Eurobike 2017: what to expect

We look forward to the worlds biggest cycling tradeshow

Eurobike 2017 will be held in Friedrichshafen, southern Germany from Wednesday 30th August to Saturday 2nd September, concluding with a Festival Day that features live music, races, parties and more.

This will be the 26th annual show, and is the last time that it's held in its current format – from 2018, Eurobike will be held slightly earlier in the year (beginning of July), and will no longer be open to members of the public. You will only be able attend if you're in the industry, or a member of the press.

So what's the plan for Eurobike 2017? Well, the four-day schedule will cover three days of exhibition in the zeppelin-sized halls of Messe Friedrichshafen, giving anyone who's interested the chance to see what bike tech is coming up in the next year. Then it's party time on the shores of nearby Lake Constance, where there will be shows and live performances, workshops and more.

BikeRadar will be sending a squad of reporters to Eurobike 2017, and we'll be bringing our readers all the latest and greatest bike bits to looking forward to.

If you can't wait that long, there will also be a separate series of Eurobike Media Days, to be held in Italy's South Tyrol region from 27-29th June. It will be an early chance for the bike press (including BikeRadar) to try out some of 2018's best gear from 27 different bike brands – watch this space.

Eurobike 2016 recap

Read on for our Eurobike 2016 news highlights

At last year's show we hacked our way through five full days of coverage to bring you the best 2017 bike tech to look forward to – here are the highlights…

Droppers, droppers, droppers, droppers

Dropper post technology has truly matured over the last few years and it’s now rare to see a stock trail bike without one.

With such a lucrative market ready to be tapped into, more and more component manufacturers are releasing their own posts.

Most interestingly, we covered six different dropper posts at Eurobike this year and no two were truly alike.

We saw mechanical, hydraulic and even a wirelessly actuated dropper with the KS Circuit. The ‘ooh-shiny-thing’ value is high with the KS post and we’re looking forward to getting our hands on one.

The KS Lev Circuit is the first wireless post from the Taiwanese brand

Although infinite adjustment appears to remain the norm, droppers with preset heights also seem to be making a comeback, and an interesting highlight was the fully mechanical e*thirteen TRS Plus.

Lastly, the fully integrated Eightpin post flys in the face of convention, making the dropper an integral part of the frame. With a hearty 220mm of travel on tap, the Eightpin is a lightweight solution that may indicate the direction the market will move in years to come.

**The Eightpin post is actually designed into the frame to help lose weight**

Although having choice is no bad thing, there remains no consensus as to what makes for the lightest and most reliable dropper post, and we’re excited to see where the technology will move in years to come.

Road bike trends for 2017

Aero is the new black. Or, if your memory stretches back longer than 12 months, the new endurance road.

With seemingly everything purporting to be a bit more aerodynamic than before, 2017 appears to be a year of marginal aero gains with lots of new bikes and updates to existing models announced.

The all new Colnago Concept is the first proper aero bike from the Italian brand and features all sorts of proprietary parts and standards with the aim of making the slipperiest machine possible. Look out for a first ride report soon.

Disc brakes also continue their march towards world domination and there is a clear trend towards speccing aero road bikes with disc brakes.

How manufacturers maintain the aero characteristics of their bikes whilst using discs differs greatly however, with some like Parlee opting for aerofoils to cover the caliper and others like Ridley making full use of the flat mount standard to tuck the caliper out of winds way on their new Noah SL disc.

Parlee utilises carbon fairings to ensure their TTiR bike can still cheat the wind, even with discs

With the UCI deciding to continue its ban on disc brake trials for the foreseeable future, we’re sure many bike designers will now have some awkward questions to answer after throwing their all into new disc-equipped bikes. But as mere mortals, we’re glad to see the introduction of disc brakes on more models.

We also took the time to indulge in the usual smorgasbord of lustworthy, unattainable super bikes with the highlight being this fifteen grand Storck. Sexy? Yes. Sensible? Probably not, but who cares when it looks this good?

***Just 77 examples of Storck's limited edition Aston Martin road bikes will be produced***

In a departure from the aero trend, Ritchey’s new Outpost had us salivating with a gorgeous shade of blue, which alone was enough to get us excited. Designed for serious gravel racing, this steel steed will take up to 40mm tyres and will accept mudguards with aplomb.

Ritchey's new Outback gravel bike is made from steel, and designed to go fast

Plus everything

On the mountain bike front, the continuing trend for 2017 appears to be the increasing popularity of plus-sized bikes.

