They’re well established in Germany and across continental Europe, but now Haibike are looking to make a splash in the UK, using their carbon expertise to create some great-looking road and mountain bikes. They popped into the BikeRadar office to show off some of the bikes being brought into the country via distributors Raleigh.
On the mountain bike side, Haibike are well known for their e-bikes in Germany, where there’s even an XC race series for them. Haibike are also one of the first firms to have gained access to the E.I technology – electronically controlled forks and shocks – available on Lapierre and Ghost bikes.
Haibike are keen to point out that their close links with SRAM (their factories are a stone’s throw from each other) ensured they were involved in the project’s development from the very start.
E.I technology enables the bike to work out whether the rear shock should be open or closed based on the movement of the fork and sensors on the cranks. Theoretically, this gives you the most efficient ride possible without you having to think.
Light SL
The Haibike MTB range starts at £675 but we’re kicking off this roundup with the £1,800 Light SL hardtail (above right). The frame is full carbon and features a bolt-thru rear axle, a RockShox Reba fork, Magura brakes and an XT groupset.
As with all their bikes, Haibike use their own moulds, resulting in a neat head tube plus carbon press-fit BB shell and dropouts. Internal cable routing keeps the crud out of your cables and maintains the smooth lines.
In-house brand XLC provide the finishing kit, and many of the components are colour-matched to the frame, which brings the bike together well.
Colour-matching on the stem and tyres
Greed 29 SL/Team
The Greed is the next frame up in the range, with the same moulds but a higher grade of carbon than the Light.
The SL version comes in at £2,500 and is equipped with an XT groupset, Magura RT brakes, a RockShox Reba RL fork, carbon seatpost and carbon dropouts and brake mounts.
The Team version is essentially the same as the bike Sabine Spitz rode in the 2012 London Olympics, save for the SID XX fork (Sabine uses a Magura model). It really is a top-end build, with an XX groupset, Tune hubs, a rather uncomfortable-looking but very lightweight saddle and Stan’s rims. The £5,500 bike weighs in at about 9kg (20lb).
Greed 29 Team
Heet RC/RX
Haibike’s full suspension range includes the 155mm travel Heets. The frames are carbon, and to suit their more aggressive use come with down tube protection, beefy head tubes and bolt-thru back ends.
The £3,850 RC model comes with a Cobalt wheelset and Kronolog seatpost, both from CrankBros. Again, RockShox provide the fork with their Revelation RL. An XT groupset is bolted to the bike.
Heet RC
The pricier but very fancy RX is targeted at all-mountain use. It features E.I shock technology but it’s not just the electronics you’re paying for, with high-spec finishing kit including an XX groupset, RockShox Revelation XX 150mm fork and Reynolds carbon wheels.
For more information see www.haibikeuk.co.uk.
