Core Bike is a small UK bike show but it’s a treasure trove of new and exciting product. We charged our tech editor to come back with the booty, and here's his pick of the weird, wonderful and beautiful.
Marzocchi’s new dropper
We spotted this new Marzocchi dropper post on the Transition Patrol, a 155mm-travel all-mountain bike. It’s cable operated and has 125mm drop (with a 150mm version coming) and is available in 30.9 and 31.6mm diameters. The stealth version (pictured) will be £259, and it’ll be £230 for the externally routed model.
Extra protection from Dainese
Like most packs with built-in back protection, Dainese’s new Pro Pack isn’t cheap at £159 — but at least the two-in-one design is sleek and low profile. It’s adjustable to different length torsos, has loads of storage, including space for a drinks reservoir, and it’s CE certified.
X-Fusion’s Roughcut damper
With independent high and low-speed compression adjustment, X-Fusion’s Roughcut damper is a step up from the RL2 unit used in the current 34mm forks. It will add an additional range of fork to the X-Fusion line, and £100 to the price.
Chunky cranks from Praxis
To complement its top-quality chainrings, Praxis is now making a hollow-forged Turn Girder crankset with a massive 30mm aluminium spindle. The crank has a direct mount interface and comes with a 32t narrow/wide ring. To fit all BB standards Praxis is producing several matching bottom bracket units. The Girder is £229 (without BB).
Designed from the wheels up
Unlike the HDR, which was a 26in bike adapted for 650b wheels, the new IBIS HD3 is properly 650b specific. The company has also tweaked the geometry, adding length to the top tube and wheelbase and dropping the BB.
Keep the chain, lose the weight
If you want a lightweight chain device take a look at MRP’s new 1X range. On the left is the D Mount 1X – carbon back plate, sleeker bolt hardware and a whopping £100 price tag. The new ISCG 05 1X on the right is cut away and only mounts on two of the tabs, which means you can fit it and make adjustments without having to remove the cranks — and it’s also more affordable at £59.95.
As ridden by Gwin
HT has previously made pedals for other companies, but it’s now producing its own range. A collaboration with DH pro Aaron Gwin resulted in the X1, a caged clip less unit similar to the Crank Bros Mallet DH. The mechanism doesn’t rotate on the pedal, but to aid engagement HT uses a hybrid binding and a new cleat, which is a cross between a SPD and Crank Bros. The X1 will cost £120.
HT also produces a massive range of flat pedals including the ME03. It’s a wafer thin 11mm, has a massive 102 x 98mmm platform and 10 pins per side. The magnesium body saves weight and it comes in some cool powder coat colours or this raw finish.
As good as old
On the right is a standard ODI Ruffian, on the left is the new limited edition soft compound version. It’s the same price (£21.99) but it has the ‘worn-in’ feel straight out of the box.
Super-size us
Hope has been working on a cassette for a while, but it seems its new-oversized 10-40t cluster may be closer to production than we think. The top three sprockets are machined from aluminium, the bottom seven are steel. Like SRAM, Hope is using a dedicated driver body, but the advantage of the split design is that you can use the lower seven-speed cluster for the drivetrain on a DH bike.
We just received our first sample of Hope’s new crank in the office… but we might do a swap for one of the new colours. Black, red, blue, silver, purple and gunsmoke.
Back to black
If you prefer a subtler colour scheme, Fox is offering a limited run of its 32, 34 and 40 forks in a stealth black.
Recon gets it white
How good does this look? 661’s Recon Scout gets a gloss white finish, bottom wrapped construction and adjustable retention, all for £54.99!
Probably not for everyone
Love or hate them, you can’t ignore them. One Industries’ new Gamma and Vapour jerseys come in rasta and jockey (yes, really) colourways.
Ready for the rough stuff
New from Maxxis is the Griffin DH. It’s a 1000g rear-specific tyre available in Super Tacky and 3C compounds in 27.5 and 26in sizes.
Bib-baggy
What is the Alp X Pro baggy bib? According to Gore Bike Wear it’s what performance mountain bikers want, and it consists of a Lycra bib short sewn inside a baggy short. There’s even a matching jersey with a rucksack-style rear panel to stop the pockets hanging down. Jersey costs £110, short £140.
Built to last
We wanted to feature Silca’s new track pump because it’s just a nice thing. Totally rebuildable, excellent quality… but then, it does cost £300.
King of bike bags
The best bike bag just got even better. Evoc’s Bike Travel Pro costs £100 more than the original but it has a third wheel for greater manoeuvrability, full length aluminium reinforcement in the base, better disc rotor protection, a redesigned frame block and larger toggle-shaped zip handles.
Marginal gains
The guide plates on E13 new LG1+ chain devices have had an update and now co-moulded with a soft rubber to reduce chain rattle. They also split in two via a new clasp system for easy access and the height adjustments are now on the front so you can actually read them during set up. The lower roller is sleaker and also gets the rubber coating and there are three different size sliders (for 30, 34 and 38t rings) included in the box as standard.