- The Taipei Cycle Show is one of the biggest events
in the bike industry calendar.
Everyone is here in some form or another
and in fact, there's as many meetings behind closed doors
as there are in the exhibition hall.
So what does that mean for us?
Well, firstly, this is a great place
to see into cyclings future.
And then secondly, there is also gonna be
a tech extravaganza!
Ah, holy carbon layouts, Batman!
(easy contemporary music)
FSA have been bringing loads of stuff out recently.
These particularly, I'm really interested in.
It's their new powermeter.
So they've partnered up with power2max,
who are a really well-renowned powermeter company already.
And the pair of them have got together
and made a lower priced powermeter.
This one here, which is a cold forged alluminium crank
with a PowerBox powermeter, retails for just 650 euros.
Which is really good, you get all power2max internals,
so it's reliable, it's robust, it's easy to use.
But you're able to get it at a much lower price point.
So that is very cool and then over the other side,
sticking with cranks for a minute,
now this is a real, hot, emerging trend.
FSA tell us that the demand for these has been unreal.
It is super compact, so it's a 48 tooth outer ring,
and a 32 tooth inner ring.
And the idea is it's being adopted by gravel riders
where your top speeds are gonna be lower
'cause of the extra resistance of the road.
But then also, people that are into bike packing,
so when you're heavily laden, you got, I don't know,
20 kilos of camping gear on your bike,
you're obviously not gonna be using a 53 tooth outer ring.
And so there you go 48/32, but actually it looks,
that top-of-the-line K-Force one looks absolutely amazing.
Look closely, it's not just the new Dura-Ace crank set.
It's the new Shimano powermeter.
Oh yeah, not on the market just yet.
We've got more on it on GCN very soon, stay tuned.
Let's do a little bit of geeking out, shall we?
Over at the CeramicSpeed booth.
Just moving past their fully optimised drive train
which they say saves you between 11 and 16 watts,
which is pretty bonkers,
to this, which is their brand new, 3D printed,
hollow titanium, oversized pulley wheel set, right?
So that's their, kinda normal,
trademark 17 tooth pulley wheels,
but these bad boys have been 3D printed in titanium
and that means, if you look at a cross-section,
all those little arms on it are hollow.
They're absolutely tiny and they're completely hollow,
making it lighter than the alluminium version.
Quite significantly as well.
That is a work of art, isn't it?
If your name is Keith, this could be the bike brand for you.
DT Swiss have got a couple of new wheels for us.
First, we've got this, the ERC 1100 DICUT DB47s
which fortunately roll a lot faster than the name does.
Now, they say they are the new endurance wheel set,
so the internal rim width is 19 mils
so your fatter tyres are gonna sit really nice on that.
Because of that, it's an all new rim profile.
But then, something very cool,
now DT Swiss are famous for their hubs.
And this one here is a new aero hub.
So it's the first time it's been seen on any wheel set.
One imagines, given that it is aerodynamic,
it's gonna be used on some more wheels coming soon.
But that is really nice, then over here, we've got this one
which is the PR 1400 DICUT OXIC.
Now, that is an alllluminum rim,
which you might be able to tell from that distance,
'cause it's got what they're calling their OXIC brake track.
So that's a hard wearing, dark coating on there.
And they say if you use their specific brake pads with it,
then that is gonna stay looking black for a long, long time.
It's not gonna wear off.
Nice, only 1400g.
One of the most hotly anticipated products to hit the market
is this, it's Sram's eTap HRD.
Not long now, not long now.
This one?
Or, this one?
This one, I think, with this new poncho.
TRP have just won an award for these little beauties.
It's called the TT Hydro and it is, we think, the first ever
hydraulic disc brake for TT and triathlon bikes.
So, if you have a closer look, the calliper is from
the well-established Hilux road hydraulic disc brakes.
So the all new bit is this lever here.
So, obviously on a TT or triathlon bike,
it'll be on the extensions on the base bar.
And instead of taping your bar
and then having a brake lever that plugs in the end,
they've actually built the hydraulics into,
like a kind of mountain bike style grip,
so the whole thing bolts on.
And that's allowed them to get this really ergonomic shape.
And still keep all the hydraulic cylinders
in there and so forth.
And then, the other cool little bit, so we're told,
is these actual side bits with the bolt on.
So very soon, you'll be able to unscrew that
and then bolt on little buttons that'll work
with either Di2 or Sram eTap.
Which is pretty nice, I think you'll agree.
These are gonna be hitting the shelves
six weeks or so they say.
Topeak are launching a new pump here at Taipei.
It's called the Twin Turbo, which sounds like
exactly the kind of pump that you'd really want.
And it's actually really clever, right?
So, in here, are two cylinders.
When you pull the pump up, it draws air from the big
cylinder and then compresses it into a smaller cylinder.
Then, when you push down, it compresses the air out
but only from the small cylinder.
The theory being, that smaller diameter cylinders
are easier to push down than larger ones.
However, because it's been pre-compressed,
you actually get three times the output
which is pretty impressive.
And to show, they've actually created a little competition
just up here and being a competitive chap,
I'm gonna give it a go because,
I'm all safe, I know my limits.
I'm gonna actually aim to win a mug down there, right?
You ready for this?
(contemporary music)
(beep)
(light applause)
There we go, that's a big tyre, 120 psi.
(heavy breathing)
Well, that is the end of day one here at Taipei.
It's been a pretty long day, marching the aisles
and searching out the best tech.
So if you don't mind me, I'm actually just gonna
aaah, call it a day now.
Obviously I'm not just gonna leave you hanging.
Make sure you subscribe to GCN.
That's your first thing to do now, it's very easy.
Just click on the globe.
And if you're after some more tech content,
then, why not click up there.
And that should get through to video from last year Taipei.
The weird and wonderful stuff that we found then.
And then, why not check over there for
the evolution of Shimano Di2, that's a good one.
Alright? See you tomorrow.