Velofollies tech gallery: Airbag bibshorts, wireless electronic shoes, and beautiful custom paint
All the best tech from Belgium's biggest bike show
For years, Velofollies has featured as the traditional opening of the new year for the cycling industry in Belgium, The Netherlands, and Northern France. Nowadays however, the show is much more than that. With smaller trade shows thriving and Eurobike in decline, Velofollies has grown in importance and popularity among the industry, amateur cyclists, and Belgian racing fans.
That was underscored once more this year by the sheer amount of new products that exhibitors brought to the show. In recent years, Velofollies saw close to no product launches, but that changed radically this year with new valves from BBB, new wheels from Ursus, Miche and Enve, new tyres from Schwalbe, and rather fascinating new bikes from Van Rysel and Pinarello, to name but a few.
That adds to the likeability of the show for the general public, which was once again present in large numbers in Kortrijk. Although the show is an important meeting place for brand representatives, shop owners and media, it’s equally well-visited by Belgian cycling fans who know more about Kwaremont beer than the Oude Kwaremont. Velofollies isn’t just a productive show for many, it’s simply a fun event to be at as well.
As the Flemish classics are getting close, Velofollies is a perfect teaser of what’s to come. All the more reason to enjoy some neat bike tech we’ll be seeing out on the cobbled roads again in a few weeks time.
Let’s kick things off with this new Basso SV for Greg Van Avermaet, who just joined them as Head of Riding Experience
As the 2016 Olympic champion, he gets his share of golden details
And in the case of Van Avermaet, also the colour of quite a few prizes
Over at the BMC booth, former pro TJ Eisenhart was painting one of their VAR0 blank frames
He brought multiple sketches for multiple bikes he’d be painting during the weekend
He used quite basic pens and paint, after which he will give the frame a glossy coat back at home
Don’t forget to record your bike fair frame painting, kids - Oakley smart glasses took care of this
Why not both?
Assos brought a new pair of Mille GT Bibs, about which it wouldn’t say much, sadly
Topeak showcased its TurboFlow valves, which are said to enhance airflow and reduce the risk of damaging your valves, as is often the case with Presta valves
BBB tries to achieve something similar with the CoreCap valves, which debuted at Velofollies
It also showed a new version of their Flux glasses, the Arc Flux
The glasses are similar to the Valor Flux, but slightly narrower and with different nose pieces
Another novelty at their booth was its Karma helmet, which is set to be launched this spring
The Karma looks like it will be a classic road helmet with a focus on safety and cooling
In classic Unibet-Rose-Rockets style, they showcased their new bike through a sort of peephole
Is it a mountain bike? Is it a gravel bike? According to Pinarello, the latter, but with 100 millimeters of front travel and a mountain bike geometry… What interests us more is what it says about Tom Pidcock's gravel calendar
Blue-pink-gold is one colour scheme I hadn’t expected to see, let alone appreciate
his Garbaruk chainring adds another lovely splash of pink
Miche launched its Deva RD wheels, which it claims are its most lightweight and aerodynamic
Raamwerk brought a limited edition of its Parallel road bike
With wheels from FFWD and this lush paintjob by Unlimited Colors, it’s a predominantly Dutch joint venture
More new wheels over at Ursus: the Arya, which will be available with 35 and 50 millimeter deep rims
The Italian company takes particular pride in its hub production
They use the same hub for most of their wheels
The lightweight Arya features ceramic bearings
Merida didn’t bring a new Reacto to the show yet, but they did tease it
Different parts from a Reacto prototype were on show
Getting up close with a factor ONE is more impressive than I’d imagined
The contrast between the wide fork and thin head tube is quite spectacular
The depth of the fork legs is equally impressive, especially down at the brake
Jaegher always delivers some beauties with its bespoke steel bikes
It engraves its logo rather subtly into the headtube
Another one of its bikes was equipped with a Garbaruk aluminium chainring and Cane Creek Titanium cranks; metals galore!
Although Florian Vermeersch’s world champs gravel bike was quite vanilla, I quite liked this one detail: on the seat tube Colnago printed the GPS coordinates of his world championship win.
