The Cycle Show – Randoms #1
The moment we walked through the doors we were greeted by World Championship metal (carbon). Danny Hart’s World Champs winning bike in all it’s glory complete with custom ‘Redcar Rocket’ Crankbrothers pedals and Val di Sole dirt. “Don’t touch!” the sign said “we want to keep it dirty”.
We headed purposefully towards the Identiti stand. We were pretty excited to see the brand new Mettle frame designed and developed by Pat Campbell-Jenner and Michael Bonney. Three years of testing and development have been put into the Mettle so it should be on the money. As you’d expect the Mettle is a do-all machine, able to climb competently but lively and fun on the descents. 160mm travel on the rear end and they’ve gone metric with this one (another standard!). Built around a 230x60mm shock platform the frame takes advantage of more bushing overlap inside the shock. Identiti didn’t think they couldn’t build the bike they really wanted with historical shock sizing so the switch to metric was made.
Available in grey or purple, small, medium and large and optimised for 275 and 1x specific.
27.5″ Wheels – Plenty of mud clearance – We live in the UK…
160mm Travel – 4 bar linkage with 8 large sealed bearings.
Metric Shock – The new frontier in shock technology.
Boost wheel spacing – 148mm rear axle spacing taking advantage of optimised main pivot bearing width. Supplied with Syntace rear axle.
Progressive suspension – 15% ending stroke progression for extra support.
Modern sizing – Our sizing is bigger than you’d expect.
Tapered headtube – Zero stack headset, 44mm upper, 56mm lower.
Low Standover – Lower top tubes, more room for your valuables.
Threaded Bottom Bracket – Simple, easy to maintain. Here for good.
150mm+ Dropper Compatible – Room for longer dropper posts.
ISCG 05 Chain Guide tabs
RRP – TBC
Vitus had their new Dominer on display although given it super stealthy aesthetics we almost missed it. Built around the solid but affordable Shimano Zee Componentry it comes in at a budget busting £2199.
The Evil insurgent is always worthy of a photo. Essentially the Evil Uprising with 257 wheels the Insurgent is a tasty looking machine and packed with some nifty well thought out features including an integrated chain guide and chainstay protection, an easy to use SAG metre and an axle that bolts directly onto the derailleur hanger. Frame only – £2799
The GT Pantera is a pretty well spec’d plus size hardtail. Equipped with 120mm Rockshox Revelations, Shimano XT 1×11 drivetrain and Shimano hydraulic disc brakes and 2.8 Schwalbe Rocket Rons. Not bad for £1400
Canyon’s Sender possibly isn’t positioning itself as the ultimate budget busting Downhill bike that it used to but it’s still a lot of bike for the cash. The CF 9.0 is still just shy of four grand and is superbly well equipped. Fox Float, Sram X01 drivetrain, Race Face Atlas, the list goes on.
The Stitched 720 is however a crazily priced slopestyle bike. Now under £1500 the Stitched 720 is built around a Rockshox Monarch with Pikes upfront, Descendant Cranks and Elixir DB3’s.
Tahnee Seagrave’s World Champs bike was also on display on the Transition stand. It might not be to everyones taste (it doesn’t need to be) but we were really impressed with the sparkly paintwork and of course the now obligatory custom Crankbrothers pedals.
You’ve got to start them young. The future of cycling, whether it be designing and building bikes and tech, expanding our trails or pushing the boundaries of what is possible on a bike, is ultimately in the hands of the nippers. Nurturing an enthusiasm for riding is where it starts so it’s great to see companies like Early Riders making superb bikes and balance bikes for the little ones with affordable price tags. This little Alley Runner balance bike generated a smile so it’s on the Christmas list.
