Paligap Show 2011

Paligap cc have been to Bristol this past week at the Paintworks to present their latest range of products.

They had some exciting new products on show, a reissue of some classic frame designs, and are bringing 2 new brands to our shores. Joining the Paligap crew from New Zealand was John Oldale (just don’t call him Australian), Product Manager of their newly acquired brands – all of which will be formally launched at the Core Bike show in January. Matt Hart of Torq was also on hand to go through what’s new from the energy maestros, and good it was too. Fueled on coffee and cake, from the Bocca Bar upstairs, I got the low down of some great products for the 2012 season. Here’s some of the highlights.

With Kona bikes now having moved to a central European distribution, Paligap have taken on Avanti bikes and ABD BMX’s from New Zealand. Avanti is a well established brand in the Australasian area and will be available from march 2012 with a selection of models from their extensive range. John explains that Avanti’s bikes are all designed in house as are many of their tubesets, with the range covering the full spectrum of MTB, Road, Commuter, TT, Track, and womens specific and childrens bikes. Prices are yet to be confirmed, but a here’s quick run down of the range.

Avanti’s MTB hardtails range from the entry level ‘Montari’ alloy models at under £1000, to the race ready, full-bling carbon ‘Competitor’ models, all offered in 26er and the now, omnipresent big wheeled sizes. Four full suspension models will be available, all based around the tried and tested 4 bar linkage system. John explained that instead of trying to come up with yet another suspension system, Avanti decided to focus their attention on designing great riding bikes instead. Just to make sure that there is no question of the full sussers being thought of as a faux bar system, they have named it ‘Tru 4’, displayed in large letters on the stays. The alloy framed ‘Vapour’ is their xc offering with 100mm of travel on the 26er versions and (unusually greater) 120mm in its 29er guise. Avanti have done a sterling job of not making the longer travel big wheeler look ungainly, the big wheels not looking out of place. For the more trail orientated riders, the ‘Torrent’ is their longer travel bike with 135mm at the rear and 140mm up front, again in alloy. A nice touch is the welded, not bolted rocker link, which Avanti claim stiffens up the rear end. Rear end axles on all the full sussers are the now common 12mm and all rear shocks come through custom tuned to Avanti’s specs from Fox.

Avanti Montari

Avanti Tru 4

Avanti Competitor

Road models are offered in an ‘Race’ or ‘Sportif’ style package. The Sportif frame offers a more compliant ride with profiled rear stays and a longer wheelbase, whereas the race is a no compromise speed package with a stiffer frame and more aggressive geometry. Avanti have two tiers of carbon frames; the Team model frames are of a higher quality manufacture making them lighter and stiffer than the non team versions. The Pure Black Racing team model is also available which does looks super slick in its all black finish. Launched in July last year, Pure Black Racing are New Zealand’s first international UCI road cycling team and have had a number of successes on the US circuit. The team will be crossing over to Europe in the coming seasons and have an entry for the 2015 Tour de France.

A range of women specific bikes is also offered, from hardtail to full-sus to carbon road, none of which are in pink or baby blue! After consultation with female riders Avanti decided to stay away from the stereotypical colour finishes and concentrate on the specifics of fit instead.

For the commuter, there are three alloy models to choose from; two belt drive set-ups with a 11 or 8 speed Alfine hub and hydro disc brakes, and an entry level bike with 3x9 Shimano gearing and mechanical disc brakes. Something for everyone. The 11 speed model is finished in a sleek looking, but rather understated, black frame and forks.

Are you old enough to remember the Ritchey P-23 series of MTB frames? Made of the highest quality Tange Prestige tubing and in many cases welded by Tom himself, they were much sought after race frames. Ritchey has relaunched the frame, all-be-it in a modern version as the big-wheeled P-29. It retains the classic, non oversize tubing and in the original red, blue and white paint job. The ‘modern’ parts being the disc tab, sliding dropouts and the inset headset. No longer constructed out of Tange Prestige tubing, but a similar custom-drawn, thin-wall, butted tubeset – it is a thing of beauty! Alongside that is a Ritchey cx frame, again of a classic design and the same tubeset, but this time finished completely in red. Both frames have that resonating ‘ting’ sound when the tubes are flicked, the old school test for a quality steel frame. Prices are £800 and £925 respectively for the frame only.

