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Eurobike show
Germany, August 31-September 4, 2005
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Part 9 - Deda, Blackburn, Fisher, Nike, fi'zi:k, Battaglin, Litespeed
Continuing Tim Maloney's exhaustive tour of the floor at the Eurobike show...
Deda's new elements for 2006
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Dedaelementi's Fulvio Acquati showed Cyclingnews the Dedaelementi component range for 2006 during the recent Eurobike show. Acquati explained that, "our philosophy is to always stay close to the pro riders. We have the maximum respect for the riders as they use our products every day and so we focus on what products is the best for the riders." Acquati said that is company is very proud of its sponsorship involvement with the Fassa Bortolo, Quick.Step, T-Mobile, Bouygues Telecom, and Iles Balears-Caisse d'Epargne road teams and the and Bianchi-Agos mountain bike team.
One impressive product from Dedaelementi is the new Campione carbon fibre handlebar, that Acquati calls "pure classic Italian". Campione has a round section classic bend with a double cable groove and a extended central bulge section for more rigidity. Weighing 189 grams, Campione is available from 42 to 46 cm outside to outside width.
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Another new handlebar from Dedaelementi is called Glare, with a fully wound carbon fibre and alloy construction, made in an anatomic shape and weighing 285 grams. Because of the unique shape of Shimano's Dura-Ace 10 speed levers, Dedaelementi has created a specially shaped new handlebar named Supernatural that has a special anatomic shape that works perfectly with Shimano levers. For those who are seeking more affordable carbon fibre handlebars, Dedaelementi has the Sfida, which use a new technology of 7050 series aluminium core, wrapped by carbon fibre that Deda says weighs in at 277 grams.
Stem-wise, Dedaelementi has some new offerings for 2006, including the Arimo, which evolved from Deda's famous Newton model, but adds a special carbon fibre interface designed for use with carbon fibre bars. Deda's TT Stem, a attractively bonded carbon stem with carbon-alloy construction and 176 gram feather weight.
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Dedaelementi's Aeroblack Zero TT bars have an all-new monocoque design. Acquati told Cyclingnews that "We created the new Aeroblack Zero because our teams Fassa Bortolo and Quick.Step were looking for something special. We believe that a flat, or zero degree bar is a better solution and these bars also are part of a system where each rider can pair with the stem of their choice, and add our Fastblack carbon fibre extension to custom-tune their aero fit."
A new oracle
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Last year Bell Sports acquired heart rate and computer maker Sport Instruments and rolled the company into its Blackburn brand. Now bike industry electronics veteran Bill Corliss of Sport Instruments has created two new, state-of-the-art ranges of cyclometers for Blackburn, called Delphi and Neuro.
Delphi is a mid-priced range of cyclometers and the 6.0 model has wireless speed and distance with optional wired cadence, a handy Real Time Memory feature that offers average and maximum heart rate and an altimeter with vertical feet/meters climbed, plus grade percentage.
Neuro has many advanced features like 2.4Ghz wireless data transmission; the 5.0 model has digital wireless speed and distance, Heart rate with five training zones, plus an altimeter with vertical feet/meters climbed, plus grade percentage and three altitude memories.
Go Fish
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Ever present and always unique, Gary Fisher was blocking the view for Cyclingnews of his new King Fisher full suspension freeride mountain bike. The ZR 9000 frame with hydroformed aluminium top and down tube uses a Manitou Travis fork with 180mm of travel and a Fox DHX 4.0 shock. The Fish Man explained, "I designed this bike just for freeriding and it has seven inches of travel for a plush ride, and it's durable, but not heavy."
Freek Meat from fi'zi:k
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Served up in this blister pack, fi'zi:k's new freeride saddle is called FREE:K, and is designed for hard-core freeriding, freestyle, downhill and four-cross.
fi'zi:k's Massimo Fregonese told Cyclingnews, "Our new free:k is a unique design unlike any other saddle. It consists of an outer polypropylene shell and a co-injected Teflon rubber interior, with oversized 8mm hollow chromoly rails which increase the overall strength while reducing the overall weight. The rails curve around into their housing at the rear of the saddle resulting in our patented 'loop stabilizer.' And the 'thigh grip' feature helps control and enforce the direction of the machine and your in-flight body."
The dropped hand-shaped nose inspires confidence for a precision hand grab. At 380 grams, the freeridin' free:k is priced at $70.
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Battaglin & Full Dynamix
Giovanni Battaglin showed us his latest creation, the the Battaglin RS Limited Edition. The top of the Battaglin range for 2006, the RS Limited Edition has a 600-A high modulus carbon fibre frame and a full complement of FSA and Campagnolo components.
Battaglin is also active in mountain biking with its Full Dynamix bikes, and here as in so many areas of cycling, carbon is taking over as a frame material. Battaglin showed off the lightweight Full Dynamix M1 hardtail with a Manitou R7 Platinum fork, FSA handlebars & stem and Shimano XT group with Shimano disc brakes.
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Nike from the top
Here's the top view of the new incarnation of Nike Cycling's Lance shoe, the Lance Limited Edition in an attractive new silver-blue colour scheme that features Nike's all new V-Spine carbon fibre sole.
Go Ghisallo
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Litespeed is touting its new Ghisallo model as the lightest frame on the planet, and at a claimed 765g for a size S, 770g for an M and 815g for an ML, the 2006 Ghisallo is a true featherweight. (The L and XL frames hit 880g and 900g, a bigger increase than just longer tubes would require; we suspect Litespeed is - very wisely - beefing tube walls up a bit too but that's still staggeringly light for a big frame.)
Litespeed's Herbert Krabel told Cyclingnews, "every frame weight is certified and we've increased the bottom bracket stiffness, added an innovative new shaped and tapered seat tube. The oversized shaped and tapered down tube provides excellent power transfer, and the diamond shaped top tube provides great front end stability."
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Tim Maloney
- Deda's Fulvio Acquati finds inspiration in his garage!
- Giovanni Battaglin poses with his latest top model, the Battaglin RS Limited Edition
- A closer look at the Battaglin RS Limited Edition
- Blackburn Delphi and Neuro - new computers just bristling with features.
- Full Dynamix M1 carbon - carbon is slowly but surely laying siege to aluminium's stronghold of lightweight hardtail MTBs.
- fi'zi:k free:k in rather unusual packaging.
- Gary Fisher with his latest freeride rig in the background.
- Litespeed Blade - another look at Litespeed's OTT but wonderful titanium tandem.
- Litespeed Ghisallo - the new lightweight world champion.
- Nike Lance Limited - a top view of the latest version of Nike's high-end road shoe
Images by Deda
- Deda Campione - a classic Italian round shape in up-to-the-minute materials
- Deda Aeroblack Zero - Deda's latest carbon aero bar uses monocoque construction.
- Deda TT stem with a bonded carbon fiber mid-section
Images by fi'zi:k
- fi'zi:k free:k - a side view
- fi'zi:k free:k from the top.
