Beautiful bikes and cutting-edge tech from Monte Carlo's exclusive bike show
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Three spare spokes are mounted to the René's chainstay. They're all rears, but Victoire had a clever solution for that(Image credit: Jamie Wilkins/Immediate Media)
Festka is from the Czech Republic and one of the most interesting and engineering-driven young brands we've met in some time. This is the Festka One LT, the superlight range-topping race bike alongside the One RS which prioritises stiffness. This LT weighs a claimed 5.4kg and would cost £10,000 if you ordered one in the same spec. The frame is 700g in size M and the fork is under 300g, giving a sub-kilo frameset. It's available in 24 stock sizes or full custom. This is the personal bike of the company founder, former pro Michael Mourecek. After he retired he didn't ride for four years, then his family got together and said they wanted to buy him a bike to get him riding again and he realised that, aged 30, he'd never chosen his own bike. He looked at loads but couldn't find anything he really wanted so he set up Festka. Five years later he has finally made himself a bike(Image credit: Jamie Wilkins/Immediate Media)
We guess former Kazakh national champion Alexander Dyanchenko must have at least one spare bike, or maybe he was on the beach(Image credit: Jamie Wilkins/Immediate Media)
Corima was proud to show off its long-time association with the Astana pro team by featuring one the team's bikes on the stand(Image credit: Jamie Wilkins/Immediate Media)
Corima's new carbon composite QR(Image credit: Jamie Wilkins/Immediate Media)
The S+ 32mm in tubular form. Unusually given today's market, Corima says that 80 per cent of its sales are tubs. No doubt the very low weights drive that trend - these 32s weigh a claimed 1130g for the pair(Image credit: Jamie Wilkins/Immediate Media)
The S+ range is available with regular or carbon spokes. Here's a close-up of the latter, showing how it tapers from round at the rim to a bladed profile(Image credit: Jamie Wilkins/Immediate Media)
The unidirectional carbon fibre hub shell of the S+ wheels. Corima have a new tool-free method of changing the freehub(Image credit: Jamie Wilkins/Immediate Media)
French brand Corima used Like Bike to launch their new S+ range of aero race wheels. They are available in 32 or 47mm, clincher or tubular, steel or carbon spokes. Prices are €1,717 to €2,856(Image credit: Jamie Wilkins/Immediate Media)
Festka can supply custom saddles to go with your choice of paintwork for your bespoke bike(Image credit: Jamie Wilkins/Immediate Media)
This bike is called the Mauri, which explains the inspiration for the paintjob, which was all masked and painted by hand. It took a week(Image credit: Jamie Wilkins/Immediate Media)
THM carbon fibre rear brake on the Festka One LT(Image credit: Jamie Wilkins/Immediate Media)
The only giveaway is the wires going from the bottle-mounted battery into the frame. The range is between 45mins and 4hrs depending on the mode and terrain. Retro-fitting is done by Italia carbon specialists Sarto. The cut open the frame, install the motor, then repair the frame to be as good as new. It costs €3,000 all in, so at least that's one thing stopping them from ruining every sportive and Strava segment in the country before the end of summer(Image credit: Jamie Wilkins/Immediate Media)
LimeMotion is a French brand making aftermarket electric motors for road bikes. This carbon Carrera has a 35mm diameter motor built into the seat-tube and drives the bottom bracket axle with up to 250W. Remember the stupid (made up) fuss about road pro Fabian Cancellara in 2010 supposedly having a motor in his bike when he won Paris-Roubaix? This makes it look possible. Check out the cranks and rear wheel flying around(Image credit: Jamie Wilkins/Immediate Media)
The beautifully machined rear drop-out on the Festka Doppler. Note the chainstay in carbon to maintain power transfer(Image credit: Jamie Wilkins/Immediate Media)
The top tube is pinched to encourage it to flex in a specific way to increase comfort without detracting from the performance(Image credit: Jamie Wilkins/Immediate Media)
The finish is fantastic(Image credit: Jamie Wilkins/Immediate Media)
The Festka Doppler uses carbon fibre lugs with titanium tubes and was built for a demanding customer. The combination ensures strong joints but retains the 'springy' ti feel that fans of the material love(Image credit: Jamie Wilkins/Immediate Media)
Some of the raw material that goes into a frame. Festka sources its raw carbon in this form from a huge supplier called Compotech. Festka then makes its own tubes and frames. This process allows Festka to use a much higher proportion of ultra high modulus carbon fibre, which is brittle in the wrong direction and unable to be bent around tight corners. Manufacturing its own tubes allows Festka to get around that. The black and white Festka One LT features over 700 metres of continuous carbon fibre(Image credit: Jamie Wilkins/Immediate Media)
Michael's Festka One LT is fitted with Campagnolo Super Record EPS(Image credit: Jamie Wilkins/Immediate Media)
The deeper 47mm version of the S+, proudly made in France(Image credit: Jamie Wilkins/Immediate Media)
Corima's new carbon-specific brake pad, developed with lots of input from Astana. Corima say they did a lot of R&D on braking and that their new brake tracks are safe beyond 200˚C(Image credit: Jamie Wilkins/Immediate Media)
