The Hottest New Bikes We’ve Seen This Fall
As summer breathes its last, you might be thinking of digging out your puffy and getting ready for a few months of Zwift. But new-bike season isn’t over yet. In fact, it’s always new-bike season as brands have largely moved away from model-year launches and toward drop-it-when-it’s-ready. Based on our conversations with product managers and PR flacks—and our own observations at the recent Eurobike trade show—here’s what’s hot right now: e-bikes, e-bikes, e-bikes, and, oh yeah, e-bikes. But even if you’re not in the market for a new e-bike, many exciting new road, mountain, gravel, kids, and urban bikes have rolled out recently. Here’s a look at the coolest new bikes we can’t wait to ride.
Brompton Explore
Price: $2,195
Available: Pre-order in the U.S. (delivery October)
Brompton outfitted its standard H- and M-frame bikes to be more accommodating of your multimodal adventures. The Explore has Tanwall folding-bead Schwalbe Marathon Racer tires (which look cool and can pack down into your bag), softer grips, fenders, and a leather Brooks Cambium saddle. The reason this version is better suited for longer adventures is because it comes with any spare part you might need if you have a mechanical out in the backcountry. So when you buy the bike, you also receive a spare tire, two tubes, four spokes, rim tape, a pump, tube patches, two extra links, one 3-speed gear cable, one rear brake cable, and replacement brake pads. It also has two bags: a small one that can sit on your handlebar or under the saddle and is ideal for carrying valuables and things you want at hand, and a super large “Burro Bag,” with lots of external pockets, that comes filled with all the spare parts. So get ready to ride, paddle, hike, take a train, whatever—you won’t have to worry about a mechanical leaving you stranded.
Early Rider Hellion
Price: TBD
Available: TBD
This British brand hasn’t always been available in the United States, but it has made, by combining lightweight aluminum frames and high-quality parts, excellent balance and pedal bikes for kids who are just learning to ride. This year, the company is launching an expansive line of off-road bikes for lil’ rippers, from 12-inch balance bikes to 24-inch full-suspension models designed for park laps. The Hellion comes in several wheel sizes: 16-and 20-inch hardtails with rigid or suspension forks, as well as 20- and 24-inch full-suspension models. The 16-inch rigid bike is set up as a singlespeed but comes with a derailleur hangar to add gears. You also get Shimano disc brakes, aluminum platform pedals, an integrated headset, and gumwall Vee Crown Jewel Tires that are 2.25 inches wide.
Benno Little Bit of Awesomeness
Price: TBD
Available: TBD
Ok, this bike isn’t really called Little Bit of Awesomeness, but it’s so new that Benno has yet to name it. It’s also unlike most e-bikes in that it has small, wide, 20-inch wheels, and just a little space in the rear for a child seat or cargo. That makes it comfortable on rough roads and easier to manage than a lot of cargo bikes. Some of its design cues come from vintage Italian scooters, says company founder Benno Baenziger and it delivers on his company’s “etility” philosophy: making e-bikes that are stylish and useful, with solid performance. This one is easy to jump on, and the small wells give it exceptional slow-speed handling, just what you want for navigating busy places.
Yuba Kombi
Price: $999
Available: Late September
This non-electric cargo bike has an extended rear rack and comes with a front-rack mount that is compatible with any of the company’s add-on options. The 24-inch wheels help lower the bike’s center of gravity a bit, keeping you and your cargo more stable, and a double-sided kickstand adds even more stability when the bike is parked. The Kombi can carry up to 440 pounds (and has space for up to three small kids, according to the company), but since it doesn’t offer any pedal assistance, it’s probably best suited for mostly flat areas, especially if you’re going to be hauling heavy stuff. The low, step-over frame comes in sunflower yellow and sky blue.
Tern HSD S8i
Price: $3,799
Available: March 2020
The latest electric cargo bike from Tern is smaller than the GSD, the company’s highest-capacity e-cargo bike, but still packs a sizable punch. The Bosch Active Line Plus 400Wh battery and Shimano Nexus 8 drivetrain helps it haul your cargo or passengers up for a range of 26 to 69 miles, depending on the weight and assistance level. It best suits a rider who wants all the capabilities of the GSD, but doesn’t need quite as much carrying capacity (The HSD can carry up to 374 pounds while the GSD’s maximum weight is 440). The super-adjustable cockpit and seatpost accommodate riders from 4-foot-11 to 6-foot-5, so multiple family members can use it. It’s a bit lower to the ground that the GSD, has a longer wheelbase, 20-inch wheels, and a suspension fork for the most stable handling and comfortable ride. The handlebar folds down against the frame for a slimming profile when storing or transporting by vehicle, and the included rear rack doubles as a stand so you can stably and discreetly park it up on its back end. It’s decked out with lights and an Abus lock, and has racks and mounts compatible with all Tern add-on options.
