The Bike Place review: part two

To see part one of Bikebiz’s coverage of the Silverstone show, including product and news from R53 Sport, Velocite, Scute Design, Clee Cycles and Madform, see here.

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Few will have spotted it thanks to its discreet size, but Tumble and Fall has come up with something a bit different for the lighting market. Ever so simple in its design, though still in the testing stages, the brand has linked a handlebar mounted two button cockpit control to its front and rear lights, meaning you can manage the output of both while on the move, switching the front between 1,000 and 500 lumens and the rear between constant and flashing modes.

Elsewhere on the stand and also for the gadget-mad customer, Showers Pass has developed a series of iPad and mobile phone cases that are double locked and fully sealed against the elements. Your customer’s touchscreen gadgets will cleverly work once sealed inside too, so very easy to demo on the shop floor.
Unich also debuted a £37.99 hand pump with a fold out foot and gauge indicator for ease of use that’s well worth a look too.

Nemesis Active

Having undergone a bit of a transformation in the past year, Nemesis Active had plenty of surprises on its stand, with the announcement of its distribution of OK Baby, just one. Nemesis now has stock of the full £59.99 through £114 range, with the later price point being for the ‘Sirius’ recliner that drops the back plate through 30 degrees at the push of a button for the more relaxed child.

Flagging up early its free delivery and no minimum order policy, Nemesis were keen to do business at the show, catching many dealers while they’d been drawn to the ‘Sunnycam’ video recording sun glasses taking pole position on the stand. Sunnycam is a product that has evolved from the commuting market, rather than the extreme sports side of recording your ride. Supplied with a 16GB card, the glasses will record two and a half hours of continuous footage at 720p, though full 1080 is due in the next year. Boasting a circuit board developed with no less than British Aerospace and with a handy USB recharge, these are bound to do well at just £99.99.

Gloworm

All the way from New Zealand and having already scored a 4.5 out of 5 in an MBUK product test, Gloworm’s first appearance at a UK trade show signalled their intent to make some waves in the market here.

Using only high performance CREE XML V3 LEDs and Panasonic lithium ion batteries, the two light line retails at £125 for an 850 lumen and £165 for a 1,200 lumen light. The latter is capable of 2.5 hours on high, but up to 20 hours continuous on its lower setting. With a low profile and highly adjustable fitting gear, this isn’t a bulky ‘get caught up in the trees’ helmet light.

Independent
With more and more ‘adjust your head angle’ devices hitting the market, price is suddenly becoming an ever-important issue and VP have recognised this early on, coming in with their take on the adjustable headset with the Varial, priced at £180.

Adjustable on the fly via two allen bolts, the Varial allows for three positions allowing for a 1.5-degree change in three 0.5-degree increments. The headset has a full cartridge bearing construction and is in stock now.

Velo is now also found within the Independent stable and was represented well at the show, with the Senso, Plush and other lines shown alongside Velo’s bar tape and grip product off shoots.

Given that the majority of the world’s bike saddles come from Velo’s factories, it’s hardly surprising to have spotted the Senso ‘1261’ a £50 performance saddle with a lightweight honeycomb mold and titanium rails as standard. A female-specific version is also available from the firm.