Best cycling tech at Sea Otter Europe 2023

Hub gears, gravel suspensions, tyre inserts, and more – here’s a selection of the hottest tech at Sea Otter Europe

08:44, Thursday 28th September 2023

Tom Hallam-Gravells

Online Production Editor

BH's GravelX has a unique vibration-dampening system

Sea Otter rolled into Girona, Spain, over the weekend for its seventh European edition. It’s the largest cycling festival outside of the USA, attracting huge crowds and the best brands, all there to show off their hottest tech - and there was a lot to see.

Our friends over at GCN Español were at the festival scouring the stands for the best tech they could find, and we’ve already provided a full run-down of the numerous bikes they discovered.

It’s not all about the bikes, though, so here’s a selection of everything else they encountered along the way.

SRS gravel anti-vibration system

The SRS vibration dampening system links the seatstays to the seat tube

The gravel scene has boomed over the last 10 years, leading to an ever-expanding range of gravel bikes. Along with this boom, the nature of gravel riding has also evolved, and the discipline incorporates a perplexing array of terrains.

This has made the task of creating gravel bikes tough for manufacturers, whose bikes increasingly need to accommodate everything from loose gravel to terrain that enters into mountain-bike territory. To do this, many brands have incorporated suspension-like systems.

One of those is BH which introduced the SRS anti-vibration system to its GravelX bike earlier this year. The pivot system linking the seatstays to the seat tube provides between 3mm to 5mm of movement, depending on a rider’s weight, to dampen vibrations.

Beyond the SRS system, the GravelX has some other nifty features, like the integrated storage system on the down-tube. Accessed from underneath, the compartment can accommodate small accessories like a CO2 canister, and it’s become an increasingly popular feature in the world of gravel.

Vittoria tyre inserts

Vittoria tyre inserts are used by some WorldTour teams

Tyre inserts have grown in popularity, although they’re yet to fully catch on and become widespread. Vittoria is currently one of the market-leading brands in the field.

Its Air-Liner tyre inserts were initially designed for mountain bikes, but it has since expanded the range to include road and gravel-specific options. These are now used by some WorldTour teams, specifically at puncture-heavy races like Paris-Roubaix.

Why? The Air-Liner is essentially a foam insert which can be added to a tubeless tyre.

Of course, tubeless sealant is traditionally the first line of defence and that’s still the case, but the insert adds an extra layer of protection if sealant isn’t up to the job, keeping some structure to the tyre even after it’s lost air. It also can help prevent the disastrous tubeless pinch flat that comes from big hits to the tire system when running a lower pressure.

That’s useful in races like Paris-Roubaix when support cars are often lost in the chaos, with riders left to hunt for support staff on the side of the road. While they’ll obviously lose performance, it should keep enough shape in the tyre to keep them rolling. According to Vittoria, it should also keep the bead of the rim locked in place.

Vittoria currently has many versions of the Air-Liner system available, across multiple disciplines - they’re only compatible with tubeless-ready tyres, for obvious inner-tube reasons.

Read more: Are puncture-proof tyres any good?

FSA multi-functional gravel handlebars

FSA's gravel-dedicated handlebar

Brands pour plenty of energy and research into their handlebars, which is understandable. The frontal area of a bike is critical for aerodynamics, hence why much of this design focus has been in the aero realms.

In gravel riding, the demands are a bit more complex. Aerodynamics is still a factor, but they also need to support multiple hand positions, especially with the current popularity of ultra-endurance gravel events, and even accessories like handlebar bags.

FSA has provided one multi-purpose solution in the form of its Pro-Wing AGX. To any aero fanatics, the bars will stand out thanks to the u-shaped extensions which appear to be anti-aero. Like tri bars, they allow riders to rest their hands in a different position, except the Pro-Wing design is more about comfort than adopting an aero position.

On-trend, the flared drops open up more space for handlebar bags, important for any bike-packing adventures, one of the other popular off-shoots of gravel riding.

The AGX is targeted more at ultra-endurance riding or bikepacking, but FSA also includes the K-Wing, A-Wing and Adventure models in its range, designed more for performance and everyday riding.

Darimo: masters of lightweight

Handlebars don't come much lighter than Darimo's Ellipse

Darimo’s range of components also caught our eyes, although for very different reasons to the FSA handlebar.

The Spanish brand has essentially mastered the art of lightweight, hence why Extralite used them for its incredible 4.6kg bike build - the lightest bike we saw at the event. That included a prototype crankset which Darimo is set to release more details about in the near future.

Beyond that it also specs a wide range of handlebars, including the Ellipse. One for the weight weenies, the bars tip the scales at only 128g. Even in the world of light weight tech, you'd be hard pressed to find anything lighter than that.

Classified Powershift Hub - the future of shifting?

Will Classified's Powershift Hub lead to the demise of front derailleurs?

The Classified Powershift Hub has been around for a while now, first announced in 2020, but it’s still as revolutionary now as it was back then when it caused quite a stir.

The hub uses a two-speed planetary gear system that gives you either a 1:1 ratio of whatever chainring you’re using, or a smaller 1:0.686 ratio. The system essentially mimics a 2x set-up while actually using a 1x set-up, with the smaller gear ratio emulating a small chainring, without actually needing one.

With no small chainring, there’s also no need for a front derailleur, one of the big advantages of the system. More importantly, Classified says that it’s more efficient than a traditional system, providing near instantaneous shifting in only 150 milliseconds, which can be conducted under heavy load up to 1000 watts. The two-hub system operates alongside a regular cassette too with only small increments between gears.

It can be slightly confusing to get your head around, so check out our full video guide to the unique tech below.

Keep up to date with the latest tech news, features and pro bikes via the Tech section on the GCN website, linked here.

Vittoria

Vittoria is an Italian bicycle tyre manufacturer. The company produces over seven million tyres yearly for a wide range of cyclists, from road racers and commuters to BMX riders and mountain bikers.