As I stated in my previous post I’ve had the pleasure to be running around Eurobike trade show. Now with blisters and sore legs it’s time to sit down and let you guys know what is heading your way with regards to clothing, shoes and helmets in 2014.
Let’s start at the top, new lids. Belgium company Lazer had what I felt to be one of the most interesting products at the show. It was all hush hush – I only spotted a few pics of the item in question but from what I hear, it’s certainly something no other helmet company offers. What is it I hear you ask? It’s a built-in heart rate monitor strap. Yep, no need to wear a chest strap – just put your helmet on like normal and off you go with the helmet transmitting all your BPM data to your wireless device, be that a smart phone or a Garmin. Lazer had also addressed the light weight helmet market too, the new super light lid is 220g for a medium and it looked to be ready to ship. It didn’t just feel extremely light but also seems very aerated to cool the head too.
POC, a company well known for those oversized shades that Ryder Heysadal has been sporting, also have a new road lid ready for market. Two versions are going to be available: a standard and an aero road version. If rumours are to be believed, they have a pro team lined up to don the lids in 2014 – no word on who it is though.
Another new helmet manufacture caught my eye too. Keli – a US firm that has a history in not just dirt bikes and mountain bikes but also one that draws tech from the military. They had some very interesting looking helmets with a new foam lay up. Rather than the usual one or two layers of standard high density foam, at Keli they use a layer of two foams that are conical and therefore clamp together like sharks’ teeth. The tech here is that it shoots the shock of a crash in multiple directions across the helmet.
Castelli, as always, had some stunning items on show. If you’ve dreamt of owning the aero road suit but your budget doesn’t stretch that far, worry no more. They are producing a great value version come the summer. If you’re in to your time trials look out for the new mitts. Castelli have found that by grouping all but the fingers you use to change gear with and turning the mitt in to a lobster style version, it can shave valued watts off a standard mitt. The Italians have definitely been spending some quality time in the wind tunnel to find this out. The new skin suit has also been in wind tunnel and refined to within an inch of its life. They had played with somewhere in the region of 35-40 different versions to get the new suit ready for the Garmin squad.
Whilst browsing the Craft stand, the new road rain jacket caught my eye. This thing looks perfect for UK winter training. Made of Event fabric, its cut and fit looked perfect and it should be a big seller this winter, at least in the UK.
Boa style closures on shoes look to be the thing of the moment. Most brands had a version of the wire-dial closing system on their top shoes. Lake have a few new shoes hitting the markets. The top end CX402 is a development from the very comfortable and great performing CX401. Apparently they had taken feedback from not just the pros who use the shoes but from the many people who had ordered custom versions over the past few years. They also had several other new shoes in the line-up, with a very classy and stealth looking CX237 new to the line-up. These would look great for the guys who want to look retro but want performance at the same time.
The Endura booth was constantly busy. Their grand looking double-level booth was quite imposing. They had a lot to look at and from what I saw they have been listing to the guys on the NetApp Endura team to develop a wider range of Endura Equipe items.
If you’re the sort of person who wants to tell the world that you’re a cycling fan at all times, SIDI may just have a pair of shoes you would like. Podium shoes, or trainers to the normal people. The usual Italian bright colours were present but they also had available a silver and black pair, the fluorescent yellow stood out from the crowd so it’s now possible to look euro-pro even in the pub.
The show is enormous and there is that much stuff to gawp at that I could write a blog that would rival War and Peace. They say a picture says a thousand words so hopefully you’ve enjoyed these ones.