The SB5 is a very important bike for Yeti as it was the first model introduced that used the company’s Switch suspension system. Since it was first released in 2014, bikes have gotten longer, slacker and lower and Yeti has updated the platform to reflect this.

It has also released the SB5 in a plus sized version. Using the same platform as the regular SB5, the SB5+ uses an elevated chainstay — now commonplace on mid-fat bikes — to maximize chainring and tyre clearance.

Norco has followed a similar line, releasing its popular Torrent model in a chunk-ified version. With 140mm of suspension at the front and 130mm at the rear, this should be a rowdy little bike and one we’re looking forward to spending more time with.

The Torrent FS A7.1 gets a DVO Diamond fork and DVO Topaz T3 air shock (not pictured) with SRAM GX drivetrain

A flood of data

Power meters are increasingly seen as a vital piece of kit to ensure you get the most out of your training, with Shimano even integrating one as part of their new Dura-Ace R9100 groupset.

Until now, power meters have been prohibitively expensive to all but the most dedicated of riders, but a few brands are investing some manpower (sorry) into developing more affordable solutions. Luck is taking a particularly novel approach to the issue, integrating a power meter into the sole of its shoes. With this approach, there would be no need to buy expensive power meters for all of your bikes with one shoe covering them all.

No need to have multiple power meters for each bike if your power meter is in your sole

Zwatt is also undertaking an interesting approach, adopting a hire-purchase model to get around the prohibitively high cost of power meters. With a US$200 upfront fee followed by a $5/month subscription charge, they hope to bring power meters to the masses.

The smart trainer market also continues to get more crowded with the updated Wahoo KICKR claiming to be quieter whilst producing a more realistic riding experience than the previous generation.

The updated Wahoo KICKR claims to be the quietest direct drive trainer on the market

Although less radical looking than the Tacx Magnum we covered recently, smart trainer technology is clearly maturing and we’ll be glad to have some new toys to play with during the upcoming winter.

Shiny new shifty bits, bouncy bits and holdy bits

Perhaps the most interesting news from the show was the announcement of FSA’s new semi-wireless groupset. FSA has aimed to be a complete groupset manufacturer for years now and the time has finally come.

Although we haven’t had a chance to take it for a spin yet, five pro-teams will be riding the new groupset during the 2017 season — so expect to hear more from us on this niftiest of shifty bits in the near future.

SRAM has also officially released the worst kept secret in the bike industry; the hotly anticipated SRAM eTap hydro groupset. The feel of the shifting from the groupset remains unchanged and we left impressed with the performance of the braking. Expect a more thorough review once we’ve logged some more miles on the groupset.

SRAM has finally rolled out a disc brake version of eTap. Red eTap HRD will be available in early 2017.

We also left the show feeling quite impressed with the new wheelsets announced by Lightweight and Stans.

The new Lightweight Wegweiser points the direction in which the German carbon specialist is heading, introducing more automation into its production line with the aim of moving the wheels away from the unobtanium category.

Lightweight's new Wegweiser wheels point the direction in which the German carbon specialist is heading

At the other end of the spectrum, Stans is introducing its new S1 series of wheels, which use burly, oversized rims and high spoke counts to create a strong wheelset in a more affordable package than its existing MK3 range.

The wide footprint of the Major rim wil be perfect for your plus sized tyres

We covered a lot of new components at this year’s show so be sure to check the links below to see more.

Fresh new threads and lids

If you take the time to trawl through the sea of jarringly full-Euro-fluro kit that is Eurobike, you can find some real gems. Luckily, BikeRadar has done the hard work for you and these were our favourites from the show.

Continuing the aero-everything trend, the new Lazer Bullet helmet prototype is possibly the most fully featured aero helmet we’ve seen so far. With adjustable vents allowing riders to shut off the helmet entirely, the Bullet aims to get maximum aero advantage possible from a helmet.

**The Lazer Bullet aero helmet features a sliding center section that opens a large center vent and tilts ventilation slats above that**

Making a concession for the pro-fluro crowd, we also left quite impressed with the look of the new Northwave Extreme RR road shoe. Aiming to make “pressure points a thing of the past”, the new shoe uses the softest materials possible in conjunction with a cleverly positioned retention system to make, what looks like, a rather neat package.

The Extreme RR comes in black with fluro detailing on this super bright fluro yellow edition

Kask’s new range of glasses, designed to fit snugly in its Protone helmet, for those that value looking pro highly, are a new high-end option which may compete well with market leaders Oakley.