Category: Product Launches

Over the last week I’ve gone off on an unusually long tangent in the field of cycle touring equipment, mainly because I happened to be passing by the world’s biggest bicycle industry expo in Friedrichshafen, Germany, and thought it’d be rude not to drop in. We’ve so far seen awards won by world tourers from KTM, an internal gearing system that hopes to rival Rohloff, a new range of extremely swanky panniers and luggage from Brooks, and new folding tourers from Tern. Now, for those of you who’re bored of gear or were never interested in it anyway, you’ll breathe a… Continue reading →

I wrote a while back about the Tern Link P24h, a 20-inch wheel folding bike with luggage-carrying capabilities that I had on long-term loan from the company. This year Tern are launching the successor to that now-discontinued bike in the form of the Verge S27h. At a glance, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was the same bike. But as is usually the case with Tern, the thoughtful improvements are only apparent upon closer inspection. The geometry is similar, yes, but the wheelbase is now a few cm longer, which should improve the feel and stability of the bike over long… Continue reading →

In what is sure to be a ludicrously hipster-pleasing move, Brooks of England and Ortlieb of Germany have got together once again and significantly expanded their range of insanely expensive expedition-grade panniers and bags for 2015. Sold under the Brooks brand but advertised as being made in Germany, the existing Land’s End (rear) and John O’Groats (front) waterproof panniers have actually been around a while already — currently on their way round the planet on the back of Tim Moss’s bike, in fact. They’re significantly cooler and arguably tougher versions of Ortlieb’s Roller Plus panniers, which (together with the Classic variant) have… Continue reading →

One of the more curious component developments at Eurobike this year of interest to touring gear nerds was the Pinion internal gearing system. Pinion — or so I was told by one of the bike manufacturers who’ve incorporated the system into new bike models this year — was developed by a group of breakaway engineers from Mercedes Benz, which some might say is a big hint that even at this early stage the gearbox deserves to be taken seriously. Internal gearing systems are nothing new, of course. High-end world touring bikes have been built around the Rohloff Speedhub for many years,… Continue reading →

This is the first in a series of posts I’ll be making this week (and this week only) that’ll be sure please all the touring gear nerds out there. It’s based on a thorough scouring of the world’s biggest bicycle industry tradeshow, Eurobike, in search of anything and everything related to our favourite cycling niche: touring and adventure. The major theme of 2014’s Eurobike exhibition was electric-assist bikes, e‑bikes, pedalecs, whatever you want to call them. Bikes with electric motors. E‑bikes, of course, have no obvious practical application in the field of cycle touring (though I’m sure someone will prove me… Continue reading →