Woom E-5
Price: $3,195 (24-in), $3,310 (26-in)
Available: May 2020
Woom, which makes bikes for kids, is joining in on the e-bike trend. The hardtail e-mountain bike will come in two sizes: 24 inches (for 7- to 11-year-olds) and 26 inches (for 10- to 14-year-olds). Featuring a Fazua battery, the bike will be capable of traveling roughly 50 to 60 miles on a single charge, with a top speed of 12.5 mph. Travel on the air suspension fork is 80mm for the 24-inch model and 90mm for the 26-inch model. And as for weight, the 24-inch comes in at 33.7 pounds, while the 26-inch weighs 35.2 pounds. Like all Woom bikes, every inch of the E-5 was made and sized with kids in mind, from the saddle and brake levers, to the handlebar grips and (safer) screwed-in end plugs.
Basso Venta
Price: $2,375 to $3,195
Available: Now
Who says Italian-made carbon bikes need to carry exotic price tags? Basso’s new Venta, like all of Basso’s carbon frames, is made in the company’s factory near Bassano del Grappa. The Venta can be had with rim or disc brakes, and with a Shimano 105 or Ultegra group. All the expected frame details are here: dropped seatstays, tapered-fork steerer, internal routing (mechanical and electronic compatibility), thru-axles (disc frame only), hidden seat binder, and mild aerodynamic tuning. Seven sizes and three frame colors are offered.
Marin Headlands 2
Price: $2,850
Available: Late 2019
Marin’s new Headlands is essentially a (lighter, smoother) carbon version of the brand’s Gestalt X aluminum bike. It’s a gravel/adventure/touring/bike packing/whatever frame with great tire clearance (up to 700 x 45mm and 650b x 50mm) and lots of attachment points for bottles, bags, fenders, racks, and lots more. There are two models: the $2,400 Headlands 1 and the higher-spec Headlands 2 shown here. The Headlands 2 gets a 105mm-travel dropper post actuated by Shimano’s slick GRX left side brake/dropper lever.
Pivot Phoenix 29
Price: $6,199 to $8,899
Available: Now
This will be remembered as the year the dam burst on 29er downhill bikes. It took a while for the gravity crowd to embrace bigger wheels, but downhill courses are rough, and speed is everything—perfect for wagon wheels. The latest to join the big-wheel DH party is Pivot with its new Phoenix 29. A ground-up 29er design, the Phoenix 29 has more standover than the 27.5 Phoenix, and the 29 features reach-based sizing. All four sizes (small through extra-large) have the same standover (674mm), head tube (106mm), and seat tube (432mm) lengths, with just reach and wheelbase changing. Updated linkage layout improves stiffness and shock life, and it’s compatible with both air and coil-over shocks. Claimed frame weight is 6.4 pounds, which Pivot says can be built into bikes as light as 31 pounds.
VAAST A/1
Price: $2,499
Available: November
VAAST is a new bike brand, but it’s backed up by tons of experience. Started by Huffy, Batch Bicycles, and Niner’s parent company—United Wheels Limited—VAAST uses Allite’s Super Magnesium tubing on its bikes. Allite, as it happens, is also owned by United Wheels. Magnesium—specifically, alloys of magnesium—has been a fringe frame material for decades. It has intriguing qualities—light, strong, vibration damping—that should make it an excellent frame material. Allite claims the magnesium alloy used for its tubes, “weighs 33 percent less and offers 20 times greater shock absorption than aluminum, weighs 50 percent less and is 56 percent stronger than titanium, and is 100 percent recyclable.” And, the company claims, it has solved one of magnesium’s biggest drawbacks—corrosion—with its ceramic coating. VAAST has a tidy four-model line of bikes—a kids bike, a mountain bike, an urban bike, an an allroad/gravel bike. That last one is what you see here. The A/1 is dedicated for 1x drivetrains and features dropper post compatibility, internal routing, rack and fender mounts, and a T47 bottom bracket. It’s offered in two versions: with 700 wheels and Shimano GRX 1x11 group and with 650b wheels and a SRAM Rival 1x11 group. Both builds use Stan’s No Tubes rims and Maxxis tubeless-ready tires.
Niner RLT 9 RDO
Price: $3,000 to $6,600
Available: Late September
The RDO is the crown atop Niner’s revised RLT gravel/adventure bike line. The frame fits up to 50mm tires in either the 700c or 650b wheel size and has 26 (!!!) threaded attachment points on the frame for, well, just about anything. The frame also has internal drivetrain routing (electronic and mechanical drivetrain compatible) and internal routing for a remote-actuated dropper post. Revised geometry stretches the wheelbase a bit for more stability. The accompanying fork has 12 mounts itself, plus routing for a wired dynamo-powered light. Niner also offers the RLT with an aluminum frame (complete builds will cost from $2,200 to $5,800), or with a steel frame (from $2,700 to $6,300). The steel and aluminum frames use the same Niner carbon fork found on the carbon frame, and frame features and geometry are largely the same regardless of material.
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