The 14kg René wears Gilles Berthoud luggage and saddle. The frame is made from Reynolds 853 Pro Team tubing(Image credit: Jamie Wilkins/Immediate Media)
The Victoire René was undoubtedly one of the biggest stars of the show. It's a tourer with "every feature we could think of", its designer told us. It took over 200 hours to build at the company's base in Clermont Ferrand in France. Frame prices start at €1,000 and complete bikes from €3,000 - 5,000. There's currently a five-month waiting list(Image credit: Jamie Wilkins/Immediate Media)
The Nuke Track's bayonet type fork and Vision Trimax Carbon cockpit which is slammed, naturally(Image credit: Jamie Wilkins/Immediate Media)
Mcipollini showed a track version of the Nuke TT bike, complete with reference point Mavic Io and Comete wheels. Does SuperMario fancy a crack at the Hour Record?(Image credit: Jamie Wilkins/Immediate Media)
This is 'grown carbon'. It isn't made by Dassi but for now the brand has exclusive access to the technology from its UK inventor for bike parts. It's made in a process that's a little like 3D printing. It begins with a pile of carbon particle dust and ends up with any shape of object you like. Dassi showed us a grown carbon bottle cage, a seat clamp and, most astonishinly because of the loads going through them, these TT risers and extension mounts. This tech makes it possible to completely personalise the object, so you could have one-piece risers at your perfect height and angle. If production can be scaled up it could be a real game changer.(Image credit: Jamie Wilkins/Immediate Media)
UK firm Dassi showed its Racing Carbon Ltd2 TT bike mounted to the salvaged wing of a Jaguar fighter jet. The bike's paintscheme is a little misleading - it looks like a tailor's chalk line but this isn't a made-to-measure bike. The frameset costs £2,800(Image credit: Jamie Wilkins/Immediate Media)
Nevi's ultra-clean reverse bolt titanium stem, fitted to the Spinas(Image credit: Jamie Wilkins/Immediate Media)
Nevi is an Italian titanium specialist that first became available in the UK at the start of this year. Half the brand's business is industry (such as lightweight roll cages for high-level motorsport) and half is bikes. This is the Spinas crit racer, with an unusual folded and welded aero downtube. Nevi do all of their ti welding in vacuum chambers instead of drenching the welding site in nitrogen because, they say, it gives a stronger and more precise weld(Image credit: Jamie Wilkins/Immediate Media)
The Rohloff rear hub gear adds weight but is ideal for touring. The bike also features a built in LED dynamo lights(Image credit: Jamie Wilkins/Immediate Media)
So that the spare spokes could be used on either wheel, Victore made up this super-large flange front hub to make the spoke lengths equal to the rear(Image credit: Jamie Wilkins/Immediate Media)
The twin-spar stem is an elaborate solution for straightening the line of the cable to the front cantilever brake(Image credit: Jamie Wilkins/Immediate Media)
Antonio Sarto was the company founder and every bike still bears his name. Sarto is now run by his son, Enrico(Image credit: Jamie Wilkins/Immediate Media)
The superlight Sarto Seta shows what the brand's engineers can do when not installing hideous electric motors. Sarto was founded in the 50s but always produced for other people; the brand has been making bikes with its own name on the downtube for five years(Image credit: Jamie Wilkins/Immediate Media)
Specialized showed off this ultra-rare McLaren edition S-Works Tarmac with a colour-matched (ish) McLaren 650S supercar. For any show-goers feeling inspired, Monaco's McLaren car dealership was directly across the street from the venue(Image credit: Jamie Wilkins/Immediate Media)
The indoor test track was busy all weekend. This Butchers & Bikes leaning electric-boosted cargo bike was thundering up and down with alarming pace(Image credit: Jamie Wilkins/Immediate Media)
The titanium rear-end uses a thru-axle, too(Image credit: Jamie Wilkins/Immediate Media)
The Aracnide boasts a one-piece Deda Elementi carbon fibre cockpit (Image credit: Jamie Wilkins/Immediate Media)
T.Red is a design house from Piacenze in northern Italy and the brand has a particular passion for bikes. The T.Red stand included the Bestia Nera, one of the maddest bikes at the show and also this, the disc-braked titanium Aracnide. It costs €10,500 as seen here(Image credit: Jamie Wilkins/Immediate Media)
The Victoire René's Giller Berthoud saddle, with etched rivets(Image credit: Jamie Wilkins/Immediate Media)
The Grimaldi Forum is right by the sea. Like Bike claims to be 'The Most Glamorous Bike Show on Earth', and this setting is a good start(Image credit: Jamie Wilkins/Immediate Media)
This article was originally published on Bike Radar.
Like Bike Monte Carlo is a brand new cycling expo that promised to be 'The Most Glamorous Bike Show on Earth' – and with perhaps the widest selection of ridiculously priced one-offs and exotically specced handmade machines we've ever seen, it's hard to argue.
We've already shown you a gallery of the Weird and Wonderful bikes that pushed the boundaries of budget, belief and taste to the limit – gold plating, manta ray leather saddles, diamond headtube badges – but there was a serious side to Like Bike as well.
There were dozens of beautiful bikes, some impressive engineering and even examples of cutting-edge new tech.
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