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TECH NEWS
Bling Tech from Chris King, Tune, Ritchey, Aivee, Vaaru – high end saddles, hubs, handlebars, headsets and more
If money was no object, we could have a very good time shopping for eye-candy bike products.
At EuroBike, we went for a wander to find some products that are often expensive, possibly unnecessary, and definitely very pretty!
Tune
Kings of carbon, Tune, were showing off their new bars, saddle and headset expander bung.
Hardly the most exciting products normally, but when it's Tune designing them, we take notice!
Video: Ceramic Speed's Driven concept drivetrain in action
Their new Skyracer saddle weighs in at just 69g, putting it among the lightest on the market. There is, obviously, no padding in sight. You'll be relying on the shape of the saddle and your chamois to keep you comfortable, but bare carbon saddles can be surprisingly compliant.
The new Geweih handlebar comes in at 189g for the 400mm width with a 4° flare and full internal Di2 routing. There's a max rider weight limit of 100kg but Tune say that it's fine to use this on your gravel racer...
You might need to be sitting down for when the prices get released.
Aivee
Niche French hub specialist Aivee had one of the nicest tech pieces we've seen in ages.
Their wheel truing stand uses mechanical dials for that artisan feel. The main structure is made from anodized, CNC machined 7000 series aluminium, with rectified stainless steel guide rails, self-lubricating bronze slide bearings, and solid wood handles and support. You could build up a wheelset on their SR5 hubs.
Looks lovely, doesn't it? That'll be €2,450.
Chris King
Comparatively good value, these hubs are known to last well.
Their hubs are hugely popular with custom wheel builds, thanks not only to the construction quality but also the range of colours that they come in. We just couldn't pass by these dusty blue R45 Centrelock disc hubs without having a closer look.
Ritchey
New to the Ritchey range is a carbon version of their WCS Venture Max gravel bar.
Review: Ritchey Swiss Cross Frameset
This one measures up with a 76mm reach and a 102mm drop for a short, squat drop that is easily accessible. The shifter clamp area sweeps forward by 6° and the drops kick out by 24°.
They have fully internal Di2 routing options and come in at 228.5g for the 42cm width.
You'll be parting with €289.95 for this bar.
Vaaru
We first heard about British titanium bike brand Vaaru when James Beresford founded the company in 2013. Back then, he had 11 years of product engineering and design behind him, which he has been putting to good use to create no-compromise custom builds.
We couldn't walk past their stand without snapping a few pics of what are some of the most beautiful road machines we've seen.
This Octane 6-4 Disc Frameset costs a pretty handsome £3,100.
What cycling product would you buy if you had the cash*? Let us know in the comments below.
*Points awarded for every £1,000 you'd spend.
Latest Comments
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Yes, and if I remember correctly I said something last time along the lines of "get lost"
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I used to ride on Zwift but slowly the virtual world became worn out for me. Even though I enjoyed the workout section there, I was missing a real...
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Scotland is particularly doomed with the SNP it must be said
- Secret_squirrel 21 min 52 sec ago
Another good one here https://www.vaarucycles.com/product/vti-titanium-forks/
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I think it's time to call in some experts to sort out the issue. I'm assuming that it's the backend that's struggling and judging by the size of...
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7 comments
Personally, I think some of these shiny, brightly coloured annodised components often look great in isolation, but if over-used, the end result can make a bike look like it was designed by Fisher-Price for a 3 year old.
I'll stick with black or silver.
I agree - also, components have to match to avoid looking silly. Ideally your entire groupset, seatpost, stem, handlebars, waterbottle-holders, rims and hubs should be the same colour.
Ideally that colour being chrome!
At some point, flared dropped handlebars will tend towards an angle of 90°. And they'll be called handlebars.
Handlebars that work with drop bar brake levers, bar end shifters etc. but effectively have a 90° flare already exist, and they're called moustache handlebars.
https://web.stanford.edu/~dru/moustache.html
If I had the cash I would buy Team Ineos.....£20million odd...20,000 points I think...maybe less since they're not performing at their peak...
For my new build I went for a Chris King NoThreadset, but went for it in black and Sotte Voce, all the quality yet subtle and lacking the obvious bling.
I have just serviced the Rasta version on my good bike, 8 years and nothing had penetrating it's excellent seals. The lube was still clean and the bearings shiny, just a good clean and relube, even managed to replace the existiong seals.
Totally und unequivocally highly recommended.
He also says not to use citrus degreaser on the sparkly anodising.