The first opportunity to understand where the bicycle industry is going was presented in Italy on September 11, 12 and 13 in Rimini.
In fact, a very special edition of the Italian Bike Festival took place in the famous seaside resort, the fair, or rather the festival, dedicated to the novelties of the "cycle" industry.
To all intents and purposes, Rimini was the first exhibition event of this unfortunate 2020 marked by Covid and social distancing.
The Italian Bike Festival has confirmed itself as very good format in general for an event dedicated to both the public and professionals. Not only, it was also a truly perfect event to feed the passion for the world of cycling and its lifestyle, even in these difficult times. At the Italian Bike Festival there was a serene air, despite everything. The classic air of late summer in one of the towns that represent the well-being and carefree fun in Italy and in Europe. Rimini turned out to be the best place to organize an event like the Bike Festival, not only from the logistical point of view, but also from that of the mood, which is anything but negligible and not to take for granted in this period.
Organizers, exhibitors and participants were very attentive to compliance with Covid regulations. On one it was strange to see everyone with masks and bottles of hand sanitizer in every corner, but on the other hand the climate of the Riviera helped a lot to alleviate these discomforts, certainly giving a hand to everyone in experiencing an event with the right mood, even in this period.
The formula with free ticket, the outdoor stands and the possibility to test the bicycles (but in reality the rules of the moment forced the testers to try the new models only in the specific Off Road Arena equipped inside the fair area) turned out to be as good as ever and brought a lot of people to the city, including us in the press who, there in Romagna, got a clear idea of where the bike market is going.
From the point of view of contents, here below we report the main news seen in Rimini.
Gravel
Commercially speaking in Italy the last twelve months have literally seen the segment of gravel bicycles explode. The big ones, but also the small brands, are therefore investing more and more in this type of bikes, diversifying a product offer that is becoming increasingly rich and heterogeneous. Most consumers are turning to gravel bikes capable to feel comfortable wherever, especially on off-road terrain. Frames with more and more space granted to the tires, increasingly comfortable geometries and if that weren't enough bicycles that are equipped not only with a suspension front fork, but in some cases also with rear suspension systems, give these more recent gravel bikes connotation and characteristics that do not make them look bad on terrain that until yesterday was the prerogative of MTBs only.
Exemplary in this sense is the Cannondale Topston Carbon Lefty, with her front fork capable of 30 millimeters of travel, and her rear triangle capable of flexing when the bike passes over the rough paths or roots. Discover all the Cannodale news for 2021 on our brand page dedicated to the American brand.
The Italian Basso also follows the same line, and presented officially in Rimini the brand new Tera: more or less as happens for the Topstone Carbon Lefty, the Basso Tera also has a rear stay capable of absorbing the vibrations of the ground thanks to a point of joint positioned on the vertical tube.
In the "electric" field, noteworthy are the innovations that two major brands have presented with respect to the currently most controversial segment of the cycling industry, that of e-road bikes, that is, real racing bikes but with electric assistance.
In Rimini Wilier Triestina unveiled the Hybrid, that is the version with an aluminum frame and more affordable price of a model that, in the more expensive carbon variant, was introduced a year ago, with the Cento10 Hybrid.
On its own side, the Swiss Scott presented the Addict eRide, an e-road bike that stands out because it has a battery and a motor (included in the hub) and it wights only 10.25 kilos! More than the technical characteristics themselves, novelties of this kind make people talk and discuss about the actual usefulness that electric assistance has on the type of bike that more than any other has a vocation, a history and above all a type of use that is decidedly more devote to the "muscular" than to the "assisted". In reality, perplexities of this kind clash with the intentions of big industry, which evidently believes in this direction and is investing in this new segment. Time will tell if all of this really makes sense or if it was just a temporary fashion ...
A new generation of MTB motors
If there is a sector where the electric assistance has really hit the mark, this is the world of mountain biking, where for years the sales of eMTBs have outclassed those of muscle MTBs (at least in the medium and high range segment). It is no coincidence that manufacturers are experiencing a great deal of technical ferment in the off-road motor units; one of these is Shimano, which with its new motor for eMTB Shimano EP8 has introduced a specific high-performance motor, with technical characteristics of great relevance.
The EP8 is lighter (2.6 Kg) and more compact than its predecessor, the Shimano Step E800, it has a greater torque power (up to 85 Nm), but above all it features an architecture and a power management stretegy designed not to distort the approach to real mountain biking. "Even if assisted - the Shimano managers say - the bicycle must remain a bicycle". And this is even more true in mountain biking where a too exuberant engine can even end up being counterproductive, because it "drags" you into the technical steps causing the risk of making you lose your balance. The new EP8 responds with dimensional characteristics identical to those of the normal muscle MTB crankset and its assistance is extremely progressive. It takes into account the sprockets that are being used at that moment and also allows you to customize the delivery of power both through the levels available and through the possibility of setting two different riding profiles, for example based on the path that your are riding.
Return to lightness
In Rimini it was Mario Cipollini himself who unveiled the Cipollini Dolomia to the public for the first time, a super light model of the brand that bears his name: the Dolomia is a model that gives its strong point its extreme lightness. This bike, she and her 780 grams for a frame in size L, more than anything else stands out because they put the weight reduction back at the center of attention after many seasons in which the most important requirement by the manufacturers had been aerodynamics, the capacity of cleaving the air. The Dolomia is certainly not the lightest bike in the world, but the fact that it puts weight reduction at the top of its top priorities is a relevant news and we are sure that soon, after it, other "feather-light" models will arrive, perfect for climbers. and for light riders.
Mario Cipollini, however, guarantees that this super light bike also performs very well on descents and sprints. Having developed and tested it personally, Mario is keen to point out that the Dolomia perfectly tolerates the mass (and the power) of a rider of his caliber, always being stable and giving the confidence you need in every situation, even when it is pushed to the limits by the 90kg of power of the former champion and legend of Italian cycling.
This result was obtained above all thanks to the construction process of the frame which, unlike most of the competitors, is made in a single piece. This technology involves the use of an autoclave and maximum precision molds, but above all an craftmanship contribution to the product that only the 100% made in Italy production can guarantee. The carbon fibers are in fact layered with such precision, even in the critical points, that the painting of the Cipollini frames leaves these areas not painted on purpose, areas that are usually considered to be hidden with stickers and graphics by other manufacturers.
The Cipollini Dolomia 2021 teaser video below:
Source: Viaggi in Bici