BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
For a full gallery from Core Bike Live, click here.
Ison Distribution
Introducing a number of new labels to its trade customers, Ison had plenty to shout about at the inaugural Core Bike Live.
First up, Morgaw saddles brings three saddles in various iterations to the table, with options for XC, enduro and road now in stock. With each the customer can choose from soft, medium or hard elastomers to suit their preferred ride feel, while rails are changeable. An alloy railed saddle will come in at £90 and a carbon £120.
There’s two new lighting labels within the stable too, each with its own USP. Orp is a USB rechargeable unit that pairs both a light and a safety horn with various sounds for a £50 price tag. A handlebar remote is available as an add on for £15.
Then there’s OwlEye, whose forte is solar energy. With the light charged during the day, this might be one for the all year round commuter. The smallest of the units comes in at £18 and has a 15-lumen output, as well as a swivel mounting bracket that can be applied to chainstays among other things.
Also of interest on the lighting front is the SP dynamo hub at £90. Claiming to be the world’s smallest and lightest of its kind, it’s a no brainer for wheelbuilds. Disc versions are also available.
Upgrade
With cyclocross season kicking off, Kinesis’s new CX Race build will be on plenty of wishlists. It’s quite unique in that the frame is made with Scandium and ready for both discs (flat mounted) or cantilevers.The frame, which weighs 1,300 grams, is coming in at £549.99 and is optimised for one cog up front, making it ideal for SRAM CX1, or similar. With cable routing slipping inside the frame, it’s very clean looking and, if desired, can still accommodate a double ring up front. There’s no eyelets, so this one’s designed with just one thing in mind, speed. Another nice feature comes in the form of a down tube that’s shaped to make it easier to shoulder up and over obstacles.
Moore Large
Onza returns to its roots with two new mountain bikes for 2016 – the 27.5 Jackpot and 29-inch wheel suited Payoff.Available as a frameset at £375, the 4130 chromoly foundation has double butted tubes that are given an electrodeposition treatment to protect the frame inside and out. A tapered head tube is tilted to 68.8 and pairs well with a longer travel fork. Various builds are to be available, with dropper posts specced as standard. Moore Large will be operating a click and collect at the local dealer system for those buying online.
For 2016, Cuda has seen some strong investment to further bring the bikes up to speed with modern trends. Colour schemes are noticeable arranged to correlate with the maturity of the customer, with bright flashy colours on smaller wheeled builds and more subdued classic tones as the range progresses. Smaller bikes benefit from a two-in-one
bar and stem combination. All bikes are supplied with two pairs of tyres to allow the bikes to be tailored to the customer’s intended use.
Sticking with children’s bikes, Bobbin Bicycles has introduced some very attractive balance and younger kids’ bikes in soft blue and pink pastel colours. To make the balance bike even more child-friendly the top tube has a low step over, so there’ll be no accidents stepping on and off the bike.
Last of all, highlights from Forme’s catalogue include two new gravel builds under the Hooklow banner, a heavy revamp to the popular £2,700 Stretto and fresh track and time trial builds hitting some very competitive price points given the spec.
Silverfish
Mondraker has made some big introductions for 2016, most notably, Silverfish will now have three off-road going electric bikes within its stable – the E-panzer fatbike, E-Vantage hardtail and E-Crafty full suspension.
All in all, there’s a whopping 49 models in 63 derivatives for model year 2016 and if Core’s showing is anything to go by, they’re all very nicely finished.
For those who had a soft spot for the Foxy, the 2016 Dune will be this year’s highlight. This now flagship 27.5 enduro rig will land in three builds – XR, RR and R – as well as a frameset. The DNA blends the Foxy and Summum downhill rigs, giving it big hit absorption, as well as the pedalling efficiency of the Foxy Carbon, delivered by a 1×11 drivetrain. Those attending Core Bike Live would have seen a cutaway of the frame, which looks as perfectly smooth on the inside as it does the outer.
Plus size makes an appearance more than once in the range, but it’s the Vantage RR and 140mm full suspension Crafty that will be top of wish lists. Both sport a 3-inch tyre. The women’s line expands too, with three performance hardtails, alongside the £1,599 Factor Go.
Sticking with very desirable bikes for women, the Yeti Beti ASRc is the firm’s lightest build, sporting handpicked components and custom tuned suspension with the female form in mind. Small and extra small builds will carry 27.5 wheels, while 29-inch wheels are suited to medium and large frames.
Kona
Exploring deeper into non-traditional territory than ever before, Kona’s road offering is turning lots of heads.
The £1,699 Reynolds 853 steel Roadhouse is one such drop bar build that’s delving into gravel road territory with its thicker tyre, carbon fork, flat mounted discs and beefed up frame.
The 2016 Hei Hei is one of the more notable off-road builds, available in four 6061 aluminium builds, two of which jump down to 1×11 gearing. There’s the choice of Race or Trail setups, all rolling on 29-inch wheels and offering 100 (Race) and 120mm (Trail) of travel front and rear. A basic build will come in at £2,099, while the premium DL finish will cost £2,799. “Our factory think this is the lightest full suspension aluminium frame they’ve made,” said Kona’s reps at Core.
