Rose Bikes had one of the most colourful stands at this year's Cycle Show, with a small selection of their latest road and mountain machines on display, along with their Bike Configurator computer.
Mr Ride
New for 2011 is the Mr Ride 29er hardtail, which looks to offer amazing value for money. The M6 aluminium frame features filled welds for a carbon-like appearance and weighs in at around 1,650g (claimed).
Features include internal cable routing, a Pressfit 30 oversize bottom bracket – which should increase stiffness and pedalling efficiency while simultaneously shedding a few grams and improving durability due to the larger bearings – and post mount rear brake mount.
Neat internal cable routing is found throughout Rose's 2011 range
There's a choice of two frame colourways – anodised black or the Caribbean blue/pearl white seen here – and the bike is available with two spec levels in the UK. Buyers can choose between 2x10 or 3x10 SRAM gearing.
The Mr Ride 6 will cost around £1,700 and comes with a Fox 32 F29 FIT RLC fork with 100mm of travel and a 15QR axle, Mavic C29ssmax wheels, Schwalbe Nobby Nic Evo Snakeskin tyres, SRAM X9 cranks and X0 gearing, plus Formula R1 brakes.
The £1,150 Mr Ride 2 downgrades to a 100mm-travel RockShox Reba RLT, SUNRinglé Ryde Comp wheels, Schwalbe Nobby Nic Evo tyres, SRAM X7 cranks and X9 gearing, plus Formula RX brakes.
Granite Chief
The Granite Chief gets an improve Fox RP23 Boost Valve shock and more travel for 2011
The Granite Chief has received a 10mm bump in suspension travel, from 140mm to 150mm, and has reportedly shed a little weight for 2011. The Dr Z cross-country bike also gets more travel for 2011, with a bump from 120mm to 130mm.
New features on the Granite Chief include a post mount rear brake, internal cable/hose routing through the seatstays and a press-fit bottom bracket. Prices hadn't been announced at time of going to press, but five models will be available in the UK, all with Fox RP23 Boost Valve shocks and DT Swiss wheels.
They range from a top-end build with Fox TALAS RLC FIT fork, SRAM X0 kit, Formula The One brakes and a KSi950 dropper seatpost to an entry-level bike with RockShox Sektor RL U-Turn, SRAM X7/X9 and Avid Elixir 5 brakes.
Internal hose routing on the Granite Chief could make things interesting when the brakes need bleeding
Beef Cake
As the name suggests, the new Beef Cake SL is a super-lightweight version of the Beef Cake freeride/downhill bike. It uses the same tubeset as the Granite Chief and Uncle Jimbo all-mountain bikes, but offers 200mm of travel.
Claimed weight is just 33lb with a Fox DHX 5.0 Air shock, 36 TALAS 180 FIT RC2 fork, DT Swiss E 2000 wheels, SRAM X9 and Avid Elixir R brakes, and it'll be used on the World Cup circuit by Britain's Katy Curd next year.
Pictured here is the burlier Beef Cake FR 4. An entry-level build, the FR 2, is also available which Rose UK hope will come in at under £2,000 (exact prices are still to be determined). The spec includes a Fox Van R shock, RockShox Domain fork, SUNRinglé ADD Lite wheels, Truvativ Hussefelt cranks, Shimano SLX kit and Avid Elixir 5s.
The Beef Cake is available in race (SL), downhill (DH) and freeride (FR) guises for 2011
Bike Configurator
As well as their new models, Rose were showing off the Bike Configurator – a piece of software that allows you to spec any Rose bike with your dream parts (assuming they're in the company's vast mail order book – think the Argos catalogue, but bigger). It then shows you exactly how the finished bike will look, and how much it'll cost.
Rose's Bike Configurator lets you see how your dream bike will look before you commit your cash
Road bikes
One last piece of Rose news: the company's road bikes are normally sold under the name Red Bull but will now be labelled as Rose in the UK after complaints from the energy drink company.
