Bike Expo: The product highlights

With 6,000 square metres of added space over the prior venue, Manchester’s Bike Expo has room to grow. BikeBiz handpicks some of the many hidden gems from this year’s Event city exhibition…

Juicy Bikes

Currently in the process of updating its branding, Juicy Bikes of the future will all sport new chevron style logos, giving a nod to the brand’s Peak District heritage.

On the new bike front, the £899 Sport gives the brand another sub £1,000 build, with the key differences between this and the Sport Click being the removal of suspension in favour of a rigid fork. 

Landing at the end of May, there’s also a limited yellow colour on the £899 folding build and Dutch style Classic Click.

The brand has also added a new credit offer to make it easier for retailers to pay for the stock. 

OD Designs

Working alongside Sandy Gilchrist of the Irish track cycling team, OD Designs has been busy producing a modular stand, of which a prototype was on offer in Manchester. 

Though we’ve not got a pic to show, we can tell you the new aluminium product is designed to hook the chain and seatstays, elevating the bike without restriction of the crank should you need to make a running repair.

BikeBiz was told that on spotting the rack trackside at the Paris World Cup, the Canadian team bought six of the early models. The 700 gram unit is expected to retail at between £27 to £30.

Fibrax

Small, simple and probably one of the best new products on show in Manchester, Fibrax’s new UK made silicon frame protectors are one of those “why didn’t anybody do this before” products.

Workshop tubs of 150 of the coils are now available, as well as retail packs of six, which will retail for £5. The best bit, there’s no need to remove cabling to add the protectors, they simply wrap around, making it a job even for the home mechanic.

At present there’s just black, red and white coils, but a further colour is in the pipeline, BikeBiz was told.

RaceWare

Now sold direct to retail accounts, RaceWare was looking to get the attention of any trade accounts doing the rounds at Bike Expo.

With new 3D printed carbon fibre mounts to show off, the label wasn’t struggling to draw visitors to the stand.

“As far as we know we’re the first in the world to be doing this,” said Martyn Harris of RaceWare. “Our parent company has been 3D printing in the UK for 15 years now, but this is the first time we’ve come out with printed carbon mounts. We’ve got units for GoPro’s, Garmins, Di2 batteries and many more of the market’s most popular mounts. We’ve been working with manufacturers to tailor our mounts to non-standard handlebars too. You’ll find mounts that’ll work with Giant Aerobars, USE product and much more now in the range. Other brands won’t touch it because of the tooling costs.”

The new carbon mounts will largely retail for around £40 each.

RaceWare can now also customise mounts for a dealer or brand, with logos printed onto the finished product for a small fee.

Fat Lad at the Back

Specialists in plus size cycle clothing for cyclists Fat Lad at the Back have been studying the female form and now have a range of women’s items that take into account real curves.

Cut low to leave less exposed whether in or out of the saddle, the women’s garments have come to fruition following a Facebook poll that decided which designs should make the cut. 

Branded as ‘Fat Lass at the Back, Lynn Bye of the firm told BikeBiz: 

“Much like with the men’s clothing we’re taking the joke away from any bullies out there and giving the rider possession. We may tone down the Fat Lass branding going forwards as it’s not unanimously loved, but we feel like this gear will empower many of those who are out in the saddle to keep progressing.”

NRG4

Giving the Essax Shark saddle its first public outing alondside the rest of the range, NRG4 was drawing in the curious and holding them with another recent addition – ProLite.

With a move to a larger premises planned in June, the distributor now has a place to house its Pro-Lite wheel stocks, of which a highlight is the A42 wheelset at £370. From early summer NRG4 will also become the worldwide Pro-Lite service centre. If a new saddle brand is something you’ve been looking for, NRG4 has a package whereby you can take £250 of stock and earn a free pyramid point of sale unit to display nine saddles, as well as access to a demo fleet of saddles to loan customers still deciding.

What’s more, Essax are soon to launch a mobile app that will be available to Android and iPhone users. This free to download app will ask a series of questions of the prospective customer, before making a recommendation on which saddle will suit best. 

NRG4 also told BikeBiz that it has just added a cleaning label in the form of Bike7 who have been making cleaning solution for over 50 years.

Pedibal

In the second of our world firsts in this show round up, Pedibal introduced what it says is the only balance bike for adults that can convert into a pedal bike once balance skills are in place.

The folding build is available to retailers and sells for just £300. A retrofittable electric upgrade, adding £400, is also available. Find out more at pedibal.com.

2Toms

Got a customer on a touring bike that needs to take steps to prevent soreness in the saddle? 2Toms has a very interesting roll-on style chamois cream that’ll be worth a look.

The £14.99 Butt shield product creates a friction-free surface to reduce chaffing that’ll last all day and is only removable via a good shower. Its non-greasy waterproof formula will allow you to sweat, but won’t allow any moisture inwards to irritate.

For the triathlon market, retailers should also check out the BlisterShield, a £13 2.5oz silicone powder that’ll repel both water and prevent chafing. Retailers can take on various package options, from ten pack sachets to 12 pack powder dispensers, among others.

Dillglove

Dedicating much of its stand to Selle SMP, Dillglove was introducing man to its demo saddle fleet, which is available to any stockist of the Italian brand.

For the many traithletes that will have been at the Bike Expo and neighbouring triathlon exhibition, the SMP T1, 2, 3 and 4 saddles would have been of great interest. Built around nylon reinforced carbon fibre bodies, the T-series come in four different shapes and sizes and are built around a centre channel that relieves perenium pressure. The S1 is best suited to a wider pelvis, while the 3 and 4 will suit a medium sized athlete.

To find out more about the demo program, get hold of Dillglove on 01213544127.