Best new Mountain Bike Tech at Eurobike 2022

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After three solid days wandering the vast halls of Messe Frankfurt at Eurobike 2022, we have assembled here some of the best new Mountain Bikes, Kit and Components for your viewing pleasure. Prototype Upside Down DH forks, Italian-made 4-Piston Gravity Brakes, a 3D-Printed full suspension eMTB, a high-pivot bike with an alternative drivetrain, OSPW derailleur cage upgrades, an MTB Balance Bike for the little rippers, … and the latest insane build from Mr Dangerholm himself. Feast your eyes.

Eurobike 2022 Best New MTB Tech

nicolai nucleon 16 lal bikes supre drive

The Nicolai Nucleon 16 was the hottest mountain bike at Eurobike 2022

OK, so we haven’t actually seen that much in the way of new mountain bikes. Predictably, it was eBikes that were ubiquitous this year, coverage of which is coming. On the human-powered side of things, the most fascinating bike for us was the all-new Nicolai Nucleon 16, not least because it is the first production bike to run the Lal Bikes Supre Drive. 

lal bikes supre drive 12 speed on nicolai nucleon

The latest version of the Supre Drive is 12-speed, seen here with a Shimano 10-51t cassette

The Supre Drive separates out the two main functions of a rear derailleur, placing a hydraulically damped chain tensioner on a pivot concentric to the bottom bracket, bolting the basic gear-selecting function at the dropouts. Its use is limited to high-pivot full suspension mountain bikes and, indeed, the Nucleon 16 is a linkage-driven high single-pivot. The bike can be set up as a full 29er, or with a mixed-wheel configuration thanks to a geometry-adjusting flip-chip. It boasts 160-180mm travel, a 64° head angle and a 78.3° seat tube angle. More juicy details on this to come.

hope grsvity stem side view 35mm 31.8mm 50mm

More mainstream, we saw Hope Technology’s new Gravity Stem, which is both lighter and stiffer than their previous AM/Freeride offering. It’s also way better-looking. This one comes in 35mm and 50mm lengths, with both 31.8mm and 35mm clamp options.

intend samurai cc and xc fork 44mm offset

Cornelius Kapfinger was at the Trickstuff booth showing off his latest upside down creation; the Intend Samurai CC and XC forks, the former of which he claims is the World’s Lightest 120mm travel fork. Read lots more about that here.

dangerholm hyperspark eurobike 2022 intend samurai prototype 120mm fork

Dangerholm poached an early prototype of the Samurai CC for his latest Scott Hyperspark build

garbaruk crankset prototype

Dangerholm’s bike was also home to a beautiful prototype crankset from Garbaruk

ext era usd prototype 200mm downhill fork eurobike 2022

Intend’s Samurai CC fork wasn’t the only upside-down real-estate on show at Eurobike; High-end Italian suspension manufacturers, Extreme Racing Shox, showed the EXT ERA USD dual-crown fork for DH. We were permitted a photo, but the technical details will have to wait for now. The same goes for the prototype EXT Aria, the first air-sprung shock seen from a brand famed for their coil-sprung shocks.

ext aria air shock prototype at eurobike 2022

The EXT Aria shock’s damper architecture looks very similar to that of the Storia Coil Shock

Staying in Italy, a brake manufacturer from Mondovì, Raicam, were showing their new mineral oil brakes; both 2- and 4-piston offerings covering DH/Enduro and Cross-Country.

raicam rg enduro dh brake lever eurobike 2022

The Raicam RG brake lever is aimed at DH and Enduro riding

raicam rg 4 psiton caliper

…it can be paired with their 2- or 4-piston caliper

Scotland’s premier clothing brand for mountain biking, Endura, showed us their chest and back protector which relies upon D3O for dissipating energy during impacts. It completes their collection of protective gear for DH.

endura chest back protector torso

Keeping it in Scotland, Intradrive’s Gearbox eBike Motor was sitting pretty on an Orange Phase MX Strange prototype. It runs the same mounting points as Shimano’s EP8 drive system, so bolting it onto the Phase MX didn’t present too many issues to Orange. Product Manager of Orange, Kelvin Lawton, says he sees no reason why the Intradrive system wouldn’t make it onto one of their production bikes in future.

