."
[two hours later, arrive home sweaty and smiling....] "What were you saying...?"