Many brands seemed to showcase some sort of combination between art and bikes, as did Hunt
So simple, yet so pretty
Ekoï brought its PW8 pedals, which are said to reduce stack to only 8 millimeters, while enlarging the contact surface with the shoe
The PW8 pedals don’t use one cleat, but instead require two separate parts bolted onto the sole of the shoe
Elisa Longo Borghini rode the World Championship road race in Rwanda on this custom Colnago V4RS
Who doesn’t want a bird on their downtube?
Another one! My limited ornothology knowledge and a bit of searching on the world wide web leads me to believe this is a blue jay
Without a doubt one of the most bonkers products on display was Van Rysel’s FTP^2 Concept bike
The concept bike is not meant to be ridden, rather ‘to explore the limits of bike development’, one brand representative said
You thought you’d seen a chunky bottom bracket? Think again
It even comes with a shoe, which bolts on directly to the crank axle
To optimise aerodynamics, the shoes closure system is completely internal, so the shoe carries a SRAM battery on the back for the automatic closure system
Yes, there is such a thing as too much gold
One man’s nightmare is another man’s trade show: hours of continuous indoor riding
Dynamic Bike Care brought one of Mathieu van der Poel’s seven Canyon Inflite CFR cross bikes for this season
It features what looks like a custom handlebar, tilted slightly downwards
The bike has clearly been put to good use
Over at Brooks, there was another lovely Jaegher with some great colour coordination
One brand that’s all about colour coordination, is Hope
They also had some truly beautifully machined products on stand
You name the colour, Hope probably has it
Yes, I do please want a mid-Velofollies nap
Nicole Frain’s Ridley Astr RS still has its battle scars from Unbound Gravel
Sometimes the simplest solutions are the best, like some pipe cleaners to attach a race number
Her left shifter did not survive a crash during the race
German brand K-One launched some absurdly light wheels: The NXT ÆRA wheels only weigh 975 grams per wheelset
K-One doesn’t use traditional spoking for these wheels, but what it calls ‘spoke stars’ where 6 connected spokes are attached to the flange as one part
The wheels are also available in a more aerodynamic version, with 50 millimeter deep rims
These new Oakley Stunt Devils aren’t developed for cycling specifically, but for sports like basketball or volleyball, where glasses tend to fall off a bit easier
A rubber band on the inside of the temples, is meant to make the glasses stay on your head at all times
Selle Italia had a new SLR Racing Replica on display which is approximately 10 grams lighter than the SLR Carbon due to different padding
Schwalbe launched a range of all-road tires at Velofollies, available in 30, 35 and 40 millimeter widths
The tires feature their Race Pro carcass and a subtle tread
Belgian brand Cyclowax presented a new waxing apparatus: the Performance Wax Kit. It features a coil that you wrap your chain around, with a sort of cage around it
The wax bath features automatic vibration, to get the wax in all nooks and crannies
After use you can let excess wax drip off, to reuse it later
As a proud Lidl-Trek sponsor, it even has wax in team colours
Aerobag wants to make cycling a little safer, with an airbag-bibshort
The product features an airbag system in the bibs, along the waist, the back and on the chest
Chinese iGPSport launched is making its WorldTour debut this year, with Groupama-FDJ
We got a look of what seems to be a new bike computer of its making, the C606 Pro
Besides a sharp and bright touch screen, it still features multiple buttons
At the end of the day TJ Eisenhart had finished his piece of art, and he was also wearing much cooler glasses
Ties was the slowest of his family to learn how to ride a bike, but turned out to be the most fanatical. An ascent of Mont Ventoux to celebrate the end of high school got him hooked on the bike virus.
During his student years he picked up road racing and quickly started to enjoy anything bike-related, from his local gravel lap to endurance events. Ironically enough for a Dutchman, the high mountains of the Alps
are where he made most of his favourite memories on a bike.
Nowadays, his favourite event is a gastronomic cycling trip he organises annually in Italy, although trade shows come in a close second place.
Previously, he was tech editor for WielerFlits for four years.
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