Ritchey P-29

Ritchey Swiss Cross

Torq’s new flavour of drink is going to become a personal favourite, alongside the current grapefruit. Matt Hart has come up with a genius natural vanilla bean flavour. The taste is much more subtle, leaving very little after taste, as it doesn’t contain any citric acid from a fruit flavouring. The ideas is to appeal to endurance racers looking for an alternative to a sweet flavour during those long hauls or riders who just want a flavour other than fruit. Matt explains that he has added a hint of butterscotch to the mix to really bring out the vanilla flavour which would otherwise be a little too subtle. The butterscotch can’t be tasted though. Energy products are difficult to recommend due to personal tastes, but if you are looking for alternative to a fruit flavouring, give this a try. Labels are being printed as I write, so expect tubs to appear on the shelves soon.

Torq

Powertap have updated their premium hub and added a new way to calculate power to their line up in the form of Powercal. The top tier Powertap Pro+ has been replaced with a lighter and more compact hub, the G3. It loses the previous carbon shell, yet shaves grams due to its revised electronics design. The new design also means easier servicing. Only the internals now have to be returned in the case of any problems instead of the whole hub. Hub flanges are wider apart for a stronger wheel and the hub has been downsized. Fully built wheelsets are available with the options of an alloy rim, with 45mm and 65mm deep carbon rims also available. The rest of the range remains the same apart from a sleek black finish and a reduction in prices across the board. The G3 comes in at £975 for the hub only. Built wheelsets for the ‘Pro’ hub start at £865 and if you want the G3 on alloy rims, it’s £1125. The front wheel is a Cyclops hub with a carbon and alloy shell.

CycleOps PowerCal

Powercal is an intriguing system as it calculates power from heart rate. Power is considered as a more effective way of training due to fluctuations in heart rate depending on a number of factors, but Powercal is claimed to be accurate to within 5 watts. It may not have the plethora of features of a Powertap, but where it does come up trumps is the price, £175 without a head unit. It is ANT compatible so can link directly into your current unit. Powercal does have to be calibrated at the time of purchase however, but shops will be set up to do this. This involves doing a ramp test to set the appropriate heart rate and power levels.

A new, smaller sleek head unit, the Joule 2.0GPS is also introduced for 2012, which is GPS enabled (as the name suggests) offering the full features of a bike computer as well as power information. Maps cannot be displayed, but routes can be downloaded onto the unit and followed. It is well priced at £240 for the unit with heart rate or £200 without.

The full extent of the Cipollini bike range was also on show, but the range is quite different as there is no entry level frame, just a choice of high end frames and bike builds depending on your flavour: light-weight racer, aero, super-stiff sprinter or TT. Prices start around the £3400 mark for a ‘budget’ frame aimed at the more everyday use, to £4400 for the aero profiled RB1000 frameset. These are no compromise frames of the highest quality manufacturing and quality of carbon. If you want the best, then these are it, but be prepared to pay for it. The MCipollini range of clothing also makes use of the highest quality materials and is, of course, Italian designed and styled. The fit is designed to be body hugging, but retaining freedom of movement. Prices are in line with other high end brands.

Cipollini RB1000

Cipollini

Spotted on the Cyclops stand was a cool product for those who just don’t want the energy produced whilst turbo training to go to waste: an attachment for a food blender. Mix your favourite recovery drink while your ride! Just make sure that it’s attached properly before turning the pedals.

Paligap cc distribute a number of other quality products: DMT shoes, Stan’s, Saris, Solo clothing, VDO, FFWD wheels, pdw and Muc Off. To keep up with the latest Paligap news, they now have a Facebook page: Paligap cc.