Published August 31, 2011 02:08PM
Eurobike Day One: The big brands can wait
Nick Legan ferrets out some innovations in Germany
Phil Wood, after so many years producing bottom brackets, now has a track crank. Pricing is yet to be determined, but expect it to be expensive and worth every penny. Photo: <a href="https://www.velonews.com/author/nlegan">Nick Legan</a> © VeloNews
FRIEDRICHSHAFEN, Germany (VN) — The big brands can wait (there isn’t much new in that department anyway).
Today I focused on finding some sweet Italian steel bikes and stayed on the lookout for new products that captured my fancy.
Steel is in no way dead in the cycling industry. (Nor is aluminum for that matter, but I digress.)
It seems that the Italians have more nostalgia for it than any other cycling country. Maybe it’s because they hope consumers will pull out their checkbook when they get all misty-eyed about the good ol’ days of cycling. In any case, there were some beautiful examples on display in Friedrichshafen. Some are available in the U.S. and some aren’t.
ADVERTISEMENT
Aluminum cranks for square taper bottom brackets seem to be holding strong as well. A lot of this must be due to the urban fixed gear craze and most of these cranks are made for single-chainring application. FSA honors Felice Gimondi with its take on a single-speed track crank. Phil Wood also has a beautifully polished aluminum crank for 2012.
Selle Italia’s Monolink system (which Caley Fretz reviewed last year) has found supporters in the industry. Ritchey, FSA and Deda all have posts for the saddles now. Unfortunately, the backing of the system by manufacturers doesn’t mean that consumers will buy in. But lower cost options will certainly make it easier for them to do so.
Many items are worth showing, but without proper testing don’t merit their own post. So I’ve included a few of them in this gallery.