Eurobike continues to hold on as the pinnacle event for the global cycling industry. Being held typically a month before Interbike, it’s the first unveil for the new model year and hosts the biggest array of international brands. For Moots, it’s the place for us to meet our international partners and get a true taste for what’s coming down the pipeline in for the global market place.
2017 Eurobike booth staff (l-r) Matt A.~International Sales, Jon C.~Marketing, Stefan Van Gijsel~Owner of Cykel Velomakers-Kallo Belgium, Drew M.~President @Moots, Brent W.~Owner-Moots
Here’s what we saw. Although, we aren’t always fans of pigeon holing bikes as ‘Gravel’, the category is catching on, and here to stay. The need for many riders to have only a conventional road race geometry and tire size is a bit limiting. We were honored to show off the personal Routt RSL of our Belgian friend and dealer Stefan Van Gijsel of Cykel Vélomakers outside Antwerp. His Routt RSL was set up specifically for his assault on the literally every Spring Classic sportive ride. He’s put over 6,000 KM on this beauty year to date over the cobble and jabbing pitches in the Ardennes. It just exemplifies why we love this bike, it’s not just a road bike or gravel bike, but the best tool for whatever conditions and surfaces you are brave enough to tackle.
The media highlights for us were showing off our anodized finishes and integration of 3D printed titanium dropouts, however the key feedback we were glad to hear was the uniqueness of our product. Literally in a sea full of black on black, Asian produced carbon frames, we are offering up clean straight forward product designed around ride quality, durability and perfection of hand craftmanship. It’s nice to stand out and be forging our own path.
The MX RSL with gold anodized finish and Tune Components was a hit.
The eBike trend is continuing to gather momentum, electric full suspension mountain bikes are absolutely gobbling up the market share from standard trail bikes in Europe. We witnessed this both at the show, in the stores we visited and riding areas. Love it or hate it, electric bikes are no longer just for commuting, but also veering squarely into the performance bike space.
Friedrichshafen, Germany. The country lanes that are just steps away from the busy show provide a chance to unwind each evening.
Moots didn’t stop at the show, we took the opportunity to explore the roads in Southern Germany, then take a quick trip down to the Dolomites where we met up with additional members of the Moots staff for some big miles and vertical. We were fortunate enough to have an amazing guide with Jesse Sibley from Broken Compass Tours for a multiday village to village tour starting and ending in Bolzano, Italy. Literally there was not a flat inch of riding over four days with every road pushing straight up or down a mountain pass. It put some real perspective on how demanding the high mountain stages of the Grand Tours truly are while stacking up multiple days of over 10,000 feet of climbing.
The Italian Dolomites–a true playground on bikes.
