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Mega Roundup #2 – More weird and wonderful bikes from Europe & beyond

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We kicked off Mega Roundup #1 with the crazy, so we’ll start here with real, actual production bikes that sit atop the high end market for stock and custom builds. Van Nicholas‘ titanium road and mountain bikes have always impressed, and this year’s collection is no different.

The Astraeus road bike is their flagship model with uniquely shaped tubes and masterful detail work. As nice as it is, their new Revelstoke 27.5+ bike is what pulled people into the booth…

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Whether it’s to improve aerodynamics, save grams, or both, there’s no denying the appeal of finely manipulated metal.

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The Astraeus, like most of their bikes, comes in a wide range of standard sizes or can be custom made. Starts at €2,699 for frame only.

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Hiding under the glass were these 3D printed titanium stems, obviously still in prototype stage.

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Last year it was a fat bike. This year, it’s 27.5+ with a twist to the frame. The Revelstoke makes the jump to Boost spacing in the rear and a custom single-sided rigid fork designed for 110mm Boost front hubs.

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The design allows either 27.5+ or 29er wheels and tires to be used, each with their own weight and handling advantages to suit the terrain.

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Pricing and details for the fork aren’t available yet, and it’s not listed as a standalone component on their website yet either. This one’s a prototype, but if demand is there, they’ll take it to production.

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Pair it with a suspension fork, too.

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Frame-only starts at €2,099, available starting February 2016.

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For less aggressive but still capable off road riding, especially with packs, Velotraum makes loaded touring adventure bikes worth a look.

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Designed specifically for bigger tires and all manner of racks, the brand is all about getting out there for days or months.

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Similarly, Tout Terrain (“all” terrain) makes bikes for loaded riding off the beaten path. But this X.Over.Blacktop model is designed for covering the pavement with speed and style…and a little bit of a load.

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Other models incorporate racks directly into the frame rather than simply putting mounts in place for aftermarket units.

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They also make trailers for all sorts of important cargo. The German brand will now be distributed in the U.S. by CycleMonkey, too.

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Years ago, there was an Oryx bike brand that was purchased by Canadian manufacturer Procycle, along with Rocky Mountain and Miele, among others. It disappeared after Procycle discontinued it and others to focus on the other two mentioned. Then, earlier this year, bike manufacturer Leader partnered with pro mountain biker Nikolai Titev to launch a new Oryx Cycles brand out of Bulgaria. They offer a range of wheel sizes and suspension travel, from hardtail to 120mm to 140mm to this 160mm enduro bike.

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Creatively named the E-160, it uses a single pivot rear triangle pushing the shock through a linkage to control the leverage ratio.

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Not from Oryx, we found this random bike for which we have no information. Just thought the rear triangle was interesting.

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Gates Carbon Drive always amasses an assortment of interesting bikes.

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This one looks an awful lot like the BME Stealth carbon frame we saw at NAHBS earlier this year!

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BESV makes upscale city bikes for the discerning commuter. Lights are integrated into the frame, and racks are custom made to blend into the aesthetic. It’s also an e-bike, with all the electronics and battery hidden inside the frame and a minimalist control toggle to keep it discreet.

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The Mando Footloose claims to be the world’s first chainless bicycle. Mando is a global auto parts supplier, and they’ve used that manufacturing experience to create this city bike with a kick. Hidden inside is an electric motor that can either assist your pedaling efforts or, where allowed, be controlled by a throttle for effortless cruising.

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When you do decide to pedal, that effort also charges the battery to extend its range. The battery is removable, too, letting you swap in new ones on longer trips or just recharge it more easily. It’s not just the electronics and drivetrain that’s hidden inside the frame – all wires and cables are out of sight, too. It may look odd, but it’s hard to argue with its clean appearance.

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For cruising around under your own power and in style, Cicli MBM’s Waimea Cruiser bike has a retro look with an aluminum frame and steel fork.

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It’s also available in black and army green.

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Launched in 2013 by Dutch designer Bastian Leijh, the Sandwich Bike comes in a box with all the parts you need to build your own plywood bike, including the pre-cut wood pieces.

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Speaking of sandwiches, the Maxpro transportation solutions gives you multiple ways of picking up, delivering or just relaxing and eating a sandwich on a bike.

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At the complete opposite end of usefulness is this. A child could walk faster. But for entertainment value, it probably ranks pretty high.

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FFWD Wheels had a couple new hoops to show off, which we covered here, so they needed something to mount them to.

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As a show bike goes, this one’s “paint scheme” pulled us in, then brought us in really close when we saw that it was actually woven fabric flawlessly covering the entire frame.

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It’s not just the bikes inside the halls that we see. Many practice what they preach and ride to and from the show each day. These folks do it in style with their Velomobiles.

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If I were ever going to call a recumbent cool, this would be why. Carbon fiber tub with joystick steering and shift controls at your thumbs. You still gotta pedal, but the effort is almost certainly rewarded with impressive speed.

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Stay tuned for more random roundups of things we’ve seen throughout the year that just hadn’t find a home…

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J N H
J N H
8 years ago

Your random bike with an interesting back end is an Alutech of some description, very nice bikes, very German.

scentofreason
scentofreason
8 years ago

mondo footloose $3,700, range 18 miles all throttle, 28 miles with pedaling, max speed 16mph. Yamaha Zuma 125cc $3400 range 150 miles, 90mpg, max speed 60+. Umm, I’ll take the real scooter every time…

Ryan
Ryan
8 years ago

I need that Tout Terrain Singletrailer yesterday! Email sent to CycleMonkey!

badbikemachanickx
badbikemachanickx
8 years ago

Cannondale’s rationale for their new supersix was to minimalize the tubes similar to steel and ti. It stands to reason that steel and ti are already aerodynamic and why not improve on that design? Trek has put so much money in trying to make carbon ride like ti and steel so why no just ride the gold standard if you got the cash?

Bazz
Bazz
8 years ago

Guys, it would be fun to see what you thought of a Velomobile. Come on, see if you can get one to test!

Mortimer
Mortimer
8 years ago

Yup, random bike is an Alutech, Looks like a Tofane 29er ( http://alutech-cycles.com/Tofane-10-Rahmen ) with 27,5+ wheels.
Geometry is quite progressive with a 66 degree head angle, 473mm reach for a short 480mm seat tube on size XL, and 437mm chainstays with 150mm of squish – far from the short and steep geo I’ve come to associate with German bikes.

randall
randall
8 years ago

@badbikemachanickx – If your statement “It stands to reason that steel and ti are already aerodynamic” is referring to to round-tube bikes that are common in these materials, then your reasoning is completely wrong. Round tubes are not very aerodynamic, though probably not the worst in this article (I’m looking at you BME Stealth!).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drag_coefficient

Bernard
Bernard
8 years ago

“First chainless bicycle” has a couple of predesessors by Biomega if I’m not mistaking…

Andy
Andy
8 years ago

@randall it doesn’t take a genius to ascertain that the aerodynamic gains being referred to are that of small diameter tubes of steel & titanium, not their roundness

Alf bee
Alf bee
8 years ago

My Oryx is killing me…

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