So The Bike Place show might not have the glamour, weather, destination or size of Interbike or Eurobike but it still brings some interesting products to the fore. You’ve already seen what GT Bicycles and Stanton Bikes had to offer, so what about everyone else? With Kat on hand to provide a female perspective we set to work.
First up ION and a fresh look at mountain bike clothing. The colour scheme just screams euro and amongst all of it there were some great looking pieces of kit.
They like their checks and below is the ladies version, there’s a blokes top too with a slightly more masculine colour scheme. Checks are in right? There was also a great range of colours for the general riding top, the quality was just what you’d expect too. We’ve had one of their Static technical tees for a while now and it’s brilliant – just the right mix of casual with right materials for performance.
Colours for every taste – expect to see more from these guys this year.
ION is distributed by Surf Sales who are also responsible for the Transition range, like this tidy Covert seen above – 160mm of travel and ready for abuse. www.transitionbikes.com – www.ion-products.com
I’ve been aware of Bern for a long time thanks to their success in the snowsports world, their helmets are immediately recognisable and can be spotted at any slope in the world. For 2014 they are heading into the dirty world of bikes with the helmet below, if you fancy something a bit different from the norm this could be it. They also supply most of their snowsports helmets with a more bike-suitable liner. We should have some in to test soon so we’ll let you know! www.bernunlimited.com
Craft was a bit of a surprise – we’ve been big fans of their thermal base layers but didn’t quite how big the range was, whilst some are specific to road cycling there’s quite a lot of crossover available. They do a multitude of colours and ladies specific cuts seen below, these things somehow manage to keep you warm enough that for most UK autumn rides I’ll just sling a jersey and gillet over the top.
For the ladies they also do a range of sports bra’s and support tops, designed specifically for biking with stretch in all the right areas. www.craftsports.us
Jungle Products are responsible for importing the excellent Santa Cruz range and whilst there wasn’t anything new to show from them, the guys were excited about a deal signed the weekend before last to handle BOS Suspension in the UK. Thanks to a certain Mr Vouilloz’s antics back in the day with Sunn BOS has always enjoyed a legendary status and what we saw was nothing to suggest otherwise – peerless attention to detail and more shininess than a magpie like me can deal with. The Kirk is marketed as the ultimate enduro shock – well it certainly looks the part, maybe we’ll have a bounce and find out soon enough. www.bosmtb.com
Finally – our mates at Juice Lubes had the whole range on display. Lubes, grease, oils and sprays for all your riding fun and cleaning solution for the aftermath. www.juicelubes.co.uk
That’s January’s trade shows done and dusted – thanks to The Bike Place organisers for having us. Keep an eye on the website and magazine in future months for follow up!
