The strange, the interesting and the sexy from Eurobike 2013

As you could guess, the biggest bicycle show in the world would call out all the weirdos from the cycling industry, and this years is no exception. From beaded suits to scooter-style electric descenders, there was no shortage of fascinating technologies that were on offer. Here are a few of the special ones.

Stevens Comet SL

Credit: Bikeradar.com

Ever striving for lighter and lighter bikes, Stevens has revealed its new Comet SL. Now, if you know the previous Comet SL, then you’ll know that it’s ridiculously light — coming to scale at 5kg. This one, however, is actually lighter, albeit not by much. At 4.87kg you wouldn’t be judged in thinking that it would snap under pressure. According to Bikeradar.com, it was the lightest bike of the show. Pretty impressive.

X-Bionic prototype

Credit: Jason Sumner via mtbr.com

Amongst the tight, lightweight spandexes you are sure to encounter was this interesting piece of clothing. Fashioned with small ball bearing-esque balls, the suit’s purpose is to reduce damage to the skin during the inevitable crashes. X-Bionic is already known for its protective and thoroughly breathable suits, but this no doubt puts it into its own territory of protection.

E-Skyver

Credit: Pinkbike.com

Quite a different take on the two-wheeled idea of transport, Skyver has developed an electronic version of its descending-only mountain scooter. With only foot pegs keeping you on the bike, it’s certainly an interesting way to get down a hill, and maybe even up one now that there’s some assistance. Previous incarnations of the Skyver have incorporated a feature to fit it into a backpack so you can have it at the top of a climb for enjoyable descents. Whether the ‘E’ has this feature is yet to been seen as details are scarce. But it really doesn’t seem necessary anymore.

Dartmoor Cody limited edition ‘petrol coating’ finish

Credit: Pinkbike.com

Now for a bit of the sexy. This is a limited edition finish from Dartmoor, made to look like it has been dipped in petrol or oil. It’s made from 4130 Cro-Mo and has an integrated seat clamp, Campy-style integrated headset and Spanish Bottom Bracket. And my gosh it is damn fine looking. That is, until you case a landing or don’t quite finish that tail-whip. One for the mantle above the fireplace? Perhaps. But then again, what a waste.

Vecnum leveloc

An ingenious solution to ascending with long travel forks, the leveloc provides a quick way to reduce your fork travel. Sure, there are many lock-out forks with switches attached to the handlebars, but not many long travel forks offer this. It is especially neat because it is such a simple idea and design. All it takes is a push down on the forks and a pull of the cord and your forks are reduced up to 80%. And at only 60g it’s not even going to weigh you down.

Lauf TR29

Credit: mtbr.com

While not entirely new to the market, it’s still absolutely unique and a bit controversial. Not only are they made from a sort of glass fibre, but they sport a very unusual mechanism. 4×4 enthusiasts might spot the similarity to a bakkie’s suspension design, it being a leaf spring design. Ok, so the glass fibre is actually made from the same material that tank armour is made, which only slightly makes sense. Either way, this incredibly light fork only has one moving part and is basically maintenance free. For the time being it only has a relatively light cross-country application. But based on that tank armour talk, hopefully there will be longer travel options in the future. See earlier discussion and videos in the forum here.