The Unibike 2017 Fair had an undisputed protagonist: electricity. We are not referring to the number of plugs in each of the stands of the event. Nor to the watts of the enclosure lighting system in which it was held. Obviously we refer to electric bicycles.
Undoubtedly the Unibike 2017 fair served to uniquely verify what the tendency towards which the great manufacturers are putting all efforts. And that is none other than the market consolidation of
e-bikes both for urban use and for road and mountain. Especially mountain.
We say consolidation because electric bicycles have ceased to be a novelty. They have been with us for several years and it is difficult to find a manufacturer with a certain weight in the international market that does not have several models of
e-bikes For the different cycling segments.
More bicycles, less engenders
From the novelties presented by the brands at the Unibike 2017 Fair, one thing follows: it is no longer about launching new electric models to the market, but also making them better.
It seems that those rough designs are gradually left behind where the battery seemed rudimentaryly coupled to the painting.
Voluminous engines also disappear that until recently transformed the bicycle silhouette into a vehicle with overweight problems.
The new electric bicycles have a more defined design, where the battery and engine are perfectly integrated into the geometry of the box as if they really were part of it. It seems that the shots are going there by the great manufacturers: electric bicycles begin to look more like a bicycle and less to a motorized spawn.
Where is the engine?
Mountain bicycles are the ones that are most living this motorization process. However, road bicycles equipped with subtle engines begin to appear. So subtle that are almost imperceptible.
In this sense, one of the most striking proposals of the UNIBIKE Fair was that of the assisted pedaling kits manufacturer. He presented his last two generations of electric motors. The first of them consists of a wheel moved by a hidden engine on the axis. In sight it is not distinguished from a conventional stick wheel.
More striking is his second kit, presented in one of the latest models of Bicycle Vitoria. The engine is hidden in the pedalier and the battery is camouflaged in the form of a bidon on the bottle rack of the vertical tube.
Kawasaki green
If bicycle manufacturers are starting to rub shoulders in the motorized vehicle segment, it is not strange that those who have traditionally manufactured the latter also begin to point their strategies towards the cycling market.
Such is the case of Kawasaki, who presented at his stand of the Unibike fair its K-Power and E-Power range. These are mountain and urban bicycles with Shimano, Bosch and Bafang origin engines
Return to the shoes
As for the road cycling segment, it seems that the shoes have returned to take the front to the pills. Last year most manufacturers opted for their highest -end models with disc brakes.
This year, on the other hand, the most prominent models in the stands were equipped with the traditional brake system. Is it a sign that the market still has a hard time giving the fashion of brake discs? Will we have to wait for professional cycling to be established for brands to discard the shoes of their range of range?
Mediterranean Epic
Motors and bicycle models on the margin, the Unibike 2017 Fair also served to learn about new proposals in tourism and competition. The different autonomous communities had
stands in those who offered a wide variety of routes for both the lovers of the tracks without asphalting and for the cycatourists.
And in the central room of the event a new test of
Mountain Bike which is called to be one of the great novelties of the cycling calendar in Spain for 2018. It is the
Mediterranean Epic By Gaes, a career in stages of UCI XCS2 category that has David Valero, Roberto Bou and Xavier Borrás as ambassadors.
Precisely David Valero and Xavier Borrás were present at his presentation at the Unibike Fair. The Mediterranean Epic will be played from February 8 to 11 in Oropesa del Mar and Castellón de la Plana, with four stages of Distance Marathon. Registrations are already open in two modalities: participation in the four stages or model
Weekend to take part in the last two.