intradrive gearbox ebike motor on orange phase mx eurobike 2022

The Phase MX Strange prototype had a very Euro part list, including another of Cornelius Kapfinger’s upside-down forks, as well as his Hover air shock. an early prototype of the Pinnd pedals that are also manufactured in Scotland, Mitas Monarch tires from the Czech Republic and Hope Tech E4 brakes. And let’s not forget that the frame itself is hand-built in Halifax, England.

kids ride shotgun dirt hero childrens mtb 12" 14" wheels

Downsizing to a mountain bike for the little rippers out there, Kids Ride Shotgun gave us a preview of the Dirt Hero balance bike. It gets proper high-volume knobbly tires from Vee Tire Co, a little standing platform that is removable, and a Magura brake for the rear wheel that has a super short lever reach for tiny hands, ideal for teaching them about two-finger braking. It can take 12″ or 14″ wheels, so as your kid grows, so can the bike. Overall, one of the most well thought-through kids bikes we’ve seen to date.

lazer cage kineticore eurobike 2022 full face helmet

Lazer showed off their Cage Kineticore, the first of their full face helmets to receive their proprietary rotational impact protection system. It is ASTM certified, and additionally received a 5 Star rating from independent helmet testing agency, Virginia Tech, with a reported score of 11.76. It is one of the first full face helmets to appear in the Virginia Tech database.

lazer cage kineticore eps blocks inside full face helmet

The tall blocks of EPS that can be seen beside the green comfort liner are also underneath it; these make up the Kineticore system, and can crush down upon impact at any angle, helping to dissipate energy away from the rider’s head

kamemo 3d printed concept ebike mtb proprietary inverted fork shock black forest germany

 

A new manufacturer from the Black Forest, Germany, were showing off their 3D-printed concept eMTB. Kamemo have secured investment on the promise that they will deliver a complete eBike that is entirely manufactured in Europe, but mostly Germany. That includes suspension, wheels, drivetrain, and the frame.

kamemo tionon suspension fork shock on 3d printed concept bike eurobike 2022

They are still working on finding a partner for production of the carbon frame, but are well underway with developing their own proprietary suspension components that will adorn their own-brand bike when it is ready, but will also be offered as an OEM product to other bike brands. Kamemo have great ambition around their suspension products, looking to compete with the likes of Fox and Rockshox in the future.

casey brown trek fuel exe emtb at eurobike 2022

Rockshox were displaying Casey Brown’s Trek Fuel EXe, built up with the latest Rockshox Super Deluxe Ultimate Shock and Lyrik Ultimate Fork. Two of the models are available for customization in Trek’s Project One App.

trek fuel exe tq-hpr50 motor on casey browns fuel exe

Yes, there is a 50 Nm torque motor inside there, and a 360 Wh battery in that downtube. You can read more about the radical new TQ-HPR50 system here.

ceramicspeed ospw cerakote limited edition for mtb 12-speed sram shimano derailleurs

CeramicSpeed were showing their limited edition Cerakote-finish OSPW for SRAM and Shimano 12 -speed derailleurs. There are only 100 of these in each color. The Cerakote finish increases the durability of the pulley wheels by a claimed 10-15% over a regular anodized finish.

cyrbo no7 downhill emtb carbon frame with gerabox drivetrain

Italian carbon frame manufacturer, Cybro, were showing their entire range, including the No7 Downhill eBike with gearbox motor.

cybro no7 dh ebike alloy swingarm brace

This latest iteration of the No7 gets an aluminum swingarm brace to improve rear-end stiffness

tatze contact flat pedal mtb

Austrian pedal manufacturer, Tatze, were showing their latest flat pedal offering that is coming for 2023. The Contact pedal has an aluminum body, steel axle, and 10 pins per side that stand at different heights to deliver a 1.5mm concavity.

unparralel mtb shoes eurobike 2022

Unparralel Sports, a brand better known for the climbing shoes, were showing their latest offering of flat and clipless shoes for mountain biking. The Roost flat pedal shoe has an interesting tread pattern made up with a rubber that is pretty soft and easily deformable.

unparrlel roost mtb flat pedal shoe tread rubber outsole

We have more in-depth information on all of the above, and more interesting tech from Eurobike 2022, to share with you guys over the coming days.

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