Tech of the Month May: Cycle Show special

We've been at The Cycle Show in Alexandra Palace, London, hunting around for the latest tech. We've been hands-on with the Muoverti Tiltibike, gotten up close with Reilly's hydroformed Ti bike and Canyon's latest concept eco-bike, and we took a look at Hunt's latest deep section wheels.

There's a few other gems too, so look out for those.

Competition

But just before we get into all of that, we just wanted to let you know that we've partnered with Garmin to give away a NEO Motion Plate.

Supplementing the inbuilt lateral rocking of Tacx's NEO 2T turbo trainer, the Motion Plates add in fore-aft motion to give a more realistic ride feel. Clipping neatly on to the bottom of the trainer, it barely adds to the footprint of the trainer - perfect for small spaces. 

To be in with a chance of winning, simply click this link or fill in the form below. We’ll get in contact with the lucky winner by the end of this month. If you don’t end up being the lucky one – don’t worry, we’ll be running it again next month.

Muoverti Tiltibike

This was our first opportunity to ride the Muoverti Tiltibike, a smart bike that incorporates steering and even allows you to bank the bike right over as you ride around the virtual corners

The Tiltbike allows you to 'shift' between gears, simulates gradients by varying the resistance and comes with a power meter accurate to approximately +/-1%. With these stats, it's pitching itself as a straight-up competitor to more established smart-bike brands, such as Tacx, Wattbike and Wahoo.

Just on the actual ride feel, that ability to really bank the bike over through the corners is a huge step up from the steering plates that can be placed under the front wheel. The sensation is really quite life-like.

But with that said, currently it's only the twisting of the handlebars that actually controls the steering – shifting your weight to make a corner as you would on an actual descent will hardly make you turn at all.

The good news is that we were told the hardware is completely capable of integrating those cues into the steering algorithm – a software update should be able to provide that functionality and increased realism. 

That's not something that's going to happen overnight – but at least it's definitely very much in the realms of possibility. It's going to be interesting see where this tech goes.

Canyon concept eco-bike

Canyon's come with its latest concept bike, this one has used 3D printing to try and create a frame using the minimum amount of material. The idea is that this will help us minimise our use of resources and lessen our footprint on the world.

It's certainly a striking design – although it'd probably be quite a pain to clean with all those nooks and crannies for dirt to collect.

New Motion Labs chainring

New Motion Labs had a lot to show off. Here is the Enduo system for e-bikes. It's supposed to be three times more durable than other chain driven drivetrains and could be something of a gamecharger for cargo utility bikes – promising cheaper operating costs and great reliability.

The design is also claimed by New Motion Labs to be more efficient. As such, the brand has also developed a drivetrain for track bikes, which has more of a focus on maximising performance than increasing longevity. 

That tech was supposed to debut at the Tokyo Olympics, but that didn't come to fruition. However, it does down like it's a possibility for Filippo Ganna’s hour record attempt – stay tuned for that.

Honbike Driveshaft e-bike

Don't be put off by the nose-less saddle, it's actually quite comfortable and makes hopping on and off the step-through frame quite effortless – apparently even more so if you're wearing a dress. 

But there is just so much more to this bike. First is use of a fully sealed drive shaft in the place of more typical chains or carbon belts. The longevity of the system is said to be 40,000km. To put that in perspective, the minimum distance to qualify for a cycling circumnavigation record from Guinness is just 29,00km. And in that time no maintenance or servicing of the drivetrain is required at all.

It's got a 300Wh battery which is claimed to be good for 20 miles / 32km, that's shorter than some e-bikes, but it keeps the weight lower so it's easier to take on trains and other public transport – further facilitated by its foldable capabilities. 

It's got front and rear lights that run off the central battery and it comes with mudguards as standard.  As it is a single-speed, there are no other gears you can shift into, so you're likely not going to be pedalling this over the 15.5mph / 25kph e-bike limit in the UK and EU. Lastly, there's the price, which is £1,799 / $1,999.

ENVE Custom Carbon

Made in the USA in Enve's Utah factory, we've heard that demand has been so high state-side that this model here is actually the only one currently in the UK.

The bike is offered in two over-arching geometries, one is 'Race' and the other is 'Gravel' and you can specify – within certain parameters – what the measurements are. 

They take a full day to make, so don't expect them to come cheap. We don't have UK pricing yet, but in USD you can expect about $7,000 for a frameset.

Reilly Fusion

Brighton-based titanium specialists, Reilly Cycleworks, had their stunning new Fusion road bike out on display. As innovative as it is gorgeous, the tube shapes and construction are very unconventional for a titanium build.

With titanium and steel frames, typically these are built from straightforward round tubesets, with the more complicated and heavily shaped profiles tending to remain the preserve of aluminium frames, through the use of hydroforming techniques. 

The tube profiles of the new Specialized Allez Sprint are a prime example of variety of shapes that can be produced. For Reilly to have applied this technique to titanium is quite a radical development.

Although the main tubes have been hydroformed using 3Al 2.5V titanium, the junction of the head tube and where the top tube meets the seat tube have instead been cast, with molten 6Al 4V titanium being poured into mould to create those shapes.

Again, a bit like the Allez Sprint, the join between the head tube and the down and top tubes are set back a little way from the head tube itself – although Reilly's welds at this point are almost imperceptible. 

Built up with a Dura-Ace R9200 groupset and deep carbon wheels, the weight comes in at 8.2kg, with the frame claimed to weigh 1.7kg.

That's all for this week, stay tuned for the next Tech of the Month.