BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
You’d be hard pressed to miss the fact that the Bike Place exhibitor list is now longer and stronger than ever. BikeBiz looks at what some of those exhibitors will be bringing to the Silverstone show…
Wearable tech has been making the headlines for some time now and it will be at The Bike Place show thanks to 4iii innovations. The brand has a host of product options from heart rate monitors that sit on the wrist (and don’t rely on you having a phone with you when you exercise) to the futuristic Sportiii – a glasses-based device that provides a ‘real-time heads up display’ when riders are in the saddle. Inevitably there is an accompanying app too. A cycle-specific product in the range is the Ride, providing accurate speed and cadence measurements.
Fresh from its expansion into new offices and a 100,000 sq ft warehouse – which PM David Cameron opened, Oxford Products will be taking the latest of its vast product array to Silverstone.
The full Chris King range will be showcased by Evolution Imports, hubs, new bottom brackets, new Lefty front hubs, new drillings available on road hubs 16 and 18 hole, new headsets for 44 and 49mm head tubes, water bottles, caps, socks, coffee, XD driver for the mountain bike hubs. Sour Apple is a special colour way to watch out for – “green is the colour for 2015,” says the brand.
Chris King’s own brand steel Cielo frames have all their fittings – dropouts fork crowns, etc – made in-house. These unique frames come with bottom bracket and headset in a racer form or a sportif frame. Evo Imports will also be showing off Pacenti, ESI, Carbon Ti and King Cage.
Fisher Outdoor Leisure has been distributing for over eight decades, with its modern line-up including the likes of SRAM, Troy Lee, Santini and LOOK. This edition of the show is the first time Fisher has appeared and deals are promised for new and existing customers. The show will also provide opportunity to see newer brand signings like Limar, Melon, Sontec, Seasucker, Vittoria Wheels and items like Vavert’s 99p tubes. Fisher will showcase its revamped B2B website too.
European super brand KTM, available through Fli Distribution, will show off its 2015 range including The brand new KTM Revelator Sky Di2. This is KTM’s new road bike with hydraulic disc brakes, featuring bolt through front and rear, cutting edge geometry and di2 gears. And just for fun the brand will also show off a fat bike e-bike – the Macina Freeze Plus. The Bosch-featuring e-bike is the first of its kind from KTM.
Springing to Silverstone, young British company Frog will bring its lightweight kids bikes along, ranging from balance bikes and first pedal bikes to hybrid bikes and road/CX bikes. Frog’s latest spec of hybrid and road bikes and the new range of Team Sky bikes and accessories will feature too.
Jungle Products caused a stir at the last Bike Place with then recent signing BOS Suspension. The brand will be back again for 2015 now that Jungle is fully set up with a dedicated workshop for service and warranty. The new Dizzy 29-inch has been a media favourite, but the Bike Place will see the UK launch for the awaited Idylle RaRe FCV downhill fork.
Santa Cruz will be at Silverstone too alongside the women-specific Juliana line-up. There will be some new models, yet to be released, on display for the first time.
Syndicate riders Steve Peat and Josh Bryceland will be attending the show – the specific dates are to be announced shortly. 29-er specific Niner will show its fully revamped carbon line up and the new ROS + Fatbike, while KS dropper posts – sporting a two year warranty – will too including the new 2015 range featuring the new carbon lightweight short drop LEV CI, with models available to try out at the show. KS’ new component line will also be debuting at The Bike Place, with the new lightweight Ether AM stem sure to attract attention.
Wethepeople has had a few recent landmarks for a BMX complete bike, from the 23-8 gearing on the Envy, the free-coasters on the Crysis and spline drive set-up on the Volta and Zodiac. This year the brand, on the Cycling Sports Group UK (CSG UK) stand, will see a 12-inch MX bike join the range. The Prime now rolls into the collection as the smallest WTP bike available.
The trend for bigger tyres continues on, and you will see larger sizes up front and in the rear. Rear triangles have been updated on all of the frames, and some will now take a 2.4” tyre in the rear. Wethepeople has already been tapping into the rising popularity of free-coasters with the aforementioned Crysis with the Salt+ Trapez free-coaster, and have continued with the added feature of including the parts to convert it to cassette mode!, offering a great solution for the rider who’s thinking about giving a free-coaster a try.
