The Cycle Show, the UK’s largest and longest-running cycling exhibition, returns this month, bringing together a showcase of some of the biggest brands and stars from cycling’s past and present.
As ever, the event is packed full of things to see and do, one of which is the BikeRadar Jaw Droppers display, secured by Litelok, showcasing an impressive collection of road, gravel and mountain bike builds.
Visitors to the show can vote for their favourite bike at the BikeRadar stand or at the Litelok booth. The winning build will get the first-ever Jaw Droppers trophy and a cash prize.
You’ll also be able to chat to many of the builders, who will also have bikes for sale.
Brands involved include Canyon, Vielo, Cannondale, Forbidden, Chapter 2, Enigma, Ribble, Onguza, Fatcreations, Spoon Customs, LIOS and more.
Cannondale
Cannondale has joined forces with British fashion designer and icon Stella McCartney on a series of 18 limited-edition SystemSix, SuperSix EVO and EVO CX bikes.
Featuring the designs of three artists – Ed Curtis from London, Myfawnwy (Maisie Broome) from New York and Tom Tosseyn from Antwerp – the result is a bold, eye-catching capsule of the world’s fastest bikes.
These emerging artists were part of Stella McCartney’s latest autumn/winter 2021 collection and have brought their styles to Cannondale.
Vielo V 1 CHPT3 Edition
A collaboration between two British brands, David Millar’s CHPT3 clothing brand and Indie Boutique bicycle brand Vielo, spawns an eye-catching, limited-edition gravel bike.
Limited to 50 worldwide, each bike was painted by hand in Girona by Eduard, the painter who previously created custom designs for Millar’s helmets and shoes throughout his pro career.
Eduard uses a technique that involves multiple thin layers that are then lightly removed to create a unique finish.
Ribble
Ribble will be displaying its Ultra SL R aero road bike, but with a custom colourway to be unveiled at the show.
The Ultra SL R is said to maximise and manipulate airflow to generate a significant performance gain across a range of crosswinds.
Ribble’s design team utilised computational fluid dynamics (CFD), wind-tunnel testing and real-world analysis to design the bike.
Onguza
Founded by ex-pro cyclist Dan Craven, Onguza will bring the Goat, a prototype design from the new Namibian bike brand.
This bike was hand-made in Namibia by master builders Petrus Mufenge and Sakaria Nkolo, and built up with the SRAM XPLR collection.
Craven will be riding this bike in The Migration Gravel Race in Kenya, in June.
Enigma
Enigma builds its bikes by hand in Sussex and is the UK’s largest and longest-established titanium bike builder.
Enigma will display its Esker endurance bike at the show. This combines elements of the brand’s flagship Excel with the best-selling Escape gravel bike to create the ultimate ride for mixed-terrain, all-condition riding.
Each Esker frame is individually crafted from a combination of 3Al 2.5V and 6Al 4V titanium tubes, with options to customise the geometry, cable routing, eyelets and finish.
Chapter2
The team at Chapter2 in New Zealand will have its TOA Artist Edition on display.
Designed in collaboration with renowned Kiwi artist Caitlin Fielder, known for her custom hand-painted cycling shoes, this is the first ‘Artist Edition’ from the brand.
With fewer than 100 framesets available worldwide, Caitlin’s Kiwi heritage is applied to the TOA’s surfaces via the use of the symbolic silver fern, which is combined with gold details.
Paradigm
British custom bike builder Paradigm will bring its Paradigm Verso to the Cycle Show, a custom bike built for everything from bridleways to one-day gravel races.
The bespoke titanium bike frame is built with an ENVE Adventure Fork, ENVE SES AR rims laced to Chris King hubs, an ENVE carbon bar, stem and seatpost, and a strapless Apidura frame bag, along with a full Shimano GRX Di2 groupset.
Festka
Founded in 2010 and based in Prague, Czech Republic, Festka will be showcasing its colourful Scout by Ondrash & Kasparek gravel bike.
This is a one-off edition of its latest gravel model designed in collaboration with the artistic duo Ondrash & Kasparek, the former of whom is one of the most sought-after tattoo artists in the Czech Republic.
LIOS
British brand LIOS will be bringing a one-off DeAnima DeFer Disc road bike, from the bespoke Italian frame builder, set up by Gianni Pegoretti, Antonio Attanasio and Matt Cazzaniga.
The bike on display will feature bespoke geometry paired with a Jackson Pollock-inspired paintjob.
This hand-built steel road bike has a SRAM Red eTap AXS groupset, Chris King components and hand-built carbon wheels.
Canyon
Canyon is set to bring a 3D-printed concept ‘eco bike’ to the Cycle Show, which uses the printing method to minimise the amount of material required to build a complete bike frameset.
Where is the Cycle Show?
The Cycle Show is at Alexandra Palace, London, UK, and will take place from April 22–24 2022.
The BikeRadar Jaw Droppers display can be found in the main hall.
Tickets are still available at £16 for an adult, £14 for seniors and students, £7 for children and kids under 5 go free.
Free bike parking will be available at the venue and a free shuttle bus will be running to and from Alexandra Palace train station and Wood Green tube station.
Alexandra Palace also offers parking for more than 1,300 cars.
