iceBike 2011

Last week we made the trip up to Milton Keynes for the iceBike trade show, hosted by UK distributors Madison to see this year's shiny new bikes and components available shortly in a bike shop near you. Madison distribute and look after some of the biggest brands in the industry including Shimano, Commencal, Giro and Park Tool to name a few including one of their latest brands Saracen. It was Saracen who seemed to steel the show with a large range of bikes, including the launch of the new Madison Saracen downhill team headed by Manon Carpenter and Harry Malloy. The team will be riding the new Saracen Myst downhill bikes, which you are able to buy for the great price of £2299.99 for the complete bike, which includes Rockshox Boxxer Race forks upfront and a Fox VAN R rear shock. Two other bikes that caught my attention where the Saracen Ariel (pictured above) and the Saracen Kili Flyer Ti (pictured below). The Ariel looks a great all-round bike, with its slack head angle (68 degrees) and low bottom bracket (13.4in high) it looks perfect for blasting down your local DH trails or hitting up the trail centres. The Saracen Kili Ti looks a beautiful bike with it's classic handcrafted lines, these Titanium frames will be produced in limited numbers, available in a complete build coming in at £2999.99 and the frameset at £1199.99. At the other end of the scale in terms of downhill bikes Commencal had their new downhill bike on dispay, the Supreme DHv3. With its new refined suspension design allowing the bike to sit lower to ground for improved cornering and nice features such as adjustable wheelbase, internal cable/hose routing and an adjustable head angle, this bike should prove popular with DH racers. The standard full build costs £3,499.99 while the Atherton spec version is a whopping £6,499.99!!! If you are thinking of treating yourself to a new trail helmet this season, then the Giro Xar maybe worth looking at. Based on Giro's popular Xen helmet, the Xar features all best bits of the Xen with additional vents for better air flow and also features the updated Roc Loc 5 retention system. The Xar should be in shops now for £114.99 To view lots of other nice shiny bike bits check out the iceBike photo gallery here