We’ve been back long enough now to have caught up with our emails and finally bring you some words to go with the pictures. We had a great time in Germany and enjoyed seeing all things bike in one place, albeit a huge place which required miles of walking.

We don’t see many of these out and about but in the flesh they look very sleek and fast. This was on the Wilier stand along with some great looking bikes. This one has the clip removed to hold the bottle in place which seems odd, otherwise you’re going to need to jam a fat bottle in there!Complete carbon shell and braided rails make this lightweight (135g) and the EVA padding will do its best at keeping you comfy despite its looks.

On one of our walks (there are too many to remember which) we came across a bike owned by someone who looked in desperate need of some setup advice. Konstanz was full of bikes, the paths were all designated for bike use and we quite often felt left out being on foot! Stepping into bike lanes there is a no-no, it must be a brilliant place for commuting-racing in the morning. This one was found in the town centre, the nose of the saddle is pointing up, the bars are pointing down and although he’s done his best with the lock it’s not really theft proof. We do have a number of setup dvd’s and books but the basics of a level saddle/slightly down and a level top bar are fairly standard. If we’d have had tools with us we’d have shown him. (We didn’t have much left after airport security – we thought they’d relaxed the rules!)

On the Look stand were these new KEO Blades, the first thing that everyone commented was how much larger the platform was. Whether its bigger than the new KEO2 MAX I’m not sure but its sure to be stable and long lasting.The other obvious change is from a metal spring to a carbon leaf spring. As well as cutting weight (-10g I think) it is still tuneable and should be more wear resistant than a metal spring. And of course it means more flashy carbon on your bike – a definite seller! Using the same KEO Grip cleats also means the change over will be easy and reduces the chances of spilling your tea at the cake stop.

Next up was the Sidi stand. The new sole from them, the ‘Lite’ was there demonstrating it’s lighter weight and new cut-out profile on the underside. The Ergo 2 will be available in a Lite version (the top version) later on this year, we’ll let you know when it arrives because we can see that lots of you are interested and we’ll certainly be doing our best to get some in (once our testers have bagged their pairs!). They retain the same buckles and micro adjust to allow you to get a great fit – they aren’t a peloton favourite just because of how they look.

Also showing was the new Vernice Blue colour from Sidi. Conveniently matched to the Sidi carpet, it’s a deep blue and we think looks good. Sidi will continue the standard finish along with the ‘shiny’ Vernice for 2010.

That’s all for now, still to come is Knog, Tacx, lots of SRAM, Shimano and Time. In the meantime we’ll leave you with the very popular Kelly’s body paint girl